New Bikes on Campus

North Central College, where I am taking my grad classes, has purchased 20 refurbished classic looking red bikes and given them to students. All students. All the bikes have locks with the exact same combination so if you see one on campus and want to take a ride you are welcome to. It's kind of like the bike program at University of Wisconsin - Madison. The seats are kind of high which makes getting on with a backpack kind of a challenge but the ride is oh so smooth. It's a nice little surprise to walk out of a class and see that you can take a bike ride home instead of walking.

If I Were Rich...

I would subscribe to these journals, quarterlies, magazines, etc...
When would I find time to read them though?

1. The Paris Review ($40 / year -> 4 issues)
   
2. * McSweeney's ($135 / year -> #2-4 on list)
   
3. Wholphin
4. The Believer
5. The Virginia Quarterly ($32 / year -> 4 issues)
   
6. * Cabinet ($32 / year -> 4 issues)
   
7. Tin House ($19.95 / year -> 4 Issues)
   
8. Indiana Review ($28 / 2 years -> 4 Issues)
   
9. Alaska Quarterly Review ($10 / year -> 2 Issues)
   
10. The Kenyon Review ($40 / year -> 4 issues)
    
11. Ploughshares ($24 / year -> 3 issues)
    
12. the tiny ($12 / issue)
    
13. The Threepenny Review ($25 / year -> 4 Issues)
    
14. n+1 ($28 / year -> 2 issues)
    
15. National Geographic ($34 / year -> 12 issues)
    
16. Five Points ($20 / year -> 3 issues)
    
17. Creative Nonfiction ($29.95 / 4 issues)
    
18. * Foreign Affairs ($32 / year -> 6 issues)
    
19. Third Coast ($24 / year -> 2 issues)
20. X-tra ($24 / year -> 4 issues)
21. The Gettysburg Review
22. Shenandoah
    

* = already a subscriber

(Just jotting them down somewhere for the future - unless you want to order a couple for me, lifetime subscription preferred)

Sitting in Oliver

Went to pick up Oliver today from the car-fixer only to find that the car hadn't been fixed.
Things still wrong:

1. The convertible top wasn't installed correctly
2. The wax job was horribly streaky
3. Two dents on the quarter panels
4. Flat left front tire

Awesome.
They've had the car since 9/08/07 why not let them keep it a few more days...

Wedding Photos

I just noticed that we didn't take photos of the bride and groom. I guess there will be enough of those floating around that I can post those later.

Driving to the Lou

Aunt Shelly and Uncle Ben as Readers

Escorting mom

Kyle showing off "The Sprinkler"

Sarah and Kyle share a laugh

Me and the GP's

A few of the 1,000 lucky paper cranes

Still Sore, an update

It's been a few days and I'm still recovering. Even though the car that hit me was going relatively slowly, it is surprising how sore I am. I hit my head pretty good on the seat and had a headache for a day or so. But I didn't think my body got jostled as much as it did. I was tired at school the next day and my back and neck are still sore. I don't feel like I need to get "checked out" so this shouldn't be read as complaining. Anyway, I'm without a car now and now get to take the train to school which isn't so bad. I've already contacted the other driver's insurance and I go to get an estimate of the damages tomorrow after school and then I can send in the accident report to the state. I guess now I wait for the Claims agent to call me so that he can do an assessment.

My sister got married this weekend so I'm sure the drive down to Saint Louis and back didn't do much good. But on a different note, it was a really fun wedding; I'm glad that my sister is happy. I'll post pictures sometime. Even though for a while there when we were growing up it didn't look like we were going to be on speaking terms because of my constant pestering, I'm proud to call her one of my closest friends nowadays. Funny how things have a way of working out.

And her friends! At some point between while I was in high school and now, my sister's friends have transformed from annoying, young girls that were seemingly out to ruin my enjoyment into cool people doing cool things like living in Detroit or student teaching in Costa Rica. It used to be that the only thing that we had in common was mutual disdain but now we can talk about travel and music and experiences with nothing but admiration. Crazy. Anyway my sister is off to Honeymoon in Hawaii. I look forward to seeing her pictures when she gets back.

My other sister and I had a nice time hanging out together while after-wedding pictures were being taken in the park. I'll be damned if she isn't one of the coolest kids out there.