Graphical timeline for 'The Subtle Knife'

When a book involves many worlds, don't be afraid to draw a timeline.

MSU - "The Bent of Tau Beta Pi"

Tau Beta Pi is the national engineering honor society.

This particular Bent is for the Montana Alpha chapter. I was inducted into the Texas Delta chapter circa 1987.

MSU - steel sculpture

I don't understand how the students can resist climbing on this.

Misc notes

Bozeman got a mini-mention on Wonkette.
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We're #168, according to Progressive Farmer.

MSU - Satellite dishes

These dishes are used by the local public TV station, I've been told. In the background, you can see two huge dorms.

Grilling season begins

Earlier this evening, I fired up the gas grill for the first time this year. Of course it then started to rain...

The grilled chicken was excellent, though.

Energy costs in Bozeman

More info for folks considering moving to Bozeman:

1. Electricty and Natural gas - My house's electric bill was $26 in March 2006. The gas bill was $123.

2. Gasoline - currently about $2.43 per gallon.

Bogie

An hilarious Bogart/Frodo video mashup.

Scary song

I first heard "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" on a Dr. Demento CD. Little did I realize that the music video was even more demented.

Info about relocating to Bozeman

A fellow emailed with some questions about possibly relocating to Bozeman, and I promised to answer in this blog.

For general info, I recommend the Relocation Packet from the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce.

1. Is it a real bone chill cold or does it not feel so bad when the sun is out?
> It feels fine to me, and I grew up in the South.

2. How often does it get below Zero?
> Fairly common at night this past winter.

3. Housing seems pricey...
> I think the average cost of a home in bozeman is about $220 K. Belgrade (the next town over) is cheaper, but Belgrade is not as nice as Bozeman (IMHO). For more info on housing prices, shoot an email to our local real estate blogger: Inside Out.

4. Does Bozeman feel like a mountain community or how would you describe it?
> I would describe Bozeman as half "ski town", half "college town" located in a flat valley right next to the mountains.

5. Would you feel the quality of life to be good or is there a lot of hustle and bustle?
> I think the quality of life is good. The folks in Bozeman are very outdoors-oriented. There is a brief rush hour around 7:45 AM and 5:00 PM. (FWIW, I previously lived in Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta which are all traffic nighmares.)

6. (Paraphrase): "small town beautiful" or "small town ugly" ?
> "small town beautiful"

7. High tech or behind the times
> High tech (I work a the university so might be biased in what I notice).

8. Elementary schools?
> As a forty year old bachelor, I can't help you here.

> I'll answer some more of his questions later.

Waiting patiently

This dog was very happy to see its master a few minutes after I snapped this photo.

MSU: Bench or Sculpture ?

This cantilevered bench/sculpture is located across the street from the MSU Duck Pond.

15 of 25

I've read 15 of the 25 most widely held library books.

Now open at 11 am

This bar is next door to the bagel shop I frequent.

A touch of the Dutch

You can see this windmill on N. 5th Avenue in Bozeman.

MSU: Duck Pond willow tree

This large tree was chopped down on 3/13/06. The tree was diseased and a potential hazard to pedestrians according to an arborist hired by MSU.

Tex-Mex in Bozeman

I had nachos here last weekend. So far, this is my favorite tex-mex restaurant in Bozeman (as a native Texan, I claim some expertise in the selection...). The grilled meat and the salsa bar were nice. And it never hurts to play some Bob Dylan on the radio.

Maybe cal-mex is a better classification, though, since they also serve fish tacos.

Church expansion

I drove by Grace Bible Church on the way to my accountant. I wonder why they are expanding - are there more heathens who need preaching to, or ?

Car dealership

Interesting design, huh?

Update: Located on the NW corner of 19th and Main in Bozeman, MT. Re sarpy sam's comment: I can certainly believe this building was originally a bank.

