30 minutes

So I have 30 minutes of work today and for the rest of my time here in Portland. It has been a pretty fun summer both professionally and personally. I have met some great people here at PSU and not only because most of them are Steeler fans.

Today I finished my blackboard creation. I hope it serves them well.

My flight leaves at 12:30AM Pacific time and I get to Detroit at 1:00PM Eastern time. I should be in East Lansing around 5PM Eastern time. That is like 14 hours of traveling. Pretty intense. I fly to Minneapolis and then St. Louis and then Detroit. The Flyer will be taking me to Grand River in good old East Lansing.

Hopefully my stuff will arrive shortly after me Monday at the latest.

It has been over 100 degrees the past few days here. It really hasn't felt that bad, but everyone has been all up in hands about it. INSIDE JOKE!

I don't really feel like getting to into reflecting about this summer right now, but I will do that at some point both on here and for class.

Funny People comes out Friday does anyone in EL wanna go see it? Please tell me it is opening there this weekend.

OUT

_________________Armstrong

I am in the final stretch, the home stretch, the lumbar stretch. Today I felt like a detective. I had to investigate why certain keys were no listed as returned. I used my Sherlock Holmes starter kit and researched the key history for rooms and students. Star Res is a pretty in depth little program. Things have been a bit quiet here at PSU, at least for me. I have been finalizing the blackboard page. I have a lot of work in the next couple days, but it should all get done and pay off.

I have to figure out the cheapest way to ship a box full of stuff back to Michigan. I heard media mail is cheap so yeah. I am not a fan of moving like I used to be. That's about all that's left to plan for my trip back home. That and the Michigan Flyer reservation.

Tomorrow the Thermals are playing at Jackpot Records that is the highlight of my summer. I am guessing I will either get there super early or it will be too packed and I won't get it.

I got great news on the IM sports front. It looks like we 'SAGA members' can participate in intramurals. I am excited about that. I talked to Juliette today and I am excited to see the cohort and to hear their summer stories. It could be like an episode of inside the actors studio.

It's almost quitting time so I am going to wrap this up. More to come this weekend.

Congrats to Ryan Seacrest

If I haven't told you this before I like Ryan Seacrest and here is why. The man works like 10 jobs and to me that is straight up hustler status. He seems like a cool dude and seems to have his priorities in check. He has fun at his job and for what I know lives a clean lifestyle. He just signed a huge deal which means he knows what he is worth and I like that in a person. He seems like he is logical and can get things done. I am a fan.

In other non Ryan Seacrest related news Portland State Housing is one of, if not, the most unique systems ever. Here is an example. Portland State has a Living and Learning Community - Global Village. It's a pretty successful LLC and has been growing in numbers every year. Now the residential student population here at PSU varies from your traditional first-year student to 60 plus year old residents and families. I have never seen more contrast in student population. These populations not only are in the same residence hall system, but some of them live in the same residence halls and floors. There is no definitive non-traditional housing.

I am a member of the Global Village Committee this summer and we have been reviewing applicants for this upcoming year's Global Village. An issue we are running into is that as great as it would be to have non-traditional students perspectives and life experiences in this community how can you place a first-year student with someone who is older than their parents. It's an issue obviously. I think it is extremely cool that non-traditional students would be interested in this type of living experience, but at the same time it seems pretty hard to place an 18-year-old with someone three times their age and not expect roommate issues. With the push for non-traditional students to come back to higher education maybe there is a need to have non-traditional living and learning communities. Maybe we have overlooked the fact that just because they are non-traditional students that does not mean they don't want or need the same services provided to traditional students. It's something to think about.

Last night I went to eat veggie hot dogs at this place Zach's Shack. It seemed like a pretty relaxed place to grab some food and suds. It was a bit dead but then again it was a rainy Sunday. I have two full weeks of work left here in Portland. If anyone knows anything about shipping items across the country let me know. What is the cheapest way?

Also I am looking for a patchwork duvet cover for my full down comforter. Let me know if you know where to score one.

it's like the first 2 minutes of I will possess your heart...

