Hello, Shoals, Indiana!

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Elizabeth

If you’ve stopped by my blog while googling “Shoals, Indiana,” I’d love it if you would leave a comment somewhere. Let me know how the Catfish Festival went, what you’re planning on doing at the fair, how the softball team is treating you. Sure, I still get The Shoals News, but it’s not the same [...]

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Will Shortz to speak at UVA

Posted on February 26, 2008 by Elizabeth

This one is going on the calendar for sure:
Will Shortz
Location: Chemistry 402
Date and Time: Wednesday April 2, 2008, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (EST)
Description: Come see Will Shortz, crossword editor of The New York Times whose puzzles appear in the Cavalier Daily. He is puzzle master for NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” and founder of the [...]

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Three Days of the Night of the Living Cicada!

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Elizabeth

For the past week, a slim envelope has been taunting me from its comfortable seat on the living room ottoman. I know what’s in it; the problem is, it’s addressed to Mr. Glass, and other than those pesky financial forms and records (URGENT! Last Notice! You May Already Be A Winner!), I keep my mitts [...]

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Christmas, Hoosier style

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Elizabeth

Behold how they roll in Indiana:

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Freddy Krueger Mellencamp @ Orbit

Posted on November 1, 2007 by Elizabeth

Sorry about the awful photo; it was the best that I could do.
“Freddy Krueger Mellencamp” at Orbit last night was a big hit with this homesick Hoosier. Part Farm Aid, part Nightmare on Elm Street, the show was true to its billing, right down to the cigarettes rolled up in a t-shirt sleeve. At first [...]

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Bloomington does it again

Posted on August 24, 2007 by Elizabeth

National Geographic Adventure Magazine names Bloomington, Indiana, one of the 50 Best Places to Live. And which Central Virginia university happenin’ town is not on this list? Is there no justice in this world? Did I bring bad mojo when I moved here? Is it the gangs? The security cameras?
Surely not.

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A little taste of home

Posted on August 21, 2007 by Elizabeth

The Indiana State Fair, always a culinary leader, has banned trans fats from its concession stands. I know, there’s nothing wrong with a deep-fried Pepsi ball or a deep-fried Snickers Bar that eliminating trans fats is going to cure. I assume it’s just a PR move.
You don’t have to spend much time in Indiana to [...]

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Bloomington, Ind. : A great place to live

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Elizabeth

Bloomington, Indiana, the hometown of my heart, hit the number one spot on Mother Earth’s 8 Great Places list.
Charlottesville, why aren’t you on this list?? You’re a great place to live for all our citizens! Or something like that.

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Funny, I don’t look Midlandish

Posted on June 14, 2007 by Elizabeth

I can never resist an accent quiz. Tip of the hat to lowercase liberty for this one.

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far)Midland (”Midland” is not necessarily the same thing as “Midwest”) The default, lowest-common-denominator American accent that newscasters try to imitate. Since it’s a neutral accent, just because you have [...]

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More on Kurt Vonnegut

Posted on April 13, 2007 by Elizabeth

Tributes to Kurt Vonnegut are popping up all over. Here are a few:

Vonnegut tributes
Mark Twain for the Nuclear Age
Remembering Kurt Vonnegut
Writers praise work of Kurt Vonnegut
The Guardian obituary
Deadeye Kurt
Kurt’s canon
The Nation
Indianapolis Star

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God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut

Posted on April 12, 2007 by Elizabeth

I knew what the news would be when I heard the tense of the verb: “Kurt Vonnegut considered himself a secular humanist,” the NPR announcer said. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr died yesterday at the age of 84. I thought I was ready, but I wasn’t.
New York Times
Washington Post
Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles Times
My ragged copies of Vonnegut’s work [...]

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Vintage postcard of National Gypsum Company, Shoals, Indiana

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Elizabeth

One of two gypsum plants in Shoals, and the one where my dad worked for many years. Not sure of the date on this one.
Update: According to my dad, this picture must date from around 1955. Plant construction started in 1954 and production began in 1955.  The road running across the photo is US 50.
Related [...]

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Another vintage postcard from Shoals, Indiana

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Elizabeth

This postcard was mailed from Washington, DC in September, 1942, by “U M” (Uncle M?) to Miss Hazel Pfeifer of Sarcoxie, Missouri. Spout Springs is a natural spring that emerges from Beaver Bluff, just south of Shoals.
The reverse reads: “Dear Hazel, It seems I don’t have much time to write letters but thought of you [...]

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Vintage postcards from Shoals, Indiana

Posted on February 23, 2007 by Elizabeth

Robert Olen Butler’s book, Had a Good Time, is a group of short stories inspired by selections from his collection of vintage postcards. The Atlantic reviewer of Had a Good Time explained, “Butler dug for glimpses of story—or as he says, ‘little fragments of expressed life’—in the written messages on the back.”
It sounds like [...]

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Moocher??

Posted on February 21, 2007 by Elizabeth

Teaser from an interview with Jackie Earle Haley at Salon.com:
Fifteen years ago, Jackie Earle Haley had given up on acting. Now the former teenage heartthrob is back with an Oscar nomination for his creepy role in “Little Children.”
We’re talking about Moocher from Breaking Away, right? Now, Breaking Away is one of my favorite films of [...]

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