Six Weeks in Review

The other part of my general overwhelmed-ness has been that the first six weeks of school also brought a whole bunch of events that I either had to coordinate or travel to participate in. There were the very fun but exhausting work trips that led to weekends in Minneapolis with Emily & Elizabeth,

Emily and Rhonda and Mill City farmer's market

and a fun weekend excursion with Adria and Rhonda to Madison.

on the docks at Monona Terrace

There have been several exciting campus events including a really well-attended poetry reading (yay!) that the Writer's Club and I coordinated. My wonderfully talented colleague, Abayo, read some of his work from his forthcoming book _The Giving of Pears_.

Another exciting happening was that UW-Marinette, the second smallest of all the Wisconsin system, hosted the statewide student LGBTQ summit. So, last weekend, 100+ queers and allies descended on Marinette for a summit. It was a lot of fun (Rhonda and I both took part in the conference, including attendance of the Queer Prom), and offered such an interesting moment of reckoning about our shifting perspective on the world. At one point, an earnest college student from Madison or Steven's Point (or one of those big schools) asked the coordinators if they were expecting protesters since "we're in a pretty remote, rural community here." I was both amused and annoyed by the concern, and realized, in that moment, how much I feel a part of this community (and, how surprised I would be to find protesters outside of the conference). Needless to say all went without a hitch.

The biggest surprise of the weekend was when we found ourselves at dinner with the keynote speaker, trans-activist S. Bear Bergman, only to find out that we have one fine friend in common: the famous Mr. Gabriel Foster. So, there I am, absurdly enough, bonding with a queer tranny named Bear over beer-cheese soup and fried cheese curds in Marinette Wisconsin. We laughed a lot about the small-world of queers, and as dinner progressed (and the Rail House home-brew took hold) I began to have the most delicious sense that all is right with the world.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

We've just returned from a few days in Minneapolis with our friends Emily & Elizabeth. It was a fantastic getaway; we slept in, danced, sat by the fire, worked on a (very freakin' hard) puzzle, and ate delicious food. I am tired after a very full day of goodwill hunting ( they have an outlet!), co-op shopping, and hours upon hours of driving. Although I am now in my office (in pajamas) with a dog asleep at my feet, I still feel as though I am driving over the bumpy roads that are mid-Wisconsin highways.


food!


Ikea.





E & E.



waiting for mock duck.

MIddle Earth!

It is 8am in Minneapolis and I (Amy) am sitting out on a screen porch listening to birds chirp away. Last night we *finally* made it to Minneapolis where we were greeted with smiling, friendly faces and a fabulous dinner. Emily and Elizabeth are gracious hostesses who even tolerate a slightly whiny dog and his overly concerned dog-mama. To protect Ria, the grumpily displaced cat, Buddy and I slept on the porch -- we both slept soundly -- while Rhonda camped out in the guest room.

In a few hours we will be on the road for the final stretch of this trip. It will take us about 6 hours to get to Marinette from here. (We have learned along the way that you add one hour to whatever estimates we have -- a 16' moving truck just moves slower.) We are meeting Carolyn (our Realtor) at our new house at 5pm. A few hours later our new friend (and my colleague) David will come over to help us lift some heavy things. He has stated several times that he *really* likes the challenge of moving heavy things. Okay!

In the meantime, here are some random tidbits that didn't make it into earlier posts:

• Missoula is preparing for their annual "Testicle Festival" also known as "testy festy." You can find out more here: http://www.testyfesty.com/
• Did you know that there are two continental divides? Why?
• As we left Montana around 8pm Monday night the temperature was 100 degrees. The sign might as well have read "YOU ARE NOT IN SEATTLE ANYMORE!"
  
• North Dakota has the highest gas prices we have encountered anywhere. Again, why?
• Hotel Review: La Quinta rocks. AmericInn sucks. LQ = nice high threadcount sheets and a plush windowseat nook. AmInn = old mattresses, less-than-clean room and possible fleas. Friends house in Minneapolis = best.