So we have previously published a post about our summer kick off at Sonic but as it turns out we were done so here's part 2:
Our summer kick off has actually now involved 3 trips to Sonic. The three stages of a great summer kick off include half price shakes after 8pm, slushes during Happy Hour, and 50 cent corn dogs and National End of School Day. We have officially completed the triple crown. We have already related the tale of our delicious shakes. On Memorial Day we spent several hours hiking and on our way back to town decided that a refreshing drink would hit the spot, and yes, it was between the hours of 2 and 4pm so Sonic Happy Hour was the obvious choice. Arthur ordered a sweet green tea and I indulged in a green apple slush. Later in the week Sonic had 50 cent corn dogs to celebrate the end of school. Like I said earlier we are not impacted by the end of the school year but corn dogs is reason enough to celebrate. I was doubly excited since this meant I wouldn't have to fix supper. We walked down to Sonic, ordered a bag of delectable corn dogs, and had a picnic. The ironic thing was that our topic of conversation throughout dinner was paleo diets. (Paleo diets are focused on eating natural meats and produce, avoiding processed food items and grains-- especially processed meat on a stick covered with a grain based fried batter.) We decided that if you can't eat corn dogs it can't be that much fun. We then strolled across town with me rambling on about how much I love summer, especially sitting on the porch in the evening. We currently don't have much of a porch to sit on and not a lot of activity to watch from our porch so we walk around and look at everyone else's front porches. We ended up at the pool and purchased our swim passes for the year. On the way home we talked about all we have planned and want to do this summer-- go canoeing, hike some mountains, enjoy a few good books, eat ice cream, listen to the city band concerts, grow tomatoes, eat burgers, etc. Stay tuned for reports from our upcoming Super Sonic Summer. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Half Marathon
After 10 weeks of training, a few blisters and muscles cramps, it was finally time to run my half marathon. The race was the inaugural Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon. What could be better than running through the Flint Hills, the town of Manhattan, K-State's beautiful campus, and finishing at Bill Snyder Family Stadium-- it didn't take much to talk me into this race. It also turned out to be a family and friends affair as my older brother and my best friend with whom I ran hundreds of miles over the years through track and cross country were joining me in running the half marathon. My cousin and another friend from college were signed up for the 5K. The best thing about the weekend was even if running was miserable at least there would be some great company.
One Friday evening my friend Hillary and cousin Eleanor came over for a pre-race pasta dinner. We enjoyed the carbo loading as well as eating Hillary's caramel brownies. Frankly, the only reason Hillary talks me into doing some of these races is because she promises brownies. They are delicious-- even worth running 13 miles for. Saturday morning Arthur willingly woke up at 5am to drop off my brother and I at the shuttle bus. We met Hillary there and the bus took us out the the starting line which was 8 miles out of town. We got to the starting line about an hour before the race started so we milled around in a field with all the other runners trying to stay warm. We did come across several other people that we knew so the time passed quickly between catching up with old friends, standing in line for the porta potty, and stretching or warming up. Earlier in the week one of my co-workers was asking about the race and we were discussing the weather forecast which was calling for rain during the entire race. He made the comment that if it was any other event there wouldn't be a great turn out if the weather was bad but runners on the other hand seem to flock to unpleasant circumstances-- getting up before dawn on a Saturday, standing in the cold, undaunted by rain, wind, or other weather phenomenon, just to inflict a few hours of pain on one's self for the fun of it.
The course started out on Bill Snyder Highway, the 8 miles of highway leading into Manhattan from I-70 through the heart of the Flint Hills. They blocked off one lane of the highway for the race. Once we started running the morning couldn't have been more perfect. It was cool and overcast, with a light tailwind-- couldn't ask for more with distance running and it didn't rain at all during the race. The Flint Hills were so
green with all the wet weather. Looking down the road there was just a snaking line of runners that disappeared over the crest of one hill and up another as far as you could see. It was also strangely quiet-- there were over a thousand runners but no sound besides footstep, heavy breathing, and the birds. The nice thing about the course out on the highway was that the majority of it headed down hill into the river valley. Hillary and I were running together so we made a few comments back and forth, mostly me asking her to slow down since our pace was quite a bit faster that we planned and you don't want to burn out with 8 or 9 miles left. As we cross the river into town we had 5 miles to go. There were many more spectators and more to look at as we ran through the business district, around City Park, and through Aggieville (I was hoping it wasn't too early to stop at ColdStone but Hillary made me continue running). During this part of the race we caught our second wind and were feeling pretty good. We then turned the corner into campus and encountered a decent hill just after mile 10. I didn't even take in the splendor of the iconic Anderson Hall as we were running by--I was more concerned about why my legs had suddenly turned to jelly and the second wind had vanished from my sails. At this point the rest of the race wasn't necessarily fun but more about getting it over with. This may sound terrible, but when running it is a blessing to really enjoy the first 10 miles-- it's much worse if this feeling hits at mile 7 when you are barely half way home. There were a few more inclines scattered throughout the next few miles and some unexpected detours to make the course long enough that I wasn't expecting, such as running a lap around the parking lot of the football stadium before the finish line-- this was another soul crushing moment. Hillary and I turned the last corner and even found another gear before crossing the finish line. We beat our goal time by 8 minutes which was exciting and we weren't completely miserable, just unable to walk properly-- so the race was a complete success. My brother also ran a PR (personal record) so he was very excited about that but found out that he finished 5th in his age group. The top three finishers in each group were presented medals from Bill Snyder himself.