In three weeks I will be back in the Eastern Standard Time Zone. I will be walking through the Detroit Airport waiting for the Michigan Flyer to take me back to East Lansing. My guess is that it will snow.

I am going to talk a little about me before I talk about the past few days here in Portland. First, I think it is horrible that the world can't make cartoon versions of my pictures on my MAC. There is PCs angle right there. I want one of those cartoon versions of myself and I want it now. I am going to say that Friday Night Lights might be one of the most underrated movies and tv shows at the same time. Take that 10 things I hate about you. Speaking of movies I am going to see Bruno tonight.

Okay, so back to work updates for my cohort suspects.

I don't know if I wrote this before here or somewhere else and I am not going to check but here is something for yinz to consider. Make sure you understand the implications of working at a school that is on quarters. The summer is a slower time, but it's not really that much different on the administrative end. I think it is increasingly harder for staff members to spend time away from work and to vacation and to reflect. Also it makes staff development harder. It's something I will really consider next year.

I am becoming pretty skilled at room assignments. I am dominating StarRes and all of it's glory. It's basically begging me to stop being so skilled. Also if anyone in Vietnam/China is reading this blog please stop using numbers in your emails. This is not a good email address 1423429342348032432932@qq.com. It's not a good look and it makes life for me a lot harder. How is that easy for anyone to remember your email address? HUH!

This weekend I am going to visit some of the thrifty stores in Portland, I am also going to go to this place that has veggie hot dogs, this guy is excited about that. Monday is the AAA baseball all-star homerun derby. I think I will be in attendance. The weather has been cool and when it does get warm it's not REALLY warm. Dry heat is very different and comfortable.

I really recommend anyone reading this to take 802 next year if you haven't it will help you in the long run. Communication and being a learning organization is beyond important. I am finding this out more and more every day.

I live in a summer conferencing building and they take out my garbage and give me fresh towels and toilet paper, I am truly living the dream. I became an uncle this week. My niece Olivia Pennybaker seems pretty cool considering I haven't met her nor have I seen her other than in photos. Thankfully this moment in my sister's life was not on TV.

In other news my beard is getting a bit out of control, but I intend to keep it for a bit longer, hopefully until April. I really feel NW with it. I woke up craving Menna's hopefully that didn't go out of business like everything else good in EL.

Anyway there is not much more to report about it's been a slow couple days here. Things should pick up a bit as my days here are dwindling down.

I just got a new tennis racket so let's play in the fall.

MAKE TOTAL DESTROY

That is what it says in the men's bathroom on the second floor of the Broadway building. I often find myself thinking did they mean Make Total Destruction or is it a 3 step process first you make then you total then you destroy. Who knows...

Things have been busy so busy that I haven't found the time to update this blog. I have been thinking about it that's for sure. I am just about at my midpoint here at PSU. I think I have like 3.5 weeks left or something. This weekend is 4th of July weekend, but now it will remembered not so much for USA, but for Michael Jackson.

Due to some short staffing issues I have been manning the phones this week during my two days in the Housing office. You learn a lot when you have to figure it out on the phone. I have been given some of the "dirtier" jobs like calling to notify students that they are being charged for things or calling to see why the haven't transferred rooms. It's okay because I will never interact with these students again. I mostly struggle with pronouncing names verse the message I am giving.

In Res Life I have been working on creating a Blackboard page for the student staff. That has become an bigger project that I expected. So these next three weeks are going to be busy over there. I also started to play with some data from a survey. I didn't bring my SPSS book so it's getting a little hairy, but I think Matt would be proud. I think Heck was right in her prediction.

PSU's radio station just celebrated their 15th birthday and Tender Forever played this little park. It was pretty cool we talked about her coming to MSU, but who knows. There is about to be some fireworks up in this place and there is a cookout here on campus. I also just found a vegetarian hot dog spot. I have had some good sushi courtasy of a choo choo train and there is this Japanese place that I am told is the shit.

I just ordered a new tennis racquet we should get a little SAGA tennis league going.

