We enter meteorological fall with a look back to last summer, where Angelina, Danny, and Michael posed for pictures following her graduation from Boston University.
Tag / DLM
The Dog Days
As summer winds down and everyone gets ready to head back to school, we turn the page to August with a pair of pictures of Angelina with signs. First, she poses with her Nana beneath the sign for the now-closed Ida’s Restaurant in Boston. In the other photo, her and Danny find themselves below the marquee for Mercury Theater from our visit in November to see the stage production of Clue.
Fireworks
We kick off the second half of 2023 with three pictures of Danny performing with the Troopers drum corp from last August at Lucas Oil Stadium in beautiful Indianapolis.
Future Football On The West Coast
The Big Ten dropped their 2024 and 2025 football schedules yesterday, the first to include UCLA and USC. With sixteen teams, the conference is abandoning its divisional format and moving to a “Flex Protect Plus” model, where each school will play nine conference games each season and will play every other conference opponent at least twice, home and away, in a four-year period. In addition, there are eleven protected matchups that will be played annually, featuring a combination of historic and geographic rivalries along with trophy games. The Big Ten Championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings, with tie breakers to be determined.
So, what does this mean for Purdue? First off, they will have two protected rivalries to be played every season: Illinois and, of course, Indiana. They will face USC at home in 2024, their first visit to West Lafayette since 1976. UCLA makes their first appearance on the schedule in 2025, where Purdue will make their first appearance in Los Angeles since the 2001 Rose Bowl. Over the course of the two seasons, Purdue will play every other Big Ten team at least once.
Unfortunately, Danny will be out of school before any of this takes effect. Maybe we can look at that 2025 UCLA trip as a chance to meet up. I know of a pretty good breakfast place that I think he would like.
Still Showers, No Flowers
Summer is right around the corner (hopefully) and, to celebrate, we have a picture of Danny from his concert last spring at the Elliot Hall of Music. It was my first time inside the building since my graduation ceremony back in 1997.
Travelling The 50 States – Wisconsin
Over my 48 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States. I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning. Working in alphabetical order, we wrap things up today with the 30th state to be added to the Union: Wisconsin.
State: Wisconsin
Joined the Union: 1848
Visits: 15
Over the years, I’ve made fifteen trips to the Badger State, first in 1993 and most recently in 2019, the majority revolving around sports.
I made my first trip to Wisconsin, and my only visit to County Stadium, with Scott and Joe for a White Sox/Brewers tilt on July 18, 1993. Back in the days before cell phones and GPS, we were left to our own devices as far as directions. I remember one of the signs for the highway saying it would take us to Madison, and, not wanting to go to Madison, Scott decided to get off the highway. Which put is somewhere in Milwaukee with no idea of how to get to the ballpark. Eventually we made it in time to see the White Sox pull off the victory thanks to a 2-run single by Bo Jackson in the 9th inning.
At some unknown point, I made a trip up to the woods of Wisconsin with my friend Mike, his father and brother, and Scott to clean up an old family cabin. I have no idea where we were or how long we were there, but it was certainly an experience.
My next trip came in April of 1995. When Michael Jordan returns to the NBA and every game in Chicago is a sellout, the next best thing is to take the long drive 90 miles to the north to see the Bulls battle the Bucks at the Bradley Center. Despite 33 points from Michael Jordan, Glenn Robinson led the Bucks to a 104-100 victory, scoring 36.
With the opening of their new ballpark in 2001, the Brewers drew me back to Milwaukee in May. In a pitching battle, the Cubs outlasted the Brewers 7-6 as closer Tom Gordon picked up his first save with the team.
I returned to Milwaukee in April of 2022, when Tina and I drove north to see The Kids In The Hall reunion show at the Riverside Theater.
My next three trips to Miller Park came in May of 2003 and July of 2004. On May 12, I saw the Cubs, behind home runs from Damian Miller, Moises Alou, and Troy O’Leary, beat the Brewers 11-5. The next July 5, Ben Sheets outdueled Matt Clement as the Brewers topped the Cubs 1-0. Three weeks later, the Brewers topped the Cubs once again, winning 6-3.
After nearly a decade away, I returned to Wisconsin in October of 2013 for Keith Longwell’s bachelor party. I travelled to the faraway land of Kewaunee, where the festivities included nights of video games and cards, nine holes of golf, where I mostly sat in the cart, and a trip out to some local bars, until we were asked to leave due to some drunken tomfoolery.
In July of 2014, Danny, Michael, and I stopped in Madison on our way to Minneapolis to do some miniature golfing at Vitense Golfland. The highlights of the stop include Michael falling into one of the water hazards and plenty of picture opportunities, like with the Bucky Badger figure above. Continue reading →
A Spring Thaw
This month’s picture is a collage of shots of Danny performing in the pep band at a Purdue volleyball match last September. This was my first ever volleyball match and, if he does it again next year, I look forward to returning.
