Hey everyone. Welcome back to “In the key of E.” I feel the need to get one thing off my chest before we start. It’s currently 10:28 p.m. on a Monday night as I type this, and I’m already mentally done with this week.
I have an excuse, which I’ll get to in a second. Until then, let’s get started.
Weekly recap
It’s officially week four of 16 of my last semester at UW-Eau Claire. Time is weird. I feel like I just got here. The week was boring up until today, but let’s talk about it.
My classes are going well. I don’t have any standout moments for you this time around, but I’d like to think of neutrality as a good thing in this specific instance.
For The Spectator, we had yet another meeting. Our second issue, which has stories including this one, comes out in print on Thursday. Layout night, where we place the stories into the templates that will then be printed, is tomorrow. The latest I’ve ever stayed in the computer lab laying pages is around 3:00 a.m. Fingers crossed it doesn’t take me that long.
Blugold Radio is going well. Cora and I are headed to the Wisconsin Broadcaster’s Association Student Forum in Green Bay next weekend. We got third place in the category “radio episodic entertainment program category” for their Student Excellence Awards. I’m excited to meet all of the working journalists speaking at the different panels.
This weekend, I went home to work and see my family. Because of my class schedule, on the weekends that I go home, I get there mid-afternoon on Thursday and don’t come back until Monday morning.
This morning on my drive back to school, I ran into a bit of car trouble. If you’re new here, my drive to school is pretty much exactly three hours.
About an hour in, I got onto the highway that would take me the rest of the way to Eau Claire. All of a sudden, I heard the car run over something. After that it was silent, so I assumed it must have been something small in the road.
A couple minutes later, I heard a rumbling coming from the back passenger side of my car. I decided I’d get off the next exit and stop to check it out. The next exit, comically, never appeared. It felt like I drove forever and never saw any exit signs.
Then, I heard the tire blow. I pulled over, turned my hazards on and did the most logical thing a 20-year-old girl could do: I called my dad. Long story short, he called someone to replace my tire with the spare I had, and I had to drive the rest of the way going 55 mph on a road that was 70 mph.
I had an interview for The Spectator scheduled for noon and had to cancel which made me sad. That was why I had gotten up so early to go back to school. On the bright side, my class today was cancelled because of bad weather. Moral of the story? You win some, you lose some.
From me to you
This is truly so random, and isn’t going to be as philosophical as it usually is. But I learned something tonight during our live hour for Blugold Radio that I feel I had to share.
I found out that the sole witness to the OJ Simpson murder trial in 1995 was a UW-Eau Claire student. More specifically, I found out that he had sat in the very recording studio we were doing live hour from.
His name is Kato Kaelin, and apparently he was friends with Nicole Brown Simpson. Brown Simpson was allegedly (emphasis on allegedly) murdered by her husband, and Kaelin was a witness in the trial.
What can I say? UW-Eau Claire is a unique place.
Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.
Reading: For class, I’m reading “Tomboyland” by Melissa Faliveno, “Body Work” by Melissa Febos and “How We Fight for Our Lives” by Saeed Jones. For fun, “Twisted Lies” by Ana Huang, “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes and “My Life With Words” by Barbara F. Luebke.
Like I said last week, I know that’s a lot of books. I’ve been busy, so I’ve only made a little progress in each of them. I promise I won’t spend an entire semester “reading” them like I did in the fall.
Eating: Stuffed peppers.
Right now? I’m eating a stuffed pepper. I may or may not have taken it from my house back home. Thanks, mom.
Playing: “Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)” by ROLE MODEL
The deluxe version of one of my favorite albums came out this past Friday. It’s so devastatingly beautiful, and the four new songs were the perfect ending to the emotional whirlwind this album has put me through.
Obsessing: How cold it is.
Let’s just say that, at one point today, I was outside for 30 seconds. In that short amount of time, both my hands and face became completely numb. I usually talk about how much I love winter, but right now that’s the last thing I would ever talk about.
Recommending: Stay warm.
This is what I said last week, but I feel like it’s even more important to remember right now.
Treating: Strawberry iced matcha from The Goat Coffee House.
With my interview and class cancelled, I had some free time today. I spent it at The Goat to do some homework and studying. I figured I deserved a matcha after everything I had gone through today.
Until next time, thank you for joining me. Sending love.
-E.
Braun can be reached at braunee6220@uwec.edu.