Living without a TV has been a challenge, but I have managed to find some new favorite TV shows online. If you have netflix check out Party Down.

My mom got me a Penguins jersey and that just came in today so I think I will never take it off. I am apologizing in advance for my continued excitment about the Stanley Cup Finals. It's not because we beat Detroit it's the fact that we won. I will try my best to not bring it up or flont it Michigan, but you have to cut me some slack.

I am thinking I need a plant for my apartment int he fall. What are some plants that are easy to take care of?


Catlin

Invasion of the middle schoolers...

Yes, it is the invasion of the middle school kids. The dining facility has been overrun by a middle school program that is staying here at PSU for a good bit of time. I think for the rest of my time here actually. What went from being a peaceful, relaxing, and tasty break from work lunch has not turned into an episode of ZOEY 101. Unfortunately, this show won’t be canceled due to teenage pregnancy. This past weekend in Portland the weather was pretty Portlandy. It rained a lot, not as bad as in Pittsburgh. My mom is still cleaning up from the flood. I saw some movies. I was disappointed in Year One. I ate some popcorn, but I was also disappointed in that. I did however eat some pretty good vegetarian General Tso’s chicken.

Enough about the food of the city let’s talk about work. Every day I learn something pretty unusual about PSU. I found out today that the Park Blocks, the best part about campus, is actually still owned by the city. The University maintains the grounds on University property, but the city still has control over the area. I found this out because of a protest that happened on Friday. PSU doesn’t have to ask the city to utilize the space, but PSU can’t stop the city from booking something on the grounds. This makes sense because of the Saturday Farmer’s Market being able to take over the park blocks. Hopefully, this weekend it doesn’t rain and I can check that out. It’s most produce, but it will give me something to do until I got see Tender Forever and Nurses at PSU radio station’s festival. I am pretty stoked about that.

I have been working on creating a blackboard page for Residence Life. This would allow the staff to access all of their forms and what not online and eliminate the paper waste. It also gives us the ability to post ongoing training information. I worked on something similar before at PPU, but I didn’t have to actually build the course. Here I am actually building the course. There was a little part of me that wanted to take some classes in instructional design, now I wish I had. That has been my biggest project so far. I am going to start researching what readings and documents would be helpful to post for the staff. I can get a jump start on my staff meetings by researching stuff now. DOUBLE WIN.

I just got the list of my staff members in Mason Hall. The fall term is racing towards me. Oh yeah, I just remembered this because I just saw all of them walk across the street. PSU has partnered with Intel and 30 Vietnamese students are here at PSU for two years learning engineering. Intel pays for everything and in return the students work for them for three years after graduation. On Friday I got to set up their rooms. Intel really provided them with tons of stuff. It’s pretty unreal. They always travel in their group. So it’s 30 students walking together all the time. It’s pretty funny. In the Housing office I have the best view. It’s actually pretty amazing most of the time. It would be better if it was on the 10th floor and not the second, but it still doesn’t suck.

The cleaning staff always confuses my room with a summer conference room so I get towels delivered once a week. I wish they would clean my bathroom. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but you never know.

He SHOOTS and SCORES...

Yes,

I am still basking in the glow of the Stanley Cup Champions. I find myself watching the game highlights over and over. This was bigger than the Super Bowl for me. The title of this blog has more meaning than just Max Talbot's two goals last Friday. Yesterday I started the biggest project for the summer. DUN DUN DUN

I will be creating a Blackboard class for the student staff members of the East Side of campus. It's not like a typical class, but it will be a place for continuous training and materials. I met with PSU's Blackboard organizer yesterday and got the go ahead. Starting next week I will be building the shell of the class and starting to form the various discussion and reflection spaces, forms, and program database. I'm pretty excited about it. I really like being able to marry technology and student affairs work.

I did my first room placements this week. I set up the 30 or so summer conference guest that will be moving in on Monday. There were a few hang ups understanding the system, but after I got there that it was fine. Oh no it wasn't. The group coming in is from Vietnam and non of their names were correct. We had their last name as their first name middle name as their last it was a mess.