Hillary and I have ran 2 half marathons before-- both in Lincoln, NE that finished at the University of Nebraska's football stadium. Each year we got our picture taken in front of the statue outside their stadium (which I just found out is a depiction of 6 huskers tackling a K-State player-- oh well). We decided to recreate this picture with the bronze statue in front of K-State's stadium of Bill Snyder.
After the race and a nice shower, our group of running fools, headed out for lunch at IHOP. My raspberry and white chocolate chip pancakes were just what I needed followed up with a nice long nap. Of course, running a race like this takes a support crew. My cousin Eleanor and friend Delores ran the 5K but then cam and cheered us on at different points along the route. Delores and her mom were going to town with their cowbell and noise maker cheering us on the last mile and a half. My sister-in-law was near the finish to encourage the last big push. Eleanor and Arthur cheered and took pictures for us. Arthur even ran a few blocks to get several shots of us running at one point. He's also had to deal with me training a few days a week which means I'm not in the mood to cook real dinners and he has pitched in to cook a few times or eaten whatever I scrounged up. I thanked him for being so supportive and his comment was, "I'm am more than happy to as long as it means I don't have to run it with you." Omni Vincit Amor.
The course started out on Bill Snyder Highway, the 8 miles of highway leading into Manhattan from I-70 through the heart of the Flint Hills. They blocked off one lane of the highway for the race. Once we started running the morning couldn't have been more perfect. It was cool and overcast, with a light tailwind-- couldn't ask for more with distance running and it didn't rain at all during the race. The Flint Hills were so
Hillary and I have ran 2 half marathons before-- both in Lincoln, NE that finished at the University of Nebraska's football stadium. Each year we got our picture taken in front of the statue outside their stadium (which I just found out is a depiction of 6 huskers tackling a K-State player-- oh well). We decided to recreate this picture with the bronze statue in front of K-State's stadium of Bill Snyder.
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| I have no idea why this picture is sideways--Blogger will not accept that I have rotated it properly but I didn't have the energy to mess with it any more so please just turn your head sideways since technology has stumped me. |
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Kicking off summer
Summer is here. We are at a stage in our lives where nothing really begins or ends but weeks flow into months and some how even years seem to get by us. We have to mark the changes somehow. We don't have kids and aren't involved in the educational system so summer doesn't begin with the end of school but instead with our first trip to Sonic for half price shakes after 8. This past weekend our Bible study group got done early so we hung out for a while and then all headed to Sonic for shakes. Delicious.
Our Sonic trip did mark the end of Bible study for the year, and forever-- insert sad violin music here. We have been a part of this group for 2 years and they have been the friends that we have shared life with on a weekly basis throughout our marriage. There are currently three couples in our group and one of the couples is getting married and moving to Kansas City this summer. This couple has also been our social organizers so we probably will just sit at home as hermits when they leave. Expect our blog to become even less exciting than it currently is.
We also kicked off summer this week by dusting off our bikes and taking them for a spin. It was a beautiful evening with perfect weather-- one of the days this week it hasn't been raining. We are excited to take up biking again this season. Sometimes it seems like we have too many interests that we don't have time for them all.
Other weekend activities included actually taking the time to prepare a dinner that took more than 30 minutes of prep time- this is a rarity at our house. I pulled out a fancy cookbook and whipped up crusted chicken, herb roasted potatoes, and fruit crisp.
