First of all, congratulations to Bill Henninger, Lynzey Henninger Gallagher, and my other friends who completed the Dam to Dam 20k in Des Moines yesterday! (I believe Dam to Dam is one of the largest 20ks in the world. Of course, 20k is not a common distance to run. Just saying.) I've run it several times and I think it's one of the most-organized and friendly races I've done.
My summer goal is to blog everyday. I’m not sure if or when I will run out of things to write about. Most days I look forward to sitting down to write. It’s enjoyable and makes me feel productive. At least more productive than watching TV or randomly surfing the internet.
Tomorrow is the start of summer orientation. I will be working at summer orientation on campus every weekday for the next 7 or so weeks. However, it only adds up to about 15 hours a week--certainly not all day everyday. Along with teaching my online summer classes and some aerobics classes, it should keep me about as busy as I want to be.
There is something I really like about summer orientation. Incoming freshmen, as a whole, tend to be excited about college. Some of them are scared. Some of them are not scared enough. However, most of them are enthusiastic about a new beginning. They know that they can reinvent themselves to some extent, and they hope to leave behind things about themselves that they don’t like. They see college as an opportunity. I also notice that they have a certain level of respect for professors. Professors are a big deal to them. Unfortunately, that respect will last until about October.
So, summer orientation is fun. There are no “problem students” yet. All incoming freshmen are in good academic standing. Of course, this will change. Of the students I work with at orientation, some will flunk out, some will drop out, some will stick around but be headaches for faculty and staff…but I don’t think about that at orientation.
Speaking of college…This morning I was half-watching a lame but somehow addicting movie on Lifetime called, “The Party Never Stops.” I was flipping through the channels and somehow got hooked. That happens with Lifetime movies. (In a related thought, I think Lifetime movies are where formerly well-known actors and actresses go to die.) The movie is about binge drinking on college campuses and its consequences (bad grades, OWIs, alcohol poisoning, death, etc.). It’s sort of like an afterschool special, if you are old enough to remember those. Very predictable with mediocre acting and a well-intentioned message. Typical Lifetime movie.
Every once in a while, I get hooked on a Lifetime movie as I am flipping stations. Not coincidentally, this is often when I have a long to-do list and little time to waste. And when the movie ends, I always think about how I’ll never get those two hours back.
Later in the day, I got addicted to a marathon on the Big 10 Network of “Journey: Big 10 Basketball 2011.” (I am inserting the link here in case you want more info--I recommend it.) Although I am a college basketball fan, I don’t following the Big 10 particularly closely. Yet a documentary following a season of a college basketball conference is certainly my thing. I hope they do it again next year. I really hope someone does one following the MVC, but my husband and I might be the only ones to watch it. Because I love college basketball and documentaries, I would love it if people made more documentaries about college basketball.
For as busy as people tend to perceive me to be, I watch a lot of TV. Here is what I did today: Got up, ate breakfast, watched TV, ate lunch, took a nap, got up, watched TV, ran about 5 miles with Bill, walked to Kwik Star to get a soda, and watched more TV. I know people who don't have a TV. This is difficult for me to fathom. I think I would actually give up my bed before I'd give up my TV. I'm not proud of that. And don't even start me on DVR. DVR is one of the great miracles of the world. I would give up one of my fingers to keep DVR. And I am NOT kidding, unfortunately. I wish I were.
Just an aside: If you've ever thought about starting a blog, blogger.com makes it easy and fun. No, I am not getting paid or reimbursed in any way to say this. The blog was simple to start, and it's fun to see the stats about how many people are reading your blog and where they are from. I can also see which of my blog entries are the most popular, which is interesting. Blogger is free to use, as well. I should say that I don't have any experience with any of the other blog options out there. Maybe they are great as well. My point is that writing a blog is easy, even if you are not tech-saavy. If you've considered it, don't let the technical aspects stop you.
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