I ate at this place called Cha Cha Cha last night. It was one of the better burritos I had in my life and it was only $4.50. If you find yourself in Portland look them up. I am also in love with cucumber sandwiches right now, thanks to Dexter. I finished season 2. It was pretty good.

The summer blog idea is fully updated now. Everyone who signed up to blog is good to go. I am going to be posting the link on the ANGEL site, facebook, and twitter.

Well work starts here in a few minutes and I think it's going to be a busy day.

Oh thanks to the town of McKees Rocks for not closing the flood gates in time last night. Linda's house is flooded.

Catlin

WOW I suck at blogging....

I do suck at blogging. 

It has been about a week since I arrived in Portland. I have yet and will not be posting pictures on this blog. I am going to just upload them to flickr and then have the link here. It was such a long process to put that many pictures on this blog. 

Let's start with working at Portland State. It has been, as I coined it in my practicum reflection, an information overload. I have been introduce slash had so many meetings with various people that it's hard to remember names and faces. I have a split assignment between housing and residence life so it's double the staff to meet. Here at PSU, it's even weird calling it PSU, but here at PSU there is a split system with housing and res life. 

In the residence life side I have been working on New Student Week and planning some educational programs. I also investigated how to use Strengths Finder 2.0 for student staff training. It was pretty interesting. Actually all of the materials I gathered were from Loyola College in Maryland. If you are interested I have the link to their NASPA presentation. 

Another project I am working on is creating a program database and program evaluation. The staff has been very receptive and their student staff is pretty amazing. I had a chance to show off my cooking skills at their Study Jam. PSU is on a quarters system so they currently in finals week. This weekend is move, but thankfully I don't have any responsibilities. 

On the housing side I started my first day there on Tuesday. I work there Tuesdays and Thursdays. So yesterday was my first day. I learned the general responsibilities, wow responsibilities has a lot of Is . Anyway I I learned what they do and all that good stuff. I also learned how to use STARres. Which is their housing program that tracks students throughout their housing experience so to say. I got to contact student who have to transfer their rooms for the summer. It is a bit intimidating trying to guess how to pronounce a student's name, but I don't think I hurt anyone's feelings. 

Tomorrow I will be learning more about the facilities side of housing, but I am not too sure what else I will doing tomorrow. Today, I did get a chance to become a member of the Global Village Committee. The Global Village is a themed living and learning community at PSU that focuses on multicultural issues and themes. Today we reviewed application essays for the incoming students. This would be for the fall semester. Starting next year there will also be a Russian Immersion floor. Students living on this floor sign a pact to speak Russian while on the floor. PSU received a grant for a Russian capstone project and this is part of that grant. 

This is going to be a long entry so maybe at this point you should get a drink of water or a bucket of popcorn. Go ahead I'll wait. ..... 

As for the rest of my cross country trip... 

It really was an amazing experience. I don't remember where I left off in my last post talking about it, but I really recommend giving it a try. It cost a lot more than expected, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would suggest scouting out your hotels a bit more, but that was also part of the adventure. I only stayed at one place that I was afraid that I would wake up without my kidney. Driving through the Colorado mountains was beautiful. The Grand Canyon was pretty terrifying. I thought I was going to fall to my death. I wonder how many people die there each year. I seriously thought I was going to die one night driving through South Dakota. It was so dark and I kept thinking about Jeepers Creepers. 

There was a wonderful woman Minnesota named Sandy or Sally either way she was nice. She was all over Miranda and I like really touchy, but she was drunk so we just went with it. She was about to commit adultery so you know how that goes. California was only disappointing because when I came in from Vegas there was no welcome to California sign. I loved San Francisco too bad I only had a day there. It was a big deal for me to drive into California considering I was so obsessed with the state since I was a little kid. It seemed so far way and out of reach. 

I am missing a bunch of stuff and stories, but it's a blog and it's getting late. 

