Nebraska

Did I mention that I have a distant cousin that works for the Nebraska Department of Corrections and that his twin brother was committed to the system of the Nebraska Department of corrections? While some people like their wives may not find it funny, my family always mentions off-handedly (during the reunions at the very least) that Vincent – the twin who works for the Nebraska Department of Corrections – and Victor – the guy who is currently committed to the system of the Nebraska Department of Corrections – may have hatched this plan so they would always be together in spirit, no matter what.

I bring this up now because Vincent swung by for a visit, asking for details about the “Nebraska City Ne Rainbow Debacle”, because, he jokes, he could perhaps pull some strings with the Nebraska Department of Corrections and get them to help with the search. Donna called him a lying peon of the Nebraska Department of Corrections, and pointed out Read the rest of this entry »

I know, I’ve already written about Nebraska City Ne. But I just have to talk about Nebraska City Ne because it’s a big news thing here in our family. One of my gay cousins from the mother’s side, who lived here in Lancaster County, had gone off and eloped with one of one of my gay cousins from my father’s side – and they were supposedly headed toward Nebraska City Ne in Otoe County, home of Arbor Day and (in my personal opinion) one of the greatest nature-friendly capitals of the world. As we speak, a couple of my uncles plus my father have started gearing up to hunt those two down in Nebraska City Ne – because none of us really object to the relationship; we’re just insulted that they think we would care in a negative way.

Naturally, I pestered them to let me go, since I really want to see Nebraska City Ne, even if it’s going to be a blur considering that we’re in hot pursuit of two very young, very foolish relatives of ours. And of course, they said no, Read the rest of this entry »

I believe that there are about two million (give or take a few hundred or thousand) individuals that make up the whole of the Nebraska population, and I keep wondering if they mentally number us, and we move up number levels as other individuals die. I mean, I wonder what I citizen number I am in terms of Nebraska population? Of course, after being told that that was an entirely stupid train of thought involving the Nebraska population (my brother Trick – short for Patrick – could be pretty harsh), I switched gears.

I’m of the opinion that in terms of race, the Nebraska population may be the the whitest state in America, although I could be wrong about that, but I can’t say that I don’t believe that at least ninety percent of the the people that make up the Nebraska population isn’t white. I keep wondering if some people are bothered by the fact that in places like our beloved state, minorities tend to be literal minorities. At least the number of men and women in the Nebraska population are Read the rest of this entry »

I wondered over the weekend if I should go and find out if they have job openings at the University of Nebraska Press. After all, as my friend Lily pointed out in out latest conversation (which have trickled down to a weekly event instead of the bi-weekly affair we used to have), I’m obviously pathetically enamored by the smell of new books, so why shouldn’t I be in that end of publishing instead of just writing my own? She does, have a point; I find the idea of working at the University of Nebraska Press quite appealing – heck, it’s more than appealing, it’s exciting. But only if it means that I get to work at the University of Nebraska Press as one of those people who sort out what gets published. Obviously, however, I’m going to need a lot of training if I ever do get to work for the University of Nebraska Press.

I mentioned the idea of working for the University of Nebraska Press to my father, who started laughing uncontrollably. After three minutes of snickering and snorting, he finally told me that working for the University of Nebraska Press is not likely to be the cakewalk and glamor job that I was expecting. I retorted that I didn’t expect working for one of the most respected publishing bodies in the state (if not the country) would be easy.

So, SHOULD I work for the University of Nebraska Press?

I woke up late Friday night (or was it very early Saturday morning) to find that Sammy had somehow broken into my room wanting to have a round of the Nebraska game because he woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. Of course, I translated that to “I wet my bed and I need comforting”, so I changed his sheets first before I got him warm milk, took him up to the room, and handed him the darts. It surprised me when he hit Gretna, Nebraska on the first try.

Gretna Nebraska is one of the cities that could be found in Sarpy County Nebraska (and as it turns out, this is where Bricks’ girlfriend – who is now confirmed to indeed be a girl – lives). If anything else, Gretna Nebraska is a city with a rich history connected to the Burlington railroad. Named for Gretna Green – a county in Scotland – which happens to be where most of the earliest settlers in the are came from, Gretna Nebraska was surveyed and plotted by the Lincoln Land Company in 1887 (although it was supposedly founded in 1886, after being bought for five hundred and sixty bucks – there are different accounts). Now, located close to Interstate 80 and and ten miles from Omaha, Gretna Nebraska is a Read the rest of this entry »

Interestingly enough, Sammy decided that he only wanted to play one round of the game today because he wanted to know about Nebraska counties. Mainly, he wanted to know how many Nebraska counties currently exist and which one we happen to be in. I was never more thankful that my mother was there to help me answer questions, because like I said, geography is my worst subject and the names of Nebraska counties tens to escape me. In any case, my mother’s short lecture on Nebraska counties was incredibly informative, and I decided that I wouldn’t have any other woman for my mother.

