Category: Fun

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Western Vacation, Part 2: Sterling, CO

I have nothing of substance to report about our trip today. We got up, we drove and drove and drove, through western Iowa and Nebraska and the beginnings of Colorado to here, Sterling. Frankly, the main reason I’m writing now is because I can. The hotel we’re staying at here in Sterling has free wireless as part of the deal, and I’m pretty sure my internet access will be limited or non-existent for the next three or four days. Though I guess we’ll see.

Oh, okay, since I’m here, a few things I recall from the day’s trip:

  • Lotsa rain in the morning.
  • Every little town in Nebraska has some little museum advertised as a means of sucking people in off of the interstate.
  • There were a couple of stretches of drive through Nebraska where the smell from the feed lots was pretty freakin’ awful. And long-lasting, too. I’m not talking about a drive by of a smelly farm that lasts a few seconds; I’m talking about the smell of shit and death together for a good 15 minutes. BTW, how’s the burger?
  • We left Cedar Falls this morning about the same time as my parents, more or less. We had decided that there was no point in following each other and that we’d just meet up on Sunday. So who shows up at our hotel? The Ps, of course. They did their thing for dinner while we did ours, but it’s like we planned it. Pretty funny.

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Western Vacation, part 1: CF and Sturgis Falls days




balloons

Originally uploaded by steven_d_krause.

The first leg of our trip westward is here to my home town of Cedar Falls, Iowa. A few thoughts in some particular order:

  • We got here yesterday evening; this morning, my father and I played golf. I managed to get a birdie on a hole after hitting a 3-wood shot well over 200 yards up a hill and on to the green and then sinking a long long putt. This ultra-lucky shot rolled on to the green while the group ahead of us was still putting. I apologized profusely from the fairway, and my father ran into them in the clubhouse afterwards and told them I got a birdie on the hole. They seemed pleased.
  • It’s too freakin’ hot and humid– like mid-90s.
  • I continue to be impressed with the improved quality of life in Cedar Falls. For example: not only does CF finally have a Starbucks; it also has a drive-thru.
  • The highlight of the day and the source of the photo here is from the children’s costume parade at Sturgis Falls Days, which is the annual big summer celebration here in Cedar Falls. Will participated in his knight costume (as pictured above). Sturgis Falls is a nice small town fest, and if we had more time and weren’t leaving first thing tomorrow morning, I might be there still at the beer tent and listening to dixieland jazz. But we are and so I’m not. Besides, it was really REALLY hot, and then it started to rain, so time to come home.



Here is another picture from the parade:

Will leading the parade
Here’s Will (pictured in the middle) leading the parade. Well, behind the guy who was really leading the parade, a bagpipe player. A nice touch for the children’s parade, we thought.

Anyway, tomorrow we leave for Colorado, and I am thinking I won’t have Internet access for a couple of days. Probably a good thing. But stay tuned for details when access is available….

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Father’s Day!




Willtongue

Originally uploaded by steven_d_krause.

Actually, neither father’s day nor mother’s day are really that big of a deal around here. Annette was kind enough though to take my hint about our need for new cell phones, and she was persuaded by the numerous Verizon Wireless ads for two camera phones for the price of one. Or something like that. With the hassle of dealing with the rebate paperwork, it really is a pretty good gift to me.

Here’s one of the first pictures I took with this thing; I took it yesterday and I managed to figure out how to send it to my email account this morning. A bit of resizing with PhotoShop, and ta-da, picture of Will sticking his tongue out at me. Not too bad of quality, if you ask me.

Not much else on the agenda in terms of fatherly activities. We’re getting ready for a major roadtrip out west, so we have a ton of stuff to do around the house before we go. I have some large work projects, too. No steak dinner for me (I don’t want one anyway); just veggie burgers….

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Estabrook carnival fun (and the return of Annette)




Will in a barrel

Originally uploaded by steven_d_krause.

I meant to do this earlier, but Will and I have been busy today preparing for Annette’s return. Here’s a few highlights from day three and four of Annette on the road:

  • Will and I went to the video game store in the mall, and he bought the video game based on the movie Robots and I bought GranTurisimo 4, which is a driving game that is pretty freakin’ hard.
  • We went to the Estabrook end of the year carnival, which was a joy and a delight. Well, sorta. Actually, no. Dramatic weather rolled in and most of the activities were forced indoors. I found the thing kind of miserable, but Will seemed to like it. Here’s a link to a bunch of pictures.
  • Will and I ran various errands, which included a gelato stop, we had dinner, and then went to get Annette, who arrived safe and sound. She gave me a couple of snow globes, Will a t-shirt with a lot of bugs on it, and some sugary maple candy. She knows her boys…


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Friday afternoon time kill/meme

Okay, I never do this sort of thing, but I just got off the phone with Annette and I have about a half hour to kill and I don’t want to do anything productive. So I’ll do this meme, which I stumbled across here and here.

My uncle once: I don’t know, which one? My great Uncle Martin gave me a ride on a snowmobile a long time ago.