So far Portland has been cool. I haven't had a lot of time to really explore the city mostly because of the Penguins, but I am not complaining. This weekend is Pride here in Portland so I am sure there will lots to see and do. Friday night will be devoted to the Guins, but the rest of the weekend will exploration time. I am going to be eating at a different vegetarian restaurant every Friday or Saturday complete with a review so look forward to that. I am also going to be making more of an effort to update. At least twice a week. 

I finally got the map done on the SAGA website that link is https://www.msu.edu/~saga/classof2010summer/

So there are some people on there, I'd like to see a few more, come on cohort give me your blog info. 

Yeah, so that has been my first week. I will do a better job at this. I promise. Photos on flickr this weekend. 

Go PENS!

Views...

Again I failed to upload the pictures... But take my word the views are amazing. 

It has been a while since I have updated this. I forgot most of the best things I am sure. I did fail to mention a lady named Susie in Minneapolis. She was a 50 year old woman who was about to commit adultery. She befriended us. 

I did manage to get a speeding ticket in Utah. Those Mormons don't play around. I almost stayed at Bates Motel, but I spent the extra money for a place that I knew I would wake up in. This Best Western also had a veggie burger so that was good. 

Really the views have been amazing. I probably won't post the photos until I get into Portland. It's looking like that will now be Sunday or late Saturday. Cell Phone service has been spotty at best. The radio is also filed under this category. I will admit that I love the song Halo. It's really great. Nothing wrong with that CD actually. I am not so fond of Gives You Hell. 

Less dead deer this time. 

It's pretty strange not staying in a place for more than a few hours. It will be nice to have some consistent home for at least 2 months. I am heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon today and then to Vegas for the night. I am running behind already. From there its onto San Fran and then Portland. 

Back to the drive. The road seriously shouldn't be there. When I am driving it's nuts. It's like we intruded on the land. I have never been so close to cliffs and rocks. There was a boulder on the highway. 

I spent the other night in Boulder, CO. Watched the Pens games with some Steeler fans. Overall, Boulder is a great little city. I ate some vegan bangers and mash. It was good. Got lost on some winding road, stayed at a shady inn and heard a lot of Christian radio. 

All of the cities I have visited have been really great. Minus everything in Utah, well not true. I will elaborate later. But back to these cities. They would be great places to live if it wasn't such a harsh winter. Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Boulder were pretty cool, young, veg and bike friendly. 

Mount Rushmore was pretty amazing. It was smaller than I thought it would be. I am glad I got to see it. I couldn't even carve that into butter let a lot a mountain. 

Utah has had some great characters. The owner of the Best Western was talking to me. She was amazed at my laptop and that I could take class online. Yes, it's a small town. She was a lovely lady and very funny. 

I again am not doing this justice, but I am rushed for time. I hope to win millions tonight, but I will probably lose a hundred. 

Other than the speeding ticket this trip has been amazing, even flying solo. 

there were dirt roads...

Woah,

Driving in SD in the middle of the night is freezing scarrry. I did however see the most beautiful sunset in my life. IF you know me and I say I saw the most beautiful sunset then YOU realize how beautiful this sunset was. I was chasing down the sunset. Here are some bullets of what I seen from Minneapolis to Wall, SD. 

- zero police on my side of the road

- one person walking on the highway

- five dead dear

- Missouri River

- a giant iron cow head

- a giant jolly green giant sign - literally was gigantic 

I will upload some photos maybe tonight depending on how this drive goes.

Mall of America bullets

- 25 rides, I didn't know that

- our good friends from Missouri 

- a hobbit

- a giant mall 

The rest of Minneapolis was pretty nice. We met a really nice guy who gave us directions to Pizza Luce. If you are ever in Minneapolis check it out. Great vegan pizza. Lots of bikers in Minneapolis there is also St. Paul. Lots of Day and Night remixes. 

Going back in time to Milwaukee..... get your BREWS DUDES

This place literally was torn down and rebuilt. I think I already wrote about it so I'm down talking it about it again. I know, okay. 

