I, Muehlenhaus. U, Riedermaus.

It's amazing what a difference a week makes. Whereas last week I was emotionally distraught, had a mountain of work accumulating on my office desk, and was really looking forward to a week off from lecturing, this week I am feeling much less miserable, have made a dent into the mountain of work that had accumulated on my office desk (notice: it is not still growing, which is a positive change), and I can't wait to get back into the classroom.

One reason for my positive outlook -- I not only finished coding 50 maps, but I figured out how to export my data from Atlas.ti into SPSS for descriptive analysis. I can now cross tabulate different maps in my sample for similarities and parallels among their visual manipulations. If this doesn't make sense to anyone, don't worry, I haven't figured out how to communicate it in words yet. That's what my dissertation chapters are for. Suffice to say that I overcame a huge methodological hurdle this weekend. It all works as I hoped it would! I can't believe it!

This doesn't guarantee interesting results, though. That is still something I have to keep my fingers crossed on, but so far I have uncovered enough preliminary information to present at the AAG conference and probably write a publication, which feels really good. In fact, recently I have been craving an opportunity to publish. Perhaps due to all of the job applications I wrote; I was stung by the writing and research bug again. It feels great, because I haven't felt this way since I was finishing my Master's thesis. It means I am finally researching something that interests me again. Yippeeeee!!!

Since I have been on a roll with applications recently, I decided to spend most of last night and three hours this morning writing a proposal and filling out an application for a fellowship. I have no idea if I have a chance for it, but I actually kind of missed applying for something this week (perhaps I am suffering from a warped, academic version of Stockholm Syndrome). So yesterday at around 4pm, I just sat down and started hammering out a six-page proposal. I finished it before 9pm, went downstairs and watched some TV with Birgit, and played a round of Venture. Then this morning I woke up, and since Birgit and Mette were still asleep, I decided I should proof and touch up what I wrote last night. I sneaked upstairs and worked on the proposal from 8 until 11 and it is now done. It feels great to throw something else out into the wide world of academic jobs and funding!

I still have a pile of grading to complete this weekend; so my attention now shifts to that. I shoveled and walked Mette around the lake this morning, so now Birgit and I are off to a coffee shop to spend the afternoon making finish the piles of papers that are perched perilously about our house -- on top of the couch backrest, on the edge of a coffee table, on the dining room table, on the edge of my desk, and even on our bedroom nightstands. She normally has more grading to do than I, but this week I think I have her beat. I dread the day that Mette gets bored and just snipes a student's paper and eats it.

That's about it. I think I have truly recovered from the Ben incident. I am sure it will be awkward at times, but I am past the feeling sorry for him, feeling sorry for me, being mad at him, being mad at me, and several other stages of grieving. Now I'm just kind of ready to make my cart class incredible, have fun teaching at Macalester, submit something for publication, wait to hear back from these job apps, and plan Birgit's and my trip to France this summer -- I'm going to be Godfather! Yeah!

I also received my midterm evaluations for Cartography. They were mostly positive. As is usual, students are asking me to slow down; so I will try my hardest. I just get a little carried away, but they are paying to take notes, so I need to give them a chance. The students seem to be enjoying the class, though, which is good. However, the sample size was a little small, which was disappointing. Still, it was good to get feedback from a class that is going to change dynamically once they hear how their TA died. I have decided to just be open about it; no sense trying to hide any shame. It is just plain sad.

Working on a map of African maize production now for a colleague at Macalester. Luckily I made one of global maize production some time ago, and because the data is vector, I just clipped out the rest of the world and resized Africa. Almost done!

Got three maps coded today for my dissertation, but the good news is that I set up Atlas.t/i with 103 codes and I am now ready to roll. I also met up with a student at Coffee News and chatted about Russia, Hungary, the current election, and extremist liberals. It was a great conversation and felt good to get back to school topics rather than dwell on life and death. I really enjoy chatting with students. It's what makes life worthwhile. Plus, I forgot how much I like dumpy cafes too... free refills!!!

