Hey, everyone. Hope you are well. I was just validated and wanted to say hello. I'll write my profile this weekend and work on other Newbie things, but in the meantime, it's nice to be here and I look forward to corresponding with you all.
Hello From Iowa
- Thread starter beautiful_land
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Hello back from Oregon. As you can see from the novel below, my writing name is Land, so thanks for the complement in your user name. 
, Beautiful Land.
, Beautiful Land.Hello! My father is actually from Iowa, and I've been there quite a few times in my life to visit family. Glad to meet you!
I'm probably going to copy and paste some of this and put it in my profile, but seeing how many of you were sweet enough to respond to this thread I thought I would also put it here.
I live in Cascade, Iowa which is about 25 miles southwest of the point where Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois meet. Cascade has a population of about 2,000. Since moving to Cascade in 2016, I have struggled at times with hearing the “You're not from here,” implied by people who have been here their whole life. But you have that in every small city. What every small city doesn't have is the kindness and frequency of helping people in times of needs that Cascade has. I'm one of the many who has benefited from Cascade being there for people.
\
Before Cascade I spent my life in the Earlville area about 25 smiles to the northwest of Cascade. Earlville has about 900 people. I grew up on a farm. While I liked the freedom of living in the country and being around animals-my parents had a dairy herd-farming wasn't in my future. My parents and I both knew I didn't have the worth ethic or other qualities found in a successful farmer. So they encouraged my creativity and looking for a future with that.
I started my writing career in 1995 by working on two self-published books about Iowa high school football. During this time I also contributed articles and photographs to Iowa weekly newspapers and websites.
In 2005, I joined the Dyersville Commercial and Cascade Pioneer as a sportswriter. I'm grateful for everything I learned there from digital photography to writing tighter to writing columns. Took a lot of pride in our newspapers as I thought they were some of the best around. I left the Commercial and Pioneer in 2016 to pursue my own writing business.
The biggest thing which has influenced my recent life is the passing of my mom in 2015. She was my best friend and her decline and death due to colon cancer and dementia was the most difficult time I had ever experienced. While the pain is not as strong as it once was I still miss her every day. My dad passed away from cancer in 2001.
I wrote an e-memoir about Mom and will share it when you folks feel the time is right as I don't want to be a shill. I might as well also mention I have a volleyball blog, an collection of audios and a Twitter I'd like you to know about down the road.
Other things about me...
*I love studying and writing about history especially history from The Great Depression to the end of the Cold War. In this day and age where there are so many venues to watch, listen and read about history it's an amazing time to be a student of it.
*I am a Cincinnati Bengals and Milwaukee Brewers fan. Shut up.
*You will all role your eyes at this, but one of my favorite forms of storytelling is pro wrestling and has been since 1985. The art form has such an history interesting and is full of fascinating people. When it's done well, pro wrestling can be incredibly entertaining.
*Along with wrestling, one thing which was somewhat influential on my sense of storytelling were the British shows I watched on Iowa Public Television in the 1990s and 2000s. Shows such As time Goes By, Ballykissangel, Red Dwarf and Doctor Who inspired my creativity.
*I'm at an awkward age where I think people older than me should stop yelling at people on their lawns and people younger than me should shut their mouths and know their roles. I'll try to keep that part of me hidden from you.
I don't discuss politics because I'm not very good at it.
Spring is my favorite season. Wish it would hurry up and get here.
If I could I would make Pepsi the official beverage of Planet Earth.
I'm introverted at first, but as people get to know and trust me, I feel welcomed to come out of my shell. Hopefully that process won't take too long here. Still, I'll never be Mr. Life of the Party as I'm more King of Shy Style.
Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are neato.
I promise my posts will rarely be this long, but I wanted to share a few things with you. If you'd like to know more. Let me know.
Looking forward to talking with all of you.
I live in Cascade, Iowa which is about 25 miles southwest of the point where Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois meet. Cascade has a population of about 2,000. Since moving to Cascade in 2016, I have struggled at times with hearing the “You're not from here,” implied by people who have been here their whole life. But you have that in every small city. What every small city doesn't have is the kindness and frequency of helping people in times of needs that Cascade has. I'm one of the many who has benefited from Cascade being there for people.
