The former State Capitol in Benicia

I would have hoped Laramie, Wyoming, would make national news for some more joyous reason than a hate crime: say that I was raised there or something. It's sad. I used to say that everyone in the state either knew everyone else, or at least knew someone who knew them (the One Degree theory.) Fortunately for me, I guess, the third of a century I've been gone means I don't know any of the people involved. Though, since I still have classmates in Laramie, some teaching at the University, I bet there's still One Degree there.
I watched what news I could see avidly. Of course, the first picture I saw was from Poudre Valley hospital, which is in Ft. Collins. The Poudre River is actually "Cache La Poudre" or "hide the (gun)powder" and I have no idea why the fur trappers were doing that. Perhaps it was just a handy spot to store it before heading into the mountains.
There was the Homecoming Parade. The last time I saw this was from the window of Ivinson Hospital 31 years ago when the hospital was still downtown, and I had just had Monica the day before.
War Memorial Stadium. A second rank of seats has been added, but I used to go there to UW games. The last one of those was a couple of weeks before that Homecoming, hugely pregnant, and the temperature dropped below zero. I actually had to leave at halftime, which never happened at UW football games.
Finally, I heard on the news last night about a memorial vigil in "a field called Prexy's Pasture." Back when my Granddaddy went to UW, it WAS a field, with cattle. Eventually the students wore paths from building to building. I think in the late 40s there was some talk about building on it, but too many protests, and so there it is, a huge lawn (at least two acres) in the middle of campus with sidewalks randomly set across it. I have many fond memories of Prexy's Pasture. There is a statue of Ben Franklin there, and weird things happen to his head and to his pointing finger.

Turns out, I miss Laramie a lot. I must remember, it's winter now.

The IgNobel prizes for 1998 have been awarded!

I hear Welcome Wagon has stopped going to new residents with their basket of goodies. I still have an ice cream scoop I got from them in Blytheville. "Farmer's Bank Agency", it says on the handle. We moved so often, we could have single-handedly bankrupted the organization. It was nice to meet the Welcome Wagon lady, though. The organization now mails coupons to new residents. There are two societal changes that have brought this about: first most women are out working, so no one is home, and second, this is a mobile society.

We were listening to one of those "what today's college freshmen know" lists on the radio and I was totally surprised by one. "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player." Say WHAT? Heck, I remember when K. A.-J. (the original) was Lew Alcindor! I remember Cassius Clay! I remember when O.J. Simpson played football!