Finally, I spent the late afternoon chatting with Kenny about existential stuff and Obama's incredible speech today. I caught the start of his speech on MPR while on my way home to let the dog out today, and I had to sit in my parked car in the garage and hear it to the end. It was awesome! Likely the best speech I have ever heard delayed one hour... the best in my life? Maybe. It was incredible. I am curious to see how the media can counter his speech -- they always have to look for some type of scoop. It was the most masterful use of rhetoric and argument I have ever witnessed. I highly recommend listening to it on NPR or wherever -- it is everywhere for free. Riveting stuff.

Yes, politics has got me out of my funk -- albeit briefly. Pitiful, I know.

Adam called from Estonia today. I'm happy for him. It was great to hear from him. It really sounds like things are looking up for him there. He even has a job with a California law firm! I wish I could explain, but I can't; let's just say it is quite the resume stuffer!

Enough... back to Africa. Must finish it tonight so I can start my next mapping project. I found the National Potato Council, and you won't believe this (whoever "you" are), but they have global potato yield and export data!!! I am going to make the best potato maps ever! It's the year of the potato after all. Birgit came up with the great idea to put a transparent potato skin in the ocean background. Oh yes!!!!!!!! Just not enough time... must get to work...

I was just feeling as though I was getting through this sh*t, and then at the funeral it turns out that Ben did not die from epilepsy. Let's just say it was far more tragic than that. He succumbed to "depression and anxiety."

It's an absolute tragedy now. Full blown. Here was potentially one of the most gifted, insightful, and stunningly bright cartographers to come along since MacEachren, heck maybe even Jenks, and nobody, including myself, thought to let him know that though grad school is tough, everything was going to be alright. Emotionally I keep flying between wanting to sob and wanting to scream right now. What the hell?! What the hell?! What the hell?! Why, Ben?! Why?!

I met with Ben last October at Mapps Cafe. I remember where we sat. I remember Adam walking to the trash can and emptying it and saying hello. Both Adam and Ben are gone now, but one is in Estonia and one is six-feet under. Weird. At Mapps I talked with Ben about how his first semester of grad school was going, and he said the program was not what he expected. That he was having a bit of a tough time with it. I remember telling him to hang in there. It doesn't matter if you are Penn State or the University of Alaska, the first semester of grad school is always a tough pill to swallow. It is so different from everything you know about university and everything you think it might be coming in. It is intense. And your brain feels like it is going to explode. It is boot camp for critical thinking and massive data dumping. I told him that a lot of people need shrinks or drugs (legal, of course, though some illegal) to get through grad school sane. Hell, I've seen plenty of shrinks; I love 'em! But he said he was doing fine, just a little stressed with all of the readings and work, which is to be expected.

Then the illnesses began -- first I heard of them were in early November. Missing classes. Rumors start to spread that Ben is seriously ill -- some kind of neurological disorder. I met with him again in December. This time at the Dunn Brothers Cafe in Wilson Library -- sorry, Mapps. He said the docs couldn't figure it out, but that he was feeling better. It was a neurological disease of some sort. He was going to finish a couple of papers over winter break and be done with the tough semester. The point is, I didn't see him screaming for help, because he was always very calm and collected when he spoke.

But sh*t, he was screaming for help. I just missed the signs!!! Calm and collected means caving in grad school, which is why you see most grad students pulling their hair out and very few faculty with any hair left to pull on. (Eyebrow plucking is a good substitute, I hear, but a little bit more eccentric.)

So this semester after starting off great, Ben stopped showing up to my lectures after I kindly asked him to be a little less outspoken during class because I got flustered when he would interject and add his two-cents. I re-emailed him several times to let him know that I asked him to be less outspoken because I respect him as a friend, and I didn't want to get bitter as the semester wore on. I noted that I couldn't wait until we were simply classmates again. I told him that I was sure he would be a great instructor of the same course someday. He didn't respond very much. He said sorry, and I said not to worry about it and that it was water under the bridge. But he stopped showing up to lecture, even when I made it clear that I would love to have him there because he is so knowledgeable. And then he stopped coming to the labs... and then the tragedy. And now I feel like a schmuck. He didn't die of epilepsy. Anxiety and depression "killed" him. Anxiety and depression...

