Seven years ago I got my Dell Inspiron 600m.  It was my laptop for college.  Only today has it been officially replaced.  The 600m came with 512mb of memory, a 40 gig hard drive, and a 1.6 Pentium M Processor.  It was a blazing machine, but its day has passed.

That laptop designed three versions of Billikens.com;  drafted an undergraduate and Masters thesis; connected the networks of: Parliament,  Kerry-Edwards 2004, the DLCC, a number of universities; wrote business and not-so-business emails; and created this blog.

I am now on an HP dm4t.  The screen and keyboard are wide, but the machine is thinner and lighter.  Instead of the never used serial port it has one for HDMI.  It does not have a scratch across the screen due to a design flaw.  It likely will deal with more Political Science originated data than that for a political party.  Instead of grad school applications, it will write job applications.  It will present chapters of my dissertation and not state legislative campaign web sites for $40 a month.  Like its predecessors, it will edit a fan site devoted to Saint Louis University and play horrible music.

In 2003, I could never foresee what the Inspiron 600m would do.  I don’t know if I ever really thought about it.  I think about what dm4t will produce, but I am sure my predictions are wrong.  We will just have to wait and find out.

No matter what though…every computer I own will look like it runs Windows 95.

After successfully completing the first season of LOST in under a week, I supposed that an update was needed…

I now have a BA in Political Science, a MA in Political Science, and a MA in Politics.  Lets just say I am a ‘bit slow and need things explained two or three times before they stick.

The past two to three months were dominated by General Exams.  I overstudied despite advisers (literally) shaking their heads at me.  I am glad I did, and I am thankful to those that helped me along the way (no matter what though, I will forever hate the raft problem).   I will never be required to take a class again.  Little ‘bit of awesome in knowing that Season of life is over.

But now it is summer, and I am back in St. Louis.  Drove here with my friend AJ after a night in Pittsburgh (where they need to build a Buccos pirate ship).  Currently, I sit here on the back porch.  My cat is on the step outside; Dad is on the deck; and a family of robins sits in my sister’s tree.  Busy times at 2027 Firethorn.

People asked me when I will go back to Princeton.  I feel like a slacker with my response: “I don’t know.”  I am just taking time off…some work here and there, but ultimately recharging the batteries.

Last night, the first of the high school crew got married.  Matt wore a kilt.  Katie got clogs.  It was a nice ceremony, with a great reading of the Velveteen Rabbit.  The wedding season of life has officially begun.

The next project is figuring out what to dissertate about for the next three years. Simply looking for a motivating question that  interests others.  The decision seems somewhat binding.  I always get nervous about commitment and potential closing of doors, and I think that is playing into my thoughts too much with this decision.  But we will see.

Whether it is the end of classes, or the start of wedding season or dissertating. Time to begin Season 2.

Peter Rogers makes it onto StLouisRams.com (Click the photo)

He is the man in the collared shirt and khakis in the background.  Absolutely loves football.  I think he has only missed one Rams home game and that was because Karen was in the Big 10 Cross Country Championships.  He had season tickets to the Big Red for years.

Glad to see some enjoyment out of retirement.