Kay Robinson and William Bauer trick-or-treat on campus. We had to find a well-decorated location, along with someone with the spirit! Contributed Photo

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 week, I’m back from a hiatus due to fall break. So, that means there’s a lot to cover. I’ll go over some things that have happened in the past two weeks, review a song, and give you a little preview into the last print of this semester! Let's dive in.

First up, Halloween! I trick-or-treated on campus with the Vice Chancellor for Student Life for the second year in a row. Kay and I walked around, hitting almost all of the campus spots that were handing out sweet treats. The best decorated place, in my opinion? The SCSE advising office. They had the mood, the planning and the outdoors in their office. From pre-taken staff pictures on the wall to leaves on the floor, they knocked it out of the park. I know Kay appreciated the coffee shop, as they also went all out in their decorating. I also have to give a shout-out to Labovitz, which had cupcakes! Yum! I now have a sizable pile of candy on my desk, waiting to sugar me up every day. I might need it to make it through the rest of this semester, as it feels like the end is quickly approaching.

After my early Halloween, I proceed to ignore my homework because guess what? It was fall break! Thursday and Friday provided a relaxing extended weekend where I did minimal work and recharged my brain. I started it off with a bang by attending a Zach Williams concert with my mom and brother. I, of course, nerded out a little bit over the lights like usual. There’s nothing like spending some quality time with family listening to live music (especially if that music has some moving and grooving).

Zach Williams sings at the DECC. Photo by William Bauer

I also got out to vote during fall break. I hope you voted too! I’ll be covering some of the results in a later separate article. While I was voting though, I noticed a sign on the wall: it read “FALLOUT SHELTER,” with the nuclear symbol above it. It’s good to know that I can vote and be protected at the same time. Just head on over to the Historic Carlton County Courthouse if you ever need to.

This fallout shelter sign hangs on the wall at the Historic Carlton County Courthouse. Photo by William Bauer

In some other news, our November print is in the works! Keep an eye out for that in the near-ish future. I have some thoughts about journalism that I’d like to share after that comes out, so make sure to keep an eye on the racks.

Finally, the long awaited song review! This week, I’ll be reviewing “Maine,” by Noah Kahan. Starting out, an excellent instrumental opening, followed by gentle humming and some coastal natural sounds. So good! The song then picks up, with guitar and more humming. Then Kahan starts singing. I can’t get this song out of my head! Kahan sings “my dad still tells me when they're playing your songs,” followed soon after by “if only, baby, there were cameras in the traffic lights, they’d make me a star.” WHAT?? I love the way that Kahan imagines the scenes and creates such a scene for the listener. The lyrics also seem a bit scattered, not a full picture, but fragments of memories that the singer can see in full. A listener doesn’t quite have all the connections to see the whole image, yet Kahan paints with emotions to entrance the listener. It makes me want to revisit Maine. I would absolutely recommend listening to this song!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Dear Reader: The Looong Weekend