Ben is my second friend to die. The second to end his own life. Some f*cking friend I am.

I figured that drinking was immature and a self-destructive way to deal with the loss of a friend. Running wasn't really an option either, because I'm simply out of shape. So after spending Thursday in shock and flailing about on Friday like a duckling that hasn't found his wings yet, I finally discovered my stability in the oddest of places -- work.

I started working on faculty applications that I have been poking at for about a month but have not had time or energy to work on. Without the need to plan lectures next week, I finally had the time and motivation to hammer out the eighteen different "statements" every school wanted. Statements on research interests, teaching philosophy, course proposals, teaching experience, research history, and how I will incorporate diversity into the classroom in a state that is 97% white. Each of these has to be copiously edited and trimmed and hemmed and composed so that you promote yourself to the extreme but do not come off as pompous, or even worse, as threatening to the faculty who will determine whether or not to hire you.

My friend Brian, who I forgot to call during this three day work-a-thon (18 hours a day), once noted that academics are the kids on the playground who were picked last for dodgeball. All they have are their smarts; and because of this, they never want to feel inferior in intelligence. And though I can proudly say that I was picked penultimately for dodgeball, right before an even smarter academic, Brian has a point. Academics rarely have anything but their wits and brains, and if they ever feel that those are threatened by another academic with wits, brains, and a personality, they close in like a pack of wolves around the runt of the litter. You see this at coffee hours (departmental speaker series) all the time -- a pure bloodbath just for the sake of a bloodbath. We're smarter than you, so don't mess with us!

It's a fine line. How do you apply for a job where you have to prove yourself smart enough to deserve an opportunity to join the posse, but where you don't want to come off as too talented or personable as it may result in your being discarded as glib. Not that I have to worry about coming off as too talented, as if anything I need to publish this year, but I've been told by my allies in academia that I could stand to toughen up my image more (read: become more of an arrogant ass). Note, these are my allies telling me this. They have my best interests at heart. They say that if I don't get snarly enough, the really snarly academics will be threatened and drive me out of whatever department I join someday. Academics, I guess, are supposed to seem serious and deep in thought all the time. It is our gimmick -- if we don't look serious and deep in thought, people may not take us as seriously as we want, it is argued. But the problem is this: I don't need people to take me seriously. I know I'm serious. I do serious work. I don't have to scare students into submission and be punitive with my paper comments and tests. If my instructors had been that way when I was an undergrad, I would not be here right now. But... holy cow, I'm digressing. Back on track, lad!

So these application statements are difficult to write. And they are scary to write, because you do not know who you are going to tick off. After sitting in on faculty meetings, I just know that whether or not I choose the phrase "manipulative maps" or "maps of manipulation" may result in a series of debates over whether or not I can define what I mean by "manipulation." You see, academics have to sound serious and smart, so there is a good chance that such a word flop might hold up an application for months or get it tossed out altogether. Truly stressing...

But then I reminded myself that these are my first true applications and that even if they do get tossed on the pile of rejects (read: recycling container in the hallway outside the prof's office), eventually I will apply to a department where such a mundane detail gets overlooked, and I may even get a job talk. And then... then I am pretty confident. I can do job talks. Though they freak me out, I would relish an opportunity to give a job talk. So yeah... now I just have to wait and see, and it all seems so trivial now that both applications have been filed electronically and Ben is still not here and I am going to his funeral tomorrow. It just kind of stings. Ben and I were going to be colleagues someday, finding post-doc jobs for one another's grad students. And suddenly he is just... gone. Out of the picture. I can still visit his Facebook profile, but he isn't really there. And he won't be having any grad students for me to find post-doc positions in my department for. Damnit!

So tomorrow, after I empty myself of all the water in my body via tear duct, I will grade. For the first time in my life, I am happy to have a pile of grading to do. I have three tests that are all partly graded. The cartography midterms are close -- I just have to grade their final question. I had them redesign a map of Kosovo, so that should be fun, but it will be hard not to think of Ben while grading these. Then I have the Human Geography midterms. My TAs graded those almost completely; so I just have to correct the short answers on those. And finally, I have the European map tests, which I foolishly decided to make really thorough for the students and hence a nightmare for me to grade. But luckily there are only nine tests to grade; so it should be feasible to finish them before 2019.