Due to stormy weather this weekend we didn't go hiking but instead we loaded our packs and headed to the track and football field and did 1000 step ups in the rain to help prepare for our backpacking trip. Don't we know how to have a good time on Saturday morning (thus is why we rely heavily on a social organizer since it isn't pretty if left to our own devices). By the time we finished our legs were tired but still functioning and we were soaked--it was hard to tell whether it was rain or sweat.
The rest of the weekend was spent catching up on things around the house, taking naps, and some relaxation with good books. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Our Sonic trip did mark the end of Bible study for the year, and forever-- insert sad violin music here. We have been a part of this group for 2 years and they have been the friends that we have shared life with on a weekly basis throughout our marriage. There are currently three couples in our group and one of the couples is getting married and moving to Kansas City this summer. This couple has also been our social organizers so we probably will just sit at home as hermits when they leave. Expect our blog to become even less exciting than it currently is.
We also kicked off summer this week by dusting off our bikes and taking them for a spin. It was a beautiful evening with perfect weather-- one of the days this week it hasn't been raining. We are excited to take up biking again this season. Sometimes it seems like we have too many interests that we don't have time for them all.
Other weekend activities included actually taking the time to prepare a dinner that took more than 30 minutes of prep time- this is a rarity at our house. I pulled out a fancy cookbook and whipped up crusted chicken, herb roasted potatoes, and fruit crisp.
Due to stormy weather this weekend we didn't go hiking but instead we loaded our packs and headed to the track and football field and did 1000 step ups in the rain to help prepare for our backpacking trip. Don't we know how to have a good time on Saturday morning (thus is why we rely heavily on a social organizer since it isn't pretty if left to our own devices). By the time we finished our legs were tired but still functioning and we were soaked--it was hard to tell whether it was rain or sweat.
The rest of the weekend was spent catching up on things around the house, taking naps, and some relaxation with good books. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Needing to Recover from the Weekend
It seems that most weekends we are fairly busy with different activities. This is mostly because every Wednesday or Thursday I ask Arthur what he wants to do for the weekend and then I proceed to tell him what I'm planning for us to do. After all, the weekend is when most of our adventures happen. However we had one weekend lately that took us several days to recover from-- Monday morning was a very needed rest break.
We headed out to my parents' house for the weekend. The purpose of the trip was for a work weekend. My parents have been doing some updates on my grandmother's farm that they recently purchased. My dad grew up in the house and the farm has been in the family for close to a century. We agreed to come out and help with some projects and ended up with a crew of my younger brother and his wife, two of our cousins, and our aunt.
Of course before all this work we had to roll out of bed early to make a stop at the library book sale. If there is a guilty pleasure we love to indulge in it is a good library book sale. Arthur is usually the one that gets carried away with purchases like Bullfinch's Greek Mythology or How to Build a Telescope. He refrained and only made 2 purchases. One was a high school science textbook from 1915. One page had a picture of the Wright brothers' first plane with the caption-- "This is an example of the latest in aviation." Arthur was pretty excited with this find.
We then headed to work. The gals worked on painting a bedroom, some window trim, and some siding. We chatted about life. The guys worked on fixing a door, chopping down some trees, making some benches for the fire pit. They discussed and debated religion, politics, etc. Arthur also got the pleasure of hauling two lengths of irrigation pipe across a field. My father always tells us stories of when he had to move irrigation pipe twice a day, carrying it over their heads with mud dripping down their arms, going uphill both ways, etc. (always wondered how the field could go uphill at all since it was flood irrigation.) Recently Arthur asked me if my family had pressured me into marrying a big, strong, strapping young man. After all, my family has greatly benefited from Arthur's muscles in recent months as he has been called on to move help family members move. He is holding out hope that sometime soon he will have my "dowry" paid off in sweat equity. I think hauling the irrigation pipes helped. Several projects got checked off the list. While there was a lot of work it was fun doing the projects together.
Editor's Note: Seeing as my in-laws will probably read this, I (Arthur) believe it in the best interest of continued positive familial relations to note that all of the previous paragraph was stated in jest, and that if Jacob had to work for seven years to make Rachel his wife, I realize completely that I am getting one heck of a discount.
There were also lots of opportunities to reminisce. We looked at the hand painted Japanese dishes my grandpa sent my grandma while he was in Tokyo during the Korean War. Later on as we looking through the sewing room my aunt showed us a box of embroider dish towels, handkerchiefs, dollies, etc. Included was a note that my grandmother wrote 25 years ago-- "I thought about throwing these things out but thought you all might enjoy looking through them some time." Several of the items were gifts when my grandma taught kindergarten for several years or that my great-grandmother handed down. I also came across some scraps of fabric left over from the baby quilt Grandma made me. Another find was a few other sewing projects my grandma started over the years that need finishing-- a quilt or two that needs binding, some needlework pillows that need finishing. These projects were split up among the womenfolk to finish. My mom and I joked later that she better not leave me a handful of sewing work that I feel obligated to finish.