\
Before Cascade I spent my life in the Earlville area about 25 smiles to the northwest of Cascade. Earlville has about 900 people. I grew up on a farm. While I liked the freedom of living in the country and being around animals-my parents had a dairy herd-farming wasn't in my future. My parents and I both knew I didn't have the worth ethic or other qualities found in a successful farmer. So they encouraged my creativity and looking for a future with that.
I started my writing career in 1995 by working on two self-published books about Iowa high school football. During this time I also contributed articles and photographs to Iowa weekly newspapers and websites.
In 2005, I joined the Dyersville Commercial and Cascade Pioneer as a sportswriter. I'm grateful for everything I learned there from digital photography to writing tighter to writing columns. Took a lot of pride in our newspapers as I thought they were some of the best around. I left the Commercial and Pioneer in 2016 to pursue my own writing business.
The biggest thing which has influenced my recent life is the passing of my mom in 2015. She was my best friend and her decline and death due to colon cancer and dementia was the most difficult time I had ever experienced. While the pain is not as strong as it once was I still miss her every day. My dad passed away from cancer in 2001.
I wrote an e-memoir about Mom and will share it when you folks feel the time is right as I don't want to be a shill. I might as well also mention I have a volleyball blog, an collection of audios and a Twitter I'd like you to know about down the road.
Other things about me...
*I love studying and writing about history especially history from The Great Depression to the end of the Cold War. In this day and age where there are so many venues to watch, listen and read about history it's an amazing time to be a student of it.
*I am a Cincinnati Bengals and Milwaukee Brewers fan. Shut up.
*You will all role your eyes at this, but one of my favorite forms of storytelling is pro wrestling and has been since 1985. The art form has such an history interesting and is full of fascinating people. When it's done well, pro wrestling can be incredibly entertaining.
*Along with wrestling, one thing which was somewhat influential on my sense of storytelling were the British shows I watched on Iowa Public Television in the 1990s and 2000s. Shows such As time Goes By, Ballykissangel, Red Dwarf and Doctor Who inspired my creativity.
*I'm at an awkward age where I think people older than me should stop yelling at people on their lawns and people younger than me should shut their mouths and know their roles. I'll try to keep that part of me hidden from you.
I don't discuss politics because I'm not very good at it.
Spring is my favorite season. Wish it would hurry up and get here.
If I could I would make Pepsi the official beverage of Planet Earth.
I'm introverted at first, but as people get to know and trust me, I feel welcomed to come out of my shell. Hopefully that process won't take too long here. Still, I'll never be Mr. Life of the Party as I'm more King of Shy Style.
Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are neato.
I promise my posts will rarely be this long, but I wanted to share a few things with you. If you'd like to know more. Let me know.
Looking forward to talking with all of you.
As I mentioned before, my father is from Iowa but I actually grew up in Minnesota so... Booo Bengals, yay Vikings! But we can (hopefully) both agree on the Hawkeyes.
I am so sorry to hear about your mother, and your father. That's a lot to go through and I hope we can offer whatever support we can.
And people don't give professional wrestling enough credit. "Fake" or not, kayfabe is an incredibly complex and taxing way of telling a story and it's stage drama through and through. I havne't followed wrestling very closely since the days of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair but I have a profound love of it as part of my formative years.
Best of luck and I hope to see some of your work sometime!
I am so sorry to hear about your mother, and your father. That's a lot to go through and I hope we can offer whatever support we can.
And people don't give professional wrestling enough credit. "Fake" or not, kayfabe is an incredibly complex and taxing way of telling a story and it's stage drama through and through. I havne't followed wrestling very closely since the days of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair but I have a profound love of it as part of my formative years.
Best of luck and I hope to see some of your work sometime!
Well, the word "kayfabe" has appeared on this forum. My work here is done.
Ric Flair recently celebrated his 70th birthday.
Thank you, Kenneth, and all of you for the kind words. I think I'll like it here.
Ric Flair recently celebrated his 70th birthday.
Thank you, Kenneth, and all of you for the kind words. I think I'll like it here.
Ah, an Iowan!
Welcome to you, fellow Hawkeye,
I actually have memories from the past of the Tri-State Raceway. They weren’t fond memories but not the fault of Earlville. I came to fisticuffs at the raceway back in the day and felt treated unfairly by the local constabulary. (Drunk small fellow against sober large fellow. I was the latter.)
