The University of Blog

My schedule includes the wonderful absence of class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is one of the best scheduling decisions that I’ve made in my college career. Also, I don’t start until nine or ten. On Wednesdays, I had my Intermediate Writing class. I am really excited. I am going to learn about long form, narrative journalism and it will have an arts focus. We will get information on characters, dialog and development of a story. This is a perspective that so far, I have not received from any of my journalism classes. It will be a lot of work, but it is worth it. For the first time in a long time, I am actually excited about a journalism class.

I actually have an update. After a slow summer full of hanging out, swimming, working and enjoying every moment, I finally have had a real adventure.

I moved in. And it happened to be one of the most stressful experiences of my life. Well, we got the key and entered the door on August 1, and nothing was done. This includes painting, cleaning or any maintenance. We were ready to move. Our parents came in town, and we had rented a truck. I wanted to walk away right then and find the nicest apartment in Columbia. It was really awful. Well, my roommate’s dad decided that we could do the painting ourselves. So we ended up painting, cleaning and moving all in the SAME day.

As I was painting in the kitchen, I hear a scream. Sure enough the scream came from my roommates’ room where her parents were installing a window air conditioning unit. When I got to the room, everyone was gathered around the window. Sure enough it fell out the window and crashed two stories below.

Then our box springs didn’t fit up the stairwell. And our knob to the hot water in the shower fell off. We had to use pliers to get it to work for the past few weeks. I still don’t have a bedroom door.

Now, we are finally moved in and settled. Jimmy the cat joined our little family. I love my room. And once we put some art up, it will truly be a home– with a few maintenance issues that will maybe be resolved in two weeks to a year. Who knows.

When I returned from my wonderful vacation, I came home to an empty foyer – which meant that my bikes were gone. I had two bikes – one was a mountain bike and my road bike. The mountain bike was strewn in the middle of our lawn (which was only a cheap Target bike), but my road bike that I ride everywhere was missing. I asked my roommates when it happened and then filed a police report. Apparently, it happened three days before I returned. This was really awful. I don’t know if it would have made a difference if my roommates noticed earlier, but alas, it was a sad day of return for me.
So, the lesson that I learned is to ALWAYS lock up the bike, even if it is to itself. A thief that cannot immediately ride away on a bike will be deterred. This means even locking it up INSIDE the foyer of our apartment. I will apply this to my NEW bike that I got off of craigslist.com yesterday. Once I learned my bike was gone and sulked for a few hours, I got online to find something that would work. I paid $70 for a used road bike. It was more than the road bike that I got for $25 at a garage sale, but it just got new rims, tires and cables. The price was for the work done on it. The best part is that it fits me, rides well and is blue – bright blue. A very sad return turned into a very sweet ride.

I was sorry to say goodbye to Mexico and my family. This will be the first summer that I won’t be in Lawrence. This is weird for both my mom and I because we have spent every summer together since forever. I was once told that Lawrence stops being my hometown when I stop coming home for the summers. When I originally decided to stay, I hadn’t even considered that I probably won’t spend another summer in Lawrence. However, I refuse to close that chapter of my life. Not yet.
This summer I have decided to stay in Columbia. Since I already have the apartment and a good job here, it was the most logical option. I will start serving several lunches in addition to my bussing shifts at Sycamore. In addition, to expand my summer experience, I decided to work at KBIA as an afternoon anchor a couple of days a week. This will hopefully give me some good experience. I trained today (at 6 a.m.- ugh) to learn what stories to chose, how to organize them and voice them. Then, after the life newscasts, the stories are uploaded to the website and the newscasts are podcasts. It will be a completely different type of experience, but I am ready for that.

To make my summer even more worthwhile, my hope is to do something that I am really passionate about. Reading, Netflix and pooltime are essential, but I would like to do something more than that. I always talk about writing screenplays or books. Why not start? What is the point in waiting to start until I take a creative writing class? The time is now. And for the first time, I may have some time to do this.

I went to Mazatlan, Mexico, which is considered the “Pearl of the Pacific.” After trekking 3,000 miles across Mexico two years ago, my brother said that we should visit Mazatlan. To fill my dad’s desire to visit Portugal, we chose Mazatlan as a cheaper option—maybe Portugal will happen later down the line.

We arrived at Pueblo Bonito, Emerald Bay. It was beautiful and the staff was so friendly- gave me an opportunity to practice the Spanish that I had been studying forever. However, while I had plenty of opportunities to speak Spanish, traveling with my brother gave me less of an opportunity to speak – especially with the drivers of the open-air taxis called “la Pulmononia” (which means pneumonia—a joke started by the competing cab companies). He took every opportunity to speak Spanish—a quality of which I am jealous.

It was great to be with the fam–he first family trip that we had taken in quite awhile. Even my brother came—which made it exponentially more fun. We went to a little tequila factory and saw how it was made. It was next to a small village of Quelite with a bakery and some delicious homemade ice-cream. They also had a place to train roosters for cock fighting. It was nice to get out of the touristy part of Mexico and into the villages. Another of my favorite part of Mazatlan was the Machado Square in the historic district. It had a European feel (or what I would imagine feels European since I’ve never actually been there).
In the historic district we met up with Antonio Lopez Saenz- who happens to be one of the most famous artists of Mazatlan. His art is hanging in the Museum of Art there. We met him because a painting was hanging up at the hotel and my dad asked about it. The concierge set up a meeting for us at his house. I translated and it was a wonderful visit- the man was so generous and open. He signed three posters for us to bring back.

