The "Madden Game"

I will in no way take credit for this, but Bill Simmons talked about a phenomenon when you play Madden:

"You know what else was interesting? That may have been the first time that an NFL team prevailed in a "no f-ing way game," those "Madden" games where something gets triggered in the artificial intelligence and the game decides, "there's no f-ing way you're winning this game." I just had one last week -- a six-game winning streak that ended in Jacksonville when I turned the ball over EIGHT TIMES in the first half. Of course, the big difference was that I threw the controller against a wall and angrily pressed the RESET button, whereas Lovie Smith and the Bears had to keep playing and hoping that the Bears D and Denny Green could combine to make up a 20-point deficit without a floundering Rex Grossman having to make a single play."

I got a kick out of it because this happens to me quite often, but I missed my chance to publish it.

Vacation?

Tonight, I leave for Wisconsin Dells and the Chula Vista Resort so that I can attend Wisconsin College Personnel Association on Thursday and Friday. I have never been to the WCPA Conference itself, although I have been to the Student Affairs 101 portion of the conference. I am intrigued to see what it is like and am curious to see what programming opportunities are available. It will also be nice to see various colleagues from around the state that used to work at UW-Oshkosh or who I went to graduate school with at WIU.

For those of you that have talked to me or for the 4-5 people that actually read this blog, you can probably tell that things have been a little stressful for me lately. Work has had some frustrating moments lately and the dealings with church, while getting better, are still a little frustrating. This trip for WCPA will also serve as somewhat of a vacation. I know that sounds wierd, but it will be nice to simply get away from campus and not have to think about work. I have full confidence in my staff to make sure that the buildig does not burn down.

It also raises a larger concern that I should probably take a weekend off one of these days. Just like my staff, I have the option to take weekends off. Most of the reasonn that I don't take weekends off is because I am so grounded in the community, I truly consider Oshkosh to be my home. Usually, my parents are willing to come a visit me. Many of my friends are already here and I have many activities that I do here. But, for the birthday weekend I will be going home. I am sure my parents and friends in the Milwaukee area will enjoy having me around for a few days.

As an FYI, my ability to blog may become difficult Thursday and Friday because I may not have reliable internet access. It may happen, but don't surprised if you don't hear from me for a few days.

Other News:

• Kudos to Taylor Hall for winning the Homecoming 2006 competition! Breese Hall took 5th place and did an excellent job by participating in all events and putting up their best effort.
• I played two songs last night on the hard level in Guitar Hero and did not miss a single note...is that cool or just really sad?
• Gabe and Kristi stopped by to visit. It's always fun to have ex-Breese folks stop by and check-in.
  

"Growing Up"

I have always considered myself to be young at heart. In a way, I don't think I'll ever really "grow up" and I really like that. However, over the last few years I feel like I have really matured...which is different, but also similar to growing up. I think that's what I like about being an RHD. With the position comes great responsibility, but you also have the opportunity to work with students who keep you young and relatively current with what's in.

In my first few years at UWO, I felt like I briefly reverted back to being a stereotypical undergraduate students. I couldn't tell you exactly. Part of it had to do with who I was hanging out with. Part of it had to do with being in a position that offered more money that I ever had in my life. Part of it was maybe trying to fill a void in what may not have been a really social undergraduate experience for me. Part of it was still not having fully embraced the religion I had pushed away for so many years.

As a result, I actually drank quite a bit, went out to bars quite a bit and just generally acted foolishly more than I usually did (trust me, it wasn't that much). I used to think that it was OK to drink with undergraduate students, even ones I worked with. I didn't feel very happy about myself overall. Along with re-discovering God, I also realized that those behaviors didn't do me much good...in fact they actually could hurt me.

So now, I don't do those things much anymore...and I'm OK with it. In fact, I feel better about myself. I feel like that while not grown up, I have definitely progressed in adulthood. I have thought about my financial future, my career future, my relationship future (woot!) but yet I can still be young and play video games and live on a college campus.

Other News:

• Christa bought a second guitar for Guitar Hero. Good news! Although I ended up playing way more Guitar Hero than I should have yesterday...I got pretty tired of it by the end of the night.
• It amazes me sometimes that the interactions that I have with folks with the church are like the interactions I have with some college students. You would think sometimes that 60+ year old people would be able to handle situations with some maturity, but sadly this is not always the case.
• I bought NBA Live 2007 last night. I figured it's been two years since I bought the game, it would be nice to have the Bucks new roster. I will probably give a more in depth analysis in the future, but for now, these observations:

1. The Bucks are serverly underrated. They are listed as a 75 overall which is one of the worst in the league. This from a team predicted to make some waves in the East.
2. There are three buttons to shoot the ball: slam dunk, jump shot & lay-up. Huh?!? Why can't one's proximity from the basket determine this. So when I accidentally press "slam dunk" from the three-point line, it could get ugly.
3. On the easiest level, I was only winning by two points at halftime. They have definitely made this game tougher.
4. You better have a fast point gaurd or you are in trouble. Try playing with Mo Williams for a half.

Days Until the Wedding: 216

Salvation Army

On Friday, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Salvation Army in Oshkosh, WI. I helped people fill out applications for their Christmas Program. Adults receive a basket of food and kids receive gifts. I saw familes of various levels on the socioeconmic scale. It was great to see residents of Breese Hall helping out. I encourage Breese residents to sign up and help out with the Thanksgiving Sign-up occurring October 26-27.

Other News:

• Friday: I played two hours of competitive Guitar Hero with Mark as well as other folks on first floor. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to getting a second controller for the game so that Christa and I can engage in Guitar duels.
• Saturday: I dressed up in pink and and helped out Breese Hall for the Homecoming Float in the parade. It was really frickin' cold and I didn't do myself any favors for trying to get over a cold.
• Saturday: Yeah...I finally went to a Titan football game for the first time. Let's recap: 4 turnovers, 3 missed field goals, 2 key injuries, 14 points, 1 loss. Not very exciting. It may be awhile before I decide to go back to another Titan football game.
• Sunday: I spent the day cleaning. My apartment looks very nice now. Perhaps I can finally keep it that way.

Homecoming 2006

Tomorrow I will be going to my first UW Oshkosh Titan football game. I have been a student at UWO for five year and I have been working at UWO as an RHD for four years. In that time, I have never gone to a game. It's hard to say why. Part of it is because I can't get into Division III sports. Part of it is because our team has a history of doing poorly. However, as a result of being on the Homecoming planning committee, I have taking an increased care in Titan activities. I am willing to give it a shot. The team is pretty good and it's about time I go to a game. It's gonna be really cold, but it should be fun.

Other News:

• I bought two Mendelsohn symphonies on I-Tunes. It feels good to purchase and listen to some classical music. Along with the fake feeling of sophistication, it just feels good to keep my musical tastes broad and not lose track of a wonderful body of literature.
• There will definitely be some mass Guitar Hero playing this weekend. Task #1: get 5 stars in all songs on the Medium Career mode (2 songs left); Task #2: complete career mode on Hard Career Mode: (7 songs left)
  

The Housing Status Action Form

Here's to you Housing Status Action Form (HSAF)... you make the Residence Life world go round.

Explorations Conference

The ministry exploration conference I am going to in November is coming up quickly. Over the last few weeks, I have definitely been more open about going to this conference. I have let many folks in the congregation know about this venture as well as many co-workers as well. I have been excited about the support that everyone is offering. I am looking forward to going because I think it will answer many questions for me.

I am concerned about how long seminary will take and I am curious to know what components I might be able to complete while I am still here at UWO. It also causes me for the first time to think about what I might be doing beyond the RHD position. For the last few years I have been able to be settled and not need to worry about it.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the Breese Hall Lip Sync Team. The pictures that I saw indicate that things went well and that you had fun. There was also a whole of you...that is pretty sweet!

Other News:

• Sadly, Guitar Hero has been on the bench for the last few days. Tonight I should be able to blow the dust off and have a little fun.
• Regardless of whether or nt it was measurable, it has snowed and that means it will be snowing more. Winter is coming! Yay!!
  

Days Until the Wedding: 220

The Beard

I have spread the word that I have a tradition when it comes to growing a beard in these pending winter months. Over the last few years, I have determined that I will start growing a beard after the first measurable snow fall of the year. I will shave the beard on Good Friday. The only exception this year is the beard will need to be shaved for the engagement pictures which will probably be taken late November/early December.