While I was strolling down memory lane with the gals, Arthur was watching Game 7 of the Spurs-Clipper series. I think he was grateful for being able to watch the game and it came down to the final few seconds. He wasn't much of a happy camper the rest of the evening. The next morning we jumped out of bed even earlier since we needed to get our hike in for the weekend. We decided we would walk from my parents home to my grandma's house-- a distance of just of 8 miles-- before church. The road we took between point A and point B leaves a little to be desired and it is even questionable what vehicles could traverse it. The road crosses a section of the county that is sand hills, small hills (Arthur informs me that they don't even qualify as hills but just mounds) of thick sand. This made walking a little more challenging. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the adventure and scenery and even made it to church with five minutes to spare. After church we went out to eat at Wheatland Cafe. It is a small cafe only open on the weekends in a town with a population of 100. Delicious fried chicken and all the fixings plus a good opportunity to catch up with everyone else from across the county over Sunday dinner. We then had to get on the road. Soon Arthur was rendered incapacitated for driving due to a carbohydrate induced coma from the mashed potatoes and gravy. I took the wheel and enjoyed the company of one of my favorite radio shows-- The Prairie Home Companion. Our next stop on the whirlwind weekend was the Salina Symphony Concert. One of my friends plays the violin in the symphony and let us have her free tickets so we got a good dose of culture at the concert. Next we scurried on to Bible study and finally made it home about 8:30pm, completely tuckered out.
On Sunday night we joked that we needed to go to work Monday to rest up from the weekend. We didn't know of the "adventure" that Monday would hold either. At about 7am on Monday I go to grab my keys to head for work and realize that they aren't there. Suddenly I remember that I had put them in the console of Arthur's car this weekend since my purse was buried under our backpacks and my keys along with the spare key on Arthur's key chain are all on their way to Manhattan with my husband. I called him, somewhat frantically, and was never so relieved when he actually answered his phone since he has a habit of turning it off and forgetting to turn it back on. My husband graciously turn around and drove 20 minutes back to bring the keys home. I made it to work with about 30 seconds to spare and he was almost on time too. That evening I am driving home and Arthur calls to inquire about if I am going to get home safely. He informs me that he is slightly stranded in a parking lot due to flash flooding and can't get out of town for awhile. Finally his car pulls up in the driveway and that evening we hit the sack and were easily lulled to sleep by the rain and thunderstorm passing through the area. Omnia Vincit Amor.
We headed out to my parents' house for the weekend. The purpose of the trip was for a work weekend. My parents have been doing some updates on my grandmother's farm that they recently purchased. My dad grew up in the house and the farm has been in the family for close to a century. We agreed to come out and help with some projects and ended up with a crew of my younger brother and his wife, two of our cousins, and our aunt.
Of course before all this work we had to roll out of bed early to make a stop at the library book sale. If there is a guilty pleasure we love to indulge in it is a good library book sale. Arthur is usually the one that gets carried away with purchases like Bullfinch's Greek Mythology or How to Build a Telescope. He refrained and only made 2 purchases. One was a high school science textbook from 1915. One page had a picture of the Wright brothers' first plane with the caption-- "This is an example of the latest in aviation." Arthur was pretty excited with this find.
We then headed to work. The gals worked on painting a bedroom, some window trim, and some siding. We chatted about life. The guys worked on fixing a door, chopping down some trees, making some benches for the fire pit. They discussed and debated religion, politics, etc. Arthur also got the pleasure of hauling two lengths of irrigation pipe across a field. My father always tells us stories of when he had to move irrigation pipe twice a day, carrying it over their heads with mud dripping down their arms, going uphill both ways, etc. (always wondered how the field could go uphill at all since it was flood irrigation.) Recently Arthur asked me if my family had pressured me into marrying a big, strong, strapping young man. After all, my family has greatly benefited from Arthur's muscles in recent months as he has been called on to move help family members move. He is holding out hope that sometime soon he will have my "dowry" paid off in sweat equity. I think hauling the irrigation pipes helped. Several projects got checked off the list. While there was a lot of work it was fun doing the projects together.
