Flat Stanley…Saturday? A Visit with Natalie! April 12, 2008

I am so sorry that this post is a day late (in fact, I might even post it again next week because it’s so stinking cute).  Natalie even made a VIDEO!  So head over here to read about Flat Stan’s visit with her and her family.

Second, as you may have guessed, the reason this post is a day late is that we made it up north on Friday!  Can’t say it was pleasant driving, but at least we didn’t have to turn back again.  So I’m going to be vegging out here, letting my mom cook for me, wait on me hand and foot, and entertain my baby while I veg doing very productive things. 

Fargo Friday - BUST January 25, 2008

Fargo Fridays seem to have been a flop thus far, so while I am brainstorming about what to replace it with (ideas welcome!), stop by Lori’s post today to read about the “tax relief” that is to come this summer.  I commented with a couple of interesting articles, so I’ll post links to those here as well:

 http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/22891.html

 http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/01/18/economic-retardant-package/

Fargo Friday - 3 January 18, 2008

As promised, today is some cool things about Fargo. Yay for Fargo!

1) The Fargodome. It’s not even a dome! But I spent many a Saturday morning, afternoon and evening there, practicing (I was in marching band—feel free to make “band geek” comments) and performing for the Bison football games. Oh, and for those of you who feel so inclined to be extra Norsky, that’s pronounced with a ZZZZ sound, not a SSSS. BiZon.

 

2) College campuses. There are three major colleges in the Fargo/Moorhead area: NDSU, MSU Moorhead, and Concordia. All three have very different, but very nice campuses. I spent much time exploring these campuses as a freshman in college. I think Concordia’s my favorite, but of course, it’s private, so they have more money for things like modern art and Prexy’s Pond.

 

3) The art scene. Since it is the biggest city (read: town) within a 150-mile radius, there’s a surprisingly wide variety of shows and exhibits for viewing at any given time. #2 probably contributes to this a great deal.

 

4) Broadway. Downtown Fargo is probably my second favorite part about living there. In recent years, especially with the addition of NDSU’s downtown campus, boutiques, high-end clothing stores and fine restaurants have been putting down roots. My personal favorite is Funky Junque.

 

5) The feel. It’s like living in a small town but with much more stuff to do. Really—almost every time I left the house, I would run into someone I knew. That doesn’t even always happen in my own home town, which is about 1/15 the size. And there’s more than a Cenex, a post office and a bar.

 

6) The people. We still have lots of friends (and family) in Fargo. So we go back to visit several times a year. I love the people of Fargo. Maybe just the people I know…but most of them are of high quality. Just don’t try to merge on the freeway. Then they’re not the nicest.

 

 

7) The weather. No, just kidding. That’s one of the main reasons we moved. Since I grew up in the area, I knew nothing different, but that howling, non-stop wind really got to Husband. If you think about it, that wind gets a 200-mile running start across flat, flat North Dakota and then blasts through the whole flat, flat city. As I’ve said before, it was like living on top of a mountain without the view. The dorms I lived in for three years created the perfect place for a little vortex of wind. For one, they were “high rises” (that’s only 9 stories in Fargo). For two, there was a circular shaped courtyard in between the four high rises that helped the wind flow into its tornado-like pattern. Once you reached the entry of your dorm, there was no going back. They had a heated area with double doors on either side, but the second set of doors did virtually nothing. Once you opened the first set, your breath was caught away and you were sucked out into the whirling vortex, fighting to stay upright and on the sidewalk (which had ice 10 months out of the year). Oh, dear. I guess this didn’t turn out to be a “good thing.” So on to the next…

 

Scheels. The world’s largest sporting goods store. It’s like the MOA for sports. Need I say more?  This was supposed to be #8 but it turns my 8 into a stupid smiley face.  So…enjoy that.

 

p.s. Today Dayna is having a contest on her blog and giving away a conversation starter made by these ladies. I want it. Maybe you do, too, so stop by.