Anyway, I guess I'm still reeling. Not sure if anyone who knew Ben is reading this, but if so, his funeral details are posted below:

Monday, 11am
Visitation starting at 9:30am
Christ the King Church
51st and Zenith
Minneapolis, MN

My long time friend and current teaching assistant passed away this week. He had been battling epilepsy; however, he never let on just how severe his disease was. In fact, the last time we spoke about it he said they had figured it out and he might be off meds in two years and back to normal. Yet, there was something in the way that he said it that left me feeling as though he was straining to be optimistic, not necessarily realistic. That was Ben, though. Stoic; never complaining about anything.

I was flabbergasted this morning by the news. I called him yesterday and left a voice message for him, but it went right into his voice mail. He never showed up to teach his lab. At first I was a little irked, but in hindsight it all seems irrelevant. The last time I spoke to him he was apologizing profusely for not being able to make another lab, and I assured him it was alright and he just needed to worry about beating "this thing." (Thing? What was it? I'm not sure he or anybody knew what it was. Last fall he just began having seizures and blacking out. He spent January on medication, in bed, sick. He was unable even to talk on the telephone or email. The doctors couldn't figure it out.)

So today I lost a friend, a fellow map geek, a colleague, and a former student (I was his TA in 2006). I feel sick. I am kind of zoned out and clueless today. In hindsight, spring break couldn't be coming at a better time.

I'm posting his first ever map using FreeHand or Illustrator. He was one of about two students in the class that semester that put time into making good looking maps and actually learning how to use a graphics program. It showed in his work. Several weeks ago he told me he was gravely disappointed that when his last computer crashed he lost this map forever. He had not backed it up. At the time I had an inkling that as the TA I may have had a copy still. I did not rush home to find it, because I figured I would find it at some point during the semester and give it to him at the end for a job well done. I came home today, turned on my external hard drive, and found it relatively quickly. I only wish he could have seen it one more time... in case you can see it now Ben -- Job well done. Job well done.

Stellar article that sums up why voting for Clinton instead of McCain or Obama is reprehensible. (Of course, in my humble opinion this article is right on, but I am also a political idiot. Still, it is my blog, so I can post my humble opinion.)

Labels: Ian falling on his tusch while going 1 m.p.h. Photographer: Glen Leslie

I spent my Friday evening at Macalester College celebrating "Founders' Day." No one seemed to know what we were celebrating, nor who the founder of the college was. I have to presume he was Scottish, as there were a bunch of bagpipes and men walking around in kilts carrying cake. (I'm serious, they were carrying this huge wedding cake that took four people to move. Not sure what that was about, but I will ask my students on Monday.)

Doesn't matter what the celebration was about. Everyone was there for the free booze the school was giving to students and faculty. They had some elaborate bracelet system for making sure we were all 21 years-old. And then you could have any two drinks you wanted for free.

A student earlier in the day had notified me that they had figured out how to forge the "drink tickets" the previous year, and that they were ready to get more than their two. But the first person I met after getting through security was the former Provost, and he said that last year students had figured out how to make counterfeit tickets; so they had created an elaborate system with the tickets attached to the blaze orange wristband. It was interesting to get the two different perspectives on this -- the students versus the administration. This year the battle went to admin, but by next year I am sure the students will be on to them and get the initiative back.

It was pretty fun just hanging out with students, chatting, and listening to them talk about grad schools, all over the noise of a less than outstanding salsa band.

