Kelly in Kansas

Despite a late start, I made it to Garden City, Kansas, last night. I was reading the local literature last night and didn't realize I am only a few miles away from the site of "In Cold Blood." It was a bit eerie. Having heard the story and that it took place "out in western Kansas" is a little different than being just down the road. A family lives in the house now and apparently has had to post no trespassing signs. The family and local officials connected with the case are buried in a Garden City cemetery.

I'm timing my visit to eat Thai food in Lamar, CO, and then I only have about 140 miles until reaching my final destination for this week of vacation.

I will go see a colleague at Adams State about his TAH grant, and then, I woke up thinking about Santa Fe so I guess I will be forced to see if I can get a room for Saturday night before I go home.

I was able to get somewhat caught up before I left home - I did get in several repair calls - plumbers, satellite, oil change, etc. I'm sure what I didn't get done will still be there when I get back. :-)

Blogger and Firefox don't seem to be getting along so this will be a short post given that I've now written it 3 times. :-)

Some Girl(s) was another great NY play - but this time it gave me the experience of going to the West Village (I'm not in Kansas anymore!) - especially since Maura Tierney is one of my favorites since her NewsRadio days.

Seeing Spamalot and Hairspray (with a star from nearby Overland Park) with other folks on the trip was also fun as was meeting a colleague for a great dinner on the West Side.

It's raining cats and dogs but there is a wedding to go to tonight -a former students/one of our grant teachers. It will be a fun outing and then over to Carthage tomorrow for Father's Day.

Next week will be less stressful since they have cancelled the grievance hearing. I don't think they realize that sabbatical means I'm out of town next fall and spring. Oh well, I'm finally learning I can only do what I can and go from there.

While I haven't been blogging, I have been getting in some run/walks with Shadow and some decent bike rides. Now if I can keep making progress inside the house.

I went to see The History Boys last night and it won the Tony Best Play and Best Actor awards tonight.

Added attractions included Dixie Carter, Hal Holbrook, Marcia Gay Harden, and Jimmy Smits in the audience - and at least near where I was sitting. Too bad I didn't notice them until intermission.

More on the New York trip later. It's fun to travel but always good to go home.

The Amateur Sleuth Who Gave the Archives a Red Face

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 8, 2006; Page A21

The scandal over missing documents that rocked the National Archives this spring came to light not because of the digging of an investigative reporter or a timely leak by a concerned federal insider.

Instead it was Matthew M. Aid, an amateur researcher and historian, who figured out that for at least six years the CIA and the Air Force had been withdrawing thousands of records from the public shelves -- and that Archives officials had helped cover up their efforts.


"I'm a 48-year-old part-time historian who just accidentally stumbled onto something," Aid said in a recent interview. "I like things neat. And when I started getting the runaround from people at the Archives about why this stuff wasn't available, that's when I started getting angry. . . . They would not give me an explanation. Alarm bells started going off when that happened."

We're safely in New York City and it's easier to be in class today with the pouring rain outside. We've seen the World Trade Center site and have done quite a bit of walking in the evenings. Of course, we've had some great food! We're going to a play tonight and I'm meeting a colleague who lives in the city for dinner tomorrow night and hopefully another play will be included in events for Friday or Saturday.

Some other new professional opportunities are presenting themselves - opportunities I never expected but have worked hard to create. And, hopefully, my colleague's other predictions will come true that right behind the professional will be the personal.

It's great being in Year 2 of a grant and knowing that you're rolling along at least in the right direction. The teachers stated that they are happy with the presentation arrangement and tomorrow they will finish up and then the 2004 KS Teacher of the Year will present. He's been a great part of the discussions today.

I can't believe we go to NYC on Monday - 7:10 am to be exact. I need to get my iPod out tomorrow to get the subway map on it and everything else.

This meme is from Profgrrrrl

1. Do you use an alarm clock to wake up? No, unless it's an early call before 8
2. What time does your alarm go off? 5-6:30am
3. What sound does it make? usually tv or music
4. Do you hit the snooze button? How many times? no, usually can't find it and I usually set the alarm (if I have to set it) to the last possible minute
5. If you have a partner, do they have a separate alarm? NA
6. Does your partner get up at the same time, earlier or later? What partner?
7. Is your clock set ahead? If so, by how much? 3-5 minutes
8. What's the first thing you do when you get up? I hit the bathroom and then let the dog out.
9. Do you eat breakfast? If so, what? usually - just sometimes it's after 10 because I get busy doing other things. However, I usually get in my Ovaltine first thing.
10. How long does it take you to get ready? 30-45 minutes - depending on whether work, errands, play, out for the evening
11. On the weekends, what time do you get up? sometimes earlier because I don't have to; lately about 7 or 8
12. Do you lounge or do you jump into action? Ovaltine, then computer, CNBC
13. In an ideal world, what time would you get up? Between 5 and 6
14. How many hours of sleep do you typically get? 6 - 8
15. How many hours of sleep do you want to get? whatever is necessary to feel rested - too much to do; wish I could stay asleep solid for more than 5 to 6 hours (can only do that when I'm extra tired)