Fargo Friday - 2 January 11, 2008

When I was in college, I lived in the dorms for my first three years. That seems geeky, but our dorms were actually pretty nice. And I liked the convenience of being right on campus, since I spent most of my waking hours in studio anyway. My senior year I moved into a grungy place we dubbed “The Little Green House” with two friends. Another friend moved in a couple months later, and we had fun times. Here’s a photo of us in those early days:

The three of us on the right are dressed as S, who (on the left) is dressed as K (the girl on the right). Apparently we had decided the kitchen should be Mexican Fiesta-themed at this point in time. We were an odd bunch. Things ended badly living at The Little Green House. I am a hard person to live with, and I hardly saw any of my roomies due to my schooling schedule. They bonded, and I did not bond. I moved out to an apartment with my best friend for my last semester, and I haven’t seen any of these chicas since my wedding. It’s too bad, really. They were interesting and unique. But…as a good friend always says, “Life goes on and we go with” (you’ve got to say this in a Norsky accent if you can muster one up).

One last photo of Husband asleep on the couch (he does this regularly…still) at The Little Green House. We were just dating at the time. Upon closer examination of this photo, I notice several things:

• Husband-to-be is wearing a friendship bracelet. I’m pretty sure I made it for him. That’s hilarious.
• We had a record player that played actual records. In the year 2001. Nice.
• Our coffee table was so sturdy that you could regularly find one of us balancing on one of its legs.

zzzzzz………move over there, old Boyfriend, cuz I that’s kind of how I feel about this post. Next week = Fargo Favorites. So you’ll learn some cool/fun things about Fargo, not just about my boring life.

On a more exciting note, my bloggy friend Donna launched her own photography business this week.  Pop on over and check out her awesome site!

Fargo Friday - 1 January 4, 2008

Alrighty. My first…ahem…theme. While Bad Poetry Mondays will, most definitely, be more universal in their appeal, I just HAD to devote some serious blog time to this place of wonder, excitement and, mostly, wind.

Just to completely kill any romanticizations (not a word) you might have about Fargo, here it is, in all its flat, flat glory. I first moved to Fargo for college. NDSU, baby. This is the view out of my college dorm to the parking lot. This is what it looked like 9 months out of the year. Covered with snow. Surprisingly, I only recall one time in the sub-zero temperatures when Sully (my car at the time–an ‘89 Chevy Celebrity) wouldn’t start. But I recall many, many times when his locks were frozen shut so I couldn’t get in to even attempt starting him. So there’s that. Oh, and I’m not sure who lived in that trailer you see off to the left. It’s probably overflow student housing.

Photo #2 is of first-year studio*. We spent a LOT of time there. I majored in archi-torture. Not a major for the faint of heart. You pretty much HAD to be okay with pulling regular all-nighters and spending every penny you earned on bass wood for models if you wanted to get A’s. This photo includes my best friend, Ingrid from the shoulders down. Isn’t she cute? Anyway, first-year studio didn’t start until second year (because first you had to be one of the 60 of 200 students who made it into the program). Since we really were poor college students at this point, we relied mostly on foam core and cardboard for our modeling. It wasn’t until later that year that competition got really fierce and people broke out the wood.

*Please don’t look at our project. Especially if you know anything about architecture. We had a first-timer for a studio instructor who hailed from France. He actually wore ascots and had an outrageous accent and called Exacto knives “cutt-errrs” (read it in a French accent). He got better later on, but I think he gave everyone A’s that first semester just because he had no clue what was going on. This, my friends, is where I first learned the art of presentation (a.k.a. BSing).

Husband’s Alarm Clock – A Haiku January 2, 2008

I hear you beeping
But he doesn’t until I
Throttle or smack him

Snooze that baby once
More and you can find yourself
A new place to sleep

All of this nonsense is to intro a couple of themes I’m going to try for awhile. Since the themes will fall on Mondays and Fridays, I figured since Wednesday is smack between those two it was the perfect day to tell about them…So…here they are…

Bad Poetry Mondays
Mondays will be dedicated to attempts at poetry gone awry (one example given above). These might be original works by Heidi, they might be poetry I’ve come across in books or on the web, or they might even be works submitted by you readers (feel free to email me with submissions). Also, I encourage you to comment with your own poems (or changes or additions to the posted poem that would make it even awfuller (not a word)). Yay! I’m so excited for this!

and

Fargo Fridays
This theme will be dedicated to the years I spent in Fargo, ND. I lived there for 8 years, which is almost 1/3 of my life (maybe closer to ¼ at this point). I have lots of interesting photos and stories about what it’s like to live in the most-forgotten and most sparsely populated state. If they prove to be completely uninteresting to readers, I promise to spare you mid-year.