I have received a few messages from folks that the snow last night fit the criteria. Sorry folks, based on my observations last night and this morning I don't count last night's flurries measurable. However, it look like today and tomorrow we may get some more serious snow, and I don't shave often anyway so it's like I already started ;).

Calmness

I had a resident come into my office today and ask me how I remain so calm. I was hit my a multitude of emotions:

• Appreciation - It was nice to have someone point out something positive.
• Accomplishment - Being more calm in all situations I have been trying to wok on for a long time. I still work on it to this day. In grad. school, I would really get worked up about all sorts of stuff, and it was obvious. Even my current supervisor cautioned me about. I have continually worked on keeping my emotions neutral and not showing emotions so obviously.
• Irony (if that's an emotion) - I was saddened because not too much before that I kind of lost it with a resident who was arguing a small point with me. I realize it is something I continue to work on.
  

Randomness

No major news today, so, I thought I would provide you with some random updates:

• Homecoming is in full swing. So far, so good. I think the hall has done well in events so far. I think tensions are running a little high, but that is normal during Homecoming Week. I am thankful that we will have a good showing...if we win, we win. But, I am not worried about that.
• Even after being a Residence Hall Director for four years, college students continue to amaze me with the things they do. I have had some very bizarre stories shared to me this week.
• I was saddened to see a Fair Wisconsin poster modified to read, "UW Students Vote Yes on the Amendment". In a way, I appreciate their ingenutiy but it saddens me that people do feel this way about the amendment.
  
• I have done some tinkering with the blog, especially in terms of color and a few formatting things.
  

Days Until The Wedding: 221

Intolerance

So, I knew the day was coming. While working the desk today, I was informed that a religious group was protesting in front of the Polk Library. I assumed that is was the old guy that stands on the steps of the library and tells us all that we are going to hell. I was wrong, it was a larger group and they certainly had drawn some attention to themselves. Curiosity got the best of me, so I went to take a look before my afternoon meeting.

As I took a look at the secne, I was greeted with a large banner stating, "Homosexuality is sin". I am not sure where to begin on how frustrating this is to me. I am a Christian and I can not figure out where Jesus ever said that homosexuality was a sin. You're not going to find it...go for it, take a few minutes, search. Jesus taught love & compassion, not hatred. When I saw that sign and was ashamed for some of my fellow Christians.

I just can't condone this kind of intolerance as a Christian.

Most importantly, I was impressed by the amount of students that came out to challenge the individuals involved. I heard lots of good dialogue and good discussion. I am hopeful that this will get people to think about the importance of the upcoming election day. A shout out goes to Ken Fager as well carrying the Vote No on the Amendment sign right by the banner.

Now you all know where I stand on this issue. I would welcome your thoughts on this topic as well.

Church Updates

For those of you that are curious and possibly keeping score with everything going on at my church, I thought I would provide an update for you:

• Our old pastor will be "checking out" of the parsonage today. Sadly, there are no Methodist Room Condition Inventories (RCIs), but there should be. This will be an awkward meeting for me.
• On Wednesday, the locks to the parsonage will be changed. Also, we will be having an emergency Church Council meeting to finalize a dollar amount that we will send on to the bishop. This is the dollar amount that we think our old pastor owes back to the church.
• After Thursday the members of FUMC will go into the parsonage and clean it up and furnish it so that it's ready for the interim pastor.
• The SPRC Committee continues to look to 2007 and figure out the staffing pattern for the year.

We are definitely moving along and the members of my committee are very supportive. We will have some controversial issues coming up, but nothing could be as chaotic as this current process.

At Least They Can't Lose This Week...

The Packers have a bye week. That's great, at least they can't lose. I can say that I did watch the game yesterday, but I found myself distracted by movies and other stuff on TV because you got the sense the Packers were never going to really get to the point where they might actually win.

However, the Packers were in the game the entire time. They even had the ball with time running out. They could have at least tied the game, or possibly won. Favre fumbled the ball with about 30 seconds remaining...heartbreaking, but typical of a Packers season in which the youth and inexperience of this team show through week after week. They are now 1-4.

I do want to give credit to the secondarym, which played much better without Ahmad Carroll. Heron ended up with over 100 yards rushing. That was nice to see from a back-up as well. I will definitely enjoy not seeing the Packers this weekend. I can see some better teams play football.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the NFL schedulers for thankfully given the Packers a week off now. The team, and especially the fans, need it.

Other News:

• I am cautiously optimistic about where things go after OshCon. I am thinking about starting a campaign in the spring semester for residents and friends that are interested. That way, football is done.
• The SAFE Training session from last night was a success! We had 28 folks attend the session. That must have broken some SAFE Training record.
• I attended church yesterday and was able to see the new pastor preach. I will say this...I do like the way he runs the service. I think he has a great knowledge of the bible, but I think he tried to say too much in a short amount of time. I think he took 3-4 sermons and put them into one.
• Preparations begin for the 30th birthday spectacular. Look for news in the near future.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 223

OshCon 2006

I had the opportunity today to run an event at the 2006 OshCon event at the River Center on the UW Oshkosh campus. I was over there for four hours, from noon to 4:00 p.m. I ran an event that summarized some of the opening adventures of a campaign I ran in both high school and college. Some highlights of the adventure:

• I had five people show up to play. I thought I faired well in comparison to two other folks who ran events where no one showed up. That was a good sign. It was an interesting mix of people. I had three people that I knew from UWO: TC, Rob and Kevin. I also had a man named Tony, who is from Rochester, MN. The last person was a boy named Nick. An ecclectic group, for sure.
• I, as usual, planned way more than I needed. After awhile the group got into the adventure and we got off on tangents and fell into what would be a normal gaming session.
• Tony is part of a gaming network in Rochester. He is doing a write-up of the adventure for his website.
• I had a lot of people walk by with comments regarding the fact that we were running a 1st Edition AD&D. It had to be at least five different people. It was nice to see that there were others that were interested as well.

Some overall thoughts about OshCon 2006:

• There are a lot of freaky people that play role-playing games...and anyone in that guise in the Fox Valley area was in Oshkosh today. OshCon is definitely a much, much smaller version of GenCon, but it had all the proper components.
• It was a pretty informal affair. The nametags were hand-written. It was only in two rooms and there were no concessions except for what you could get in the soda machine.
• There were maybe six vendors at the convention and two of them were places I see anyway: Chimera & House of Heroes. Otherwise, not that impressed.

I should probaly go back tomorrow to check things out. I probably won't. I what I will do for next year is play in more games as well as run more games. I am hoping that this event is the spark I need to get back into role-playing games. I haven't gamed in years...it was nice.

Presentations & Progress

It has been a busy last few days and it will continue to be that way. I have a variety of presentations on the docket:

• I did a presentation yesterday to USRH regarding the NBC Village.
• I led my church's SPRC meeting last night. Thankfully, that meeting was only 90 minutes.
• I am facilitating the LBGTQ Council meeting this afternoon.
  
• I have an adventure to run for OshCon tomorrow.
• I am co-facilitating SAFE Training this Sunday.

I have blogged before about priorities and I have talked about how I couldn't add another commitment onto my plate because I am already pretty busy. As you can see, commitments can sometimes spike and all of a sudden what was once manageable can become temporarily insane. I think I have found myself in that mode right now.

As someone who is involved in student affairs, having a lot of the plate is not uncommon. You could almost call it a prequisite ;). So it's not the spike in involvement right now that's bothering me. It's the lack of progress.

I was talking about this with Christa last night. I am someone who craves efficiency and progress. Ask Christa, she would be first to agree...she knows all too well. Many of my larger involvements have not yielded too much progress. I know you are all aware of the controversy with the NBC Village and that has definitely slowed progress with it. You also know that the church is in a state of flux and continues to work toward moving forward.

Infortunately, the lack of progress has decreased my motivation and has made it more difficult get as motivated in other areas. I am hoping that after Saturday's adventure and after hanging out with my parent's I will have some time to relax and recharge.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to our new interim pastor Earl Lindsay who offered some wonderful perspective at our SPRC meeting. He is just what this congregation needs right now.

Other News:

• Oh yeah, I do have other games for the PS2. It has been nice getting back into Star Wars Battlefront 2.
• I have some phone calls to make. There are people I really need to follow up with.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 226

NBC Village

Today Christin Coleman and I will be presenting for about 10 minutes regarding the NBC Village. The presentation will look at first-year experience programs and how they can be effective. It will also look at the work that has been done on the NBC Village so far and what has yet to be done. The presentation is at 4:10 in Reeve Union and there will be a 10 minute question and answer session regarding the presentation as well. I encourage those of you that can attend the presentation to check it out. It should prove helpful in providing information about the project.