My manuscript takes place in Bettendorf and Winterset, towns I miss now that I’m here in western Washington. I moved to escape the summers, not the winters. I could dress for winter.
Back in the day, a fellow named Doug Brown had a segment called “The Book Club” on WOI radio where he would read to us for an hour. I used to mow the fields to him. I had shooting earmuffs covering my headphones so I could hear him over the sound of the Ford tractor. I recall him reading “The Killer Angels” and shifting voices and accents every paragraph. I based my main female character on his reading ability. He also called the collegiate wrestling matches if I recall. I hope your parent’s voices live in your ears for as long as Doug’s readings resonate in mine. It’s been 40 years for me.
Those farms in eastern Iowa had magnificent soil. Was your farm’s soil good enough to eat without passing through a vegetable?
Welcome to you, fellow Hawkeye,
I actually have memories from the past of the Tri-State Raceway. They weren’t fond memories but not the fault of Earlville. I came to fisticuffs at the raceway back in the day and felt treated unfairly by the local constabulary. (Drunk small fellow against sober large fellow. I was the latter.)
My manuscript takes place in Bettendorf and Winterset, towns I miss now that I’m here in western Washington. I moved to escape the summers, not the winters. I could dress for winter.
Back in the day, a fellow named Doug Brown had a segment called “The Book Club” on WOI radio where he would read to us for an hour. I used to mow the fields to him. I had shooting earmuffs covering my headphones so I could hear him over the sound of the Ford tractor. I recall him reading “The Killer Angels” and shifting voices and accents every paragraph. I based my main female character on his reading ability. He also called the collegiate wrestling matches if I recall. I hope your parent’s voices live in your ears for as long as Doug’s readings resonate in mine. It’s been 40 years for me.
Those farms in eastern Iowa had magnificent soil. Was your farm’s soil good enough to eat without passing through a vegetable?
Thank you, Monty. I appreciate it.
It's difficult to imagine Tri-State Raceway is 20 years old, but it is. I never really got into drag racing, but many people attended during the season. Having a campground also helps the place.
In 2015, I covered a high school golf meet at Bettendorf. It was the one of the Quad-Cities I had never been to. I stopped at the library which was an impressive facility although one of the librarians annoyed me. I had sent pics to my editor and then looked around for the men's room. I couldn't find it and went to ask. This woman told me if I looked in a certain direction I would see, "The international symbol for restrooms."
The international symbol....so when you see a sign with two stick figures with one in pants and the other in a skirt you'll know that symbol is seen around the world.
Damn woman could've just told me where the restrooms were instead of making me feel like an idiot.
That's a wonderful story about you and Doug. Thank you for sharing. Meant a lot to me.
We had a 160-acre farm north of Earlville. My parents had all the Iowa crops and a small dairy herd. Along with being a source of income those cows were like pets to us. Each one had its own name. In 1988, one of them gave birth to twin boys. I'm named them "Total" and "Package" after the pro wrestler "The Total Package" Lex Luger.
I was a kid who lived on a farm instead of a farm kid. I knew I wasn't going to farm and my parents knew I wasn't going to farm. And they were totally cool with that.
It's difficult to imagine Tri-State Raceway is 20 years old, but it is. I never really got into drag racing, but many people attended during the season. Having a campground also helps the place.
In 2015, I covered a high school golf meet at Bettendorf. It was the one of the Quad-Cities I had never been to. I stopped at the library which was an impressive facility although one of the librarians annoyed me. I had sent pics to my editor and then looked around for the men's room. I couldn't find it and went to ask. This woman told me if I looked in a certain direction I would see, "The international symbol for restrooms."
The international symbol....so when you see a sign with two stick figures with one in pants and the other in a skirt you'll know that symbol is seen around the world.
Damn woman could've just told me where the restrooms were instead of making me feel like an idiot.
That's a wonderful story about you and Doug. Thank you for sharing. Meant a lot to me.
We had a 160-acre farm north of Earlville. My parents had all the Iowa crops and a small dairy herd. Along with being a source of income those cows were like pets to us. Each one had its own name. In 1988, one of them gave birth to twin boys. I'm named them "Total" and "Package" after the pro wrestler "The Total Package" Lex Luger.