Never in my life: Have I jumped out of an airplane (nor will I).

When I was five: My kindergarten teacher was named Mrs. Cotton and we called her Mrs. Cotton-candy.

High school was: Okay; better for me than for most people, I think.

I will never forget: The night my son was born and I went home from the hospital to pick up some things and I noticed outside that the sky was full of stars.

I once met: Nobody– I can’t think of anyone “famous” that I’ve met.

Once at a bar: Just once? Um, I saw Detroit beat LA at 3 in the afternoon (said bar was in Hawaii).

By noon I’m usually: Ready for lunch.

Last night: I watched Detroit lose to San Antonio and I stayed up too late monkeying around on my computer.

If only I had: Uh, a million dollars, the concentration to finish writing my textbook, a decent chip shot.

Next time I go to church: I’ll certainly be sitting near my mother.

I have a confession to make: Uh-oh; did they catch me?

When I turn my head left: A poster that is a detail of a picture by Howard Finster.

When I turn my head right: A picture Will made when he was 3, a poster from the College Hill Arts Festival (in Cedar Falls), and a sleeping dog.

You know when I’m lying when: I brag about my chipping and straight drives.

Every day I think about: Umm, what’s for dinner, what will Will be like when he’s older, when will I write something really good, etc.

By this time next year: Getting ready to Europe and getting ready to be done teaching (again).

I have a hard time understanding: Math and foreign languages.

If I ever go back to school I’ll: …be WAAAAYYY too educated, but I’d probably study elementary education.

You know I like you when: Um, I’m not sure… if I invite you to dinner?

If I won an award the first person I’d thank is: Depends on the award, but probably Annette and Will.

My ideal breakfast is: Just coffee; or eggs (just the whites) mixed with cheddar cheese and Canadian bacon; or plain yogurt mixed with high fiber cereal with a bannana on the side (But I’m getting sick of eggs and my cholesterol is too high, so I think I am going to be eating the second one more and more…).

A song I love, but do not have is: Jeez, I don’t know; I’ve got like 4000 songs on my iPod right now….

If you visit my hometown, I suggest: Go by UNI, have coffee at Cup o’ Joe, go to the Ice House Museum, go to The Brown Bottle. Oh, and go during Sturgis Falls Days.

Why won’t anyone: Just do every single little thing that I tell them and do it exactly right?

If you spend the night at my house: You’ll probably be staying in the room I am in right now.

I’d stop my wedding for: Ah, I can’t really do that. I’m already married.

The world could do without: Oh so many things, but I’ll go with dumb people and ill-fitting pants.

I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: … think too hard about this metaphor. Icky.

Paper clips are more useful than: Watermellons (I’m getting kind of worn out by this at this point…)

If I do anything well: It’s writing and teaching. And maybe cooking.

And by the way: I’ve got to go walk the dog here soon.

The last time I was drunk: It depends on what you mean by “drunk,” but if you mean “DRUNK-drunk,” like can’t get up in the morning at all and/or pukin’ in the bushes drunk, that was a long time ago….

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Will the freakin’ NBA Finals start already, please?

I got Will to bed and sat down to watch the NBA Finals promptly at 9 pm, as advertised. There was some sort of little video montage on at the beginning, so I did a bit of channel surfing. A couple minutes later, I flipped back and the sports guy talking heads were saying the obvious– “Well Al, the team that wants to win is going to have to score the most points.” Okay, whatever.

More channel flipping and there’s some military guys bringing out the flag and Alanis Morissette, who’s there to sing the “National Anthem.” BTW, she apparently became an American citizen a couple days ago. I’m not sure I get that; Alanis says it’s because she loves the U.S. along with Canada, but I have to think there must be some kind of tax advantages or something. Anyway. I’ve heard the “National Anthem” before, so I don’t need to do that right now.

Flip-flip-flip, I take my time to get back, and when I do, there’s some kind of enormously elaborate, well, “half-time-show-like” show on, featuring Will “Once the Fresh Prince but now an actor who raps once in a while” Smith doing something. WTF?! Isn’t there a basketball game on tonight?

More flip-flip-flip, I decide to stay put for the stupidly elaborate introduction of the home team players, and finally, finally, the game starts, at 9:22.

Man, they better not pull this crap in Detroit….

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Millish: Go check ’em out!

I forgot to finish this post the other day: Just to add to the “action-packed” day that was Tuesday, we went to see the band Millish, which was having a “CD Party” kind of performance at The Ark in Ann Arbor. We went because one of the guys in the band, Tyler Duncan, is the son of a person we work with in the English department, but believe me, it wasn’t some kind of “favor” to a friend. These guys are really REALLY good.

They’re kind of a cross between Irish-folk, jazz, and whatever space there is between these two things. Click on the “listen” link on the Millish page and you’ll get an idea. I was too pooped after the show (recall my previous day’s golf marathon– sympathetic yet, Bill?) to wait in line to buy a CD, but I am hoping to talk to my colleague and make a special order. And they got bumperstickers, too.