If you don't already know, I have been in on the NBC Village planning process since the decision was made that we were going to move forward with it. This is no doubt one of the largest changes (in recent history) the Department of Residence Life has put forward that alters the structure of residence hall living. And rightfully so, there is a lot of discussion about how this started and what it means for students. I am definitely all for dialogue about this and I think the students should have an opportunity to talk about its implementation. There will also be an open forum about the NBC Village after the USRH meeting. USRH Representatives will also be taking a list of questions back to the hall to gain feedback from the residents.

This is all great! What has been my larger concern in this process is the misinformation and the lack of information that has been presented about this project. Sadly, people are making decisions about whether or not to support this project based on little to no information. It is our responsibility as a Department to provide you this information and we were late in getting it to you. We are going to do our best today to do that.

That it why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this presentation. I encourage everyone to be informed. If you have information and wish to continue to be against the project, then it is your right. But at least you have the full story. Please, please be informed before you make your decision.

Daily Shout-Out: To my dentist, who allowed me to again listen to my I-Pod throughout the filling process. It helped for what was an hour-long ordeal.

Other News: None...this presentation has somewhat occupied my mind right now.

Days Until the Wedding: 227

The Dentist

Whenever I drive up to Appleton, I always for the dentist that says his office is the alternative for people who hate going to the dentist.

• Why do people hate going to the dentist?
• What is this guy doing what makes going to the dentist so much better?

I do get nervous to go the dentist because I know I don't take care of my teeth like a should and I consume more sugar than I should. So, cavities are eventually going to catch up with me. I get nervous to wait and find out if I have any cavitities or abnormalities with my teeth. The last few times haven't gone so well. In fact, today I go to the dentist to get a filling replaced and to add another one to the array in my mouth. I think I am up to six.

I don't really find any discomfort in the poking and prodding that they do, I think it is more the sinking feeling when they find something bad in my teeth.

As for the alternative dentistry, I have heard that some folks do sedation dentistry where they knock you out during stuff. That doesn't sound too bad, but it would wierd me out that I would have no idea what they are doing to my teeth. My dentist allows me to listen to my IPod while he's doing work...I think that will do. Oh well, either way I get to go to the dentist in a few minutes. At least I know what's coming this time.

Daily Shout-Out: This goes to Peter for writing some very kind words about me in his blog: http://kickbuttproductions.blogspot.com/.

Other News:

• We are in the process of finalizing our band for the wedding. They are sending a contract through the mail that Christa and I are going to look through. They are going to rock!
• I am in the proces of writing/preparing my game for OshCon. Yeah...I slightly underestimated what I would need to do before Saturday. It is going to be a busy next few days.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 228

My Job

As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of my residents to talk about the Residence Hall Director position. By the end of the session, I was quite invigorated about what I do. However, during the course of our discussion, one of the questions I was asked was, "What do you do in a typical day?"

The great thing about an RHD job is that no two days are the same. It's fun...it's very hard to get into a rut. However, when you boil everything down, my job comes down to two things: meetings and paperwork. I have tons of meetings every day of many different varieties: staff, conduct, hall government, administrative, special projects, etc. I have sometimes had ten meetings in a day...I probably average five-seven a day. When I'm not in meetings, I am doing paperwork.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job...but, it's funny to realize that in a larger context, it's pretty simple. You might be able to say that about a lot of jobs.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to Christin Coleman for calling me to remind me that I was late for a pretty important meeting. I totally forgot...here's to always being early to meetings ;).

Other News:

• The Packers lost...bad. It was almost as though in the second half, the Eagles finally realized, "Oh yeah...the Packers have no secondary. Oh, and Ahmed Carroll sucks." So, it was fun for awhile, but the Packers met my expectations in the end.
• This NBC Village stuff is going to get interesting. My there may be a large middle group that is indifferent to project it is the people at the poles that could make the next few weeks interesting.
• I watched The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift last night. It was OK...I will admit that there were some very intense racing scenes, but the acting and the story line were very, very weak. And, I had a hard time getting over the fact that the main character in the movie both looked and talked like Peyton Manning.
• Wow...did we get a crap ton of rain last night. The weather was awful. Christa, my little brother and I went to McDonalds for the family special. It was raining so hard, I could barely see...the hail was no fun either. I had no idea we were getting weather like that.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 229

Leadership Camp 2006

I thought I might utilize to today's entry to highlight some of the excitement that was Leadership Camp 2006 at Camp Onaway in Waupaca, WI. I really enjoyed my experience:

• My Leadership: Geek, Dork or Nerd presentation went well. I have over 30 people there and I assume that everyone learned something. It came after the first evening of people not sleeping, so enthusiasm seemed pretty good.
• The ropes course work that the group did went very well. The hall leaders were amazing and they actually managed to complete the red tarp exercise. Needless to say, a group of A/RHDs couldn't get it done...and they did.
• I got to play poker, spoons, salad bowl and other activities throughout the weekend. I kept myself busy :)
• I had the opportunity to in some way become closer with every member of the Breese Hall team that went to camp. It was a nice feeling as we left the island.
• There were some parts of camp that generated some hard feelings among the group, but it was amazing that the group was able to start having conversations that will help the group to work through it.
• I always appreciate the opportunity to share my love of role-playing games. Peter and I had that opportunity in the advisors skit. Apparently, we can play AD&D with our eyes closed.
  

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the Breese Hall Camp Onaway crew: Paul, Lauren, Eric, Ryan, Larry, Stefanie, Kristen, Mary and Alexis. They were so much fun to work with. Remember the tarp!

Other News: Let's see...most of my weekend was dominated by Leadership Camp.

• Our new interim pastor started yesterday. I wish I could have seen him in action. I will this week. Christa said he seemed to be really great.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 230

Daily Shout-Out: Today's winner is Grant Olson for coming back to Breese to do a presentation in our hall about the PAL program and the STAR report. It was informative. I also want to thank residents who came to the Salvation Army yesterday to help bag food. They really appreciated the help.

Other News:

• Yes! I have completed Guitar Hero on the Medium level. I have tried taking it up the Hard level, and it has been quite a challenge so far. This game provides a lot of fun for $70. I think I am getting close to getting my money's worth.
• Preparations for the OshCon game go well. I managed to find materials from the last time I ran the game. That should cut down on time emmensely.
• I have heard there is interest in the hall about learning to play AD&D...scary. I may just accomodate that.
• My little brother Adam and I have been able to start meeting on a regular basis. We are seeing Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift next Monday as well as have the Family Special at McDonalds. Woot!
  

Days Until the Wedding: 232

Leadership Camp

Tomorrow, I leave for Leadership Camp. Leadership Camp takes place in Camp Onaway in Waupaca, WI. I am looking forward to presenting my program, Leadership: Geek, Dork or Nerd; I am also looking forward to working with my hall leaders, meeting other folks and most importantly enjoying the island. There is a feeling and calmness and tranquility that comes with being on this island.

It gives me many hours of personal time to throw on my I-Pod and reflect on life and important events. Needless to say, there are many important events both short and long term that require my attention.

It is indeed a draining weekend, but also a very enjoyable one.

Daily Shout-Out: Today this goes to Di Schramke who came in yesterday to interview me about director positions for one of her classes. In taking the time to talk about my job and how I got to be here, I got a nice boost of energy which is helpful given that there is a lot of drama-generating events around draining my enthusiasm.

An honorable mention also goes to Thomas Wolf who has always offers wonderful perspective and great wisdom to me.

Other News:

• Well, I made it into the Advance-Titan this week. I have gotten my name mentioned before, but this time they quoted me quite a bit: http://advancetitan.com/story.asp?issue=11308&story=5335.
• I have almost completed the "medium" level on Guitar Hero. It is really tough near the end. I can only imagine how hard the next two levels will be. As you can tell, this game is quite addicting.
• We have started our work with the Salvation Army today and will continue with it next week. It feels good to have Breese Hall back in the swing of doing Community Service.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 233

Then and Now

I made my way out of my apartment this morning to go on a walk. As I passed by the Union and was making my way down the main drag of campus, I saw a man in a trenchcoat with an umbrella handing things out to people. I realized it was the time of year when the Gideons hand out their small bibles containing the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs.

