Live and Learn

Above: Fufu, as he tried to yank my camera’s wrist strap - you can see the sparkle in his eyes.
My life has been in topsy-turvy for the past few months. The main reason is that I now have a furry and unruly roommate in the little studio apartment where I live. I adopted a kitten from [...]

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Last year at this time I was halfway through my first term as an MPA student at The University of Texas. It’s a little unreal to see some of the incoming MPA class in that same situation now. Next month they’ll have their first career fair. It all happens so fast and is, in my [...]

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Well…jeez. It had been a while since I have been on here. My apologies for the long absence, I guess with my internship over and a very basic spring break in good ol’ Nebraska, not much had really happened. BUT…I am happy to say that I have returned to the mother ship ( UT ).
Now [...]

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Last semester, I received a question from a reader about where MPA students live. It’s a great topic to get some interesting discussion and suggestions going, so I’m posting my reply to Jay here (with a few small additions) and hoping others will add their insights in the comments.

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When I was moving back to Texas, many of my friends from Boston asked me about the availability of Asian cuisines in Austin. Honestly, I knew that Austin is famous for Tex-Mex, but I had never tried any Asian food in this mid-size city. Unfortunately, I truly survive on noodles and rice, and I can [...]

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I have recently picked up golfing as one of my weekend activities. I am reluctant to call it a hobby because I have only gone to the driving range about twice in the past month. However, I have every intention of keeping this weekly activity alive. The truth is, I am not very athletic, and [...]

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As the end of the fall semester creeps up, I have to constantly remind myself to remain calm and take one day at a time. I always keep up with my reading, yet the thought of three exams in one week absolutely freaks me out. I’m talking about nervous-breakdown-grade freak outs. I know I’m not [...]

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Wow–I can’t believe it’s already mid-November. This semester has flown by! I am still wondering where the cold weather is, though. Hopefully it’s here by December, or else I’ll have no incentive to stay inside and study for finals. Instead, I’ll keep enjoying these beautiful 70-degree days outdoors and not getting near as much work [...]

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I wholeheartedly second, third, and fourth Darrin’s earlier post (“Wanted: Sherlock Homes WannaBe”). I had a similar week last week. Thus, after I turned in my Tax Research case on Saturday (thank you, Prof. Zvinakis, for the extension!), you guessed it! I rushed to San Marcos with a friend for some retail therapy. San Marcos [...]

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From MPA Student Life Blog Pictures

In March of 2006, just before I graduated from BYU with an undergraduate degree in comparative literature, my wife, Janssen, and I began discussing the idea of moving away from Utah. We hadn’t seriously considered it before then since the job offers I had been getting were in Utah, my [...]

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