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In madison, only got a couple hours sleep last night. Met with a student sat in on a class, talked with the prof. Still not quite sure how to lronounce “Lafollette”.

My impression is a little shaky. It’s a small school, there would be definite personal attention, and a fair amount of freedom to pursue my education as I saw fit, including an established public affairs/urban planning double masters.

The one course I sat in on left me wanting to give the answers most of the time, which isn’t entirely heartening, and while they talk about a firm quantitative grounding, I think mine is already firmer. I also think the research doesn’t tend to be as sophisticated/groundbreaking/whathaveyou as at cal. Too bad I didn’t get in there. Cry me a river. Next in line please.

I’m going to hold out and see what the other schools look like, but currently learning towards umn, with uwisc as 2nd choice. Will be further informed by more visits.

So, as it turns out, I’m going to be in chicago tonight, madison tomorrow, and chicago again friday night through tuesday evening. Those wishing to see me in that span should call me. I may have internet access and if so, commenting here would work too. =)

Uh, yeah, that’s all I can think of at the moment. =)

And my back (but not my wrist) is sore from gymnastics last night, and my knees have a minor case of trampoline burn. First time in several weeks. Whee. =)

Ro and I recieved a stop-work order from boeing on friday. Ro is convinced that this is a temporary glitch. Then he tells me today that it’ll probably be “at least a week”. I’m glad he gets paid enough that this is not a problem for him. I, alas, do not. Fortunately, I have recieved a paycheck since the raise. So, I’m not totally screwed.

Otoh, it seems that my plans for a transcontinental bike trip were fiscally optimistic _before_ this. Now they seem just plain bonkers. I’m going to attempt to get a summer internship far more vigorously. I’ll try to compromise and do an “up the west coast ride” at least to portland, maybe as far as vancouver. A major part of the expense, though, is equipment. Like a tent, sleeping bag, and by far and away the most expensive, a bike that won’t leave me hating life on the second or third day. =)

So, for the past week we’ve had a succession of visitors. Simon’s friend/long-ago-ex, who works for PIRG and lives in Chicago now. She is alot of fun. And she carries around a backpack that is damn near as large as she is. Also some would be cal cs grad students. And michael from the clinic, currently attending grad school at georgetown (whose couch has served in our garage since early fall).

I like the house bustling like this. And I’m sad to see Ellen go. She’s tempting me to chicago with promises of roommatehood. Not like I needed additional social temptation to move to chicago. =) She also studied alot of political theory and has many interesting things to say. I should read up on that topic, as I’m sure it’ll come up from time to time in grad school. Along with history, statistics, and american government 😉

My dad, as I’ve said many times, though not often on here, is the chief medical officer for the Ohio National Guard. It looks like my dad will likely be doing a several (3 or 6, can’t remember which) month tour of duty in Iraq. He’s hoping for sometime around october. I think his feelings about it parallel Ira’s.

When he was in the navy during the vietnam war, he was kept far from the front lines due to a leg length discrepancy, and bad vision. He’s in no better shape now. I have some concern, but there ain’t much I can do about it, and I’m not worrying about it.

I went to the annoucement ceremony for the new face of the organization formerly known as “Dean for America”. I had read that it was supposed to be called “Democracy Freedom Action”. I’m glad it is instead titled “Democracy for America”.

I showed up 15 minutes early, which was late enough that I did not get a seat. In fact, I just barely got up to the front of the people standing. Thus, I had as good a view as anyone there (nobody had a good view during the standing ovations). I like the vision he articulated, not that it’s news to anyone who knew his policy positions in the presidential campaign. He also talks much more about grass roots activism and guiding people into roles in which they can make a difference. Sadly, I think execution is lagging behind in that regard.

He talked about “Dean Corps”. Some notion of a community service group. Which is great, though I hope I am mis-remembering about his name being a prominent part of it.

There were definitely members of the cult of dean. And I got a sense that a pretty significant subset of the crowd agreed with the sentiment “I believe in everything you stand for, and support you fully, so long as I don’t actually have to exert effort.” A mindset that I admit I can empathize with, but find less than productive.

I was disappointed by the bid for candidacy, not so much the withdrawal from active campaigning (that was more an acknowledgment of reality), but the way I heard what I wanted to hear, and fell for the echo chamber effect. I’d like to be involved in the organization and extending its message to a broader audience. It seems to match my professional goals (particularly increasing the involvement in a public dialogue, increasing community engagement, etc, etc) to a T. Well, I’m not sure about the ‘getting paid’ part, but we shall see.

Friday I stepped out on our back porch and noticed the beautiful sunset. If the view isn’t as stunning as it is from , , and ‘s living room, neither is it as blinding 😉

But the real point is that I’m only going to have so many more (less than 60) opportunities to see the sunset from our porch. I should take advantage of those that remain.

Got the ‘No’ from berkeley. Somewhat disappointing, but not surprising.

Trying to arrange times to check out the various midwestern schools and programs I’ve recieved offers from (will probably include umn, on the assumption that I will get in). Before mid-april. I’m sure Ro will be thrilled, as in pissed that I’ll be out, rather than working on the project. Must also finish fafsa and issue a slew of invitation type things for 3 or 4 different events. Joy.

I think I’m going to arrange to spend a weekend in chicago, hopefully see and what not.