My first reaction was, "Thank goodness it's not the crazy guy that sits on the library steps and tells everyone they're going to hell." These guys are much nicer and they aren't pushy.

Having been an RHD here 4 years and a student 5 years, I have gotten used to them being a part of the year. However, I notice a real difference in my attitude toward their presence on campus. As a student, I always felt like they were enfringing on my space and I wish they would leave their "religion" off the campus. Now, I don't mind it so much. In fact, I appreciated it...it will be nice to keep in my brief case. It's more transportable than a full bible ;).

There are lots of reasons for the change. In undergraduate, I was very anti-religion and was still mad at God for what at the time I thought were some unfair circumstances he put me through. Now, I have come back to God and realized there is a purpose to all things, good and bad. I think time and graduation has caused me to realize that college serves the purpose of exposing people to all sorts of information, things they like and don't like...things they may realize or not realize. Plus, they were so nice. They didn't force anything on anyone.

If you have an opinion on the Gideons giving these out on campus, please post it here. Thanks!

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to Hal for sending me a great article about the continuation of the Madden curse. Shaun Alexander broke his left foot, keeping a streak of 8 years going. That is really eery.

Other News:

• I continue to play Guitar Hero. It rocks. I am realizing how poor I have been in the past in participating in good leisure activities. Peter has an excellent post about this...make sure to check out his blog.
• As much as I like the brat cart, it is also nice to be eating lunches in Blackhawk and hanging out with RHD colleagues. I forgot how important that can be in a hectic day.
  

Days Until the Wedding: 234 (I think I got this right...if I'm off it will correct itself in time.

Guitar Hero!!!

So, you may be asking if Guitar Hero is a fun game. What does this picture tell you?

I have played through the career mode for a few hours and have found it to be a great game. I now realize that it is definitely more fun to play with other people in the room.

I am excited to unlock different stuff. I am most intrigued with the opportunity to unlock the Grim Reaper. It's gonna take me a little while, but I know I can do it.

Anyone on campus, feel free to stop by and play Guitar Hero with me if I am around.

Guitar Hero

After weeks of contemplating, I finally gave in and brought Guitar Hero. I had the opportunity to try it out this morning and it is as I remember it in any game store...it rocks! I will be able to get some solid game time after work today before my staff meeting at 7:00 p.m. That will be nice.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the worker at Game Stop that said despite the cost of Guitar Hero, I would come to accept and applaud the purchase :).

Other News:

• Changes to the main page continue.
• Things in church continue to become more stable. The new pastor seems to be transitioning in well. Hopefully the job of the SPRC chair becomes less work.
• The buzz about the NBC Village continues to grow, some postitive, some negative. It should be interesting.
  

Welcome Bertha to the Office Family!

Ladies and gentlemen, we officially have a new member of the Breese Hall office staff. Bertha was named this morning after receiving 13 quality names to consider. Kudos to Mark Medinger, 1st floor Breese CA for submitting the winning name. Look for Bertha to have a Facebook profile in the near future. Feel free to direct all correspondence with Bertha through Facebook.

Wedding Update #1(one of many)

Tonight asked if we could go over wedding stuff and I will be the first to admit that I wasn't too excited about it. Please understand, I am very, very excited to get married to Christa. In fact, I wish it was this month. What I struggle with is all the planning and money that goes into this large extravaganza, when that money and planning could be used for something or someone in more need. It seems to be such a flaunting of excess. Christa and I are both pretty simple and probably could go with something very simple. But, that will not be the case.

Last night, it clicked and we had a pretty productive session. We got a lot of ideas out on paper and we both have a task list (although hers is much larger). One other thing that we are both struggling with is all the attention that we will be getting for this 2-3 day period. We are both introverts and do not really like the spotlight, so this should be interesting...

Daily Shout-Out: The Green Bay Packers, for actually winning. Don't get your hopes up, but a win is a win. Can they beat Philly?

Other News:

• In addition to a change in template, I am also in the process of changing the information on the side bar. It's nothing major, but you will see some tweeks.
• The NBC Village Planning Committee meets on Friday. I am excited to see work starting to get done on this. I think the students will also be happy to know how transparent we would like this process to be.

A Packer Victory

Well, well...the Packers actually won. Sadly, the Packers really tried to lose there in the end. Ahman Green coughed up the ball for the second time (a third time could be argued). It is nice to Favre in a groove right now. If they can get some shred of a running game going, the offense could really be something against some good teams. The defense continues to not look good overall, but continues to also make some really good plays throughout a game.

Let's face it. The Lions are not that good. I would say the Packers beat a team they should be beat. But, the Packers aren't that good either. So, at least they're 1-2. What's their reward? A Monday Night game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Ouch.

Daily Shout-Out: Goes to the Residence Life Dragonboat team for getting 4th place at the competition on Saturday. This was out of 30+ teams, so that says something.

Other News:

• In case you didn't know, there is a lot of crap going on this week. I need to get ready for Leadership Camp, I need to orient an interim pastor to our church and send out a great many judicial letters. Oh, and I need to get my game ready for OshCon in two weeks.
• I have been getting better about putting items in my Palm Pilot so that they become routine. I have been better at keeping up with laundry as well as watering my plants on a regular basis.
• We had some pretty successful weekend programs this weekend. I implore residents to stick around and check out what we have to offer.
  

For What It's Worth...

...if you are interested in making a political statement, you may want to check this out:

http://citgoboycott.wordpress.com/

Apparently one of the upper-ups in Citgo is a supporter of Hugo Chavez.

The 200th Post

Today marks my 200th post to the blog. A big deal for someone who has created blogs before only to have them fizzle after a few entries. It has been a therapeudic tool so far and I look forward to continuing the entried.

Daily Shout-Out: This goes out to the two ladies that operate the brat cart in the NBC Quad area. This is the last day they are serving and I will sorely miss their services.

Other News:

• Like the brat cart? I suggest you let Sodexho know this. Write them a letter. Perhaps they can create an equivalent in a more temperature friendly environment.
• The weather today is rainy; this could prove interesting for the Dragon Boat races tomorrow.
• Christa suggested that we go to Appleton tonight and play at Funset Boulevard. I think that is an excellent suggestion. I think I am buying Guitar Hero! Muahahaha!
  

Two Years

Christa and I are celebrating our two year anniversary. So, I suppose it's story time.

In August, Christa and I were both at Camp Onaway in Waupaca, WI as part of training for Residence Life; she was still a CA at the time. The weather at camp two years ago was lousy, it rained a lot especially on Thursday night. At one point during the course of the evening Christa and I were both underneath the underhang of the mess hall and I was behind her. We were both there for a few minutes and neither one of us said a word, yet someone we both have since said that there was some kind of motivation in each of us to say something, but we didn't.

Side Note: Up until this point, Christa and I had only interacted a few times. She would sometimes come by my office my first year as an RHD and would call me Mr. Droste. One time she stopped by table when Peter, Ryan and I were at Player's. My main reaction was, "Wow...she's cute."

For the next few weeks, I keep thinking about Christa and wondering how she feels about me. Reverting back to the middle school era, I decide to have someone else do my reconnaisance for me. I have Ryan Bronkema talk to his girlfriend at the time who was also on staff with Christa to see how she felt. It was determined that the feeling was definitely mutual. Huzzah! Well, now I actually have to call.

Christa saved me from that burden by calling me in my apartment when I happed to be talking to someone at the desk. While talking to the desk worker, I said, "Whoever this person is, they just keep talking...I suppose I'd better just go answer." In the time that I unlocked my door and got to the phone she was still leaving a message. Christa and I decided we would just go on a walk.

Christa and I walked for a long time. We walked for at least 90 minutes and we talked about two subjects very important to us: Star Wars & music. I suppose it was meant to be. It has been a great two years and I look forward to a lifetime of being with Christa. June 16, 2007!

Shout-Out: Goes to Peter Brooks, who yesterday engaged me in an excellent conversation about our jobs and its highs and lows.

Other News:

• The wings at Player's have been noticably hotter as of late.
• The Chinese buffet in the Union yesterday, very disappointing.
• Speaking of food disappointment, the brat cart will no longer be open after this week. Sad.
• We have an interim pastor assigned to our church until the end of the year. I will get to meet him Saturday night.
  

Running...Again

Loyal readers will know I have made this pledge before, but I have started running again. I really hope I can keep up with my pledge this time. I used a gift certificate to Kohl's to but a new pair of running shoes (a really nice pair I might add).

