An inbox full of Texas

I've gotten a few complaints that I haven't updated this blog at all...I'm still trying to make blogging part of my regular routine. Despite the claim in my profile, I'm not actually on the road yet...I'm just too lazy to change it later! Right now, I'm planning my trip around the U.S., preparing for the trip and finding people to interview and places to stay. This week the alumni regional director of TX and OK forwarded my requests to the clubs in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, three places I'll be stopping in early December, and the next morning I woke up to 25 new emails, all from people wanting to participate and offering to put me up...and they just keeep coming! I'm really impressed and honored by their generosity. Now I'm trying to respond to their emails and figuring out how to reach as many of them as possible!

Meanwhile, I'm packing and doing a few interviews here in South Bend. Last week, I spoke with Eugene Henry '54 and his lovely wife, Alice. He's a professor emeritus in Computer Science and Engineering, and he had some great stories about how he proposed to Alice, devising gadgets and stereos in his dorm room, and his days in the Notre Dame Marching Band (the oldest marching band in the country, for those of you who have never been to a ND football game). He still plays the trombone for a band of faculty and staff here at ND, and we played an impromptu game of "Name That Tune," which I failed miserably! But I learned a few new songs, and got a few tips on trombone technique. I'm not sure I'll ever use them, but it never hurts to know something!

Ok, back to email...