Thursday, April 12, 2007

Things Have Changed

Today sure is a mixed bag. Woke up this morning to find out that Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. A few weeks ago he fell in his apartment and whacked that amazing brain of his, and yesterday that brain stopped throwing sparks. It's sad. Vonnegut has been one of my heroes for decades. Everyone knows Slaughterhouse-Five, and Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions are pretty well known, too. My favorite Vonnegut novel, though, is Deadeye Dick. His nonfiction books--Timequake, God Bless you, Dr. Kervorkian, etc.--are good reading, too. I may have to read Kervorkian in the next couple of days. I need a good dose of gentle skepticism and absurd humor.

On the bright side of life (always look there), we finally have a pretty good idea of where we'll be next year.

Yep. Michele got an email last night informing her that an offer from the University of Oklahoma is in the mail. Acceptance at last. She got a teaching assistantship that pays $16,000 (double what I got in Mankato) and may get a chance to teach during the summer. There are a few colleges in the area that I'll badger to see if they could use my services, but I guess I'm not too picky. Yet.

This could be a bit of culture shock. It's a red state in the bible belt. Lots of country music. I'm thinking this situation is perfect for gathering essay material.

Anyway, Michele finally had something go her way. I'm glad. I'm going to have to practice saying "Dr. Benesh."

And maybe I can worm my way into the UO philosophy department. Heh.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, Hitch up yer wagon and git a move on, why don't ya?

I wonder whether the fact that the Bible Belt and Tornado Alley overlap in this portion of the US is a coincidence or not. A sort of perfect storm of hot, troubling wind. To fan the hellfires perhaps?

Anyway, I believe you will have the advantage of at least being located in a college town. And Money magazine says that its the 40th best place in the country to live (higher than any other city in Oklahoma, which is clearly worth noting). As a frame of reference, thats well behind Eden Prairie (10th) and Eagan (12th) but 2 places ahead of Rancho Cucamonga, CA (42nd). So maybe you will not get the essay material that you would have gotten from moving to Biloxi, MS, but it oughta be good anyway.

Congrats on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am sure that a glass of Newcastle is in order. And tell Michelle that the "mooching wife" train stops in Norman, and that there may be a man in fancy outfit waiting at the train station there for her with a sign for "Dr. Benesh" ;-)

Nik said...

Congrats on the terrific news! I'm super-jealous - the National Severe Storms Lab is at Norman, & I'm a HUGE weather geekette. In another life I would have loved to go to there & be a meteorologist.

Tell Michelle WooHoo!

Diana said...

Congratulations, Dr Benesh!!! You will look lovely in the Phd!

Al did his Phd at OSU in Stillwater. He will have to tell you his Oklahoma/culture shock stories.