"Hi everybody! Welcome to Twins baseball."
Well, maybe not, but that's my tribute to the late, longtime Twins sportscaster (of 45 years, no less) Herb Carneal.
Someone has big shoes to fill.
Well, my blogging really has been sporadic at best, for which i apoligize a little, but really must reluctantly admit that it has a bit to do w/my wrists/hands.....still. However, I am glad to announce that things are finally, in a sense, coming under control in that area of my life. I visited a hand specialist in orthopedics here at the University clinic in Columbia, and she helped me out and gave me some tips and a new brace. I think it's helping alot, but it's starting to get pretty stinky from wearing it so much.... perhaps it's overdue for a wash... Additionally, i may be trying a new drug this summer called Neurontin (feel free to Google- it's quite interesting), to help "re-calibrate" the pain-sensing nerves between brain and hands. I've certainly done my research, including consideration from 2 docs, but it has one ill-effect that i am not particularly fond of: drowsiness/sleepiness. Two considerations to take into account: 1) I'm already on Zyrtec for allergies which causes me to be a lil slower than my non-Zyrtec'd self ALL the time, and 2) I'm in graduate school & very busy. I just cannot afford to pack on another drug that would exhaust me completely; so, i may try it this summer.
Other than all this, I had a sinus infection about a month ago, but i managed to kill it. ha!
That's my health update! :) All on the uphill thus far.
The picture above is from spring break last week when i visited my family back in the Twin Cities. I successfully dragged my parents and brothers to the Weisman's current exhibit on Bob Dylan! It was alot of fun, with historic photos of Old and New Hibbing, early photos of the Zimmerman family, Dylan's note in a friend's high school year book telling her she "has the prettiest hair in school," and of course plenty of paraphenalia related to his writing, compositions, music installations, and even one of his experimental paintings. If you haven't checked this out yet, you simply MUST! It's free and open to the public everyday except Mondays on the Univ. of MN's East Bank campus in the Weisman Art Museum (the big shiny, silver building!)
Also, i managed to convince my family to visit the infamous "watchtower" of Dylan's musical memory: the Prospect Park witch's hat water/watchtower, just east of campus, down Univ. Ave. It was so cool! ..."All along the watchtower.....said the joker to the thief..."
Sometime in late February I rallied up the troops for a field trip to the RODEO! My camera's batteries ran out, so i didnt get many pics, but it was still a fantastic experience. I brought along Nate, and 3-4 friends for this lil outing. Did you know that to get the bulls to buck, they squeeze the hell out of the bulls testicles???!! If i were him, i'd be pretty upset too.... There was some "animal rights" discussions about this practice, in which i mostly agreed that this traditional practice does seem a bit absurd, but very interesting nevertheless. The rodeo put on the typical contests such as: calf roping, barrel racing, bull riding, etc. Did you know that horses can sweat profusely? And so visibly? I had no idea! Guess i never thought about it. But after contests the horses would be corralled and watered and would just stand there panting and dripping. Pretty amazing. I must say that the type of crowd the the rodeo draws is definitely your rough and tumble, cowboy/cowgirl, red-neck or blue-collar type crowd. It was obvious, but sometimes hilarious what the current clothing "fashions" were. Stetson wearers unite in this smokey, dirty, but energy packed, beer-slogging crowd for what really seems to be a family affair.
Currently, I am in the midst of my last month of classes. This means that i am pushing the last leg of the semester which includes feverish compilation of research and the composition of 3 research papers and their accompanying presentations of findings to my classes. Oh yeah, I have to finish strong in ancient Greek, too.... So let's just say that soon i will fall into the vast vacuum of paper writing, only to resurface sometime around May 11th.
I do have one fantastic announement to make: I got one of the 2 coveted museum assistantships offered to the group of graduate students in my dept. for next academic year! I am EXTREMELY excited and also extrememly grateful to the advising committee for realizing my path for more career/goal experience. YAY!!
Next time i write i'll update some more on my progress/timeline in school, and what ill be doing next year and more on future plans. For now, these things need a lil more thought.
In other news, Nate had a great work-trip to Boston where he visited the parent company of his employer: Meditech. He's doing well and being given more and more responsibility as time goes by. I think his employer (LSS Data Systems, of Eden Prairie & Minnetonka, MN) reallly likes him...... ;)
That's all for now!
xoxo
C
