July 4th (and Nora is 18 months old)

Nora is 18 months old, has strong opinions on many things, a vast and rapidly expanding vocabulary, and amazing curly hair. 

Star spangled girl in St. George, Utah

First ride on a carousel

Family photo at Grandma & Grandpa Brough's house

With Great-Grandma Brough

Mommy's girl

Too little for sparklers, but not too little for glow-sticks! Thanks, Aunt Kim!

When we get soy cheese at Trader Joe's, Nora has to keep it "wif you" (with her) in the cart. This is what it looks like when she says "cheese."

The American Library Association (ALA) annual conference was in Las Vegas at the end of June and we got to see lots of friends from Wyoming and from Illinois. This is Nora's new friend, Oscar, whose mom is my good friend from library school.

While Uncle Nick was visiting we went to the Mob Museum.

We've had some really hot days -- this was one of them. A person kind of wants to melt when it's 110 degrees.

Nora loves Nick and his "tar" (guitar)

Nora got to spend a day with her grandma and grandpa while we went up to Cedar City to the Shakespeare Festival. We had lunch with friends and then saw "Into the Woods." It was fabulous!

Note: Speaking of musicals, we also saw "Book of Mormon" in Las Vegas in June and really enjoyed it. The singing and dancing were fantastic! Let me know if you want to talk more about that one. ;)

Weekend in Denver

Mike and I just spent a really lovely weekend in Denver -- I guess it was a mini-"babymoon" (who knew that was a thing?).

We saw a theatre production of Lois Lowry's The Giver, which is one of the best YA books of all time.

The book was published 20 years ago, long before the recent rage for dystopian YA novels. It's set in a future where people live in a conflict-free society, but live with no choices and very limited feelings. Everything is very controlled -- there is no sunlight and no color. Seeing the play on stage was not as powerful as reading the book, but there were interesting elements (such as the lack of color) that were really striking in that visual medium.

We stayed overnight in Denver so that we could go to the opening day of a Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, but we failed to purchase tickets in advance. The event was totally sold out for the day, so we didn't get to see the exhibit. We did, however, enjoy other parts of the museum, especially an exhibit titled "When I Last Wrote to You about Africa" by El Anatsui.

Multi-media Entertainment

It's been an action-packed week in Laramie. I'll go in reverse chronological order and tell you what Mike and I have been up to.
Last night we saw Ani DiFranco live at University of Wyoming. Ani is a feminist folk singer who became quite prominent in the 1990s. She is remarkably prolific and has released one album per year since 1990. She owns all of her own music and has never been under the thumb of any studio, since she started her own record company: Righteous Babe Records. Ani came to my attention in my Women & Gender Studies classes at USU and I've been a fan since then, but have never had the chance to see her live. Then she came to Laramie! She is absolutely amazing on guitar. Her songs tend to be political, but one of my favorites that she played last night is about being a new mother. It's called "Present/Infant":

lately i've been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart
you'd think at my age i'd of thought
of something better to do
than making insecurity into a full-time job
making insecurity into an art

i fear my life will be over
and i will have never lived it unfettered
always glaring into mirrors
mad i don't look better

but now here's this tiny baby
and they say she looks just like me
and she is smiling at me
with that present/infant glee
and i would defend
to the ends of the earth
her perfect right to be

so i'm beginning to see some problems
with the ongoing work of my mind
and i've got myself a new mantra
it says: "don't forget to have a good time"
don't let the sellers of stuff
power enough
to rob you of your grace
love is all over the place
there's nothing wrong with your face
love is all over the place

So that was cool. It seems like a long time since we went to a rock concert.

