General Updates

Well, once again, I'm back. Things have finally settled down some now that the semester is over. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm inactive or anything. I still have things which need to be taken care of. I'm spending time this summer working as a subcontractor for the big name in historic preservation in the region. This woman has cities like Vail and Aspen asking her to help them write their historic preservation ordinances. She doesn't even sit down for a meeting unless she's getting paid at least $150 an hour. This, children, is called resume building! In addition to the hours I'm working for her, I also have a few hours a week for The Overlord, continuing to do some web design and maintenance. On top of that, I'm going to be spending time preparing grant applications. I would really like to get enough money from various people to research and write my dissertation in a year, beginning next fall (next summer will be spent getting married, honeymooning, and taking comp exams - I think that's enough!). Oh yeah, I would also like some time with my fiancee, Journey - funny thing, that, wanting to see the person I plan on spending the rest of my life with.

In other news and happenings, Journey and I went to a roller derby bout this past weekend, which was awesome. I should explain that the roller derby we go to watch is NOT the staged kind they used to show on late-night cable in the '70s. This is a real competition, and these girls take it very seriously. If you're in the Phoenix area, you might want to check it out (here's their web site). We had the chance to watch the traveling team, the Tent City Terrors, play the Carolina Rollergirls. The TCT are the best skaters from around the state, including Journey's sister. For those of you outside Arizona, I probably should explain the "Tent City" thing. The Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, established "Tent City" as a way of dealing with overcrowding in the prisons. Basically, he got a bunch of Korean War military tents and set up a camp for the overflow of prisoners. He also makes the inmates wear pink underwear. (here's an old CNN story on Tent City.)

Anyway, playing off this (admittedly) rather bizarre situation, the travelling roller derby team decided they would be known as the Tent City Terrors. They have the traditional black and white stripes, accented with pink. The bout against the Carolina Rollergirls was one of the best and fasted I've seen. The hits were hard and a few girls ended up skidding into the crowd! In the end, the TCTs won by 3 points, so it was a good night.

And way to go Phoenix! We're ranked #6 in the nation for rude drivers! Not that this is of any great surprise to those who have driven in Phoenix, of course. Even I, I must admit, have been known to do things to contribute to this ranking. Although, in my defense, most of the time, the other person deserves it. I take special pleasure in trying to block out the drivers who are trying to cut ahead of everyone else in construction zones. If the signs are clearly telling you that a lane is closed ahead, you need to go ahead and move over. Don't try to cut around the rest of us like your more important. When I see people trying to do that, I'll try to block them out or not let them in . . . if I can do it safely - I have no interest in getting in an accident or getting shot, both real possibilities around here.

Well, now that things are returning to a more reasonable pace, I'll try to be back on more often!