I have consistently been walking every morning and am now in the habit of getting up at 7:30 a.m. So, I thought I would sprinkle in some running 3 days a week and slowly build that up over time. I should be able to stick with it for a longer period of time.

Daily Shout-Out: Today is goes to the ING Insurance Company for letting me consolidate a retirement account I received while working in Massachusetts. It was worth $200. Woot!

Other News:

• I am troubled by how my department can sometimes make pretty simple tasks turn into rather large and administrative tasks. Just one of the perks of the job, I guess.
• Three submissions for the "name our plant" contest. They are all good nominations, but there could be more!
• I had breakfast with Margaret yesterday and I was actually awake and ready to go. That never happens.
  

The Archery Shop

I had the opportunity to hang out with my little brother Adam yesterday, and as per usual I had no idea what we would do. Adam brought up the suggestion of going to Appleton so that he could check out an archery store. He has recently gotten into hunting hanging out with Bruce, his mother's significant other (and now fiance :) ). Now, he wants to get a bow for hunting.

So, we went to the store and I was amazed. I really did not have a notion of what an archery store would look like, but this place was like a small civilization. It had the following things:

• Deep frier along with other fried food options
• Video gambling machine
• pool table
• dart board
• two different shooting ranges
• soda machine
• various televisions
  

I have this imagine of someone coming into the store when it opens and not leaving until it closes. Seriously, what motivation do you have to leave? I assume this place provides a great sanctuary to hunters that need to get away for whatever reason. It reminds me of a sanctuary.

I'm not sure why I find that so intriguing. I suppose it has something to do with the idea that when you have a hobby that you care about, you have a place to go so that you might be able to emmerse yourself in it, in the company of like-minded folk.

Daily Shout-Out: I will give today's daily shout out to Christa, who is doing a rockin' good job with all of the wedding plans. I think we are definitely making some progress.

Other News:

• Second OGS meeting tonight. We'll see how it goes this time.
• Bathroom door locking meetings are this week. Students rejoice.
• Sorry for so many posts yesterday, lots going on.
  

Family Night

So, the two McDonalds in Oshkosh (Koeller & Jackson) offer a special deal on Monday nights. You can get a 20-Piece Chicken McNugget Super Value meal for wicked cheap 3-4 bucks. It's a great option as a college student or as someone who may not necessarily to need worry for the moment about their health, but "family night"? How does this in any way provide a nourishing meal for a family?

I suppose that begs the larger question about how McDonals provided a nourishing meal at any time. I love the commercials for McDonalds where they show a mother and daughter eating "healthy" together at McDonalds. Riiiights...nothing healthy in what they're offerring there. I've read their salads are still full of fat and the yogurt parfait isn't exactly all that good for you either.

What nutritional value does the typical meal at McDonalds have? Very little...but yet, somehow I am drawn back every Monday.

Name Our Plant

Amy and I have a new resident in our office. We have a plant, but the plant does not have a name. I do not know the kind of plant (some of you have asked), but we're going to say she is a female plant. I want to have a name for the plant so we are going to have a contest.

If you have a good name for this plant (keep it appropriate...please), feel free to send me an E-mail with your idea. Just let me know where you live in the E-mail. Do not post name suggestions on the blog. I will have a prize if the winning name is someone from Breese Hall, but that does not disqualify outside suggestions. Amy and I will will pick the best submission of all the submissions that we get.

If you are curious, there is a picture off to the right along with this entry. Let your imagination run wild...but not too wild. Submissions will be closed by 11:59pm on Sunday, September 24, 2006. The E-mail address is: droste@uwosh.edu. We hope to hear from you soon.

Campaign Seeds

Over the last few weeks, I have not felt the need to begin a new fiction or non-fiction book. Instead, I have been reading through a great many of my AD&D 1st Edition books and modules. I am scouring them for campaign ideas so that I might actually make this 1st edition AD&D adventure take flight. I think I have the people to do it and I think I have the material to do it, but it needs to fit in my priorities as well. I think it does.

So, it has been fun to think about what I want to do. I eagerly prepare for my OshCon adventure in October. Hopefully that leads somewhere as well. If you are at all interested in learning mroe about AD&D or role-playing games, please let me know.

You may also notice the new format of the blog. I know, I know...it keeps changing. It will stop when I find a combination that I like. The old one did not have enough color for me.

Daily Shout-Out: The Green Bay Packers. Thank you for being such a bad team this year, that I find other football games more interesting. It has made me a more solid fan of football and I enjoy watching all NFL games now.

Other News:

• I have been informed that in previous blogs I did not necessarily talk about the status of the pastor who is involved with all this controversy. He has retired from the ministry and is no longer the pastor of our church.
• I had a great conversation on Friday with someone who is into blogging much more than me. He gave me some great tips and I hope I have the chance to use them. If I can generate enough material, I am considering creating a political log as well.
  

Priorities

Christa and I went to the Pride of the Valley Barbershop Chorus concert last night. It was a really good concert. It was cool to hear them sing songs that I had sung with them for a few weeks. In a way, I wished I could have been up on stage with them. On the ride home, though, I had an interesting epiphany regarding priorities.

I made a list of things that are important to me or that I would like to play a role in my life:

• my faith (personal)
• my wedding
  
• my job
• my friends and family
  
• my church (and its commitments)
• my hobbies (gaming in its many forms)
• my health (exercising)
• Pride of the Valley...

As you look at the list, there are a lot of things going on and a lot of time involved. When you take on a new commitment, a time commitment is involved. My schedule is already pretty packed and I also want to make sure I have time left over for myself to relax, etc. So, over the last few months, I have really been weighing my options and figuring out whether or not I can take on this new commitment. We shall see.

Daily Shout-Out: Alex Kuen for reintroducing me to barbershop and helping me to find a new outlet (on some future level) to be a musician. Even if I am not a member of the chorus, I may still come and sing when the time permits :).

Other News:

• The Packers lost, and this loss hurts more...because they were actually in the game. The offense definitely looked better, but they weren't consistent. The defense made some big plays early, but couldn't keep it up long term. So, the long season continues.

Packers vs. Saints

What can I say? You hate to pick against the Packers every week, simply because I can't remember the last time a team went 0-16 (although I think the Buccaneers might have done it one year). So, you figure the Packers are going to at least pick up a game here and there.

I don't think this is the week. This team is young, the coaches are young and they did not look together at all on Sunday. There were moments as I was watching Mike McCarthy that it looked like he honestly had no idea what he was doing. The team looked the same way. I think Reggie Bush is going to run all over our defense, but our offense will pick it up. I think it will be shoot out, but Packers will end up behind in the end. Saints: 24, Packers: 20.

Daily Shout-Out: Not ready by time of publication.

Other Notes:

• I just got back from seeing "Gridiron Gang". Good movie, not great, but definitely a good film. It has a good message, a good amount of action and some great lines. There was even one scene where it must have been dusty in the room. ;) I would recommend seeing it at a time when most other movies aren't so good. Grade: B

Resolution: The Next Step

Nothing like a 2 hour and 3o minute church meeting to cap your Thursday. We had an SPRC Meeting along with a Church Council meeting last night. I was worried that we would continue to dwell on dead issues, but that was not the case. We were able to move on and start the healing process. The SPRC Committee meetin afterward began to tie up some loose ends and I think the healing process can begin.

Since I have completed my Master's Degree, I can tell that I have become less of an emotional person. My two years in graduate school brough out a lot of the "feeling" component in the Myers Briggs Inventory. I often led with my heart and let it guide my decisions. I think my core value system has me leading with my head more...and that has perdominated my actions with the churhc drama. It some ways it may make me appear to be heartless or see disengaged from the proceedings, but in many ways it has been a blessing. As chair of a committee deeply rooted in this process, it has helped me to remain neutral in what can be an emotionally charged affair.

In my conversations with Harry over the last few years, we have talked about the ministry and he talks about how much of it involved working from your heart. But working from the heart has also gotten him into some trouble. So, maybe I can be the minister that leads with his head and still does a good job :).

Daily Shout Out: This goes out to Janet Karst, the admin. assistant in Scott Hall who celebrated her 60th birthday yesterday!