The Kinkade-Pooh nexus

After reading this story, I will be unable to contemplate "ritually marking my territory" without simultaneously imagining Winnie the Pooh in one of those awful "paintings of light."

(BTW, the Gallatin Valley Mall has a Framing Shop which includes a Kinkade Gallery. I only visit the Gallery when I want a case of the heebie-jeebies. The rest of the framing store is OK, though.)

States where I've spent the night

create your own visited states map

Interesting essay

Jenny Turner's essay in the London Review of Books is the most insightful piece of Tolkien criticism that I've read.

(See here for my previous post on Tolkien.)

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Technorati tags: tolkien

MT license plates

Top: old plates
Bottom: new plates

The "6" means these tags are for a car registered in Gallatin County, which was the 6th most populous county when Montana became a state.

No taste

I found different piece of Bozeman graffiti that would earn the title "Bad Taste", but I don't think I'll blog it.

Credit card debt

Thinking of paying off your credit card debt? Think again.

birth order quiz

You Are Likely A Fourth Born

At your darkest moments, you feel angry. At work and school, you do best when your analyzing. When you love someone, you tend to be very giving. In friendship, you don't take the initiative in reaching out. Your ideal jobs are: factory jobs, comedy, and dentistry. You will leave your mark on the world with your own personal philosophy.

The Birth Order Predictor

Correct - I was the fourth (and last) child. I don't know about the "ideal jobs" suggestions, though.

(The site has all sorts of silly quizzes...)

8th grade math

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

My graduate degree in operations research (applied math) actually helped ;-)

A matter of taste?

World traveler

I visited five countries at the MSU International Food Bazaar this evening: Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, India, and Germany. Yum.

Old grain elevator

This disused grain elevator is located between I-90 and Oak Street in NE Bozeman, Montana. Pigeons like to congregate on the roof (and maybe inside, as well).

Indeed

View on Peach Street

Narnia - overanalyzed

The Narnia flick was recently shown at the MSU Student Union, so I figured I'd write a short theological discourse ;-) (Yes, yes, the Narnia books were written for very young children and can't stand up to much analysis. But I can't help myself.)

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe book, Aslan wakes up from a hundred-year catnap, finds Narnia in a deep-freeze, and calls the four Pevensie kids to help set things right. Edmund betrays his siblings to the White Witch, and thus becomes her "lawful prey." Edmund is saved from death when Aslan takes Edmund's place. After being slain by a quick thrust of a knife, Aslan dies. He comes back, however, because of a heretofore unknown rule (the Deeper Magic).

Aslan's death and resurrection parallel the "classical theory" of atonement that held sway over Christian thinking until about A.D. 1000. According to this theory, humanity was enslaved to Satan as a consequence of sin. Satan thought he was making quite the bargain with God when God offered up his Son to be sacrificed in humanity's place. In a cosmic version of Calvinball, Satan was unaware of the game's actual rules, and lost everything.

Did Aslan sacrifice himself to save all of Narnia, or just Edmund? All of Narnia, since Narnia was only going to be saved if the four Pevensie kids occupied to the four thrones.

So there you go - an analysis by a non-religious resident of Montana. I can think of several Montana bloggers who could offer other perspectives: Zen, Objectivist, Catholic, Franciscan, Jewish, Pagan...

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Technorati tags: narnia, aslan, atonement

A house on Babcock Street

Luxury living in Bozeman, Montana.

Free sample

I received a free sample of .... gardenia-scented body lotion. Woo-hoo!

Qix

Flash version of one my favorite arcade games: Qix.

My gift-giving needs satisfied

Roulette Chocolate

Lone Mountain Gymnastics

This gymnastics studio is being built in a renovated industrial space on the NW corner of Rouse and Oak in Bozeman, Montana.

Redevelopment: Oak and Rouse

A large site on the NW corner of Rouse and Oak is being redeveloped. As near as I can tell, the site formerly housed a steel fabricator.

Oh frabjous day!