This weekend is action packed... as long as you realize that "action packed" is a relative phrase. My weekend compared to a skydiver's or an Iraqi family's is probably pretty tame. I'm dog watching this morning while writing cover letters to several universities. Meeting up with Darren this afternoon. Then perhaps going to Glen's this evening. Creating a midterm this evening for Human Geography if I don't go to Glen's. (Hmm... which sounds more fun?) Tomorrow I get to grade my Central European Geography students' first paper -- on the mob in each country. I graded one yesterday. It was hilarious in a harrowing sort of way. My Bulgarian student wrote a stellar review of the Bulgarian mob since 1990. It is comprised almost entirely of former Bulgarian weight lifters and wrestlers! Unbelievable story! I'm going to see if I can't post it at some point, assuming he gives me permission. I also get to read about the mob in Romania, Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Moldova. It will be fun and enlightening!

Well, I best get to it, I suppose. Pisti is not a Ron Paul supporter after all. I'm saddened by this development. But I forgot about our theory of not voting, Istvan... mental lapse on my part due to far too many pints that night. I recant my support for any candidate from this point forward. They are all complete bastards! Done. (Thanks for reminding me of our pact, Istvan. And remember, train your children not to vote and legitimate the tomfoolery of democracy!)

P.S. Adam, what the hell am I listening to right now? It is called Adjagas or something. I think I got it from you. It sounds like a bunch of Finns imitating the death songs of a clubbed seal. I love it!!! Where are they from? And what did you think of "Lost" this week?

Lost took on a new twist tonight. I won't spoil it, as Adam can't watch it until 22:00 Estonian time tomorrow or some crazy thing. Anyway, intense. The show is picking up the pace. I'm not sure what's going on anymore. But I do know this: Ben is one bad ass! And Hurley can play horseshoes!

That's about it from here. Had a good day. Went to Mapps Cafe and met with the Turkish owner. He is a really nice guy. Worked in Wilson Library for quite a few hours, reviewing the map proposals my students turned in today for their final projects. There are some really awesome topics -- my personal favorite being vineyards, grape types, and precipitation in the Napa Valley. Oh yes!

I can't believe it is almost Friday! I can't believe it is almost Spring Break. I can't believe how tired I am and that I am going to actually leave the last blog post up. Surely this will cost me a job someday, but hell, I really think the two family thing is being too easily overlooked. It is disgusting.

But this blog has become way too political. I guess that is what you get when you follow the polls online constantly, get four emails a day with a round up of the previous day's political turmoil, and get depressed when you watch your candidate who was sailing suddenly plummet because of some cheap shots -- including Hillary Clinton's campaign calling Canada and somehow Obama getting accused of doing so. Yeah, check out the Drudge Report tonight or tomorrow morn.

Lost... Adam, check it out so we can swap theories!!!

Mark my words, in 2016 this guy will be running for President and probably win. Recognize any similarities with the evil bastards below? Hmmm... Let's see.

It started with this fellow back in 1980, surprisingly securing the Vice Presidential nod from Ronald Reagen even though he was not a standard politician. He was the bloody CIA Director. Let's see... that was 28 years ago. Let's see how many new people get a shot at power after this.

The change candidate! The change candidate! He's here for the working stiff... but oh, yeah, he is a neoliberal democrat; so he is also interested in backing big businesses. Oh dear... conflict of interest. Signs NAFTA into law. Opens all trade with China. Gives away secret satellite technology to China for a promise that they will further open their markets. Then pardons a bunch of criminals that make Scooter Libby look like a petty theft the day before he leaves office. Turns out Hillary's brother was their lawyer -- he made a pretty good penny from his drug dealing clients.

And then you get the compassionate conservative. (Read: worst President in history.) The guy who cares about people that work hard. (Read: execs at Enron and Halliburton.) But he's got to finish the work his dad started but, in Cheney's eyes, failed to finish in 1991. He's got to show Saddam that no one messes with his family. (Don't forget, one reason he gave for invading Iraq was: "This man tried to kill my father. Let's face it. He's an evil man.") No WMDs, but a major family grievance. Brilliant!

First months in office, he gets in a confrontation with China because their plane buzzes one of our spy planes. Unfortunately, they now have the missile technology to shoot down our planes and space satellites (see above on Clinton), so there is little to be done against them. They keep the plane long enough to steal some of our spy technology too. D'oh!

