Forty-six Blocks, One Big Bear

Today I cleaned the car and loaded the 46 blocks that make up the ReinCairnation of Totem Teddy. Thanks to Lynn Karowsky for this term. Now, all we have to do is find a way to get the other almost four hundred blocks cut and over to the campus.

This may prove to be a challenge.

I wrote to Rico Wint, the current president of the SRC asking for his help. It would be fun to include the newly elected students, too. If anyone reading this can help recruit them, I’d appreciate that.

Why do all this work for a simple art project and a memory? I ask myself that question, especially when other folks say that they’d pretty much forget about it. Being stuck, a little, in the past.. remembering the smell of spring in Greeley.. the feedlots! Freshly cut grass.. though more in the summertime.. blue skies.. wide streets. Trees trees trees.. is part of it.

Had a nice talk today with a lovely lady who was working in the Alumni Affairs office in 1990 when I was welcomed to UNC to do my Cranford Project. Supportive and direct, she gave me some insights into the bureaucracy of the university and how various factions really need to start communicating with each other to help UNC grow. I’m not close enough to really be of much help… and from the cool reception I’ve gotten so far, it seems that creativity and imagination are not at the top of anyone’s agenda to make UNC an institution where kids really want to come to get an education.

College is a preparation for life in many ways. The nuts and bolts are important, of course.. And, of course, a little tradition isn’t going to make a major difference, but evoking the imagination couldn’t hurt. This is a time for all kinds of life experiences. Biff Rose said "Man does not live by bread alone. You gotta have a little toast."

I’ll be in the UC this coming Friday, April 25th. Hope a lot of folks will show up and we’ll find a way to inspire some fun, remember Totem Teddy and facilitate his ReInCairnation?