Tuesday night we saw a UW production of Hamlet. It was quite excellent. There were two guest stars: Pete Simpson, Jr. played Hamlet and Pete Simpson, Sr. played the ghost of Hamlet's father. The Simpsons are part of one of Wyoming's most important political families, and some of them are theatrical to boot! (Al Simpson, former senator from Wyoming, is now co-chairing President Obama's commission on reducing the federal debt. He's probably the most well-known in the family, and Pete Sr.'s brother. This is completely tangential, but I highly recommend Al Simpson's interview in Newsweek. The best part is how he describes Rush Limbaugh: "I never considered Rush-babe to be anything more than an entertainer. He gets people all riled up all day long, get them filled up with gas, ulcers, heartburn, B.O., and fear. Hell, that's pretty good. You really are an entertainer if you can get that done!" Oh, and how he describes the filibuster: "It's like a big old hobnail-boot ass-kicking machine.")

I meant to review Hamlet and got sidetracked with Al's colorful way of speaking. We enjoyed the play very much and were impressed with the students and guest actors.
Finally, on Monday night my book group discussed this really amazing novel, The Secret Scripture. It's really beautifully written, with descriptions like poetry. The main character and narrator is a 100-year-old woman named Roseanne Clear who has been in mental hospitals for about 60 years. She writes her history -- and the history of Ireland -- on sheets of paper that she found and hides in the floorboards of her room. Some of the members of my book group thought the book was depressing, and Roseanne's story is a sad one, but as a narrator she is never mournful or despairing. I highly recommend the book.

I love Laramie. There are so many great things to do, even though it's quite a small town. And the people here are just the best. Even though it's mid-April and winter lingers (the forecast says we'll have 3-7 inches of snow between now and Saturday morning), I think we made the right choice when we decided to move here.

Another Trip to Chicago (The Last for a While?)

Last weekend we had a super-fun, super-quick trip to Chicago. It may be our last visit to the Windy City in a while, since we're hoping (planning) to move back to the West this summer. (More on that later, once I actually have a job. Don't want to jinx it by saying too much too soon. But I have a few interviews in the next few weeks.)

We ate dinner at one of our all-time-favorite Chicago restaurants, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders. Problem is, it's everyone else's favorite, too, and we waited an hour and twenty minutes for a table. But it was worth the wait. After dinner, we went to The Second City for a hilarious show, America: All Better! We spent some lovely quality time at the Art Institute. One of the best parts was an exhibit of portraits by Yousuf Karsh. He photographed everyone, from Elizabeth II to Walt Disney to Audrey Hepburn, and the exhibit was really fantastic.

We went to the Chicago Public Library main branch for the first time and it's a lovely place. The picture above is an atrium on the 9th floor. They also had an interesting Lincoln exhibit.

This was one of my favorite "library" quotes on the walls of the Chicago Public Library. "The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man." T.S. Eliot.

One more picture from the library -- a future librarian!

The main reason for our trip to Chicago was to see This American Life, live at the Chicago Theatre. It was amazing! We got to see it again in a local theatre on Thursday night, and it was maybe even more amazing in the movie theatre because we were seeing Ira Glass's face up close and huge on the big screen instead from 2 balconies back. We're huge, giant fans of TAL. You should listen to it if it's available on your local NPR station. My favorite story from the live show was Dan Savage's story about faith, loss of faith, and his mother's death.

Below are just a couple of random photos from our walk around Chicago. First, some cabbages growing in a flower pot and second, a giant "American Gothic" statue with the two iconic people as world travelers.

Visit from the Bowles parents

Mom and Dad visited October 17th-22nd and we had such a fabulous time! We're so glad that they took the time to come and visit us in central Illinois.

We showed Mom and Dad around campus, including (of course) several libraries. Dad is one of the most curious people I know and he had loads of questions that I couldn't always answer (though I nearly always make an attempt to B.S. some kind of response). It made me think -- maybe this is why librarianship is so right for me.

We went to an Illini football game and they beat Indiana 55-13.
The game was a lot of fun and Memorial Stadium is truly impressive.
At church on Sunday, the children in our congregation presented a special program. I direct the kids' singing (I'm the Primary music leader) and so my parents got to see all the kids that I teach each Sunday. They all did a wonderful job singing and saying their spoken parts.

