Small furry things

I can't believe I neglected to mention the absolutely BRILLIANT way we spent our Sunday afternoon last weekend. Some background info, first of all...my boyfriend Jim and I live in an apartment a few blocks away from campus across the street from our friends Carl and Melissa Stoltz (YES, they're married!) who have two cats, Milo and Jax. Sometimes we cat-sit for them and the cats are absolutely adorable. Well, both of them came from an animal shelter about half an hour away from Beloit, and it turns out that they have "Adoptathon" days in the spring and fall when their "kitten quota" has been surpassed. WELL. One thing led to another, and Carl and Mel invited us along as they went to check out another cat and look into becoming perspective foster kitten parents. MIND-BLOWING. There were about 50 kittens (separated into nice roomy cages of course) scattered around the building, and we were allowed to pick them up and play and listen to their tiny little mewing noises. This was incredibly overwhelming, as my brain has only so much "wee furry" capacity and so I kind of overloaded on preciousness. But it was TOTALLY worth every minute. It looked like the majority of the kittens were getting adopted, too, which was fantastic. Woot baby kittens!! Just another event to add to the ever-expanding list of summer activities in Beloit!

Until next time, then...I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm headed back home to Iowa for Saturday night for my dad's birthday--we get to see "King Lear"--WOOT!

~Laura DM

A Note From New England:

Above: This is the view from Camel's Hump (Mt.) and is in no way a glimpse of Wisconsin. This is my homeland. Let there be no confusion. Wisconsin is pretty because it is flat. From where I am now, the view is, well frankly, curvacious.

Speaking of where I am... I am writing this post from my kitchen in Montpelier, Vermont. It seems wierd to blog outside of the 53511 zip code, but I couldn't keep myself away. This is my big vacation week home and just for the occasion, it is hot all over the US of A-- even here out east in the Green Mountains.

It's late in the afternoon, well over 90F, and our freezer is out of popsicles: holy tragedy boondog! Despite the conditions, I felt this trip was a good opporunity to report in on travel and the whole visit-home-deal. My older sister goes to a school just 4 hours from home. For me, Beloit is a 22-hour drive from my front door. This week marked the rare occasion my sister and I are home at the same time. Naturally, the fact that she has access to my parent's fridge anytime she's got the gas money has been on my mind. Since the popsicles disappeared from the icebox, I have been less intrigued by her convenient proximity. My life is evidently governed by food.

Anyway, I am not sure where this blog is going, but it is being typed very slowly. You see, I've got this ice cube in my mouth and one wedged between my ankles. Needless to say, between juggling them and pondering the best way to say "gee, it's nice to be home, but golly do I miss old Belwah already!" my typing has suffered. There, I think I've done it.

So, I will end this brief departure from Beloit Life and continue it when I'm back in the loop. In summation: the journey home was easy, the cookin' is a treat, and it's nice to get reaffirmation that Beloit is somewhere I want to be. I love being home, but I also love know I'm heading back to the Midwest on Sunday night!

Stay cool, cucumbers!
-Julia

So... To the posting of current events. As of last Tuesday, I joined the 'tattooed peoples club'. Third try is the charm. It hurt an awful lot and now it itches like crazy, so my advice is don't get one unless you're really, really serious. In other boring news, I am spending a lot of my time doing nothing this summer! After work, I work on making a permanent butt-groove in my couch while watching many episodes of Buffy and Angel. I keep trying to read books of literary merit or writing stories or scholarship papers, but every time I try, I end up with web comics, naps, or silly chick flicks. I have severely caught up on movies I haven't seen, and I'm selling all my possessions on eBay (but buying at least twice as many!) Its kinda nice, but most of the time I miss having some intellectual stimulation. I suppose classes will start before i realize, so I wont complain. Sorry for the boring tirade, and I can only hope your summers are a bit more eventful!

~Kristen

Chowhounding in Beloit

So this very evening, I will be having dinner with a few good friends at a restaurant called Hanson's Tavern. I have never been to Hanson's before but have heard rave reviews. These reviews have usually been raving about the hamburgers so, being a vegetarian, I never really put much stock into them. I am still quite intrigued about this place, though.

Reason being: when I ran a Google search on Hanson's to determine where it might be located, one of the first sites to pop up was from chowhound.com. I had just read about this wonderful website yesterday. Seriously--yesterday! Coincidence? Well, you decide . . .

It was in an essay by Calvin Trillin from his book "Feeding a Yen" (Do you like food? Do you like reading? Then read this book about food. It's a-okay!) From what I gather, if you're serious about good food, chowhound.com is the place to go for suggestions.

