Puts Hair On Your Chest

Oatmeal, that is. And quite effectively (or so I'm told). It's also my breakfast-of-choice for the month of November.

My weekend was productive. I like that in a weekend. There was coffee and letter writing and great running weather. It has also been great eating weather. It's chilly enough that have to bundle up, but you arrive at Commons wanting warm grub. On the way out, you can bask in the warmth of your own digestion all the way down the Chapin steps before you noticethe chill. Across the office, Californian Quinn is oozing joy that we made it through October without any of the white, fluffy stuff as it did last October. Snow-shmoe. I say it's pleasant.

Speaking of pleasant things, I did some serious eating tonight. The Cross Country team is traditionally hosted by Coach Dave's family at their lovely home in Pecatonica, IL each season for a little something we call "The Breakfast of Insanity." Sunday night dinner is always a challenge with the dining hall closed (as you read every week on the blogs), but today my main challenge was leaving enough room to, erm, fully appreciate the meal. I dined on stuffed blueberry french toast, spinach quiche, hash browns, pumpkin bread, and homemade applesauce. Those of us who were more carnivorously inclined polished off the greater part of a pig in bacon. All of us left drowsy. Thank you, Mrs. Eckburg.

With Thanksgiving looming on the horizon, everyone is scrambling to make plans and looking forward to seeing family and friends at home. It's not a bad study plan, but I'm taking a new tact this year: I'm studying my way towards mashed potatoes. Starch is an excellent and seasonally appropriate motivator. Try it out. Add garlic. Add butter. It's delicious.

Oh, Judy! You Shouldn't Have...

Look! A flamingo, an 80's exercise diva, Old Judy, Young Judy, a pirate, Amanda's Aunt Susan (at Christmas), a lion, Athena, and Avril Lavigne (before she loved life):



Halloween at Beloit is well-done holiday. Everyone dresses up. Everyone. Whether you're out at a dance party at one of the special interest houses or sitting up in a single in the '64 Halls watching free episodes of Grey's Anatomy online, you're in costume.

Last year, I had a night class until 11pm (self-inflicted, although not the worst course decision I've ever made) and thus missed Halloween entirely. I recall putting on my skiing uniform from high school-- my back-up plan was to be a ski bum last year-- and hopping right into bed. I was the "Grey's Anatomy Kid" described above and besides, there are worse things to sleep in. The sob story here is how I missed a golden opportunity to cut a rug. This year as repentence, I was a young version of Judy Garland.

In group shot at the top of this post, Sean Hershey '10 is the man in drag portraying an older, strung-out version of Judy Garland. To his left, I go to play a younger, sunnier version of Ms. Garland. When I met Sean last year, we quickly discovered that we had both been deeply moved by the Judy Garland biopic "Me and My Shadows." When Halloween came around this year, it seemed like an obvious costume choice-- and who else on campus would think of it!? It was unanimously agreed upon that Mr. Hershey looked better in his dress than myself. To my own credit, Judy was always more about the music than the demanding expectations the studios required of her physical appearance.

In or out of your own shadows, I hope you all had marvelous Halloween!

The Rest of Illinois

There's an image of Chicago's skyline and vast cornfields on the stateline between Beloit, WI and South Beloit, IL that has always left me a little befuddled. (I found the above on Google Images-- same deal although not from our particular stateline-- although the dapper gentleman posting at the bottom is a nice touch for the blog.) When my friends from the midwest told me that Chicago and corn is all there is to Illinois and that this state-produced rendering was spot on, I was skeptical. They weren't kidding.

On Friday morning, the cross country team took off from Jacksonville, IL for the NCAA Division 3 Conference. Two long days later, I feel like I've been on a second fall break. While we fared fourth in the standings (the men tied for sixth), the trip was a nice break from the weight of the brick wall that fell on me upon my return.The workload around here is really warping up and for those of us who won't be going to Regionals, our brains are back on the library shelves. Focusing on Conference was a nice distraction from the stress of school, but with that past us, there was no dawdling at brunch this morning. On a more exciting front: down in Illinois, Allie Hood '08 took my camera around while cheering on the guys. She got some great shots, but as with most pictures from races, everyone either appears to be in extreme pain (fair enough) or half out of their uniform (again, fair enough). In the name of dignity, I think we're all comfortable sharing these few shots:

Above: Men at the starting line-- they're the guys in blue and white with the poorly dyed hair.

Women's Top 20: In the back row on the far right you can find Shelley Quade '09. Amanda Hammermeister '08 is the fourth in from the left on the bottom row.

Left to Right: Heather "Rocks Well" Rockwell '08, Karen Baumann '10 and JuliaBeloit '10 post-race on Saturday morning.

It has been a great season and I'm leaving it feeling healthy and pale as only those who live this far north of the Mason-Dixon Line can. I'm nervous about fitting running into life abroad, but I'm sure going to miss having 20 other girls elbowing me around the Turtle Creek Flood Plane. I'd better go work on my visa application, or I will get to run with the pack for track season after all!

How I Didn't Get Sick Over Fall Break:

I didn't breathe around my sister. Not once. My week away from Beloit consisted of a couple nights with my older sister at her college in Rhode Island, a lot of running on my old favorite trails, and much pie baking (followed by cribbage & topped off with vanilla ice cream).

