Nebraska

Okay, remember when I said that I woke up in a bad mood? And that Donna and Mom theorized that it may have something to do with the possibility of something annoying happening? Well on top of the rather loud argument that my mother had with an Aunt, the Nebraska vs Oklahoma series somehow got resurrected today as well, around lunchtime when my brothers (blood-related or otherwise) mooched food off of my sister and my mother. Wesley, who had decided to stay home today thanks to a freakish flu, was dragged into a conversation about sports – which he we seriously not into because they take too much effort – and walked into the dangerous territory of the Nebraska vs Oklahoma rivalry. Upon expressing his apathy, Wesley had unwittingly encouraged the men in this family to try and convince him to be as passionate about it as they were.

You see – and I feel the need to explain this only now – the Nebraska vs Oklahoma thing that was a constant in the Big 12 Read the rest of this entry »

My mother had gotten into an argument with one of my many distant aunts over something very simple, and yet very important. Apparently, one of my cousins from outside the state told his mother that he wants to go to a Nebraska high school because he thinks that the schools in their state suck. He also apparently mentioned me and Wesley, saying that we each went to a Nebraska high school, and we were both the smartest people he knows right next to his own dad (who was also from a Nebraska high school, I must mention). The idea of having to move to Nebraska just because her kid wants to go to a Nebraska high school really annoyed that particular Aunt of mine, and she called Mom up to make sure that neither Wesley or myself would ever come into contact with her son anymore. Evidently, she thought we put the idea of going to a Nebraska high school into Kyle’s head when we didn’t, and naturally my mother was insulted at the suggestion that we did it on purpose.

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So I woke up this morning in a really bad mood, and I had no inkling of why that’s so. Donna and Mom both thought it was because something annoying may happen today, and my anger sense tingles in occasions such as this. Not appreciating the teasing, I kidnapped my nephew who was all to pleased to be playing the Nebraska game with me today. And today, we hit Ogallala Nebraska with my dart of ire – it actually mad me feel better.

Ogallala Nebraska is the county seat of Keith County, Nebraska. I think Ogallala Nebraska was one of the stops of the Pony Express when Nebraska was still Nebraska Territory (that is to say, before Nebraska became a state). I know for sure, however, that Ogallala Nebraska was a stop along the First Transcontinental Railroad and that it’s located pretty close to Lake McConaughy, which is a large man-made lake being used as a state recreation area – it has boating, and, with sandy beaches, some swimming as well. While I believe the Ogallala Nebraska doesn’t have much in terms of tourist Read the rest of this entry »

I’m drinking beer with my boys, and reflecting (as the conversation once again steers toward the subject of football) that knowledge of the Nebraska football roster is just as important as knowing when the games are and who the team is going up against. I really shouldn’t be surprised at the fact that any real Nebraska football fan worth his mettle should keep up with the Nebraska football roster of each and every season; after all, it is this football roster that ultimately determines the overall chances of the team performing well – at least, it’s a good way to figure out which plays you should place your bet on (not necessarily for money; there’s also bragging rights). As I write this – and I’m writing this in a notebook before I type it up – my boys have begun to express their opinion of the current Nebraska football roster. So far, I can tell that half of them thought that the Nebraska football roster right now is pretty promising, while the rest have their doubts.

I find myself wondering if I should leave them to their Nebraska football roster debate (season eight, Donna joked as she Read the rest of this entry »

It came as a surprise to me that it was my mother who invited me to play the Nebraska game today; usually (and it is pretty much obvious considering the number of posts where Sammy instigated the game) it would be my nephew who was eager to get the ball rolling. As it is, I felt I needed something to distract me, and the idea that my mother picked up on that – as she always does – warmed me from inside. So we threw darts at my favorite map until we hit a new city – Crete, Nebraska. Which happens to be not too far from here.

