My new running shoes are fantastic. They've got a nice stiff sole and the uppers are cool. Running in them is a joy, painful, but still fun. It's amazing how 2 weeks without running can kill any developments i had made. I had jelly legs after one loop--that's unacceptable. But hopefully with the new shoes I'll be able to get on form... I still need more 'core' power and balance.

I can't believe I've stooped to this level of just recounting my affairs. I'm no better than those families who send out newsletters to people they barely know about dad's promotion and mom's work in the PTSA and son's acceptance to Private U. and daugher's 4.0 unweighted gpa...that said:

School is done. After 5 weeks of intense french everyday I feel like I've learned nothing. I feel like all the tenses and grammar rules I picked up have already slipped out of my head. But the course definitely kicked started some part of my mind, I hope that with a good perusal and re-perusal and then maybe some more studying I'll be where I need to be for french 4.

So now I've got three more days of work and then I'll hop over to Iowa. Everyone else has visited their family in various locations around the globe (France, Spain, Russia), so I figured I should do the same. Unfortunately Iowa isn't quite as exotic or novel as any of those other places, but they do speak a different language.


For those who are taking notes I went to my cousin's wedding in Memphis, TN and I'll be visiting Des Moines, IA. And yes, I can't get any more white.


But I'm looking forward to seeing family and experiencing the great pace of life in Southern Iowa. I've got to remember what fishing in the morning, working on cars, reading on the porch, running at twilight and eating chicken fried steak is like. Especially since la is going to be a complete 180 from all that loveliness.

Other people have far more interesing and dynamic heritages than I do. I admit that having two grandparents from Southern Iowa, one from SLC, Utah and another from Grand Mesa, CO makes me pretty dull. In the scheme of things I'm not too far removed from my family's immigration (5-7 generations). But compared to people who are first generation, I'm all-american, not really though. Certain people seem to want to unite with their past/heritage, others want to flee from it; I belong to neither category. I just want to live my own life and create my own identity. That's trite, very much so, but I don't know what else to say. I've progressed as an individual in the enviroment provided for me. I'm neither grateful nor resentful of my enviroment, I just want to do my best in it.

This is getting way too serious and too metaphysical. "Family is (barely) a starting point." Being a determinist makes faith in family really hard to stomach. It makes most warm-fuzzy things hard to stomach. I'm a little sick right now even.