make a list of 43 things i know very little about, and then learn at least 3 things about each of them

Pronounced “Luss,” my husband and I went to visit these near one-of-a-kind hills in our state on Saturday. They were formed by Loess soil deposits by wind, water, and glacial movement millions of years ago. The only other place in the world like it is in China near the Yellow River. Very pretty, interesting, and peaceful. We also went to the Desoto Wildlife Refuge on the Nebraska side which has an interesting exhibit about a sunken steamboat excavation and then on to Omaha, Nebraska for a nice dinner!

I chaperoned a YMCA Camp event for my son’s 5th grade class last week. I learned all sorts of interesting things about stream conservation, the life cycle, migratory birds, and more. I even got to see an elusive cat bird. I hear them all the time when I am out walking on summer evenings, but I have never seen one. They are larger than I imagined!

Visited an excellent and informative exhibit about this amazing man at the Iowa Historical Museum yesterday. Carver was educated in Iowa (at Simpson College and later Iowa State University) after being turned away from a previous college he had been admitted to when they learned he was black. In his day, referred to as the “black Leonardo,” this astonishing man was artistic and brilliant and had a populist twist, teaching Southern farmers (and often freed slaves who had been taught little else than field work) about agriculture, and teaching the women about sewing, canning, medicine and much more. Carver was also one of the first advocates for “green” and organic farming. One of my new heroes, undoubtedly.

I just finished “Bastard Out of Carolina” (excellent, btw) which piqued my curiosity about the author because the book is semi-autobiographical. I’ve read several articles and an interview with this interesting woman.

Well, of course I know quite a bit about Senator Obama, but as of tonight, I am a volunteer for his campaign. I need to brush up on all the issues and his positions. I need to brush up on “fight the smears” http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/ so that I can respond to the untrue rumors that have been spread about the candidate.