The pic shows my most recent shipment from Amazon. Coincidentally, I received a check from book publisher McGraw-Hill (for reviewing a book) on the very same day.

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technorati tags: gores, pullman, stark

MSU: narrow door

This incredibly narrow door is located on the 4th floor of Roberts Hall. I would be unable to pass through this door unless I turned sideways.

Skiing in 1941

I recently purchased a ski video from 1941: The basic principles of skiing. My main conclusion: I'm glad I didn't start skiing 'til the 2000s.

Mistakes made by Mac newbies

Top 30 mistakes made by new Mac users

Happy Valentines Day

I own a single pair of earrings. I got them at a jewelry store in the Salt Lake City airport, of all the unlikely places (Spirit of the Red Horse). Unfortunately, I broke up with my then-GF before I had a chance to give them to her. (This was several years ago, so you can hold the sympathy.)

So what can I do with a tasteful pair of silver earrings shaped like horses? Maybe I'll get a piercing myself...

English fantasy fiction

I recently re-read two very long English fantasies: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Pullman's His Dark Materials. After careful consideration, I must declare that I prefer Pullman's book to Tolkien's.

Of course, Pullman and Tolkien were trying to do two very different things when writing their stories. Pullman was trying to re-imagine the Fall from a humanistic viewpoint. Tolkien was trying to "sub-create" a world as a backdrop to his invented languages, such as Klingon (oops, I meant Quenya ;-).

Thinking over all the Tolkien material I've read, I think the short story Farmer Giles of Ham is my favorite. At least, I needn't fear uttering "not another elf" when reading it.

Update (2/14): Tom Bombadil == Winnie the Pooh ?
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technorati tags: pullman, tolkien

Glass building

This glass building is located in the parking lot of US Bank in downtown Bozeman.

I have a proposal for US Bank: fill the glass building with crumpled dollar bills. Then offer the money as a prize to whoever guesses the correct amount.

Bozeman blogs - latest list

Here are the blogs in "semi URL alphabetical" order...


The Best of the Bozeman Chronicle Police Reports (place)


Blogs against the government (politics)

Bozeman Engineers (expert)

bozeman-mt (place, personal)

Bouncer Blog (personal, place)

Cascade Neighbors (place)

Bozeman's Beaten Path (adventure)

A chicken is not pillage (politics, personal)

Chrismukkah

The Dude Abides (adventure, personal)

Easy and tasty recipes (expert)

Geocaching in Bozeman, Montana (place, adventure)

Gothy and the Least (humor)

Inside Out (place)

In the Mind of a Gangsta (personal)

jesse_james (personal)

Jesse Newland (personal)

kevin.lexblog.com (expert)

Lemon Curry? (personal)

Life in Bozeman Montana (place, personal)

liftedlorax (personal)

logistica-design (expert)

merciless.org (place, adventure)

The Monkey Cage (humor)

Montana Man (personal, place)

Montana Ramblings and My Thoughts Here (personal)

My Crazed World (personal)

New Economic Literary Theory

Rambling Thoughts (personal)

Revolving Duck (personal, adventure, place)

Ron's Montana Musings (personal, ideas)

Rose Colored Cynicism (politics, personal)

Speedkill (ideas, adventure)

Strong Copy Builds Brands (business)

Theresa (Steel Tears) (personal)

A thought over coffee (adventure, place)

this be my shiny page (personal)

travelblog.org: Bozeman (place)

The vulgar ravings of a drunken, Irish Catwoman (personal)

Wisdom Journal


Apparently Defunct: You all should know better (personal), Oral Traditions

Lend me a hand

Here is a list of literary characters I've encountered who have a missing, malformed, or mutilated hand. I would welcome any additions to the list.

Will Parry, one of the protagonists of Pullman's His Dark Materials, loses the two small fingers of his left hand to "the subtle knife." The resulting wound marks him as the "Knife Bearer" and is important in the remainder of the trilogy.

