Chapter 72: Happiness is Meat. Yeah, You Heard Me.
You'll have to pardon the title, but last night was a heck of a lot of fun. This year I was the proud recipient of the Ron Krank/KKE Vision Award. Yesterday evening there was a dinner involving a bunch of great people from KKE, the University, Ron Krank and his wife Myra, and Nat Madson and I (the two recipients) at a Brazilian Steakhouse that is called Fogo de Chao.
Everyone was extremely receptive to the work that I have had the opportunity to be a small part of down in Mississippi. Talking to everyone really made me realize how excited I am to get back down to the Gulf. I even had the chance to talk to our department head for a bit which is always interesting. We discussed the idea of the AIA mandating a larger IDP or continuing education presence along the coast which although we had a difference of opinion, it was certainly interesting to gain some insight. All in all, we had a great time, and the food was fantastic. You have a little circle chip with red on one side and green on the other and then gauchos come around with 16 different types of meat. If you have green up, they offer, red, they don't. I think I ate an equal amount of red meat to the amount of crawfish I eat at S&B's every visit. I also ran into my friend Rachel and her boyfriend there who I haven't seen since the last time Ian was in town. Finally, the interior of the restaurant was such a pleasant surprise after seeing the facade, which, to be fair isn't yet complete, but it is in our City Center building which is one of the worst eyesores in Minneapolis. All in all, a totally awesome night which I am so thankful for on top of the fellowship. I think the coolest part of the fellowship is that it was actually a gift to the college in honor of Ron Krank upon his retirement from KKE (he was a founding partner). I hope that someday I can have that type of a positive influence on someone's education.
Anyhow, things are moving along with finishing my thesis book and we are starting to send out all of the journals that were ordered. I also wanted to wish a happy birthday to my friend Mike who has been down to Biloxi the last two spring breaks and is a real good guy. We got together for a bit last night after dinner and it was good to see him. So... Happy Birthday Mike!
Here's Mike along with more of our Spring Break Biloxi crew at Just Us. He's the one praying to the rock gods before cranking some Boston.