And like George Bush coming back to finish the unfinished business of the Original George Bush, Hillary now appears desperate to get back into the White House to set the Clinton legacy back on track. Hopefully she does a better job than "W" did with the Bush one. I mean, he invaded Iraq and made it to Baghdad, which his dad was clever enough to avoid doing, but "W" never made it out.

Seems like it could not get any worse, but of course, I've learned my lesson -- it surely can! However, I can't really imagine how someone who scrapes her way to victory by bludgeoning every moral, ethic, and rule of math in her path -- "I'm a fighter!" -- can possibly redeem the fact that her husband is only the second President in history to be impeached. (Granted: it was an abuse of power to impeach him, but he was dumb enough to lie about something as mundane as having sex. I mean, he was already in his second term; so he could have just fessed up and not worried about reelection.) In my mind Hillary has already made the Clintons look worse; I guess, actually, Bill has too with his temper flaring on the campaign trail. I really can't fathom that Hillary can win a national election, but let us just presume that she does. (After all, she and Bill seem like they are going to steal the Democratic nomination; so a national election is not a stretch.)

Here is my prediction that no one will remember in eight years, but I will at least have it on record:

If Hillary wins the election this year, Jeb Bush will run in 2016. If she loses, Jeb will still probably run in 2016, but there is the off chance that McCain may die in office or not seek reelection (like LBJ, quit four years into a 100 year war), in which case Jeb could run in four years. Regardless, if Hillary wins we will have a Bush or Clinton in the White House (okay, so George Sr. was at Mount Vernon for some of it, but let's face it Reagan was losing his marbles while in office, so George was calling some of the shots)... so we will have two families in charge of the country for at least 32 years in a row (probably 36 if Hillary wins as an incumbent).

So let me get this straight... some Democrats are scared to elect someone without experience. Sure, sure they. It makes sense; two families have been hogging the Big House, man! What I can't figure out is this: if you keep electing two families to power, over and over, do you have a democracy? Or is it a circus? How is it really different from Russia's hand picked successions? I mean, Hillary has lost, but she is going to steal the nomination anyway, because she is handpicked by powerful DNC people.

Well, it's a theory. Totally off the cuff and crazy. I'm partially just putting this out there hoping I am completely wrong, but I fear I won't be.

One final thing:
This is kind of creepy too, but what are they putting in the water over there at Yale? Every one of the people above (although, I'm not sure about Jeb Bush) is a graduate of Yale University. Both Clintons, both Bushes -- Yale graduates. At least Obama is Harvard (maybe that's what they mean by inexperience... he hasn't gone to Yale like every good President should). I mean come on, even Kerry went to Yale!!! What is this crap?!

Lost is going off the deep end and it is taking my sanity with it. Adam has a stellar theory about why people heal quickly on the island -- see his comment underneath my previous entry. I have to think about this... blowing my mind.

The morning has been chaotic! My TA called in sick for lab today, which in general would not be a big thing, but I have to teach at a different university during lab; so I cannot cover for him. After much scrounging and several frazzled emails, a colleague of mine agreed to show up and make sure no one walks out with computers or anything. Still, it has resulted in my morning being spent on upgrading a Moodle site and sending out mass emails to different students with different directions. It is madness!

I'm not complaining. I love the cartography class probably more than any other I have ever taught. They are making stellar maps and I am proud of them. It's hard to get as stoked about your students memorizing states and capitals as it is to get exuberantly happy when you see that they are beginning to design great looking maps!

But I was going to write a cover letter for a job today, and that has gone down the drain. Tomorrow's lecture still needs to be finalized for Cartography and Friday's Human Geography lecture needs to be created from scratch. I will have my work cut out for me. I blame Chris Matthews -- I was up way too late watching election coverage.