Other News:

• My event was accepted for OshCon 2006. I will nice to begin role-playing again. I hope people will do the adventure and like it enough to continue.
• Tonight is the LBGTQ pot luck dinner. This is the first one I have gone to; it should be a good time.
• I am seeing "Gridiron Gang" this weekend. Jen and I hopeful that it will be a good movie.
• The Pride of the Valley Chorus performs tomorrow night and Christa and I will be there. We are both very excited.
• This Sunday begins NACURH meetings...my goodness this is going to be a busy weekend.
• Stay tuned for a Packer preview tomorrow.
  

First OGS Meeting

On Tuesday, I took a chance and went to my first Oshkosh Gaming Society (OGS) meeting. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I met some interesting characters, a group of people that I miss by not going to the annual Gen Con Convention. I had the opportunity to play a game called Bitin' Off Hedz. I am hoping that I can sneak into a role-playing game some time in the future, but that might prove to be difficult.

Daily Shout-Out: Today's shout out goes to Deadre Holmes, the counseling center liaison for Breese Hall. She and I had a great meeting together and she seems to really take an interest in learning about the residence hall environment. She is just starting her tenure at UWO.

Other News:

• Peter Brooks had his first career start last night as a Dallas Cowboy on my Madden 2006 game. Although statistically not the best, he did manage to lead the Cowboys to victory. He threw a TD, but also had one INT. Sadly, his receivers did him no favors by having six drops during the game, one of which would have been a second TD pass. My goal is to play one game a night, or something close to that.
  
• It was nice to start doing the church choirs again. I was worried about the atmosphere at the meetings simply because of recent happenings. I am happy to report that the rehearsals were fun and church more normal than it has in a long time.
• I had coffee with two people that I have talked to in some time. It morphed into lunch and the three of us talked for an hour and a half. It is something that we will attempt to do each week and I think it provided an outlet for me to break out of always eating lunch with Residence Life folks (not that they are at all bad). :)
  

The "Remember the Titans" Effect

If you watch TBS or TNT at all, you may notice that they play this movie a greta deal; often, I get sucked into watching the movie, because it's a pretty good movie and it's got some great scenes in it. The head coach of the football team, played by Denzel Washington, is really, really hard on his players, but as the movie goes on you see them consistently trying to play hard because of the groundwork he laid for them.

There is one scene where the team is in the middle of a grueling practice and the coach is yelling things out like, "Will...you...ever...quit?" And they respond, "No, sir."

These moments are always interesting to me because I have never had an experience like that with a coach, supervisor or whoever. I suppose now we live in a time where if a coach did things like that to his players, he would probably be suspended or fired for cruelty. However, I always think that my level of performance or my desire to compete would be raised being part of a team with that type of dedication.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get that experience, but perhaps I will.

Daily Shout-Out: Today it goes to the Breese Hall Government for having such a kick-ass meeting last night. Good attendance, good enthusiasm and good pizza. Everything was covered. They are a good group!

Other Notes:

• The Packers are last in the ESPN NFL Football Power Rankings...ouch.
• Christa and I have righted the wedding concerns. I think it is now full speed ahead.
• I have re-juvenated my Madden 20o6 Superstar Franchise. Peter Brooks will now continue to his tenure as the rookie started for the Dallas Cowboys.
  

Sweet, Sweet Routine

The feeling has been there for awhile, but this week has sealed it. With staff meetings, hall government, staff one on ones and conduct meetings, it feels as though my job has kicked into full gear. Interestingly, it is this routine that brings security. It actually feels normal. I suppose part of this is because it's my schedule for about 75% of the year, but mostly as a creature of habit, I like it when things don't change so much.

I feel like my energy level is up and my productivity is high as well. Sweet, sweet routine.

Daily Shout-Out: This goes out to Ashley Beach for asking me what happened to my cross necklace. Thanks to her, I went and got it fixed so I can start wearing it again. I do feel more whole now.

Other News:

• There was a lot of frickin' football between Saturday and Monday. I can really get used to this. ESPN needs to think about having additional Monday Night Football double headers. You can't lose.
• Christa and I are running into some snags with this wedding planning. It has been trying for both of us, but especially for her.
• I am going to try to go to an OGS meeting tonight. We'll see if it translates into any actual gaming. :)
  

Where Were You?

I don't anyone can deny that the acts of September 11, 2001 qualify as the "JFK Assassination" of my generation. Even five years after the fact, I still think about that day a significant amount. I will always remember what happened for me that day as well.

I was on my way to class that morning and among the group of students that I walked with to class, we heard that some planes were hijacked, but nothing had been destroyed at the moment. By the time I made it to class, our professor informed us that one of the World Trade Center Towers had been crashed into and that it was on the verge of collapse. After hearing this, I told the professor, "I have to see what's going on." I left to watch what was going on and was glued to my TV for most of the rest of the day.

Other memories:

• I remember of my classmates telling me that they expected something like this to happen.
• I remember crying more that day than I had in a long time.
• I remember calling my dad and not being sure what to say on the phone.
• I remember WIU having an impromptu student forum for people to gather. It was held in our ballroom and the room was packed.

Other News:

Yeesh, did the Packers lay an egg yesterday or what? Strangely, Ahman Green ran for over 100 yards and Donald Driver has a pretty good game. You also have to give the Packer defense some credit. They were on the field most of the game and they did what they could to stop the Bears. The score could have been a lot worse. Maybe by 6-10 prediction is being a little too nice. Thanks for Travis and Joe for leaving comments...it is going to be a long year for Packer fans.

Strange moment this morning. On my walk I felt the need to listen to hip/hop music on my walk. It just felt good...I downloaded "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor and it just got things started.

The 2006 Packers

Of all the years that I have followed the Packers seriously (maybe 1995), this is probably the year that I know the least about them. I am simply not as excited for the Packer's season this year. Why? Well, let's generate a quick list:

• They stunk last year and they didn't make many changes that make me think they will stink less.
• Brett Favre doesn't have many people to throw the ball to.
• The defense is young, inexperienced and does not have much depth.
• Overall, the team is young and will need time (a few years) to mature and be competitive.
• The coaching staff is almost entirely new and quite unproven.
• I couldn't tell you too many starters as well (although that will change as the year goes on).

Today, the Packers start against the Bears. I think the Packers could actually win this game. The Bears have a tremendous defense, but no offense. If the Packers can minimize mistakes, they may be able to stay in the game late...perhaps that's when Favre can work some of his old magic.

As for the year, I would say the Packers will finish 6-10 at best. I hope I'm wrong. As my dad said yesterday, you have to keep your expectations low this year. Hopefully, you'll come away surprised. More after the game.

First Week Is Over

Well, today is Friday, and that means the end for the first week of school. This will be a wonderful weekend because I can finally relax and not feel like I should be doing some kind of work to prepare for training.

I will be having dinner tonight with Harry, the pastor of our church who recently retired. It will be nice to chat with him now that all of this controversy is over.

My prayers are with Peter who will be in intensive care for a few days after surgery. No fears...the surgery was planned, but I know he will be in pain for awhile and I hope he recovers as quickly as possible.

Another Plane Ride?

Well, I booked some airplane tickets through Northwest Airlines so that I can travel to the Exploration 2006 Conference in November. I am still a little shaky about flying given the experience that I had flying back from Texas. I am sure things couldn't get much worse than they did then, so there ya go!

I suppose purchasing this ticket signifies that despite some rough times in my church I am still willing to give this ministry thing a shot.

In Other News...

I am pretty creeped out by this new Facebook format. I think it gives me a little more information than I would like about my friends and residents.

This week has been a productive week for me. I have taken a few nights "off" and have gotten things back in order in my life. I have way mroe energy than I have had in awhile.

I am looking forward to seeing my parents this weekend. I'm not sure where we'll be or what we'll do, but it will be fun.

I am getting pretty geeked up about gaming again...scary.

First Day of Classes

Last night, Christa and I talked a little bit about the fact that she starts classes tomorrow. In somes ways, I think I was downplaying the emotions involved in the first day of classes. I say this becuase it has now been four years since I have had a class. It makes me think back to some of my more vivid memories of the first day of classes.

General Psychology
I will always remember this class because it was my first class as an undergraduate students back in the year 1995. It was 10:20-11:20 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Clow 102. It was funny becuase the first day the lecture pit was full and with each passing class there were less and less folks. I, of course, went to every class and witnessed this lovely event. My professor was Baron Perlman, a great professor, who has earned various teaching awards. It was great that he was teaching a first-year level class. It set the bar high for my future experience.

