Some Current (and not so Current) Events in my Life

Scholars' Bowl Success

Beloit High School has a history of successful Scholars' Bowl teams.  For those of you not enlightened enough to know what it is, Scholars' Bowl is a grueling academic competition somewhat like a quiz show, testing every area of knowledge.  Last year BHS had its most successful season ever, culminating in a third place finish at state.  This is the championship team, with me as team captain holding our lovely trophy.

Here the team relaxes at Applebee's (which gets my site's free plug for quality food) after defeating archrival TMP-Marian of Hays to clinch the regional title.  From the left: Erin, our Spanish Whiz; Assistant Coach Pat Cashatt; Seth, Anatomy Guru; Jonathan, Odd Crap Expert who likes the smell of skunks; yours truly, Master of the Social Sciences and Music; and Geoff, Saving Grace in Math and Science.  Geoff has not cut his hair since July of 1997.

The 1999 Miner Family Expedition to Yellowstone National Park

For our vacation this year we avoided the big cities and headed out west to Wyoming. In Yellowstone we saw all kinds of geothermal features; breathtaking mountains, valleys, and waterfalls; and animals such as bison, elk, pelicans, and even an elusive grizzly bear.  This is a hot spring in the Mud Volcano area.  If you look closely you can see a bison resting on the far shore.  If you're wondering, yes, occasionally the animals fall in.

Yes, those are elk antlers.  The area around Yellowstone is by no means free of tourist traps.  This is in Jackson, Wyoming, a town situated in a deep valley several miles south of Grand Teton National Park.  It is a mecca for winter and summer alpine recreation and for gimmicky Old West tourist spots.  I would not hesitate to call in the Branson west of the Rockies.  There are four antler arches on each corner of the city square.

In Concert...

Probably around two years ago I slowly started to become infatuated with the incredible southern rock band that is Lynyrd Skynyrd.  I love all their songs, both by the new band and old, and try to learn most of them on my guitar,  They give awesome concerts, and I have been fortunate enough to attend three of them.  The first, where this picture was taken, was at the 1998 Kansas State Fair.  I apologize for the poor picture quality; if I had a scanner right here I would correct it but I don't.  This June on a whim Geoff (above) and I took hit the road and saw them at the Country Stampede in Manhattah--that we were willing to tolerate country acts for hours before they performed should give you an idea of our loyalty to Skynyrd.  Just last month I saw both them and ZZ Top in concert in Kansas City.  Eventually I hope to have quite a large Skynyrd-dedicated section on my Interests page.

Coming eventually...Europe!  I'm not going until next May but why not keep you in suspense?

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