It is getting old quickly. I don't really feel invested anymore, which is probably the result of a successful battle of attrition by Hillary Clinton. I just know I will never vote for Hillary Clinton; so if the Democrats nominate her, they lose this moderate's vote. Everything about her campaign reminds me of why I couldn't vote for Al Gore in 2000 and abstained altogether -- the Clinton legacy is brutal, corrupt, and merely power hungry. In hindsight, I wish I would have known how separated Gore was from the Clintons -- notice he hasn't taken a side in this event yet. I would have voted for him, but he won Pennsylvania anyway; so I don't feel too bad. It wasn't like I was voting in a state he needed to win (e.g., his home state of Tennessee where he lost). But the point is, the Clintons are pretty evil. I am not willing to vote out one evil President to install the other dynastic option. I would rather have a John McCain. I want to see what happens when he has a stroke in office and his evil side-kick (read: mean looking wife) takes over. I can only imagine how surreal this might get. It will be like when Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated, except instead of someone promoting world peace you will have an evil step-mother at the helm.

I'm not even making sense. Back to my work. But I couldn't resist a little political commentary today, now that my readership is up to four-and-a-half people a day. Ha!

Estonia makes up an insane proportion of that 4.5 too. We'll award Estonia 2.5 delegates to 1.5 delegate for everywhere else. But beware of the superdelegates, Adam!

Well, this is it. The final showdown. It looks like Hillary will get the nomination. Barack's afterglow has begun to fade. Hillary can't win the national election, though; so really it looks like the country is going to be subjected to another four years of Republicans in the White House. Could be worse -- we could have Pakistan's political system right now.

But who cares about politics! Today is the greatest day ever for Packers fans -- at least according to the two I know. Favre is finally hanging up his cleats! That S.O.B.! Rogers should have been the starting quarterback several years ago! I'm really happy that redneck, painkiller-poppin' dude is done. I may even become a Packers fan now. Seriously... simply because Packers football parties are more fun than Vikings ones. More cheese and sausage and those little hot dog things.

That's about it from here. Data acquisition today in cartography... fun!!!

I spoke with Adam today. It was great to chat with him again. He finally caught me using Skype. Last time he called from Estonia I was in the middle of my European Geography class at Macalester listening to a student give his report on Estonia. It was a really bizarre coincidence. I felt the phone vibrating in my pocket and only later realized it was Adam. Craziness!

I'm glad to hear he is doing well over there. Got away from the Baltic Times and is now running with the local coffee shop mafia! Has to leave Estonia to stay there legally and because the damn Schengen Agreement keeps expanding he is basically forced to run to Macedonia or Turkey. Bizarreness!

But the coolest thing is that he got back into Lost while he was over there. So much to talk about concerning not the Russian minority, or how exhausting teaching is, or how weird it is that a coffee shop mogul wants to have Adam start a second chain for him and is willing to fly him to Macedonia on the coffee shop's tab... but Lost! I am hooked after last week's episode, and now Adam is watching it over there and there is this social connection. You know how friends lose contact or things over which to relate when they are separated for a long time? (By the way, I don't know who "you" are, but I figure if you have read this far I must know you so I will speak to you as a friend.) Well, with the modern network society that we live in, it is possible to maintain a social connectedness that would not otherwise exist. I remember way back in the early 90s, when I was stuck in Hungary with no phones, no email, and a really unreliable, shitty postal system. There was no way to keep a "constant," as they would call it in Lost, between there and home. But now we have constants! It is great. Even if it is merely a television show. I can't go to Bullwinkles with Adam and hypothesize about how much salt it takes to tear out the roof of my mouth anymore, but I can chat with him about Jack's odd disposition toward Aaron.

I am struggling to make sense tonight. I just spent 12 hours preparing slides for Cartography this week and experimenting with Mapublisher. It was really fun. I also crafted a map test for my European Geography class, put together an assignment for my Human Geography one, and outlined the semester up to Spring Break.

Time for bed, I guess. I'm nervous about Tuesday, but you know... if I am right about the Democrats not being able to win an election handed to them on a platter, I will feel a little redeemed. Even if it means the US economy and the world's stability is destroyed for another four years. At least I can pull that pompous "told you so" mentality that I try so hard to hide from everyone but Birgit. Of course, the problem is that everybody can say "told you so" about something; so I would prefer having to say it about something else, like... "I told you they would let people up the Leaning Tower of Pisa again someday." But if I have to settle for John McCain winning being my moment, I guess I will. Beggars can't be choosers.

Another week... I'm going to have fun, Damnit!