Editor's Note: Seeing as my in-laws will probably read this, I (Arthur) believe it in the best interest of continued positive familial relations to note that all of the previous paragraph was stated in jest, and that if Jacob had to work for seven years to make Rachel his wife, I realize completely that I am getting one heck of a discount.
There were also lots of opportunities to reminisce. We looked at the hand painted Japanese dishes my grandpa sent my grandma while he was in Tokyo during the Korean War. Later on as we looking through the sewing room my aunt showed us a box of embroider dish towels, handkerchiefs, dollies, etc. Included was a note that my grandmother wrote 25 years ago-- "I thought about throwing these things out but thought you all might enjoy looking through them some time." Several of the items were gifts when my grandma taught kindergarten for several years or that my great-grandmother handed down. I also came across some scraps of fabric left over from the baby quilt Grandma made me. Another find was a few other sewing projects my grandma started over the years that need finishing-- a quilt or two that needs binding, some needlework pillows that need finishing. These projects were split up among the womenfolk to finish. My mom and I joked later that she better not leave me a handful of sewing work that I feel obligated to finish.
While I was strolling down memory lane with the gals, Arthur was watching Game 7 of the Spurs-Clipper series. I think he was grateful for being able to watch the game and it came down to the final few seconds. He wasn't much of a happy camper the rest of the evening. The next morning we jumped out of bed even earlier since we needed to get our hike in for the weekend. We decided we would walk from my parents home to my grandma's house-- a distance of just of 8 miles-- before church. The road we took between point A and point B leaves a little to be desired and it is even questionable what vehicles could traverse it. The road crosses a section of the county that is sand hills, small hills (Arthur informs me that they don't even qualify as hills but just mounds) of thick sand. This made walking a little more challenging. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the adventure and scenery and even made it to church with five minutes to spare. After church we went out to eat at Wheatland Cafe. It is a small cafe only open on the weekends in a town with a population of 100. Delicious fried chicken and all the fixings plus a good opportunity to catch up with everyone else from across the county over Sunday dinner. We then had to get on the road. Soon Arthur was rendered incapacitated for driving due to a carbohydrate induced coma from the mashed potatoes and gravy. I took the wheel and enjoyed the company of one of my favorite radio shows-- The Prairie Home Companion. Our next stop on the whirlwind weekend was the Salina Symphony Concert. One of my friends plays the violin in the symphony and let us have her free tickets so we got a good dose of culture at the concert. Next we scurried on to Bible study and finally made it home about 8:30pm, completely tuckered out.
On Sunday night we joked that we needed to go to work Monday to rest up from the weekend. We didn't know of the "adventure" that Monday would hold either. At about 7am on Monday I go to grab my keys to head for work and realize that they aren't there. Suddenly I remember that I had put them in the console of Arthur's car this weekend since my purse was buried under our backpacks and my keys along with the spare key on Arthur's key chain are all on their way to Manhattan with my husband. I called him, somewhat frantically, and was never so relieved when he actually answered his phone since he has a habit of turning it off and forgetting to turn it back on. My husband graciously turn around and drove 20 minutes back to bring the keys home. I made it to work with about 30 seconds to spare and he was almost on time too. That evening I am driving home and Arthur calls to inquire about if I am going to get home safely. He informs me that he is slightly stranded in a parking lot due to flash flooding and can't get out of town for awhile. Finally his car pulls up in the driveway and that evening we hit the sack and were easily lulled to sleep by the rain and thunderstorm passing through the area. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Podcasts
I love the challenges of work. Sometimes I have no idea how we're going to solve one problem or another when I leave for work in the morning, but so far we've always come up with something. I've come to believe that engineering has a lot less to do with any sort of intelligence or creativity and a lot more to do with grit and what will often pass for stubbornness. One thing that I've always enjoyed doing is listening to music while working. I almost always have Pandora up on my browser while working, but recently music just hasn't cut it.
You see, one of my responsibilities is programming what is called a pick and place machine, which is used to place electrical components on a printed circuit broad. This is a very pleasant activity; I can just put in my headphones an immerse myself in my work for hours on end. However, as part of my efforts for continual process improvement, I developed a method for making the programming process much easier, and it doesn't take near as much concentration as it did before. Because of this, music just hasn't been cutting it for me. Therefore, I have found some podcasts that have kept me perfectly happy.