I am really behind schedule. I think I am cutting out the trip to LA. Planning an across the country trip is not easy. It is actually hard. I am about to go to Wall Drug and the MT. RUSH. Hoping to catch the Penguin game in Boulder, CO tonight. 

Stiffy the rooster had an injury we fixed him up. 

Oh so there is a house party....

The vegetarian food tour has been in full swing. We started today in Lansing, MI. Gain an hour and had lunch in Chicago, IL. We ate at this vegetarian place called the Lake Shore Cafe. Highly recommended. I had a vegetarian gyro, Miranda had some special dish. We got cupcakes and cookies they were vegan. We drove around Chicago for a bit and then made our way to Milwaukee, WI. 

I think they tour the whole city down and rebuilt modern housing. Every where we turned there were lofts and condos and all that type of junk. Seriously I would guess over 10 new housing complexes. We were told to eat at Palominos. It was this bar off the beaten path. Lots of vegan and veg stuff. We had wings and tots to start. I had a BBQ sandwich and Miranda had blackened tofu. All was very tasty. We watch the pens game and then decided to drive off a bit to get a cheaper hotel. That didn't work out I think we actually paid 5 dollars more. 

We tried to do a dead dear count, but we didn't keep track enough for it to be statistically significant. On the road there was a gas station that had "Not an Exit" on the bathroom doors. Why did they have to do that? I guessed that multiple people had to go into the bathroom and actually think they could exit the place. I imagine that conversation going like this...

Why the HELL do you mean there's not exit from this bathroom? I gotta poop and run. 

Another great event was when we were looking for hotels we called a few places to get some prices. We called this place called Serinity Inn but later found out it was a drug rehabilitation center. Let's just say we are at a Days Inn. 

The food was great, the times were fun, we sang some songs, and saw a crazy car wreck in Chicago. 

15 dead dear later....

The first leg of this trip has been bloody. I have never seen so many recently killed animals. I think I literally just missed one accident. It was kind of gross. My time in Pittsburgh was truly great. I really miss that place. It felt so comfortable to be home. There really are no other words to put it other than great. I had a great meal in Dayton, OH. Thai 9, I recommend going if you find yourself in the area. As I update this blog I hope to work out all of the kinks in the blog idea by the end of the week for sure. It's getting late and I got another day, well many days, of travel ahead. 

Goodnight Canada. 

HOME

After a long time away I am back in Pittsburgh...

The first leg of this summer is in the wonderful city of Pittsburgh. It started with a family night at PNC Park and will continue tomorrow with a day downtown followed up by a night at Mellon Arena. 

I officially feel like it's summer cause my eyes are itchy and my nose is running. The rest of the blog project should be coming together by the end of the week. I am just working out some tech kinks. 

The past few days in Brooklyn were quite nice; thanks Shively's. 

I realized that without pictures this blog is going to be BORING like that movie Perfume so I will be bringing a camera on my trip. This is very much not me so it will take some getting used to. Most of the photos will probably feature my rooster. 

That's about it. 

Trail Blazzzer

Shorts today was a bad choice.... BUT NOT SOON WELCOME TO MY SUMMER BLOG...

Today is the first day of my summer blog. I will be blogging from Portland, OR and Portland State University. Before I end up in Portland I am taking a cross-country road trip. I will be using the restroom in the following states starting tomorrow. 

Illinois - by flight

Washington, DC. - by flight, not a state I get it I know.

New York - by flight

Pennsylvania - by flight

Ohio - by road

Michigan - by road

Indiana - by road

Illinois - by road 

Wisconsin - by road

Minnesota - by road

South Dakota - by road

Wyoming - by road

Colorado - by road

Utah - by foot

New Mexico - by foot

Arizona - by road 

Nevada - by road

California - by road

Oregon - by road

I promise future post will be more interesting than the past few seconds...

In other news I just saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. It looks amazing it comes out Oct. 16. Fun fact: Karen O did the music for the movie. 

Since I have yet to embark on this journey this entry is coming to a close. 

SPOILER ALERT: My final entry for this summer blog may or may not be titled Trail Blazzzed.