Last Monday we went to Springfield, IL together to the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library and to the Lincoln House (pictured below). This is the home where Abraham and Mary Lincoln lived from 1844-1861 (when they moved to Washington, D.C.).
We spent two days in Chicago together and we got to see Wicked, go on a Chicago Architecture Foundation walking tour, and go to the LDS temple in Chicago. It was an action-packed visit and we all nearly walked our feet off, but it was a fabulous time!

M&M in front of the Chicago Temple
Tiffany glass in the dome of the Chicago Cultural Center -- absolutely stunning!

The Producers

For those of you who don't know me well, let me explain: I love musicals. I grew up watching The Sound of Music, Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, and Cinderella (the Rodgers and Hammerstein version, not Disney). Some of my best childhood memories are times that I went to high school musicals at PHS with my mom. As a preteen and a teenager I lived to be on-stage and I was in The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Annie, The Music Man, and The King and I (among others) in community and high school theatre productions. Mike is learning to appreciate the wide variety of show tunes that I sing to him in the shower, in the car, and in the kitchen. We've seen quite a few musicals together, both live and on film, and he's really coming around. Last night, however, his budding enthusiasm for the genre may have been dampered as we saw a so-so touring production of a not-very-interesting musical, The Producers. (See here for a plot synopsis.) Wikipedia explains the popularity of the musical (of which there are two film versions) like this: "The humor of the show is accessible to a wide range of audiences, and draws on ridiculous accents, caricatures of homosexuals and Nazis, and many show business in-jokes." That pretty much says it all. Basically, this musical appeals to the lowest-common-denominator humor-wise and made both Michael and me roll our eyes repeatedly. I'll avoid total snobbery and admit that we both laughed several times, as well, so the show was not a total bust.

We saw the show at the Assembly Hall on campus, where the Fighting Illini play basketball. They do a lot of shows (both concerts and plays) there as well, but it's not a totally successful musical venue. Basketball court acoustics are not so good. The Assembly Hall is a pretty cool building, though. I always think it looks like a giant UFO.

Homemaking Edition

Last Monday, knowing that we had a heinously busy week ahead of us, Michael and I made a giant pot of clam chowder and a full batch of Mom's famous rolls. And we ate this food ALL week: Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday lunch. We didn't even get sick of it, so I'm sharing the recipes here.

Christmas Eve Clam Chowder
2 6.5 oz cans minced clams
1 cup finely diced onions
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 cup butter (that's why this chowder is SO good!)
3/4 cup flour mixed with water (for thickening)
1 quart half and half (the other reason this chowder is delicious)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables. Add enough water to cover vegetables. Simmer covered over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add cream and butter and heat thoroughly. Add thickening and cook until thick. Add clams.

2 hour butter rolls (makes 3 dozen)
Sift into mixing bowl: 4 cups flour (I like half white/half wheat), 1 tsp salt, 4 Tbsp sugar
Soak 4 tsp yeast in 1/4 cup warm water
Beat slightly 2 eggs
Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk (heat to 150 degrees F) add 1/3 cup butter. Cool.
Add all ingredients together. Beat until smooth. Cover and let rise until double. Roll out to desired rolls, let rise again. Bake at 375-400 degrees for 20 minutes.

This week was heinous because of my work schedule. I was giving library instruction sessions to graduate students: how to use library databases, how to keep track of your resources, how to conduct online searches, etc. I really enjoy teaching and the classes went well. These were evening workshops (6-8 pm), plus I worked at the reference desk one evening, so on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Mike and I were on campus from 8 am to 8 pm. We survived, and the week ahead should be easier.

Friday night we babysat for some friends in the branch while they went out on their first date since . . . they're not sure when. We had a good time with their three little kids.

