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Waiting at the airport for my (direct!) flight to Minneapolis. I am done with domestic connecters; I’ll gladly pay a little extra to avoid visiting an additional airport. I’m generally a cautious flyer when it comes to getting to the airport on time, especially when I’m flying out of somewhere other than my home airport. As such, I managed to get here a full two hours before departure. My alarm was set for 5:30, but it didn’t matter, I had been restless since 1:30. I often have trouble sleeping if I know I need to be up earlier than normal out of fear of sleeping too late. (Having been late for work/tests in the past makes you extra vigilante I guess).

I think the biggest reason I couldn’t find rest (aside from knowing I’ll be in a suit and tie at my desk later today) is that I visited the National Holocaust Museum and Memorial yesterday. I’ve read books on the topic and have a fairly good understanding of the events leading up to WWII, but to see the mountain of shoes left behind by those brought to the camps, to read the details of entire villages wiped off the map, to see firsthand the games, posters, and publications used to inculcate Nazism into every fabric of existence really leaves you with a lasting image of an evil that you will never forget and almost can’t believe was real. (It’s hard to recommend Holocaust literature, but Maus is a gripping depiction through one family’s eyes of what they had to endure).

Last night we switched to Cindy’s business hotel, the Shoreham. What a magnificent building steeped in a rich history; I wish I’d had more than one night there. When we arrived I realized my DS wasn’t in my bag, which I had checked for the day at the hotel we were departing. I even went so far as to move it from my messenger bag to my carry on because I didn’t want it to fall out, or, get stolen. Ugh. I’m trying to work with the Courtyard Marriott to see if they’ve found it.

Check out Yelp if you want to see my restaurant/museum reviews. Pictures should be up this weekend.

Arrived in DC about 9 p.m. last night; Cindy doesn’t have to work until Monday, which is when I fly out. We walked around the mall today and are going back tomorrow for the Air and Space Museum and Natural History Museum. Cindy is pretty set on a Capitol tour so we might do that, too. (I’m less interested in that since I work in a capitol every day and the Wisconsin Capitol is so similar to this one). Dinner soon; probably Greek tonight. Last night we hit Brickskeller, which has decent pub food and a list of beer a mile long from countries around the world. (No Wexford, though). Time to eat!

See you on Sunday, Xavier. Pretty it may not have been, but the Badgers pulled out a victory. This helps us get back a little of our pride after being hammered by Florida State in our bowl matchup at the end of last year.

Men’s hockey is up here this weekend for the Final Five and unfortunately the Badgers lost to Denver 3-0 today so they’ll be playing for third tomorrow. Not a shabby weekend getting to watch hockey and basketball playoffs.

Colbert is interviewing Juan Cole (plugging his book Engaging the Muslim World) right now and asked him what university he was at, to which he replied “Michigan.”  Colbert retorted, “What, UW-Madison isn’t liberal enough for you?”

Niiiice.

I just learned that the MLB At Bat 2009 app for the iPhone will support MLB Audio; needless to say, this is huge. Listening to games at the pool or airport via laptop is fine, but this adds a whole new dimension. If you’re like me you plug your phone/mp3 player into your car stereo. There’s really no such thing as being out of market now and grocery shopping (or watching your significant try on shoes) just became a bit more entertaining.

There’s a production company in Madison called Blame Society Productions and they have a series of videos following Chad Vader, Darth Vader’s younger brother, as he goes about his life as a day manager at a supermarket chain called Empire Market.  They’re definitely worth checking out.

http://www.blamesociety.net

The alumni chapter had 350 tickets for the Wisconsin at Minnesota basketball game this past Wednesday.  Neither team disappointed by bringing their best Big Ten style of play, with a whopping 23-16 Minnesota lead by the half.  No matter what you might think about the Big Ten conference, our basketball teams definitely know how to put up massive points.  (Sarcasm).  Seriously, 23-16 at half?  A final of 51-46?  Both teams plugged right into the stereotype on Wednesday night.  It was a tough, not often pretty, grindfest between two bubble teams.  Both teams will probably slip into the tournament, but so what?  The Big Ten will send maybe six or seven teams and five of them willl probably be out after the first round.  For the Badgers, they’re just not happy playing anyone who wants to try to put up more than 50 points.  (Think Texas Corpus Christi in the first round of the tournament).

I turned 27 yesterday and feel like I’ve turned the corner coming out of college.  The reason being is that the kids who will be graduating in a few months (on the four year plan) are the first class that I’ve had no overlap with.  I graduated in May of 2005 and they started school in fall of 2005.  Scary.  I’ve also realized that if we want to start having kids that’s probably something we can put off for another five years and that’s about it.  Scary.  I’m four years out of undergrad and still haven’t taken the LSAT or GRE.  Scary times three.  Maybe I’ll coin the phrase “1/3 life crisis” because I feel like that’s where I’m at right now.