Frodo Baggins, protagonist of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, has one of his fingers bit off by Gollum in the climax of the final volume.

Mannie, the protagonist of Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, lost a complete arm in a mining accident. This took place before the events recounted in the novel.

Ijon Tichy, in Lem's Peace on Earth, suffers a severed corpus callosum when investigating some mysterious incidents on the moon. His consciousness is governed by the left hemisphere of his brain. His left hand, however, is separately controlled by his brain's right hemisphere. It has a "mind of its own", as it were.

Saruji, a very minor character in Clavell's Shogun, has a withered/twisted right hand - he can't handle a samurai sword correctly. He is the son of Mariko.

Arabian Nights - several characters get their thumbs or complete hands chopped off.

One of the main characters in The English Patient had his thumbs chopped off.

Note: I have ignored literary instances of stigmata.

Mural

The mural is on the east side of Ace Hardware in downtown Bozeman, Montana.

Ski: Day 8

I set a personal record today: my longest fall. I must have slid at least 50 meters down Deer Park Face (at Bridger Bowl). I guess any fall you can ski away from is a "good fall", right?

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Technorati tags: ski, bozeman

Two more Bozeman blogs

Strong Copy Build Brands

Montana Man - includes photos

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Technorati tag: bozeman blog

PSA (Public Service Ad)

When the little ad section on the right says "Public Service Ad", it means that Google Ads is not able to match any of my recent posts to any advertiser's "key words."

With a normal ad, the advertiser pays a small amount every time someone clicks the ad (and some of that moolah eventually filters down to me). With PSAs, however, rest assured that clicking does not cost the charity any money.

So, if you see a PSA that interests you, please click it.

Light

I recently re-listened to The Golden Compass. Lyra (the main character) travels to another world through the aurora borealis. That puts me in mind of some lights I'd like to see:

Aurora (Borealis or Australis)

Bioluminescence: I've seen plenty of fireflies (though not in Bozeman). I would like to someday see the milky sea.

Supernova: The soon-to-be Crab nebula went supernova in 1054. Wikipedia says it was visible during the day (and night) for 23 days.

Cherenkov radiation

Stephen King's It gave me the willies, so I have no desire to see the "deadlights."

Chili dogs always bark at night

In recognition of the newly arrived Year of the Dog, I have resolved to eat chili dogs more ofen this year.

In somewhat related culinary news, I have declared "freedom from fries": I will try to avoid french fries, onion rings, etc.

Meta: Revised Bozeman blogroll

I revised my Bozeman blogroll (on the right of the blog). I added several newly-discovered blogs. If you know of any I missed, please leave a comment.

I'll post the revised list in a blog entry in a few days so that others can easily link to it.

The following two blogs dropped off the list since they are apparently defunct: Oral Traditions (this was for a class at MSU, apparently), and You all should know better (which has the most user-unfriendly background image of any blog I've ever seen).

More Bozeman blogs

The Dude Abides - adventure/personal

Chrismukkah - the merry mish-mash holiday

travelblog.org: Bozeman

Nicole Didier: Wisdom Journal, New Economic Literary Theory, Oral Traditions

Blogs against the government

MSU: another book lover

Gaze into my red beady eyes...

Spider

I found this little spider near my telephone a few weeks ago. A confirmed fan of spiders, I let it be.

MSU: Book lover

A plastic lizard to keep watch over my books.

MSU: a bookcase

One of my office bookcases.

MSU: Roberts 302

Here's a view of my office. There's a little bit of clutter, but less than a couple of months ago.

Tuesday Kitchen Blogging: meatballs

I made meatballs for the first time tonight (woo-hoo!). Overall, they were a success: they tasted great, and I did set off the smoke alarm. I used Half Circle Ranch Organic Piedmontese Beef - very tasty, and it's from Montana.

