bkeller49's Xanga

Monday, May 05, 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:15:46 GMT

I just published a new portfolio website: robertckeller.com

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:41:37 GMT

My wife is in Mexico, but I'm not lonely.
I have a very talkative cat and the ghost of some rock station
that's haunting my computer speakers.

April Fool

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:58:47 GMT

I thought it was supposed to be spring. Instead nature played a joke to the tune of 9.5 inches of snow overnight. Blah.

March Madness

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:16:08 GMT

Snow that is. March gives us hope and then smacks us down. Shows us who's boss. March also brings the high school tournaments, which have become synonymous with "blizzard," as in "State Tournament Blizzard. Last night a pal of mine and I went down to the Target Center to watch a class 3A boys quarterfinal. Patrick Henry an inner city school with a big basketball tradition versus St. Michael-Albertville near in rural town that's one of the fastest growing in the state. Pretty much all white against all black. The head coach of the Patrick Henry (what else) Patriots, was Jerry Williams Jr. known far and wide as Buggy. I guess he doesn't go by Buggy anymore, but that's what everyone called him when he was about 10 years old and shooting hoops in my driveway when I lived in the city. That makes me feel kind of old. It was a great game to watch, both teams were very good and the score was up and down. SMA got up by twelve early on, Henry fought back, closing in at halftime, took the lead early in the second and then went down by 5 with about six minutes left. But I think SMA was exhausted from playing as hard as they did all game, faded at the end and the Pats won by 12, dominating the last 5 minutes of the game.

And the snowstorm predicted for last night and today never happened!

Oregon

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:57:17 GMT

During the last week of February I had a business meeting in Denver and decided to fly from Denver to Portland to visit my old college pal Bill Benson and his wife Laurey. Empty nesters like us, they've settled in Bend in central Oregon where she works for a small ad agency and Bill works with ESL kids at the local high schools.

The route from Portland to Bend took us right past Mt. Hood and it was a clear day, so the view was spectacular. Bend is in the high desert, just east of the Cascades, you have very interesting diversity in climate and landscape.

They got lots of snow this year and access to some of the steams was just about impossible for a gimp like me.

I saw gorgeous gorges and amazing vistas. As well as some dangerous terrain, can you find the bike in the picture below?

And some not very good places to play frisbee with fido. This gorge is amazing, photos don't do justice to the sense of space you get when you're standing above it. Although the bike does give you a little perspective. I've been pretty much a flatlander all my life except for the summer I spent in Idaho, right after college, where I fell in love with the west and the mountains. Looking back, I wish I'd spent more time in the mountains when I was younger. It makes it a little harder to enjoy when you're as lame as I am. I'm determined to get back my legs so I can get out in the woods again, Something I really miss. I'll be posting a few more pics over the next few days. If you want to see more of my Oregon pics go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eisengrim/sets/72157604159343435

Brief Update.

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:21:28 GMT

And I'm not talking about a breakthrough in underwear science.

I'm just checking in quickly now, but there's a lot going on and I think I want to write about it. So there will be more to come.

But Quinn is home, and Lucia will be home tomorrow. Quinn will soon be 20 and has declared herself an Art Major. She wants to make pottery. I say good for her. Someone has to carry on the culture. Lucia is graduating with honors this year from Iowa State University with a degree in Graphic Design and is about to throw herself on the job market. Nice timing. Actually I read an article recently where there is a growing demand for designers right now, I guess design is hot. So my lovely talented daughters are home for the weekend and I'm looking forward to hearing their stories.

But I also need to backtrack to my trip to Oregon and my birthday weekend. So more to come.

ccccccooooollddddd!

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:19:08 GMT

It was one of those perfectly clear winter days. Shadows were crisp and blue and perfectly focused on the snow. Clear and windy, flags were flapping straight out. It was -17 when I woke up. By mid morning it had warmed up to -11. At two when I went to the basketball game at the the U of M, it was -7 and still windy. Steam was billowing horizontally out of industrial chimneys, the snow making that brittle crunching sound when you walked. I parked on the far side of Mariucci Arena where the hockey team plays and went between it and the Tennis Center, across Fourth Street and down half the Length of the Barn to the nearest entrance. By the time I got inside I had an ice cream headache.

Brrrrr

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:57:39 GMT

It's 17 below

Survey

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:50:55 GMT

I got a call from a survey taker this morning. She was calling from Hollywood and had some questions about movies. She wanted to know if there were any 12 -16 year old girls in the house. I said, "No, thank God!"

Shake my booty

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:43:22 GMT

Just four months after being minus a knee, I was shaking it at my wife's office party. Although if you ask me this photo looks more like I'm taking a leak, but that's beside the point.

The girl's are home, which is great, but it does disrupt my quiet empty nest existence and exponentially increase the household hormone levels. Poor Quinn, when she moved into her apartment on campus, she took her bed with her and Mom converted her bedroom to a reading room. So she's home for the holidays and has had to sleep on an air mattress, which leaked and on the hide a bed couch in the family room.

Lucia arrived at the airport from her semester in Italy at 1:30 yesterday morning. We probably were up until 4 and then were awakened by the credit card security folks to tell us that someone was using our card on the east coast. Turns out they can put a chip in a card reader and copy the info on your magnetic strip and use it to make a duplicate of your card. Fortunately they caught it and we won't be on the hook for any charges. But it sucks to be waiting for a new card at this time of year.