The first one that I found is the Phil Vischer podcast. I first heard of Phil Vischer from the program that he he made recently called "What's in the Bible." It turns out that he was also the founder of Big Idea Productions, the company that produced Veggietales, and acts as the voice of Bob the Tomato. He sounded like a really interesting guy, and it turns out he does a weekly podcast on current events. I've gotten a ton of enjoyment listening to his shows; sometimes I'll even turn on the show and listen to it at home.
Another podcast I've found is called Amicus, which is a fascinating look at the Supreme Court. Each episode has audio from oral arguments at the court, and the thing that shines through in these arguments is just how brilliant everyone on the bench is. The justices have such a profound understanding about how ruling one way or another will impact how the law will be interpreted and applied in other circumstances, often circumstances that seem completely unrelated. It really makes you appreciate how difficult a task it is to keep the law both logical, just, and consistent.
The other thing about the Supreme Court you get the impression of that isn't quite as pleasant is just how wildly different the Court has ruled on different cases over time. It is disturbing to think how differently the law has been interpreted over time due to differing views made by the Court, no matter how brilliant they are. I really want law to work like physics where every action brings about a clear, foreseeable reaction and judges simply follow the predetermined algorithm to calculate what that response is. I suppose it comes as no surprise that the equations of justice are largely hidden from the mind of man, and that our wisest of legal scholars with the best of intentions looking at the same facts will reach differing conclusions, and millennia of philosophy and legal theory have done little to reach consensus. It actually is a pretty good argument for the need of an omniscient, just God to rule over all.
Another podcast I heard about is called Hardcore History. This is a wildly popular podcast by a man named Dan Carlin, an amateur history buff who takes an in-depth look at some historical topic. My favorite episode was a four hour look at the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the reign of Charlemagne. He has a way of putting into perspective why people behaved the way they did, like his explanation of the factors contributing to the first and second red scare. He also does a podcast on current events called Common Sense, which is equally fascinating.
Anyway, these are some the things I've derived a great amount of enjoyment from over the past couple weeks. Omni Vincit Amor.
You see, one of my responsibilities is programming what is called a pick and place machine, which is used to place electrical components on a printed circuit broad. This is a very pleasant activity; I can just put in my headphones an immerse myself in my work for hours on end. However, as part of my efforts for continual process improvement, I developed a method for making the programming process much easier, and it doesn't take near as much concentration as it did before. Because of this, music just hasn't been cutting it for me. Therefore, I have found some podcasts that have kept me perfectly happy.
The first one that I found is the Phil Vischer podcast. I first heard of Phil Vischer from the program that he he made recently called "What's in the Bible." It turns out that he was also the founder of Big Idea Productions, the company that produced Veggietales, and acts as the voice of Bob the Tomato. He sounded like a really interesting guy, and it turns out he does a weekly podcast on current events. I've gotten a ton of enjoyment listening to his shows; sometimes I'll even turn on the show and listen to it at home.
Another podcast I've found is called Amicus, which is a fascinating look at the Supreme Court. Each episode has audio from oral arguments at the court, and the thing that shines through in these arguments is just how brilliant everyone on the bench is. The justices have such a profound understanding about how ruling one way or another will impact how the law will be interpreted and applied in other circumstances, often circumstances that seem completely unrelated. It really makes you appreciate how difficult a task it is to keep the law both logical, just, and consistent.
The other thing about the Supreme Court you get the impression of that isn't quite as pleasant is just how wildly different the Court has ruled on different cases over time. It is disturbing to think how differently the law has been interpreted over time due to differing views made by the Court, no matter how brilliant they are. I really want law to work like physics where every action brings about a clear, foreseeable reaction and judges simply follow the predetermined algorithm to calculate what that response is. I suppose it comes as no surprise that the equations of justice are largely hidden from the mind of man, and that our wisest of legal scholars with the best of intentions looking at the same facts will reach differing conclusions, and millennia of philosophy and legal theory have done little to reach consensus. It actually is a pretty good argument for the need of an omniscient, just God to rule over all.
Another podcast I heard about is called Hardcore History. This is a wildly popular podcast by a man named Dan Carlin, an amateur history buff who takes an in-depth look at some historical topic. My favorite episode was a four hour look at the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the reign of Charlemagne. He has a way of putting into perspective why people behaved the way they did, like his explanation of the factors contributing to the first and second red scare. He also does a podcast on current events called Common Sense, which is equally fascinating.