Part of the Saline County, Crete Nebraska is one of the places where the Blue River runs through. I believe Crete Nebraska has some of the prettier parks in this part of Nebraska; at the very least, the parks in Crete Nebraska are tranquil enough to make the stress of everyday life fall away like a heavy shroud no longer needed. Doane College, one of the premiere liberal arts colleges in the state (on top of being the oldest four-year private college in Nebraska), also Read the rest of this entry »

Nebraska travel, anyone must realize, is far more complicated than a person might think. I mean sure, for the most part the best way to go about Nebraska travel is to go on a road trip like I had been planning for (and that never seems to happen all this time. But there are other facts to consider when thinking of Nebraska travel as well, such as the season, the kinds of attractions that you would prefer to visit, and the like. You can’t do Nebraska travel blind, simply because there’s just too many things of too much variety for you to encounter when engaging in Nebraska travel. It is essential, when involving one’s self in the act of Nebraska travel, that one knows which season is when, where the desired attractions in question are, and whether or not it is feasible to get to them within the amount of time you have given yourself.

After ranting like that for about an hour – I would prefer it if no-one asks me what brought on this Nebraska travel rant – Donna muttered that I should think about writing something like a Nebraska travel guide if I really am so passionate about Read the rest of this entry »

I was quite surprised and pleased when this morning, Sammy asked me what the capital of Nebraska was. Apparently, he was watching something on DVD and heard the term “capital city”, thus prompting him to curiosity over the capital of Nebraska. Seeing as Mom was there and I knew that she needed something to occupy her mind until Dad came back, I roped her into telling Sammy about how Lincoln came to be the capital of Nebraska, a piece of history which I believe that every Nebraska child should at least know the gist of.

So Mom told him about how a long time ago, when Lincoln was still the town of Lancaster (established in 1856, about one hundred and fifty-two years ago), Omaha – where his Aunt Lily is living right now, was the capital of Nebraska. The town that will later become a city, and then the capital of Nebraska was founded only two years after establishment of the Nebraska Territory, when Omaha became the capital. I jumped in at that point, telling Sammy that in just three years of Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, I know, I’ve already written about the University of Nebraska at Kearney before, but this time it’s more on the reflection on the fact that a good number of my cousins from outside the state have decided to try for the University of Nebraska at Kearney instead of coming to live with us here in Lincoln to study at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Their reasons for choosing the University of Nebraska at Kearney instead of the Lincoln campus were varied – some of them mentioned that they like the idea of being on their own in a new place, while the others insisted that the emphasis of the University of Nebraska at Kearney on liberal arts is extremely appealing to them. I understand all their reasons; after all, I was a high school student once, and when I was wondering what I should do after graduation I also considered going to the University of Nebraska at Kearney – both for the supposedly superior liberal arts curriculum and for the distance from all that is familiar to me.

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I’ve taken to turning off the television lately and just turning on the radio and listening to the various Nebraska Radio stations we can listen to. There are, of course, some Nebraska radio stations that make me wrinkle my nose in discomfort; some Nebraska radio stations play far too much country for my tastes, and other Nebraska radio stations are saturated in hip-hop and R&B music, both of which I really don’t care much for, but are adored by Donna. There are good Nebraska radio stations of course, ones that strike just the right balance between music genres so much so that we don’t get sick of having too much of one thing and not having enough of the other. That’s just the FM or music stations of Nebraska radio; the AM Nebraska radio stations are pretty different.

The Nebraska radio stations that are played in the AM frequency (which, ironically, we have taken to listening to in the afternoon – get it? AM/PM?) are far from limited, but we were kind of annoyed at the number of Nebraska radio stations Read the rest of this entry »

I just received a call from Dad (who was part of the cavalry that was hunting my two foolish cousins down for being idiotic, not for being gay), and he told me that it looks like our relatives had gone from Otoe County to Cass County Nebraska, and it may take a bit more time before they manage to track them down and convince them to go home. Then he sighs melodramatically and tells me to tell my mother that he loves her and if he’s not back in a week we should look for his body in Cass County Nebraska. I told him to tell her that himself, and berated him for even suggesting that Cass County Nebraska is that horrible of a place when it is not. Cass County Nebraska is, after all, home to Plattsmouth – one of the places I’d like to visit on my road trip. Cass County is also home to one of the ghost towns of Nebraska – Rock Bluff, which definitely should be in the itinerary of the road trip that never happens. I always wanted to see the Naomi Institute up close.

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