Music Theory
My sophomore year of college began my career as a music students. This class met Monday-Friday from 10:20-11:20. I had two professors, Dr. Chaudoir and Dr. Wise. They were both phenomenal professors, but were both also very demanding. For the first day of class, we had around 60 students in the class. I was stoked because I had taken piano lessons for eight years and I assumed that I would know more about theory than the average student. When they through my entire knowledge of theory in the first week I know there was going to be problems. Within a few short weeks, the class was down to 25 students. But a core of us stuck in out, despite many late nights and early mornings.

Speech
My only comment about this first class was that my speech teacher had a lisp. That doesn't seem quite right.

"Resolution"

For those of you that have been keeping track, the last few months have been very chaotic for the church I belong to. As the dust settles from many meetings, many complaints and much anger and frustration, our pastor has chosen to retire from the ministry.

For the time being, we will have interim pastors until June 2007, at which point we will be assigned a new pastor. This has been a difficult time for everyone involved and it has made an otherwise crazy training/opening month even more chaotic.

While it by no means has ended, it has definitely become a much more manageable situation and one we can hopefully rebuild from. I appreciate everyone's support.

Role-Playing Games

So, OshCon is this weekend. We'll see how it is. It has been a long time since I have done any kind of gaming. Ever since GenCon moved to Indianapolis I have been really out of practice. Most of us that made up the gaming group we had in college/high school are all married, have children or have become busy people in the working world. It is hard to get together.

Interestingly enough, Peter mentioned to all of the hall leaders and hall staff that I played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. He did this as part of an introduction for a program that I was presenting. At first, I was a little embarassed. But, since then, I have had at least five different people come up to me with interest in learning how to play.

It would be great to get back into gaming again. If you are interested, please let me know.

First-Year Student Move-In Day

At 9:00 a.m. today, Breese Hall opens its doors to new first-year students. This is the fourth time that I have been involved with student move-in on an RHD level. This year I feel pretty confident and prepared for the first-years to move in. I think all the paperwork is in order and I have a great lunch spread prepared for my hall leaders, staff and greeters.

With each year, I look at the move-in days, I am less stressed about it and I simply enjoy the chaos. If you think about it, you are moving around 3000 students in the residence halls in two days in tight quarters. The fact that they all make it in the building is a big enough accomplishment regardless of how clean the move-in goes.

Also with each year, I feel a decreased amount of competition between each of the halls. No matter what I might wish for, Breese Hall always seems to continue doing good programs and building a good community. I might as well realize that the staff and hall leaders have a handle on this and I should just continue to let them do their great work. It makes my job easy!

Students Start Moving In

The students are coming, the students are coming! It begins...

Bread

Well, training continues to be quite a busy time. As you can tell, I haven't had the time to journal that I usually do. Because of training, I don't have too much to say. I did want to post this picture of a sign from Oshkosh's Jimmy John's. I just think it's fun!

Pepsi Giveaway

How is it that in a recent Pepsi giveaway, where you have a 1 in 12 chance of winning a 1 for 2 Pepsi deal and a 1 in 3 chance of winning a free ringtone for your phone, I get 3 2 for 1 deals and one ring tone? Interesting luck.

I waited all this time to get a free ringtone and when I see the free ringtones available I don't recognize any of the artists or the songs. This means I'm old and out of touch. :)

Christa, The Artist

As I came to the office after breakfast this morning, I found this picture on my door. I am assuming that Christa, my fiance, was the drawer. Very few people who have access to Breese Hall know that we are bowling tonight.

It's pretty sweet looking and it is one of those pictures that I do not want to erase. So, I at least took a picture to preserve it.

I would also like to take the opportunity to say what a great artist Christa is. She has some great drawings in her office and she also has a copy of a great painting in my apartment. It is just one of her many artist skills!

Otherwise, training goes well. We are only in day two, and my energy level is pretty high. I am excited to leave for camp. My staff is great! More about them later. Peace.

Pictionary Poison

After being on the losing side of another Pictionary match last night, I have realized that I am Pictionary Poison. Honestly, I think my overall record is like 0-7. Who will ever want to play with me?!?

Otherwise, the staff are here and we are having a good time.

So It Begins

It's 2:15 and all of my staff are moved in. It is nice to have a little life injected into the building. When you have lived in a residence hall for three years, you get used to the sounds of life. I actually find myself sleeping better now that I head noises...strange.

Training starts at 5:00 p.m. tonight with dinner. From then on, it is non-stop movement until we open the building on September 3, 2006. This is by far the busiest two weeks of the year for me. Please understand if calls are not returned quickly or if my E-mail response lags a little bit. I promise everything will calm down eventually.

Let's do it!

Recent Lessons

As the struggle continues with the First United Methodist Church of Oshkosh, I have learned some valuable lessons that will be helpful to me regardless of the career path that I choose beyond the RHD position.

1. People Will Not Like What You Do – I work in the field of Residence Life where everyone likes everyone else. It is also a field of accommodators that are likely to keep animosity or frustration to themselves that the group might continue to function. Given the struggles with my church, I have now had to deal almost daily with the realization that members of the church do not like how I am handling the situation. As difficult as that can be, it is also a good feeling because now I know what it’s like. It won’t be so difficult the next time.

2. People Can Separate You From Your Work – Despite some people not necessarily liking what I have to say or not liking how you handle something, they can still respect you as a person and can understand the difficulty you are having. After last night’s Council Meeting, I could tell that I angered some folks or at least told people something that they did not want to hear. I was amazed at how many people came up to me after the meeting to express concern, encouragement or support despite the gravity of the situation.

3. Trust the Process – As Tracy Davis, my professor from graduate school, always emphasized, despite the desired outcome more will come out of what got you there. As difficult as that is to understand right now…he was right. When this is done I will have grown so much based on the process.

Interesting Quote

In graduate school we spent a great deal of time talking about various identity development models in the areas of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. While there are some merits to these models, there were times when I may have questioned them. I have been reading a book entitled White Guilt by Shelby Steele. I wanted to pull one quote out to talk about:

"In fact, if there is a white identity today it would have to be white guilt--a shared, even unifying, lack of racial moral authority. As other group identities derive from a shared fate, white guilt is a shared white fate rendered up by history. Whites can no more escape white guilt than blacks can reject being black--the latter cannot know themselves racially whitout the memory of slavery, and the former canot know themselves racially without the memory of white supremacy. Two shaming fates, yes, but two identities? Can an identity revolve around contrition and deference toward darker races, as a modern white identity would have to? Does it make sense for whites to go around saying, "We are the contrite people, and we defer to other races; this is our identity"? Yet to gain employment today in most American institutions whites must somehow pledge allegiance to "diversity" as if to demonstrate a white identity of contrition and deference. Even in the corporate and military worlds--not to mention academia--no white goes far without genuflecting to diversity. Nevertheless, beyond an identity that apologizes for white supremacy, absolutely no white identity is permissible."

I have finished the book, and I find this quote sticks out the most. I do feel as though to be white means that you do not have an identity and if you tried to have an identity it can only be one wrapped up in privilege and guilt toward our treatment of others. I also agree with his contention that you can not succeed in most professions without devotion to "diversity". I am curious to know what folks think about this quote. Thanks!

Nothing Profound

I'll post, but there isn't much to say. Training and church drama.

Fox Valley Invitational Results

Course 1 (Fondy Sports Park) Winner: Nick Sayner (52 strokes)
Tom Dittl - hole in one on 17

Course 2 (Settler's Mill) Winner: Nick Sayner (54 strokes)
Peter Brooks - hole in one on 7 and 14
Tom Dittl - hole in one on 14

Course 3 (Jurassic Village) Winner: Jim Droste (48 strokes)

Course 4 (Gopher Golf) Winner: Tom Dittl (40 strokes)
Tom Dittl - hole in one on 14 and 15

Overall Winner: Tom Dittl (198 strokes)
2nd Place: Nick Sayner (206 strokes)
3rd Place: Jason Chapman (220 strokes)
4th Place: Jim Droste (222 strokes)
5th Place: Peter Brooks (193 strokes through three courses...unable to make 4th course)

I do want to say that it was wonderful to see everyone and play golf together. We had an excellent time and we look forward to the 2007 competition.

Second Annual Fox Valley Min-Golf Invitational

Tomorrow at 11:00am, my friends Nick, Tom (an possibly Jason) will be coming up from Milwaukee to participate in what we hope will be an annual event. I have chosen 4 golf courses in the Fox Valley:

• Fondy Sports Park (Fond Du Lac)
• Settler's Mill (Oshkosh)
• Jurassic Village (Oshkosh)
• Funset Boulevard (Appleton)

That's 72 holes of mini-golf action. We'll see how long we last. With Peter joining us as well, there will be plenty of golf and hilarity.