So currently, there are ninety-three Nebraska counties, and out of those ninety-three Nebraska counties, the most important one that Sammy should remember is Lancaster county, which is where the city of Lincoln (where we are) is. The other one of the Nebraska counties that my mother pointedly told me to remember is Douglas County, because that’s Read the rest of this entry »

In order to try and keep my darling nephew from becoming completely and utterly engrossed in Nebraska collegiate sports (at least, in an unhealthy manner), I lured him up to our room to once again play the Nebraska game. To my delight, my mother showed up there with her knitting, eager to see what kind of trouble Sammy and I get into when we disappear into that room. Graciously, Sammy let his grandma throw the darts – eventually, we hit a new city for our game, the City of Wayne, Nebraska.

Unfortunately, however, there is very little information that I could find about Wayne Nebraska anywhere, unless you count the commonly-known fact that Wayne Nebraska is the county seat of a state county of the same name. As far as we could tell based on some of the old published demographics, Wayne Nebraska is a pretty small city in terms of citizenry, probably making the communities it houses pretty tight-knit (I’m just guessing). There is, however, supposedly a very beautiful community forest in Wayne Nebraska as well as two lovely campgrounds and very nice outdoor areas – my mother says that one of her old friends, who lives there now, told her about those once.

From what I can figure, however, Wayne Nebraska wouldn’t be much of a place to consider in terms of a road trip visit or a vacation. So, obviously, crossing out.

Something incredibly funny happened today. Sammy, who as I’ve said before, has become extremely attached to me, decided that I know all there is to know about life, the universe, and everything, deeming me the one to ask about Nebraska Cornhusker football. And, as you may all well know, I am a fan of the team, but I am not exactly the person to ask when it comes to the particulars of the players, their stats, and the complete and accurate history of Nebraska Cornhusker football. Sammy could have asked any of his uncles about the Nebraska Cornhusker football culture here, but he asked me. So I did the only thing I can do; I broke out of the omnipotent image I was relegated to in my adorable nephew’s psyche and I took him to talk to one of the guys about Nebraska Cornhusker football.

As Jimmy regaled Sammy with tales and legends of Nebraska Cornhusker football, I sat back and wondered if I would ever have to answer questions like that from my own future children (because I definitely intend to have my own kids). Read the rest of this entry »

I was so busy with a lot of things, that I didn’t get to write about this until now. There’s all this hullabaloo about who the next American president would be, and with Nebraska voting as well, I can’t help but wonder how things are going to go. As far as I can figure, we have Nebraska voting Republican, at least, many are expecting Nebraska voting for the Republican candidates, who are by the way led by McCain (I actually like him and his policy on the issue of war; makes him seem like a good mix of Democratic and Republican instead of being simply Republican).

That doesn’t mean, however, that you would have Nebraska voting completely on the basis of political parties. We may be a largely Republican state, but I know for a fact that this year, no matter what the numbers say, we will have Nebraska voting for who its people think is right for the country. In the primary caucus back in February 9th, Nebraska voting has yielded a tentative victory for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama (whose dreams and aspirations for our Read the rest of this entry »

It didn’t occur to me that my mother hasn’t exactly gotten to know about my Nebraska game, the one involving the map and the darts and my nephew being extremely difficult. When Sammy interrupted us in the middle of a conversation to tell me that he’ll be out all day with my father and wouldn’t be able to play the Nebraska game with me today, my mother asked me what the Nebraska game was, and if it involved the Nebraska Game and Parks Comission. After we said our goodbyes to Dad and Sammy, I explained to Mom that the Nebraska game is a game I made up in the hopes of motivating myself to move and make sure that I push through with that road trip that never seems to happen.

Of course, my mother was amused, but she was also rather proud that I came up with a game as interesting and as informative as the Nebraska game. She was also glad that I had gotten Sammy in in the Nebraska game as well; apparently she was afraid that the only Nebraska game that my adorable nephew (and her intelligent grandson) would ever be interested in would involve balls made of pigskin, like the rest of the men in our family. I pointed out to her that Dad liked a different kind of Nebraska game, the kind that involved hunting, but she shushed me. She never did like thinking of that kind of Nebraska game.