I was a kid who lived on a farm instead of a farm kid. I knew I wasn't going to farm and my parents knew I wasn't going to farm. And they were totally cool with that.
i'm glad you joined. Iowa is going to be a news worthy place for a while. I hope you all enjoy the national attention
Thank you, TrappeViper.
But I wish Iowa would receive national attention for something other than the presidential season.
But I guess the primary brings quite a bit of money to the state so maybe I shouldn't complain.
But I wish Iowa would receive national attention for something other than the presidential season.
But I guess the primary brings quite a bit of money to the state so maybe I shouldn't complain.
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Hey! I went to college in Clinton. We used to hitchhike to Bettendorf and the other quad cities. Of course that was 50 years ago. Hope the River Road and Eagle Point Park are still beautiful--s6
I could imagine that that might get a bit annoying with caucuses bringing the most attention to Iowa
Thank you, shakeysix. Before they had their own courts in Epworth, Western Dubuque high school had their tennis meets at Eagle Point and I covered a few of them. The place was indeed beautiful.
Oh, I'm just an old fuddy duddy. When I was younger I went to caucauses several times.
It's just that I get tired of all the people covering the event putting down the state because our event is the first in the process, Trapper. I guess I have some Iowa pride.
I remember watching BBC America news one night and the host said something like, "Welcome to Iowa, where there are more pigs than people."
Yeah, well we eat the pigs, jerk. The pigs don't eat us.
Wish I could've said that to him.
It's just that I get tired of all the people covering the event putting down the state because our event is the first in the process, Trapper. I guess I have some Iowa pride.
I remember watching BBC America news one night and the host said something like, "Welcome to Iowa, where there are more pigs than people."
Yeah, well we eat the pigs, jerk. The pigs don't eat us.
Wish I could've said that to him.
Chat Me Up
Hey, everyone. Hope you are all well. Been awfully busy and haven't frequented this board as much as I had hoped.
I thought I would start a thread where we can talk and you call can ask me about Iowa, pro wrestling, history, Britcoms, volleyball, the Cincinnati Bengals and more. You can even ask things to know me better if you would like.
Of course, I would also love to know all of you better.
I'll start with something random. I became a Bengals fan because of the tiger striped helmets and uniforms. But as much as I love those Cincy unis, the greatest sports uniform of all time is the Houston Astros rainbow uniforms.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Hey, everyone. Hope you are all well. Been awfully busy and haven't frequented this board as much as I had hoped.
I thought I would start a thread where we can talk and you call can ask me about Iowa, pro wrestling, history, Britcoms, volleyball, the Cincinnati Bengals and more. You can even ask things to know me better if you would like.
Of course, I would also love to know all of you better.
I'll start with something random. I became a Bengals fan because of the tiger striped helmets and uniforms. But as much as I love those Cincy unis, the greatest sports uniform of all time is the Houston Astros rainbow uniforms.
Look forward to hearing from you.
I lived in Austin at the heyday of Houston's uniform. We used to drive down for Astros games in a freebie rental car, since I worked for Avis and weekends were sluggish. I owned one of those rainbow shirts, and we joke at home about Jaquin "Where is my head?" Andujar, Dickie Thon's fun-to-say name, and Art Howe breathing orange fire. (Which is a laugh, considering his age.) Our daughter, who's 34, still wears that shirt. Its colors remain bright. Polyester lasts forever!
Maryn, enjoying a trip to yesteryear
Maryn, enjoying a trip to yesteryear
Thank you, Maryn. That gave me a needed smile. I honestly never thought of Thon's name like that. I remember Andujar having a meltdown in the 1985 World Series when he was with the Cardinals.
That your daughter still wears that makes her one of the coolest females on the planet. Right up there with Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss.
So it seems northern Iowa is going to receive eight inches of snow tomorrow. Yikes. Rain and a dusting where I'm at. Of course, the eight inches won't last long, but it will still be dangerous in that part of the state tomorrow.
That your daughter still wears that makes her one of the coolest females on the planet. Right up there with Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss.
So it seems northern Iowa is going to receive eight inches of snow tomorrow. Yikes. Rain and a dusting where I'm at. Of course, the eight inches won't last long, but it will still be dangerous in that part of the state tomorrow.
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