Steady as she goes

I hope everyone had a really nice Halloween weekend. I had a lot of fun. I went as the Tooth Fairy… Needless to say most people enjoyed the costume. I tied for 1st place in the Office Halloween costume and the costume was a big hit later in the evening. After work, Elyse (who went as Cleopatra) met up with two other friends at Bootleggers in downtown Minneapolis. It might have just been because it was a nice night out, but it was one of the best sightseeing nights in memory. Lots of Sarah Palins, Joe the Plumbers, a few Amy Winehouses, Anderson Cooper, Pac Man, and even a “sexy” ghost buster highlighted the evening. I always find it amusing the ways women go to make normal outfits “naughty”. I saw several naughty nurses, police officers, sailors, et cetera. The favorite Halloween story I heard t from a colleague was a group of women who went to a party as Britney Spears throughout the years. One woman had the school girl outfit, one had the red latex, one had coked out/shaved head Britney, and more. That is an awesome idea! What did all of you do for Halloween? The rest of the weekend was pretty casual. Saturday afternoon my Dad and I went to the Metrodome to watch the Gophers lose a heart breaker. That was the second heart breaker of the past 72 hours. Thursday night I went to a MN Wild game and watched them lose 2 – 1 including the Wild being 0 – 10 with the Power play. Saturday night was pretty relaxing. I watched Texas Tech upset Texas and then watched another great Saturday Night Live. I have to hand it to John McCain. He was really funny.

1. What is everybody doing for the election? I’m pretty pumped. It looks like Mike, Andrew and I are going to get together to watch the election results. I assume at Mike’s place. I decided that I am going to save some sleep and just vote after work and then head over. I hope hope hope that there is not like a two hour wait. All of the past elections, I have done absentee ballots. I wanted to actually do the old fashion voting in the booth thing at least one time.

2. As some of you know, I write a column for an internal USA TODAY newsletter. It’s just a fun, volunteer position and each month I write about a different state. It is obviously satire. This month was about Iowa:

Iowa – Apparently there’s more than just corn

As a life long Minnesotan, I grew up looking at Iowa as Minnesota’s little brother. It tried to tag along but it was always picked last in kickball and all of the pretty girls made fun of it when it wasn’t looking. It’s not Iowa’s fault; when it has a handsome older brother just up Highway 35, it is easy for Iowa to get overlooked. My view of Iowa radically changed right before autumn of 2004 when I enrolled at Iowa State University. I had taken several recruiting visits across the country where coaches primarily wanted to use me as a Fullback/Tight End hybrid. I was nicknamed “The Polar Bear.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t so much for my ferociousness - but rather for the paleness of my skin and the furriness of my chest. But I digress; I was at a recruiting trip at Stanford in Palo Alto, California when my tour guide sheepishly said, “I heard you were looking at going to Iowa State… Sometimes, quietly to ourselves, we like to consider ourselves the Iowa State of the Pacific.” It was right there, that I knew I would be an Iowa State Cyclone.
I wasn’t the only celebrity that lived in Iowa though. There are famous actors Donna Reed, John Wayne, and five time Tony Award winner Ashton Kutcher. There is the legendary pitcher Bob Feller and Shawn Johnson, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist. Let’s not forget the 31st president, Herbert Hoover.
Politically, the state of Iowa might be most known for its caucus – which is held in January of an election year. A caucus involves people gathering in homes or public places and choosing their candidates, rather than a primary, which most states have - where you cast a secret ballot.
With no professional sports teams, the state of Iowa vociferously cheers for one of its four Division One colleges – Iowa, ISU, Drake, and Northern Iowa. The “Iowa Super Bowl” is held every September between the Hawkeyes of University of Iowa, and the Cyclones of Iowa State.
All in all, Iowa really is a great state. It has great golf courses, beautiful walking and biking paths, and the city of Des Moines is growing by leaps and bounds. The first Europeans to discover Iowa were French Explorers in June of 1833. If the French can live here, then it can’t be that bad… can it?

3. Currently listening to "Steady As She Goes" by The Raconteurs. Album: Broken Boy Soldiers.