Monday, December 12, 2022

Three Beautiful Things 12-11-2022: Still Needed a Nap, *Run Lola Run* and Sweet Memories, Badgers and Hawkeyes in an OT Thriller

 1. I'm felt better again today and even let myself think that in a day or two I might be rid of this bug that's persisted for a couple of weeks. I went to Yoke's and stocked up on groceries, including more 7 Up and I bought some strawberry yogurt and Cheerios, a combination I have been craving. I felt great at Yoke's as I walked up and down the aisles, but when returned home and after I put the groceries away, I needed a nap. The nap felt great, especially with Luna perched on my chest, but I'm hoping in the next few days I can run small errands and not fall asleep upon completing them.

2. I had fun after sleeping a bit indulging in some nostalgia. Back in my days teaching World Lit at LCC, I used to show my students the German movie, Run, Lola Run (1998). It's a hyper paced movie driven by a pulsating soundtrack that plays out the same basic story three times, but because of small things that happen differently in each version, each has a different outcome. I enjoy this movie a lot and I enjoyed feeling again how I used to feel while sitting in the classroom watching it with the World Lit students. For the life of me, though, I cannot recall our discussions of the movie, what I said to the class about the movie, or how it fit in with the rest of the syllabus. 

It's been over ten years now since I last offered this course and all I have left is some strong and positive feelings about students I worked with, but not much memory at all of the course's content. 

3. Later, I tuned into the second half of what turned out to be a donnybrook between Iowa and Wisconsin. Iowa made a stirring comeback in the game's last minute or so to tie it up and, in the overtime period, Iowa surged to an early lead. But Wisconsin hung in there, chipped away, took the lead themselves, and persevered in OT to beat the Hawkeyes, 78-75.

I sure enjoy watching Big 10 schools play each other. The Big 10 conference season is barely under way and already we've seen Illinois get upset by Penn State, Nebraska nearly defeat Purdue in OT, and Wisconsin win two nail biters, first over Maryland and tonight over Iowa.

Why did the Big 10 teams play so intensely and entertainingly against each other a year ago and then fare poorly in the NCAA Tournament?

I don't know.

All I do know is that no matter how they perform in the Big Dance, when it comes to playing one another in December, January, February, and early March, it's intense and fun to watch when Big 10 teams square off. 

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