IRL

I graduated from the University of Iowa, and my brother graduated from the University of Michigan. Each year, we go to the football. That isn't exactly true, because the teams didn't play the past two years. We went this past weekend, though.

I pretty much do not care about football at all, except that I think it is neat when the Hawkeyes do well. Driving to Iowa, though, I was pushing on the inside of my ribcage trying so hard to make them win.

Iowa City is a bit of a magical place. It's not as magical as Mackinac, but things happened in that place in that time. I moved to Iowa City 17 years-old and quite confident that I was the most capable and intelligent being in the universe. I was part of the National Academy of Arts, Science, and Engineering program and my parents drove me out there and bought my books for me.

I got my first B in a Latin poetry class. We were reading Ovid. Frustrated, I approached my instructor. She said, "You did a good job. You earned a B."

so I think I had to learn a lot faster than some of my colleagues that learning was more than grades.

the University of Iowa has (had?) an exceptionally well-thought-of ceramics program. I had taken non-credit ceramics classes through Kendall College since I was 8 years old, and I missed it. so I took classes. at the time I took the LSAT, I was 15 credits shy of a BFA. I had even had my show. people were crying in front of Philips hall, but I thought the logic games were fun. I had two good options.

I did well on the LSAT. better than my brother by two points. haha

I went to the University of Detroit Mercy. I died. during rehab, I started rebuilding a studio. my parents gave me a thomas stuart kick wheel, and a widower sold his cress electric to me for $200 because his wife would have wanted it to be used and loved. I went back to law school, and it was fun. I made it three terms before my organs started failing again and stuck it out until the fifth.

then I moved my studio into my best friend's house, and he asked me to marry him.

he came with my brother and I this past weekend, and I took him to see the ceramics department. You may remember the devastating flood that hit Iowa City in 2007. certain buildings were as much as 7 feet under water. we subverted the fence. I pulled on every door that wasn't boarded shut. we wondered at the smoke damage where the kilns had been.