Advice to bachelors

Here's my advice to bachelors (i.e., never-married men over 30 living alone): if you are earning a good living, then (for goodness sake) hire a cleaning service. Yes, even if you have to cut back on pay-per-view, beer, and chicken wings. My life is so much smoother now that I have a maid service come in every other week.

Soup & Salad

I had lunch today at the Bozeman Community Food Co-op (on Main, across from Safeway). It's a great place for soup, salad, and sandwiches.

The process: you make your salad (etc.) at the deli on the main floor, pay at the regular checkout, and eat upstairs.

Ski: Day 6

A great day for tree-skiing at Bridger Bowl. I fell down a bunch in the moguls, though.

@ the movies

I saw Underworld: Evolution last night. If you think you might enjoy watching a leather-clad lady vampire kick werewolf butt, go see this movie. (trailer)

Two new Bozeman blogs

I created a couple of blogs recently for organizations I'm active in:

Cascade Association of Neighbors is Bozeman's newest officially organized neighborhood.

Bozeman Engineers is the local chapter of the Montana Society of Engineers.

Woo-hoo

I saw a woman with a pierced tragus today...

City engineer to speak at 2/9 meeting

Everyone is welcome to attend the 2/9 meeting of the Bozeman chapter of the Montana Society of Engineers.

Rick Hixson, City Engineer, will speak on: "Bozeman Engineering Projects: the next five years."

For info on venue and cost, see the PDF flyer.

NPR (National Public Radio)

Stories about Montana

Stories about Bozeman

More pallets

These pallets reside in an industrial park in Belgrade, just west of Bozeman, Montana.

Pallets in the snow

Part of NE Bozeman is zoned "Industrial."

A chance to help a Bozeman coffeehouse entrepreneur

Interested in Coffee and Art? Here's your chance to provide input to Cafe Evoke, a soon-to-be Bozeman coffeehouse:

[begin forwarded message]

My name is Jason Duncan and my wife and I are hoping to opening Cafe Evoke, an art and coffee house, in the North East Neighborhood. Our art and coffee house is dedicated to building community on both a local and global scale. We are planning to serve Fair Trade and organic coffees and teas and organic foods whenever possible.

Our goal is to provide a place for people to come, sip, and talk. A place to build relationships with each other and also learn about issues that are affecting our friends in coffee producing countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Guatemala. We plan to display the work of local artist, bring in singer songwriters, writers, poets, play writes, videographers and others to share their passions.

We have been in contact with One.org who wants to host Bozeman meetings at Cafe Evoke. We plan to host Fair Trade seminars and do our best to not only serve great coffee but to educate on the passionate journey this product takes from the bean to the cup.

In an effort to be a community coffee and art house from the beginning, we want to know what the people in this community think about our ideas. We have dreams of providing a place for people to just be from 6:00 am to Midnight. We desire Cafe Evoke to be an alternative to the bar scene and think it will be a great place to "work together to create community."

It seems that we all agree: by working together, we can make a difference.

We are looking for a location in the building on Wallace and Peach and also in the new Freight Building that is going up in March. I would love to get your feedback, ideas, concerns, and suggestions. We feel the values of this community are a great match for Cafe Evoke and we want to be a voice and meeting place for all.

Please feel free to email us at info@cafeevoke.com with your thoughts, suggestions, questions, and concerns. We want to make sure all have a voice in what goes on at Cafe Evoke. You may also call me at 406.599.1628. We want to know how you feel about our hours (6:00 am to Midnight) and what things you would like to see in a community art and coffee house that is dedicated to serving the best organic and fair coffee.

Thank you for taking the time to help.

Jason Duncan
Cafe Evoke
jason@cafeevoke.com
*******
[end forwarded message]

Wiki photograph

I'm almost famous - the newly revised Wikipedia entry on Bozeman, Montana uses one of my photos. Better check it out quickly, before someone repalces it with a different photo, though ;-)

Ski: Day 4

Powderiffic. My legs are so sore I can barely move...

