Billary* at Mizzou

With little less than 36 hours notice, Bill Clinton came rolling into Columbia to campaign for his lady. He oddly came to our (fantastic) rec center instead of a more reasonable place like the Mizzou Arena, or even the Hearnes Center. Whatev. I mostly went because, well, it's Bill Clinton. I've always heard of his magnetism and phenomenal public speaking. Also, he was President, and that should count for something.

And he was good. He spoke for a whopping 40 minutes. He started out talking about the Mizzou basketball season, made a comment about Mizzou beating Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, and kept on using "country" cliches like "three bricks shy of a full load" and referred to our state as"Missourah," which, my friend Jenna pointed out, only politicians and 80-year-old men from Mexico, MO, say.

Another funny line came from the dude standing behind us. When Clinton was talking about the economy and Bush's proposed plan for economic stimulus, he was explaining how most of the money went to the top 10%. The guy behind us said "...like you."

He talked about the environment, jobs, health care, the mortgage crisis, automated medical records, preventative care, Iraq, foreign policy, and increasing college scholarships. He made jokes about being politically correct, about being president, and I left liking him.

Later that night I was at a going-away party for my friend John, who is being deployed to Iraq. John's one of the most knowledge-hungry guys my age I know. He's absolutely fabulous. He told me that he's been hearing that Bill campaigning for Hillary has actually been hurting her more than helping (Truthdig article). In the middle of Bill Clinton's speech, a phone rang behind me. The guy picked it up and said, "We're at the Bill Clinton rally..."



*thanks to Ailsa for that.

Missouri Poet Laureate: Walter Bargen

Woo! Missouri finally has a poet laureate (by the way, that's a really fun word to type - laureate), Walter Bargen (here's his pathetic website). Well, with Gov. Matt Blunt not seeking reelection, at least he left something for us to remember him by. He was so cute, too.

Press release announcing Walter Bargen as Missouri Poet Laureate.

Bargen's from Ashland, too, which is about 20 min. south of Columbia. I have fond memories of Ashland, both from Young Life and driving past it (the overpass signaling us to start praying for club or whatever we were going to in JC) and from when some friends and I went to a real live rodeo there. It was out of control. Definitely one of the the strangest cultural experience that I have ever had.

Here's some of his prose from his book "The Feast"

"This is what happens when he stands face to face with no, and no the true genius of the world. No, he won't sit on the potty, and so he sits wrapped in his mess for the rest of the day. No, he won't struggle with putting on his galoshes on a rainy morning, and so he walks to school barefoot, all the other kids laughing. No, he won't stand on the chair, lean among the flowers to kiss the face of someone who once loved to playfully cheat his at cards and torment him in other small delicious ways, then his frightened face is shoved up against death. No, he won't give the older boys his jacket, and after school is chased all the way home, barely staying ahead of the heavy swinging belt buckles. No, he won't eat his broccoli or spinach, or anything green that looks like the squashed insides of a caterpillar, and he falls asleep at the table, then falls out of the chair. No, he cannot say no, but he does. No, he won't to the barbarous city Nineveh, but instead heads for Tarshish, across a storm-riddled sea where he draws the short straw and is thrown overboard for God-only-knows-what-reason, and ends up living inside a great fish. Yes, no is the genius of the world."

Silly Mizzou.edu article on Bargen: "Poetry gets Wings".

Deer and Culture Shock

My Mom sometimes orders fillet mignon from a butcher in New Franklin, MO, about a half an hour away and I have to go get them. This was on their door. If you can't read it, it says "Please check in your deer at the back (in the alley) and keep your tag. Thanks!"

Sometimes I forget that people hunt and that I live in Missouri.

'Learn Something New Everyday' Department

In my Social Change and Trends class yesterday a grad student gave a presentation on wind mills/turbines/huge pinwheels. It was fascinating. Overall, I found out, Missouri is not a very windy state, in fact we rank 43rd in wind production. Too bad. But we also have 2 (and a 3rd coming before 2008) wind farms that are on the electricity grid! Way to go Ameren UE for doing it too. Here's the site for the developers (Wind Capital Group) Woohoo!
I love Rural Sociology majors. They're so cool and offer such a different perspective on issues. It seems like its so uncool to worry about entrepreneurship in small towns, but they do. I think it's great. Also classes in the Rural Sociology department are always taught by people who only teach like one or two classes and have actually done what they're teaching for decades. I took an Amish class by a guy who was raised Mennonite and like 102 years old and it was terrific.
Well, anyway, back to wind turbines.


Windmills are HUGE!


This was taken at Bluegrass Ridge wind farm in northwest Missouri.

Missouri's Poet Laureate

Capital Building in Jeff City

Missouri's getting a Poet Laureate. About freaking time. I didn't know we didn't have one. That's embarrassing. Well, good job Matt Blunt for getting the ball rolling.

You can see the official notice here.

Yes, we are the home of Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Maya Angelou, and Langston Hughes.