Anyway, these are some the things I've derived a great amount of enjoyment from over the past couple weeks. Omni Vincit Amor.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Friday Night Party: A Treatise on Country Music
Recently, my cousin Eleanor invited me to attend a country music concert at K-State with her. She invited me since I'm one of her only "country music" friends. As we were driving to the concert she said, "I'm so glad you were up for going to a concert spontaneously". I replied, "You invited me 4 days ago. I don't think that qualifies for spontaneity." We walked up to the arena where the concert was taking place-- it was actually the rodeo arena since they had to move it indoors because of weather but I thought it was somewhat appropriate to hold a country concert in a venue that smells of cattle. As we walked up we saw the line curled clear around the block and we both decided that standing in line might be the most exciting thing we did that week. Neither of us get out much. Luckily we made it in and there were still some seats left.
The opening band was The Jared Daniels Band-- possibly lacking some creativity there. They were a group of former K-State students who have moved to Nashville to get into the country music industry. The headliner for the evening was Dustin Lynch. I had never heard of him until the week of the concert but later I realized had was familiar with several of his songs. The video below was probably my favorite number of the evening that The Jared Daniels band preformed. It is also a good review in Kansas geography.
Just a few posts ago I talked about how I am a sensory avoider and going to this concert was a good example. Luckily our seats were terrible so that meant no one was sitting next to us and there was plenty of room without people constantly bumping into you. For the most part I am not a concert goer because : 1. the musics is too loud, 2. I can't understand the lyrics because the music is too loud and I have issues with being able to decipher what lyrics are on a good day due to hearing issues, 3. In addition to excessive people (touch), and sound, concerts usually have lots of distracting lights. All of this is a sensory avoider's nightmare. Despite this we had a really good time.
Now I am going to venture into my thoughts and opinions on the current trends in country music. This is either the blessing or the curse of blogs is that as a person with no credibility what so ever about a topic I can give my opinion to whoever reads this blog without them even asking for it. Eleanor called me her country music friend since during college we would often chat about our favorite country music songs- usually selected due to the quality or originality of the lyrics. Over the past 5 years my enjoyment of country music has dwindled. While listening in college the songs I liked told a story of everyday life. Some of my favorites include Garth Brooks' Unanswered Prayers, Phil Vassar's Love is a Beautiful Thing, and Brad Paisley's Waitin' on a Woman. (Please account for the fact that I was a sappy college co-ed who liked love songs with happy endings.) As a kid I didn't listen too much country but always heard it described as the book of Job set to music-- you lose your job, truck, wife, and dog all in the same day. I feel like current country music is out of touch with its rural roots. I would call it more of redneck music since very few talk about anything in regards to rural life besides the occasional dirt road. In my own informal poll the most popular words in current country music is "Girl", "Party", and "Friday/Saturday night". I know very few farmers or ranchers who would refer to their significant other as "Girl" and a good number of Friday and Saturday nights are spent in a field somewhere-- which isn't necessarily a party.
If you made it through reading my rant then you have arrived at the critical review of the history of country music (according to Wikipedia). Country music began in the southeastern US-- not Midwestern roots but probably a little more on the redneck side by nature. There are 6 generations or stages of country throughout its history (over the past 90 years). It began as hillbilly music from the Appalachian region. The next generation was when country music became popular in films (Gene Autry) and Roy Rogers) and radio shows like The Grand Ole Opry. After WWII it morphed into more bluegrass and gospel style. In the 1960s rock music threatened traditionalist so folk music became more popular such as John Denver's works. However, rock began to influence even country music, examples including Elvis and Johnny Cash. The decades of the '70s and 80s brought on what is called outlaw country (think Willie Nelson) and truck driving country-- this is where trucks and love began to mesh in country lyrics. In the 1980s FM radio made country music available in a wider area so the style evolved with those who listened. AM stations continued to play the classic country and FM stations adopted the more rock-pop-country (termed "New Country") similar to today's country. One of the big names associated with this change is Garth Brooks, as well as George Strait, Shania Twain, and the Dixie Chicks. With the dawn of the new millennia artists started crossing over between genres-- Kid Rock and Bon Jovi had some country hits, Taylor Swift had some pop releases. Within the past 5 years (the time period where I feel country has taken a turn for the worst) rock is an even bigger influence as well as rap (country rap is known as hick hop in case you are interested). In fact there is even a specific subtype for the country songs I mostly dislike-- bro-country, "a genre noted primarily for its themes on drinking and partying, girls, and driving". (Once again, wikipedia is my primary source). I think this is an example of the population becoming less rural and having difficulty associating with lyrics about a women thinking your tractor is sexy, so country themes have shifted from rural topics to more blue-collar, working class, and further tailored specifically to listeners between the ages of 18-25.