Ski: Day 3

Another great day at Bridger Bowl. I'm whipped - a hot shower awaits in the very near future. (Kinda unusual for me, as my showers are usually ice cold.... Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it ;-)

Anonymity: Four folks from town recogized me on the slopes.

Books I read over vacation

Besides overdosing on cable TV over Christmas break (I don't watch TV in MT - only when I'm traveling), I also read some interesting books. I can recommend any of the following:

What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

Salt: A World History

The Physics of Superheroes

Fuel Cells

Dr. Max Deibert (Dept of Chemical & Biological Engineering at MSU) will give a presentation on Fuel Cells this Thursday. See the information flyer for details.

Anyone can attend this luncheon meeting (as long as they pay the $10 fee). Email me if you want more details or would like to RSVP.

In upcoming months, I will announce presentations by Bozeman's City Engineer and the City Manager.

Airport art

After spending 10+ days in Texas, I went to South Carolina for a couple of days. I'm finally back home.

I liked a piece of sculpture in the Greenville-Spartanburg airport, so I read the plaque...the sculpture (of flying geese) was done by Jim Dolan of Belgrade, Montana.

holidays

I'll let you know if I find anything pertinent to Bozeman while I'm in Texas...

Wheat

The Economist has a very interesting article about wheat.

(Wheat is an important crop in Montana and states east.)

Ski: day 2

Another fun day at Bridger Bowl - until it got too warm and some of the snow turned to slush ;-(

By the end of the season, I will have MassiveThighs.

holiday spirit

ho ho

[h/t: merciless.org]

MSU: future site of Native American Student Center

This is the future site of MSU's Native American Student Center.

DVDs to watch next week

Here's a list of Christmas-related DVDs I'll watch next week: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Bad Santa, Lethal Weapon, and the Robot Santa episodes of Futurama.

That covers Monday-Thursday. Any suggestions for Friday?

more movies

I saw King Kong on Friday - excellent, "one of the year's best films.". It's long, so buy some extra popcorn.

I'll admit to being a bit misty-eyed at the end of the movie. Many years ago, the Georgia Tech student center showed Disney's version of The Beauy and the Beast. Based on my observations back then, I'm not the only engineer who occasionally wells up with emotion at the movies ;-)

Apropos an earlier post, I went to the movie by myself. However, even if I only enjoy each movie half as much, it balances out because I can afford to see twice as many movies.

Does rubbing a bald man's head bring good luck?

Several years ago, I was standing in line for the movies and an 8 year old African-American girl asked to rub my bald head. Of course I let her do it. Maybe it brought her good luck.

This series of photographs indicates that George W. Bush believes the same supersition.

Single in Bozeman

Kellyn Brown over at Bozeman's Beaten Path notes that the odds are stacked against single men looking for romance in Bozeman. For the 25+ age bracket, there are 150 single men for every 100 single women.

It's not all roses for the women, though. They counter that, for them, "the odds are good, but the goods are odd."

Bozeman blogs

[UPDATE 12/17: I corrected some blog titles, and found some additional blogs...]

I developed a simplistic scheme to classify Bozeman blogs.

Personal blogs present the blogger's daily life (most blogs are at least somewhat personal).

Adventure blogs detail the blogger's quest to achieve some goal (such as a college degree).

Place blogs cover a particular geographic location (in this case: Bozeman).

Politics blogs discuss politics.

Idea blogs present critical thought about various issues (broader than politics).

Humor blogs present jokes, wit, etc.

Expert blogs cover the blogger's particular area of expertise. They are typically non-personal and do not cover Montana topics.

Here are the blogs in pseudo-random order...

bozeman-mt (place, personal) - "A journal about life in Bozeman, Montana"

Geocaching in Bozeman, Montana (place, adventure)

Bozemania (expert) - about folks with the name Bozeman

Bouncer Blog (personal, place) - "Musings, drunkenness, and inane commentary by 2 bouncers from Bozeman's classiest dance club."