My brother and I went out for a couple of nights. The first night we went to Mambo Café, with plenty of live music and salsa dancing. The next couple of nights we went to Bora Bora “a discoteca,” to dance to disco music. I learned some moves and had a great time dancing with some locals. My brother was so tall I never lost him. And he definitely danced with some locals. Seems like everyone wants to dance with a gringo.

(a gazebo in the middle of the market)

I had a simply fabulous birthday. Much better than the previous year where I had to wait two hours for dinner. First off, we had a dance party at our house and we had a great time. I danced. A lot. Any party with dancing is a good party. Mission successful.

The rents came Saturday and we ate breakfast at Café Berlin. It serves ethnic breakfast like eggs with tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and deliciousness. We ate there and then I was off to work on my birthday eve. No worries, my parents were able to see where I work when they came into Sycamore.

My parents then took me to the Le Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport. Last year we did the same thing and it was quite delightful. My parents asked them to bring out a CostCo cake (this serves 50 and contains 2 lbs of chocolate mouse frosting.) Needless to say, it took up half the table and the server had to put it on a platter.

Then we went to Macaroni Grill with the roomies and had a delightful evening. They brought out a cake- another chocolate cake (with candles). Then back to eat some more cake and open gifts. I am proponent of birthdays- especially birthdays filled with attention. Thus, birthday wish fulfilled.

I went to a one-man show Wednesday night and wrote an article for my news class about it:

The audience gasped, clapped and laughed as they traveled on Fosberg’s journey of self-discovery.
Freelance actor Fosberg opened his one-hour, one-man show “Incognito” Wednesday night at Jesse Hall. The show presents issues of race and identity against a sparse set and asks the audience to confront those issues.
After spending 32 years in a white middle-class family, Fosberg began to search for his biological father. His journey ended with the discovery that his father was black.
“I grew up white, thinking I was white and found out that I’m not,” Michael Sidney Fosberg said.
His play chronicles the experiences of finding and meeting his new family. He plays himself and 12 other characters.
Fosberg began touring schools two years after the show opened in Chicago in 2001. The number of schools that he visits has doubled every year since then.
What started as a one man show has become a cross-country journey of identity and race issues for Fosberg, who is always on the quest, as well as the audience who may just be learning about these issues.
“I make my living to provoke profound discoveries about race,” Fosberg said. “I feel like I’m really contributing by provoking questions about race. It is those moments that I love what I do.”
When Fosberg reveals the truth about his ethnicity, the audience is introduced to complicated issues of identity, race and stereotypes.
“It is at that point that people start to look at me differently,” Fosburg said. “People start to look for signs, and at the end of the show, I confront people. Perhaps there is a different way to look at race. I challenge people on those issues.”
Fosburg created a one-man play around his experiences to provoke profound discoveries about race. After reading aloud excerpts from his unfinished book, audience reactions influenced Foster to take his story to the stage.
With the support of the Mizzou Alumni Association, Counseling Center and Division of Student Affairs sponsored the event.
“It brought a greater awareness of identity,” junior Devona Moore said. “To find out who you are is difficult when you are from two different ethnic backgrounds.”
Counseling Center Psychologist Anne Meyer said the center helped bring this program to campus because it speaks to the university’s mission of diversity.
“I was so blown away by his story,” Meyer said. “Identity is such a complex topic, and it is performed in such an engaging way to challenge your own thoughts on who you are.”
Foster raises unanswered questions and opens the discussion about race by using his personal story as a springboard.
“What if we could be entertained and think about society,” Fosberg says about his performance. “I want people to have a good time and be provoked about questions of race and stereotypes.”
One member of the audience asked how Fosberg’s life has changed as a result of doing the show.
“My life has become richer and fuller,” Fosberg said. “I am in a place to provoke change.”

I wrote an article for the National Presbytery News Service about the NNPCW leadership conference I attended. The network is a feminist group with a mission statement that includes a commitment to challenge systems of oppression, domination, exploitation and suffering and to work for justice in both church and society.

You can read the article and bio here.

A performance by Wilco concluded Columbia’s outdoor concert series Summerfest last night. More than 2,000 people gathered Ninth Street outside the Blue Note to listen to some music and to enjoy the atmosphere. Dr. Dog from West Philadelphia opened with their three-part harmonies off of their new album We All Belong.

Wilco gave a great show and really appealed to the audience. They performed at Summerfest two years ago and seemed to be a crowd favorite. When “You Are My Face” was played, the crowd immediately gathered closer toward the stage. Creator Jeff Tweedy told us that that we were the best audience on the tour. After leaving the stage once, the crowd cheered them on for three encores, and Wilco did not disappoint. Since the band was formed in 1994, it is true that Wilco have been around for awhile. However, they still know how to please a crowd and provide an entertaining, enjoyable show for all ages.