Anyway, so bumming around on this website, I found a couple mentions of Hanson's, leaving me curious to see what other hidden restaurant treasures I have yet to discover in Beloit. Regardless, I'm now pretty stoked to see what this place has to offer.

So it seems the summer is still ripe with adventures, and I won't even have to leave town. Excellent.
--Michelle

Trip to Chicago

So I went on a trip to Chicago this weekend for a friend's graduation party. We took the VanGalder bus down to O'Hare, where my friend's dad picked us up. We hung out with friends from the area that night and on Sunday went to his grandma's house for his graduation party. Sunday was just a lot of people I didn't know drinking and playing bags. We drove back on Monday.

I ran a few errands on Monday, which was nice, and then watched a movie with a few guys from the house I am living in over the summer. I came into work this morning wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and black pants. That was pretty stupid, considering today is the hottest it has been yet this summer. Ouch!

Organizing my room and getting things situated a figured out is my priority right now. I am trying to get an apartment for next year and finding a co-signer is the hardest thing I have ever done. I want to get the paperwork done, but I have to wait to see if my dad would co-sign. He wants to "talk" about it first, which means that he wants to lecture me before signing. It's understandable, but I really want to get this paperwork done, because we might not even be able to get the apartment if we wait much longer.

The drama!

*Brandi

Parties, Family, and Friends

So I'm waiting on my computer to get fixed and I just want it back so bad. I have to way to check my email at night, and I can't talk to my friends online. Worst of all, I just want to work on my websites, and I can't. That makes me mad.

Then last night I went home and spent the night with my sister. My mom and stepdad went out of town because they are on vacation this week and my sister was alone. So being the amazing sister I am I went and hung out with her. My aunt made us dinner and talked all night. I felt bad because I wanted to leave to go play volleyball. I'm not home very often, so when I do go home I like to help my high school volleyball coach with open gyms. So I did that last night. I played volleyball and had so much fun.

I am really excited, though, to hang out tonight with my best friend. Hopefully in a clean room, playing video games or something. I also need to help my other friend, who is getting kicked out of her house, and my teammate/other friend is coming to hang out tonight after interviewing candidates for the new softball coach. Therefore, tonight is going to be a night spend in the company of my closest friends.

*Brandi

Calendars frighten me

So today I looked at the date on the calendar next to my desk, and the fact that it is already almost July really freaked me out. Where, I wonder, did all the time go to devote to all the things that I've been planning on doing this summer? I mean, good God, before I know it I'll be standing/sitting on the banks of the Rock River listening to the sweet guitar-ing of "Don't Fear the Reaper" and bidding farewell to friends who are only working in Beloit for the first part of the summer. Let's face it, once July 15th or so hits, it's all downhill after that. In my hometown we have a fair called Heritage Days (dodgy carnies and all!) which is always held the second weekend in July, and it always seemed to usher in the beginning of the end. Riverfest is like my Beloit summer version of Heritage Days. Ack. But with Steppenwolf and Blue öyster Cult instead of carnies.

In typical Laura fashion, I've taken on two extra projects this summer to exercise my academic brain (come November I'll be lamenting schoolwork--now I can't get enough! Go fig) and my weekly schedule is actually filling up. One of these projects is transcribing interviews from local Beloit citizens as part of a project which is actually going to expand into a course this fall. The really crazy thing is that there are two professors teaching it: Amy Sarno, who's a personal favorite of mine, and Darren Kelly, who's a Dublin-based professor who--THIS is the crazy part--was on the faculty of my study abroad program in Ireland. *head explodes* It is a small world, after all.

Well, that's all for now--everyone in the Midwest/other warm places, try to stay as cool as possible! ~ Laura DM

Oh Hedwig...

Last Friday night, myself and about 15-20 of the Beloiters on campus went down to Club Impulse and saw some recent graduates put on a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Produced and directed by Savvas Mourtzis, it was a marvelous show full of heartbreak and confusion, with the occasional power chord thrown in. Hedwig was played by Phil McNasser, a friend and brother of mine in Phi Kappa Psi, who, bedecked in the drag of the appropriate tastes, revealed the sad, sad tale of his, the life of Hedwig.

It's really, really cool to see productions like this, especially from recent graduates. It shows an inspiration and pursuit of passion that I know I have hoped to develop here at Beloit, the fruits of are plainly seen in student efforts such as this.

Sorry that this must be brief but a tour awaits!


Tschuess!
Travis...