2004
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Christmas Eve, with Ukukele and Harmonica
in HometownIts Christmas Eve here in Fargo and the evening is winding down. Since my brothers and their families are with the in-laws this year, it’s just mom, dad, and I. Earlier we had a few other folks over after church to share a Scandinavian meal of Swedish meatballs, potatoes, potato sausage, and lefsa, with rice…
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Walking and Chewing Gum
in DissertationOf course there’s great irony in the fact that just as I’m writing an article on place blogging, I’m spending very little time either blogging or venturing very far beyond the space in front of my computer screen. In my darker moments, I fear that this is just an inherent part of academic work, the…
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Ecotone Bi-Weekly Posts: A Modest Analysis
in DissertationIn prepraration for my interview with Pica from Feathers of Hope a couple weeks ago, I put together a modest quantitative overview of the Ecotone bi-weekly topics, just to get a better sense of who was posting to the site. The results are listed below:Date range: June 15, 2003-November 15, 2004 Basic Stats Topics: 34…
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HawaiiStories
in WeblinksAbout Us.. Essentially, HawaiiStories is a a storytelling community, a gathering place where web-savvy islanders and islanders-at-heart share their thoughts — be they random epiphanies, poignant observations, anecdotes, rants, questions, lyrics, poems, or anything else, really. Hawai`i is what ties the people together, but the things they share cross the whole spectrum of everyday life.…
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Short with Delicate Wrists
Today I went to Boston Medical Center for the first time to take part in a BU med school research study on osteoporosis in men. I went primarily for the $75 I would earn for my hour and a half; what I learned was that I’m not the person I thought I was.As it turns…
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Thanksgiving in Fargo
in HometownI’m back in the mellow haze of Thanksgiving, that good tryptophan groove that starts after the dinner and then just gets better after the late evening round of turkey-stuffing-potatoes-gravy. This food-induced trip is part of an actually trip back to Fargo, where I’m spending a couple of days with mom, dad, and my oldest brother’s…
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Segways on Heartbreak Hill
in BikingYesterday morning as I was riding up Commonwealth Avenue by Boston College, on the backside of Heartbreak Hill on the Boston Marathon route, I saw to young men gliding down the sidewalk on Segway Human Transporters at about 10 mph. It was suprising, to say that least, and I had no idea who these people…
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Commitment Rituals
Yesterday when I made public my profession of love for Boston, several folks responded with some insightful reflections on the nature of commitment to place. I should add that it took me six years to finally say "I love you", which indicates the commitment issues I’ve been having. It’s also a bit frustrating that I…
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Breakfast with Fred
in DissertationBiking to Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge: 750 caloriesOverpriced hotel orange juice: $4Overpriced breakfast sandwich $9Conversation with Fred: pricelessAfter three and half hours of conversation about blogging, place, education, and life, we were just getting warmed up, and by the end of the moring I felt a genuine intellectual kinship with this person that I…