So we haven't posted for awhile

There's been a lot going on. We've moved out of Michigan, we graduated, and we're on the job market.  Here are some photos of the graduation part of our lives:

Lizzie's Easter Egg Hunt

Here are some pics from an Easter Egg hunt at church.  This post is light on commentary and heavy on pictures, which may be a trend for the next few posts as times are busy at the Darowski household.

One Down, One To Go

Joseph successfully defended his dissertation today.  He's officially going to be a doctor.  Emily will be wrapping up in the next couple months as well.  Exciting times in the Darowski household.

Great shot

Lizzie has been going stir crazy all winter, and one of the great releases for her energy is bouncing on Mommy and Daddy's bed.  Here she is mid-bounce:

The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo

A few weeks ago I went to the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) to do a presentation on a panel hosted by the American Library Association.  My panel was academic, and I presented about using the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection in my research, in the classroom as a teacher, and as part of the MSU Comics Forum.  The American Library Association hosted a number of panels about comic books in libraries, in schools, etc.  So that part of C2E2 was academic.  The rest was decidedly not. 

I've never been to a Comic Con before, but I've followed the news coming out of many of them.  They have a reputation of being a bit insane with people walking around dressed in costumes, panel discussions with comic book writers and artists, booths packed with comic books, artist alleys with comic artists doing sketches and selling their work, and a lot of chaos in between.  C2E2 certainly had all that.

Here are some wide shots of the main floor:

When I walked out of the panel discussion I was a part of, these were the first two people I saw:

And that wasn't the craziest thing I saw.  That would probably be Batman and Godzilla doing a synchronized dance:

But there were other crazy costumes too:

And there was also a working R2D2 robot:

A game of quidditch:

And a massive chalk drawing of the Green Lantern.

I don't typically see most of these things at the academic conferences I go to.  I also got to go to a panel about the new Thor movie with the actor playing Thor there answering questions, so that was cool.

Not a list you want to be on

On Wikipedia there is a list of notable instances where the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx is supposed to have come into play.  Out of curiosity I just took a look, and there's a new entry:

"March 24, 2011: The BYU Cougars player Jimmer Fredette appeared on the cover after the Cougars beat Gonzaga to take them to their first Sweet 16 since 1981. In the next game, Jimmer only hit 11 of 29 shots in a loss to the Florida Gators."

Well, I suppose if you make the list it means you were on the cover of Sports Illustrated, so it's not a terrible list to be on, but it's still probably not a life goal most kids make.

Maybe there's a curse...

BYU lost in overtime to Florida in the Sweet Sixteen.  Jimmer scored a ton, but his shot was definitely off tonight.  I can't help but think if he'd been a little more on BYU probably would have won.  But still, what a great season it's been.  Great regular season, nice run in the tournament, and losing in overtime is nothing to be ashamed of. 

I've passed through the stages of grief faster than expected.  Thanks for the great year, BYU!