A Place of Brightness: Go Badgers!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Go Badgers!

When I was young, the idea of my Wisconsin Badgers being in the Rose Bowl was a distant dream. I knew the history, they had been there in 1953, 1960, and 1963. Before I was born. And they had lost all three of those games.

But then came the dream come true. 1994, with Coach Barry Alvarez, they were back. I was in Grad School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, after doing my undergrad there. And I was born and raised in Madison, WI. It was exciting beyond description for us. And I remember ecstatically watching that game, in which they beat UCLA 21-16.

And then they would be back in the Rose Bowl in 1998 and 1999, winning again both times.

That thing that once seemed a distant dream was becoming relatively common.

And they went back again in 2011 and 2012. Even though they lost, still, they were in the Rose Bowl!

Which brings us to this year. After heartbreaking losses, almost all in overtime and by less than 3 points, they are back in the Rose Bowl only because two other teams are sanctioned and unable to play post-season, but then by an unexpected victory over Nebraska 70-31. Conference championship games just shouldn't have scores that big!

Getting back there this year feels again like a dream come true. So, job well done, gentlemen. Win or lose, I'm always so proud to be a Badger. And to see Barry Alvarez coach again today will be such a fond thing.

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In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Go Badgers!

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