So one of the reasons I still listen to country even though there is a lack of sappy love songs with happy endings (although I no longer have to live vicariously through a country song since I have my own love story being played out right now), is that Arthur can't stand country so I always make sure to leave the radio in his car tuned into country after I drive it. Omnia Vincit Amor.
The opening band was The Jared Daniels Band-- possibly lacking some creativity there. They were a group of former K-State students who have moved to Nashville to get into the country music industry. The headliner for the evening was Dustin Lynch. I had never heard of him until the week of the concert but later I realized had was familiar with several of his songs. The video below was probably my favorite number of the evening that The Jared Daniels band preformed. It is also a good review in Kansas geography.
Just a few posts ago I talked about how I am a sensory avoider and going to this concert was a good example. Luckily our seats were terrible so that meant no one was sitting next to us and there was plenty of room without people constantly bumping into you. For the most part I am not a concert goer because : 1. the musics is too loud, 2. I can't understand the lyrics because the music is too loud and I have issues with being able to decipher what lyrics are on a good day due to hearing issues, 3. In addition to excessive people (touch), and sound, concerts usually have lots of distracting lights. All of this is a sensory avoider's nightmare. Despite this we had a really good time.
Now I am going to venture into my thoughts and opinions on the current trends in country music. This is either the blessing or the curse of blogs is that as a person with no credibility what so ever about a topic I can give my opinion to whoever reads this blog without them even asking for it. Eleanor called me her country music friend since during college we would often chat about our favorite country music songs- usually selected due to the quality or originality of the lyrics. Over the past 5 years my enjoyment of country music has dwindled. While listening in college the songs I liked told a story of everyday life. Some of my favorites include Garth Brooks' Unanswered Prayers, Phil Vassar's Love is a Beautiful Thing, and Brad Paisley's Waitin' on a Woman. (Please account for the fact that I was a sappy college co-ed who liked love songs with happy endings.) As a kid I didn't listen too much country but always heard it described as the book of Job set to music-- you lose your job, truck, wife, and dog all in the same day. I feel like current country music is out of touch with its rural roots. I would call it more of redneck music since very few talk about anything in regards to rural life besides the occasional dirt road. In my own informal poll the most popular words in current country music is "Girl", "Party", and "Friday/Saturday night". I know very few farmers or ranchers who would refer to their significant other as "Girl" and a good number of Friday and Saturday nights are spent in a field somewhere-- which isn't necessarily a party.
If you made it through reading my rant then you have arrived at the critical review of the history of country music (according to Wikipedia). Country music began in the southeastern US-- not Midwestern roots but probably a little more on the redneck side by nature. There are 6 generations or stages of country throughout its history (over the past 90 years). It began as hillbilly music from the Appalachian region. The next generation was when country music became popular in films (Gene Autry) and Roy Rogers) and radio shows like The Grand Ole Opry. After WWII it morphed into more bluegrass and gospel style. In the 1960s rock music threatened traditionalist so folk music became more popular such as John Denver's works. However, rock began to influence even country music, examples including Elvis and Johnny Cash. The decades of the '70s and 80s brought on what is called outlaw country (think Willie Nelson) and truck driving country-- this is where trucks and love began to mesh in country lyrics. In the 1980s FM radio made country music available in a wider area so the style evolved with those who listened. AM stations continued to play the classic country and FM stations adopted the more rock-pop-country (termed "New Country") similar to today's country. One of the big names associated with this change is Garth Brooks, as well as George Strait, Shania Twain, and the Dixie Chicks. With the dawn of the new millennia artists started crossing over between genres-- Kid Rock and Bon Jovi had some country hits, Taylor Swift had some pop releases. Within the past 5 years (the time period where I feel country has taken a turn for the worst) rock is an even bigger influence as well as rap (country rap is known as hick hop in case you are interested). In fact there is even a specific subtype for the country songs I mostly dislike-- bro-country, "a genre noted primarily for its themes on drinking and partying, girls, and driving". (Once again, wikipedia is my primary source). I think this is an example of the population becoming less rural and having difficulty associating with lyrics about a women thinking your tractor is sexy, so country themes have shifted from rural topics to more blue-collar, working class, and further tailored specifically to listeners between the ages of 18-25.
So one of the reasons I still listen to country even though there is a lack of sappy love songs with happy endings (although I no longer have to live vicariously through a country song since I have my own love story being played out right now), is that Arthur can't stand country so I always make sure to leave the radio in his car tuned into country after I drive it. Omnia Vincit Amor.
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