Dear Reader: Busy Busy Busy

Riding up a hill near the start of my bike ride. Gravel roads ahead! Photo Credit: William Bauer.

Welcome back to my column, Dear Reader, where you get to experience William’s witticisms, hear about events around town, read song reviews, and more. Please send feedback and comments to baue0649+dearreader@d.umn.edu. 

This last week was a busy one, at least for me! With three essays in progress and articles to write for The Bark, I’ve been putting so many words out into the universe recently. Couple that with activities outside of class work and I am one busy bee. This week I’ll cover some physical activity I’ve done, review a song, and talk about some upcoming things.  

Since I mentioned the outside, I got out on two notable occasions this past week. First, I finally attended roller skiing with the Nordic club! We hit the Munger Trail, rolling through the rain on a chilly Thursday. I chose to classic, as I enjoy the arm workout in the midst of my busy schedule. One thing to note about my classic roller skis: they don’t have fenders. So, the wet trail spit up water, dirt and debris the whole ski. I don’t mind much, though, because a little dirt is a small price to pay for connection with teammates and friends. Plus, if it wasn’t rainy, I wouldn't have as much to talk about here! 

I took off my ski boots after a soggy roll without fenders on my skis, and look at the difference! It's like a bad tan line. Photo Credit: William Bauer.

Alas, my ski boots were still wet the next day—despite time on my boot dryer—so I succumbed and went for a bike ride instead. I explored as always, searching for gravel roads. I found some great new ones that I didn’t know about before. I’ll have to go back that way to explore more. I was shooting for a two-hour bike ride, so when I got close to campus and saw I was only about an hour in, I decided to take a different road back than the one I knew. Well, I figured it would take me an extra ten minutes. Nope! Forty-five minutes later, I wound through the same neighborhood, slowly making my way around the hillside, going up and down the hill, up and down the hill, trying each street to see if it went through. Finally, I found a trail that went through, straight up the Duluth hill back to my apartment. Thank goodness for bike gearing I tell you. I needed to relax with some music after that!

How about that for a transition into a song review? It’s about that time. This week’s request was for “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” by Jeff Buckley. I love the opening! The rest of the song has a pretty satisfying musicality with ebbs and flows in volume and instrumentation. It is a longer song, clocking in at six minutes and forty-four seconds. I usually listen to shorter songs, but I can be enticed to listen to something longer like this. The backing track was potent enough that I didn’t feel drawn to listen too closely to the storyline of the lyrics, which I’ve experienced as both a good and bad thing. Overall, I would put it on a playlist, but it’s not becoming one of my most played songs. 

OH NO! This means I can't boulder in the mornings for a full week (As this was posted on the Tuesday before)! I'm excited for all the new setting though! Unfortunately, I have class during the comp so I can't make it. Photo Credit: William Bauer.

In some other news, the climbing wall is closed this week!! In preparation for “Boolderfest,” the North Shore wall is closed to “respect the work of setters,” and protect the integrity of the competition, according to a closed sign posted at the climbing wall. Open climbing hours will be held at the Inland Wall instead. The climbing competition will be held Tuesday, Oct 27 from 5- 9 p.m. Registration for twenty dollars online, at DSE. 

Also, students can now get a free New York Times subscription through the University. Attach it to an existing personal account, or create a new account. Head over to z.umn.edu/nyt to make that happen. Read all the articles, stay informed with newsletters delivered to your inbox, and play ALL of the New York Times games! Forgot to do the connections yesterday? No worries! You can now go back and play it.

That’s all for this week. Send me more events and songs!

Cheers!

Look at those houses! They have a rock climbing crag in their back yard. As seen on my bike ride. Photo Credit: William Bauer.