I’ve been whipping out “fact sheets” the last couple days. These are the informational sheets about each major, mailed out to inquiring high school students. I did the first set in ’84-’85. We’re updating them based on questionnaires which most dep’t. chairs didn’t bother to return. Others questioned the questions. I admit some of the questions were stupid and poorly put, but that’s what happens when you have 3 people working on one project with no one clearly in control of the final project. If I could have handled the thing alone, it would have been right. At least I didn’t have to put my name on it. I have to write all the fact sheets in longhand, first, then go out looking for a computer to type them on, very annoying, but I’m used to it.
It’s lucky I have a job. Apparently the dean, my pal, questioned Jude last week about her paying me to work there, but she noted that someone has to do the work, and they’d never find anyone else of my abilities for minimum wage. Isn’t that the truth. All said, I can’t think of a time when I’ve actually been overpaid for anything! Well, maybe a few of those rows of sugarbeets I hoed!
I’m attracted to Coleen, who comes from Thief River Falls and is a senor finance major…a mere, ok, 14 years younger than me at least. It’s not exactly my fault. Most of the women I meet working at MSU come in 3 categories: very young, married, or way too old. The difference between now and a few years ago is that at least now I make no big efforts anymore with the undergraduates, as I think it’s the very, very rare instance that anything could become of it. When I was 30, 31, 32, though, there was at least some reasonable possibility, though it never happened then either. Of course, it didn’t happen much when I myself was 17, 18, 19…etc. But we’ve plowed that ground before.
It looks as though I’ve found someone interested in canoeing the Boundary Waters this summer…. Mark seems up for it, and he’s experienced. This will be the first time in about 4 years that I’ve camped at all, much longer for canoeing. I believe the last canoe camping trip I took was about 1982. That was with Alex, before we fell out with each other (he started driving me nuts). I might have went to the Crow Wing once with Ann after that. (I wonder what happened to her? Case of mismatched personalities, that!) But nothing since. Would be nice to try the typical Minnesota wilderness experience again. Maybe I can do a story for the [Moorhead] Independent.
—April 15, 1991, Moorhead, MN
OtD 