Speaking of kids, some other friends of ours are expecting a baby. This is the cute little project I've been working on for that little one:

This picture is sort of dark, but you can get the idea. It's for a 3-6 month old -- a yellow cabled jumper. I'm going to get a little white top and tights to go with it. There's just a little more finishing I have to do: neckband, armbands, and buttons.

Lest you think that all we do around here is cook, knit, and babysit -- last night we went to a performance on campus of the Vagina Monologues. We saw the Vagina Monologues last February in Salt Lake City and decided it needed to be a family tradition for us. Last night's performance was great -- very moving, very entertaining. It almost made me think I ought to audition for the show next year. We'll see.

Tonight we're staying in, checking on the Oscars webcast occasionally, and praying for spring to come soon.

Wicked

This is the green edition of Adventures in the Midwest. (Don't worry, I'm not going to preach environmentalism. Except for one little thing: RECYCLE!) I just have a few comments to make about the Broadway smash Wicked. Mike and I saw the musical last weekend in St. Louis and it's such a fabulous, smart, and funny show, I couldn't resist a little commentary.

First, a brief synopsis of the show (you can read more -- and hear some sound clips -- here): Long before Dorothy dropped in on the land of Oz, two other girls met there. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. Wicked: The Musical is the story of how these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

The musical is, in large part, all about spin. About how a person is assigned a simplistic label and then, in the eyes of the public becomes that quality. (i.e., the Wicked Witch of the West). In a song called "Popular" that Glinda sings she says:

When I see depressing creatures
With unprepossessing features
I remind them on their own we have
To think of
Celebrated heads of state or
Specially great communicators
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh

They were Popular - please
It's all about Pop-u-oo-lar
It's not about aptitude
It's the way you're viewed
So it's very shrewd to be
Very, very Popular
Like me!

This may seem like a non sequitur, but I'll go for it anyway: Since the Iowa caucus results blew all predictions of an "inevitable" race between Clinton and Giuliani out of the water, we have a bit of a chance to look at candidates with a (slightly) fresh perspective. Sure, Clinton has been labeled the "experienced" candidate, Obama the candidate of "change," Huckabee the "Christian leader," McCain the "maverick." But what does that really mean? Those one-word labels (like Wicked or Good) are completely meaningless when decontextualized, as they generally are in the press. In order to get any substantive information about policy plans, I think the best place to go is to a candidate's website to find out what is behind the carefully crafted look and message that is released through the media. It's not about who is "popular" or "wicked" or "good" or anything else. To participate in the process in a meaningful way, we need to know more than the brief and superficial descriptions we get from the media.

Ponder on one more lyrical example of how smart this show is. The Wizard sings the following lyrics:

A man's called a traitor - or a liberator
A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist
Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label
Is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist. . .

Sweet Corn and more

It's been a very eventful week. I started school on Wednesday and things are going great -- I really like my classes, professors, classmates, and my work at the reference desk is going well. (If you want to hear about my first few "real" reference questions, I'd be happy to talk your ear off about it. Call! Email!) I'm really, really interested so far in the stuff we're covering in my classes and I've been recapping it all to Michael, whether he wants to hear it or not. By the time I graduate HE'll be qualified to be a librarian, too! I'm so lucky to have a spouse who is an excellent listener. :)

Pretty corny, huh?

My spouse is also very cute as a corn cob. Yesterday was the Sweet Corn Festival in Urbana. It's kind of a strange thing -- not much sweet corn is grown around here. It's all feed corn. Also, you'd think this kind of festival might take place around harvest time, right? Well, they haven't harvested the corn yet. But it was a fun event, nonetheless. We saw a cool band that played covers of Michael Jackson, 38 Special, and Journey.

Last night we went to Hessel Park for a little "Shakespeare in the Park." A community theatre group did a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a pretty uneven performance, to put it nicely, and we left at intermission. But it was fun to be there for a while and observe the crowd, if nothing else.

Titania and the fairies

I think Dobler's got the right idea here. Just stretch out next to Michael. And relax.