I am playing a handbell solo for church tomorrow. My parents are coming up to hear it. Christa is also coming. Everyone will be gathering for lunch before golf. It should be an eclectic mix of people feasting on brats.

Meeting Complete

The church meeting was last night at 6:30 pm. The meeting went until 9:00 pm. I talked to a few folks afterward and I left church at 9:30 pm. I am so glad that this meeting is over. I now have some homework to do, but I feel as though we can take a step forward toward some sense of resolution.

If anything, I am getting some great practice in conflict resolution!

I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend of work. I know that sounds funny, but it will really be that way. I am also looking forward to Nick, Tom and Peter joining me for the 2nd Annual Fox Cities Mini-Golf Invitational being held this Sunday.

Thank You Verizon

As you may have noticed this month I have had many situations where I have been blessed to have a cell phone. But, with that I have also used up a great deal of minutes. With everything that happened, I was 15 minutes over my anytime minutes and was not looking forward to the $.45 charge per minute over.

In calling Verizon, I was awarded 50 minutes over the next four months that I could utilize for times that I go over my minutes. The customer service representative said that as a loyal customer for 5+ years she thought that would be fair. How wonderful!

Church Meeting

As you may have picked up from pervious posts, First United Methodist Church - Oshkosh is in something of a crisis. As the Staff/Parish Relations Committee Chair, it is part of my duties to help mediate conflicts between members of the congregation and staff. Well, there is a big conflict between our pastor and members of the congregation about a great many issues. The District Superintendent will be coming to our SPRC meeting tonight to help "resolve" these concerns.

This crisis has taken much of my time and has taxed me greatly. It has in some ways made for a frustrating summer. Tonight's meeting is very important in moving toward a possible solution. I am looking forward to it so that hopefully I might be able to move on to other important areas of my life such as friends, family and my job. We have started training and I am hopig to soon be able to start working on that task list.

Super O'Haro

Paging through the safety manual on my flight to Milwaukee, I discovered these two classic pictures. Don't these two guys totalling look like they are flexing their super powers? This was the first time I was finally able to catch these pictures with a camera.

Christa's Car

Christa's rear passenger side tire blew out on her way back to Oshkosh this afternoon. She is fine! I drove out to the Waupun St./Hwy 26 exit and put her spare tire on. We were able to get her back to campus. She will be figuring out where to get a new tire. We are just having poor luck when it comes to cars.

Car, Yeah!...Trip From Texas, Boo!

Car is Fixed
Well, things in my life are almost back to normal. Christa and I drove down to Westville, IN to pick up my car. Although I was quoted a total bill of $908.00, the head of the shop said that he would knock off $100 dollars because of all the trouble that I went through getting the car fixed and picking it up. I appreciated the gesture, but more than anything I simply wanted my car back. Much thanks to Christa for driving me down to Indiana, only to drive back up the same day. Overall, the car seems OK, it does seem a little louder than usual. But it runs, which is key.

Trip Back from Texas
In a continuing streak of good luck, I should highlight for you my return trip from Chicago. I will spare you a lot of details, and give you bullet points:

Day 1: Wednesday

• My layover in Chicago before my flight to Milwaukee was 3 hours with my flight leaving at 7:40 pm.
• 7:10pm - O'Hare airport shuts down due to lightning in the area. My flight is obviously delayed. Airport opens again, but closes 15 minutes later again due to lightning in the area.
• 7:50pm - Due to severe weather also in Milwaukee, our flight is cancelled. It is discovered that the plane we were supposed to take did not leave the airport.
• 8:00pm - I get to the customer service desk and discover that the only remaining flight scheduled to leave that evening is booked. I decided I will book the first flight the next morning at 8:00 am. In talking with a representative, I discover the 6:05 pm flight out of Chicago for Milwaukee has been delayed and has still not taken off. I book myself for this flight.
• 8:40pm - Our flight is supposed to leave at this time, but it doesn't. Several of us on the flight continue to ask the service desk to find out if and when the flight is leaving. Finding out nothing, I contact Chris to tell him he won't need to take me home. I contact my dad asking his advice and I text message friends to stave off boredom.
• 10:15pm - Getting no help from the service folks, I call a customer service person, asking them about the flight. At this point I found out the 6:05 flight already left and they didn't tell us! So, there are no flights out of Milwaukee and I realize I am screwed.
• 10:25pm - Back to the customer service desk to find out about hotel rooms. Rooms are not covered fully because the cancellation was due to weather. They can get us rooms for $59 a night. Great...
• 10:35pm - I call the toll free number to get a room. I wait for about 15 minutes. I find a room in the AmeriSuites Hotel which is 20 minutes away from the airport. I guess this will due.
• 10:40pm - I contact a taxi service that charges $20 to get you to the airport. I am assured that they take credit cards (more about this later). They tell me to meet at G1. I have no idea what this means. I ask repeatedly what this is and they think I am a crank caller. After waiting 15 minutes my cab arrives.
• 10:55pm - I share a cab with Kathy Fritz, a young lady from Germany. I thought I had it bad, she flew from Germany to Cleveland with two cats. She ended up paying over $500 EURO extra to get her cats to Chicago and then her flight to Cleveland was cancelled. She lent me $20 so that I could pay the drive who could not accept credit cards, even though he said he could.
• 11:15pm - I arrive at the AmeriSuites...not impressed. There are 5-6 of us checking in all having had our flights cancelled...Cedar Radids, Cleveland, Milwaukee...good times. I get checked into my room. They let me have a complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste as all my toiletries were in the bag I did not have. How nice.
• 11:20 - Wow...my room has HBO. That was the highlight. Rough towels, no pressure in the showers, and the room didn't really get cold. Sweet.
• 12:30 - I finally relax and get to bed. Here ends day #1.

Day 2: Thursday

• 4:30am - I get up and get ready for my taxi driver who is coming at 5:30 so that I have time to get to my flight.
• 5:30am - Taxi drive shows up and tells me to leave behind Kathy because I don't have a cell phone. Much thanks to Kathy for paying me and not being able to pay her back.
• 6:00am - I arrive at the airport and discover my taxi driver can now pay with credit cards...riiiiiiiiiight.
• 6:10am - Having already "checked-in" last night, I have 1 hour and 50 minutes before my flight is supposed to take off.
• 7:45am - We are told that our flight is going to be delayed because our flight crew is in Moline, IL and their flight has been delayed due to weather.
• 9:30am - Our flight finally boards and we are on the plane. As I board, my ticket generates an error message and I have to be re-assigned. I end up bumping a crew member to a rumble-type seat.
  
• 9:40am - Once everyone sits down, we find out that there was too much fuel put into the airplane and all people that were accepted on stand-by now need to leave. They get their baggage and de-plane.
• 9:45am - We are now told that there are technical difficulties with the plane that need to be fixed. After 20 minutes they are fixed.
• 10:05am - We get cleared for takeoff, but the airport shuts down because of bad weather. We wait.
• 10:50am - Our plane takes off for its 15 minutes flight to Milwaukee.
• 11:10am - I find my dad and we go to baggage claim only to find out that my luggage is still in Chicago. I pick it up on Saturday as we drove down to get my car.

There you have it...my tript back from Texas.

More from Texas!

I finally figured out how I might be able to get some pictures from my Texas trip up on the blog. The picture you see to the right here is a view of the Riverwalk from a bridge. As you can see, the view was very nice. The whole River Walk scene reminded me a lot of Venice is some ways, although the waterways were not so pervasive as they were in Venice.

For fear of having to do too much uploading, I will keep things at one picture. I will post more on Facebook when I make my way back to Oshkosh. As for Monday's travels, I had the opportunity to attend a minor league baseball game for the Round Rock Express. Unfortunately, the game did not turn out to be so good and we left after seven innings, with the score Express 2, River Cats 9. I noticed the price for concessions was about the same it is for Brewers games and their apparrel was equally overpriced...so much for getting the Round Rock baseball cap.

Dario has to run some errands in Austin so I got a nice tour of the city as well as the campus. I am hoping to get to see more of the campus today as Dario needs to go back to work. For today, there are plans to get some good barbeque, see a movie at a place called the Draftfhouse. You cann watch a movie while having a meal and even a beer! I think that is all for now.