Fitbit IX – Week 5
A disappointing week through and through, as I failed to break the 4000-step plateau any day of the week. Things got off to a poor start on Sunday as I managed to record 3800 steps despite traversing downtown Lafayette to attend Danny’s band concert. Monday was easily the low point of the week, finishing with just 2700 steps. Tuesday saw a slight improvement, jumping up to 3500 steps. Wednesday saw another improvement as I ended the day over 3900 steps. A slight decline on Thursday due in part to a morning of PI Planning put me back down to 3400 steps. The high point of the week came on Friday, as I finished 7 steps shy of 4000. Despite a trip out to get the car washed and my hair cut, Saturday finished just over 3000 steps.
Total steps: 24,443
Daily average: 3491.9
Fitbit IX – Week 3
After a decent start to the week, things kind of fizzled out. Things got off to a good start on Sunday as I managed to record 5600 steps thanks to my walk to and from Mackey Arena to see Danny perform at the basketball game between Purdue and IU. Monday lost all of the momentum of the weekend, falling to 2700 steps. Tuesday saw a nice improvement, as I not only left the house but also went in to the store for lunch, finishing just 21 steps shy of 5200. Another downfall on Wednesday, despite a trip out to get my taxes done which left me with just 3100 steps. A slight jump on Thursday put me over 3300 steps, before falling back on Friday to 3000 steps. Adventures on Saturday saw the week end on an upswing, with 4100 steps.
Total steps: 27,190
Daily average: 3884.3
Once Upon A Time There Was A 10,000 Step Club
My world was very different three years ago, as I was finishing up my fifth year using a Fitbit. I had just added 45 new 10,000 step days, my third best year to date, and, with upcoming trips to Boston and California already on the docket, things were looking good to add a good number more and add some new tales to this list of my Top 25 step days. Then, the corona virus happened, the world basically shut down for the next year or so, and I stopped needing to leave the house. I’ve worked from home since March of 2020, which theoretically gives me plenty of free time to go out for walks, but, in practice, leaves me homebound more often than not. All told, I managed only thirteen 10,000 step days for the just completed eighth year of Fitbit usage, which, granted, is better than the prior two years combined, and gives me a total of 283 since I started keeping track back in 2011. With that in mind, here’s the list of my Top 25 step days, which has now stayed static for three years.
1: 4/14/2018 – 27,470 steps
My best single day total is from my April 2017 trip to New York to see Angelina. The day’s excursions included trips to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, Central Park, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Empire State Building.
2: 7/21/2018 – 27,278 steps
My July 2017 trip to Virginia, to hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob with Jeff and Val, fell just short of the top spot.
3: 6/6/2013 – 24,988 steps
2013’s trip to Disney World, which spent 5 years as my single day best, included excursions to both Epcot Center and the Magic Kingdom, and yes, falling 12 steps short of 25,000 still irks me.
4: 6/3/2019 – 24,665 steps
The first full day of 2019’s summer trip to Washington DC spent most of the day at the Smithsonian Zoo.
5: 8/8/2019 – 23,866 steps
Late in the summer of 2019, I spent two weeks in San Francisco for a work trip. On my last full day, I went out after work, walking to Pier 39 and then back the other direction to Oracle Park to see the Giants take on the Phillies. My totals would have been even higher, but I was dead tired and took an Uber back to the hotel after the game.
6: 3/18/2018 – 23,780 steps
My first day in Las Vegas for the 2017 IBM Think conference, the day’s totals include gallivanting around town, including a late night trip up to Caesar’s Palace from the MGM Grand to see Absinthe.
7: 10/24/2018 – 23,362 steps
My October 2018 trip to Boston to see Angelina for our birthday gives us our next entry. While she was in class, I took tours of Fenway Park and Harvard, before meeting up with her for a late lunch and then heading to the airport for the trip home.
8: 3/22/2016 – 22,493 steps
My one-time second highest day took place during the ill-fated trip to Disney World in March of 2016. The day’s excursion started at Hollywood Studios before heading over to Epcot Center with Jeff and Val.
9: 7/27/2013 – 20,592 steps
Still my highest total at home in the state of Illinois, the next entry comes thanks to the 2013 BTN 5K and a, for lack of a better word, misunderstanding about where I should be picked up after the race.
10: 12/29/2018 – 20,374 steps
We wrap up the top 10 with 2018’s trip to California and the trip to Disneyland to see Danny perform with the Lincoln-Way Marching Band.
11: 8/5/2017 – 20,218 steps
The next entry came in August of 2017 on the first day of my trip to Boston with Danny and Michael. After landing in town, we traipsed to the Science Museum, a breakfast joint, our hotel, and, finally, Fenway Park.
12: 7/14/2017 – 20,208 steps
Down to #12 is my 2017 trip to Disney World, a one day journey with Angelina to celebrate her high school graduation. Continue reading →