Breaks are a nice reminder of who/what you've got where, and why you bother travelling back and forth. It's pretty simple. However, in my most recent assessment of priorities, I find Beloit lacks three essentials for me:

1. Mountains. Every time I take the VanGalder back through the flatlands, I'm reminded that the runway at O'Hare isn't the only open space available for landing a plane. This part of the country is beautiful, but if you're concerned with maintaining your naturally-toned mountain-dweller physique, I recommend frequent trips to the StairMasters in the Athletic Center.

2. My family. My homies. Ben, Jerry, & (former) Governor Howard Dean. My people are important to me, but they don't live anywhere near here. Below, my friend Ruthie is posing by a miniture version of the VT state captiol. She's not in Beloit... yet. But I would bet five pounds of the freshest cheese curds at the Beloit Farmer's Market that she'll visit before I graduate from this popsicle stand.


3. And then there's the creemee issue. There is a hot regional debate you may or may not be aware of and it is based out of New England. Creemees are delicious and only found in my homeland. Ruthie and I are both pictured enjoying maple creemees at my favorite local farm. You can't get creemees in New Hampshire. Those kiddos call it "soft serve." I doubt I will find creemees in France at all. There are no creemees in Beloit and that is my final complaint. We've got a fro yo machine in Commons and a DQ down the road, but Wisconsin (and the rest of the world) will never quite taste like home.

Mitten Weather & The Northeast

I was late for work tonight. I'm admitting it. I cruised into Admissions at 9:04 PM. My punctual reputation was compromised.

The reason? Why, I was looking for socks, of course! It's mitten weather, kiddos. Everyone is walking around in pullovers with scarves snug around their gullets. I pulled my suitcase out from under my bed late and dug for wool socks, sweaters, and long johns. The five mintue trek across campus in clogs was not the same as the walk I made on Monday night, but I can't deny it's nice to feel like Fall has come. There's nothing more terrifying than a trick of the weather to give the illusion that fall semester of your sophomore year will never end. Ever.

Hopefully a week in the Green Mountains will do me some good. I'm one page of literary analysis, two hours of class, and one cross country meet away from Fall Break. I'm flying home to Vermont on Saturday night and spending the week doing New England-y things. This blog is going radio-silent for a bit, but it could probably use a rest. I need more stories to regail you with...

Sharp Cheddar & Apple Pies,
J

It's Like Wetting Your Pants, Only Fun

Yes folks, I'm talking about creek crossings. In the womens 5k, we cross Turtle Creek twice to get to the finish line. The men make the leap three times. In any case, your shorts get wet.

The weather has been ridiculously warm. It was in the high 80's on Saturday and the dip into Turtle Creek felt good after two miles of plugging along. As I so subtly hinted in the title, it also felt a bit like wetting your pants. In public. While spectators cheered and took pictures. The back of the pack of a certain mens team is notorious for making flips and spinning on their way into the first creek crossing, but most runners take the two-feet-at-a-time plunge approach (as demonstrated below by some of my esteemed team mates).

Wearing their blue and gold Beloit Spandex (Above L-R): Dana Crawford '10, Anna Edwards '10, and Allie Hood '08

(Above:) Anna and Dana scrambling up the other side bank.

(Above L-R) Helen Pope '10 and Katie Singleton '10 demonstrate the latest and most popular post-race trend: hobo bathing. While it was funny to watch other teams take pictures in the water, it was even more fun to take our final picture of the day:

Here's the ladies squad after the race with our hardware-- it's hard to beat winning your home meet. And while it was fun to hang out with recent alumni and the athletics barbeque sounded like a great chance to score some free food, I'll confess that I spent the rest of my Saturday with a few segments of Planet Earth, napping off the race. Nothing like some education in the natural sciences and a good showing to give you that collegiate sense of accomplishment.

For now, I guess I'd better get my head back to the week ahead. T-4 Days until Fall Break...

That Warm Falafel-y Feeling

First, I should explain that for most of my first year at Beloit, I was a pretty active member of the Outdoor/Environmental Club (OEC). Between SOI shifts, running, and homework, my participation has dropped off. Entirely.

Second, it is important to remember that Beloit Food Services doesn't serve meals on Sunday nights. There are all sorts of reasons cited (community building, encourage student interaction in clubs, give staff a night off, etc.), but most weekends it is just a challenge to fit in a good meal between hours in the library.

This evening, I called my friend (and former neighbor back in Porter Hall) Sarah Floyd '09 . She mentioned that the OEC was having a potluck with the club advisor, Pablo Toral of the International Relations Department. I've heard marvelous things about Pablo and I've known the OEC-ers to be pretty handy in the kitchen, so I stopped by for the meal. Including my contribution (pears for a fruit plate), we had a spread of couscous, falafel, eggplant, fresh veggies with homemade hummus, baked acorn squash, squash soup, pita, and hot brownies. It was an impressive meal, but not unusual for this crew.

I rounded off my visit with a little scrapbooking, headed over to Admissions, and here you find me. I've got to read the rest of Sarrasine and some Wordsworth before I hit the hay, but I'm entering the week of midterms without too much stress.

Teaser: This weekend was Homecoming at Belwah and our annual Old English Style Cross Country Race at Leeson Park. I'm getting some pictures together of the creek crossings and muddy ankles, but I had to brag that our women's team took first place and the men came in third! Look forward to the report. It's pretty good stuff.