You all should know better (personal)

Rambling Thoughts (personal)

The Best of the Bozeman Chronicle Police Reports (place)

Life in Bozeman Montana (place, personal)

merciless.org (place, adventure)

Rose Colored Cynicism (politics, personal)

A thought over coffee (adventure, place)

Inside Out (place)

The vulgar ravings of a drunken, Irish Catwoman (personal)

The Monkey Cage (humor)

Gothy and the Least (humor)

Lemon Curry? (personal)

A chicken is not pillage (politics, personal)

Revolving Duck (personal, adventure, place)

Speedkill (ideas, adventure)

Easy and tasty recipes (expert)

logistica-design (expert) Logistics systems design

lexblog (expert) - "Building blogs for lawyers."

12/17 additions:

Jesse Newland (personal)

In the Mind of a Gangsta (personal)

Montana Ramblings and My Thoughts Here (personal)

Theresa (Steel Tears) (personal)

Bozeman's Beaten Path (adventure)

liftedlorax (personal)

this be my shiny page (personal)

jesse_james (personal)

A new Bozeman blog

Please welcome the newest Bozeman-based blog: Inside Out.

By my count, that makes five active Bozeman blogs that cover Montana-related topics: Inside Out, bozeman-mt, Wulfgar!, Revolving Duck, and Bozeman Bouncers. Am I missing any?

FYI, The Big Sky Blog, Wulfgar, and the Billings Gazette all have extensive lists of blogs based in Montana.

@ the movies

I saw the Narnia movie recently. I enjoyed it, not least because it corrected my pronunciation of "Pevensie."

I went to the 10 pm show. Apparently that is when college students attend movies, too. One of them (a few rows ahead of me) just about finished a 1/2 gallon jug of wine during the movie.

The crowd let out cheer during the trailers. The main character of Hoot is a boy who moves from Montana to Florida and becomes an eco-activist.

Snow tracks

I think the neighbors' cats and dogs are the ones tracking out my yard, but who knows for sure?

Bumper sticker on a Ford pickup

I used to drive a Chevy Malibu, so I don't completely agree with these sentiments - still pretty funny, though.

MSU: duck pond

The duck pond at MSU is about one-half frozen over. It's spring-fed, so I doubt it ever freezes over completely.

These ducks really liked the Bible Bread I fed them.

Breakfast in Bozeman

Bozeman, Montana is a pretty good breakfast town, to my mind.

I usually get a bagel and Coke at Bagelworks. Their staff is almost all female, and they have my name and order memorized. They also have two free newspapers: the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and the Wall Street Journal.

For a more traditional approach, downtown has two great spots: the Western Cafe and Main Street Over Easy (which apparently does not have a WWW presence).

On ski days, I usually get a quick bite at McDonalds.

When I first moved here, Denny's had just opened a restaurant on 19th. It closed a couple of years ago, though. I recently read that IHOP will build at Oak and 19th. I hope they don't put one of those ugly blue roofs on it.

Rot in Peace

Caitlin DeSilvey (who lives in Montana) has an interesting photo-essay in Slate - Rot in Peace: Putting old buildings and settlements to rest.

Bozeman Engineers meeting

Bozeman-area engineers will meet this Thursday (12/8) to hear a presentation on "The impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on today's transportation facilities."

Everyone is welcome to attend this $10 lunch meeting. For more details, see the flyer.

Ski report: Day 1

Bridger Bowl was powderiffic yesterday. But I'm too sore to go skiing today...

Making music

If you hear a loud moaning, groaning, droning sound while traveling in Bozeman, Montana, don't be alarmed. It's probably my new didgeridoo.

I wonder if the sweet music will entice some Minnesota kangaroos to visit Montana?

Brrrr

When the temp drops into the single digits, it's a good time to completely close your bedroom windows...