New (old) Photos & Getting Ready to Move

Just uploaded new photos on our Flickr gallery - from September. One from an Ohio State football game Melissa and I went to (vs. Northwestern). All of these can be seen here.


The second set of photos concerns shirts I am throwing away. I hate having too much stuff when moving and I am already getting excited throwing stuff away. It came to my attention I have had many of these shirts since high school/early college. For instance, this Hofbrauhaus 1997 shirt I got in Munich when I was a junior in high school, complete with pit stains. I loved these shirts and gave them good use - but it's time for them to go and for me to move on.

I decided that if I haven't worn any of them for at least four years there gone - this eliminated all but the Ehlers for Congress shirt, which still lives.

Presenting Smidty

Ever search your name in Google and see what comes up? Smidt is not a prominent last name, it really is "Smith" but in a uncommon low-German dialect. So I have always been interested in what prominent websites bear my last name.

For instance, I've always wanted to Phil Smidt's in Hammond, Indiana - which was a popular seafood joint near Chicago. I was in Hammond two years ago, forgot about it, and I am now kicking myself because it closed recently. Likewise, for a long time I've noticed "Smidt Wohncenter" (or living center) in Leverkusen (near Koln). It's a standard housewares type of store.

But when visiting their site recently I was introduced to Smidty - the store's new mascot. This mascot caught the attention of Melissa and me since people often call me Smidty. Smidty has much fun to offer. First, there's the video of Smidty welcoming all the denizens of Leverkusen. And probably most fun of all, Smidty also has a great online game of memory to play. See if you can crack the top ten.

Why Smidty has some sort of pink blob of a head is beyond us. But since some others by the name of Smidt might be reading this I thought I would show them there is a mascot for our kind. A mascot we can be proud of.

Pizza Cones

Once again, another area in which America is losing its competitive edge. Apparently, Pizza Cones are big in Europe. And they come in a variety of flavors.


I always felt that by living in America I was on the cusp of fast food developments - although I grant McDonalds delivery in China is something I wanted here. But now it seems we're trailing the Europeans too. Is nothing sacred?

Merry Christmas

Currently Melissa and I are resting in a freshly snow-covered West Michigan, having taken the drive in from Andrea and Rich's house in Warren, Ohio. And, since our year-in-review letter and card has yet to be sent, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

It's been a long time since we've written. To my defense this is because I've been waiting for Melissa to chime in with news from her side of life. So when Melissa was featured as a model on the Wexner Center's store website. I said "put it on dehoeve" - and she said no way I look like an idiot. I thought the reader could decide:



Likewise, when Melissa's sister Emily and Emily's band the Icicles were featured, once again, on a television commercial, this time for Target. I said "put it on dehoeve" - and she said I will in a while. Well I'm here to post the video.



Of course, the blame can be shared. Unmarked on this page went the fact that I was on the job market this fall. I had interviews in a couple of places and in the end one place actually wanted to hire me. What kind of crazy institution would offer me a job? Well none other than Michigan State University. That's right - I will be a Spartan next year.

I could go into answering questions about us moving from Ohio State to Michigan State. Instead of the practical questions, people are most likely interested in knowing whom we will support during football/basketball games. Melissa has already stated she will find it easier to support Michigan State football since they're not expected to win all the time. Thereby, their wins and celebrating their wins seem more meaningful to her. As for me, many of you know, I have long held an association with Michigan State through blood and have been well-schooled in recognizing the beauty of their fight song. Still - I don't view it as an either/or and will continue to support each team as long as it's not harmful to my health.

Well, I've been told to stop - so Merry Christmas all and we hope to see you all soon.

I have an accent.

I've always tried to argue that I really don't have an accent. As most Michigan people do. Melissa has tried to convince me otherwise, but since she's from New Jersey she obviously is not credible. But coming across this website has convinced me otherwise. I don't do everyone of these, especially melk, but I have to confess guilty on comfterbul, cloze, ciddy, mier, tuh, and yuh.

There's also the handy Michigan sayings page. With Michigan left and all that stuff.

Living in America

A belated happy 4th of July to y'all. Considering this past week has been my only real vacation, though really some of it was work, I thought I'd give you a brief update.

First, my sister Andrea and I took the long road trip to Belmond, Iowa to help clear out my grandma's old house. Melissa had to stay home for work which was understandable since the real goal of the trip was not exactly family time. Grandma Smidt has moved out of her house and into a much more manageable condo. She had a tendency to keep everything, however, and this lead to some rather extensive cleanup and flashbacks to early childhood. Scary pictures, old clothes, old books, Jell-O cartons that were twenty years old, yards of fabric, and many other items were picked through and evaluated one last time.

During this time we also managed to meet up at the tri-annual Cordes family reunion in Titonka, Iowa for food and horseshoes. Before it started the whole Smidt entourage went to Ramsey RCA. The church where both my grandparents grew up and where my grandpa is buried. Cornfields surround the cemetery and contribute to a serene atmosphere. It's always worth the trip as the cemetery basically serves as the family tree for my dad's entire family.

Upon returning to Columbus, Melissa and I took some time to enjoy some Fourth of July festivities. We skipped the fireworks since the crowds are huge and the dog could do without them. But we did make it to Columbus's Doo Dah Parade. The parade isn't your typical patriotic celebration, in fact it is called an un-parade, but it does certainly celebrate the first ammendment. "Floats" this year included the fitness Fidels, the dancing Sadams, and numerous scooters with commuted sentences. My favorite was the float promoting "Soul Power" as an alternative energy source. It was complete with James Brown's "Living in America." Hector enjoyed it thoroughly. Following this, Melissa and I went to the Arbogast house for an Armenian feast, complete with excellent fresh squash and numerous German Shepherd dogs.

In the months to come I will be busy but Melissa might update from time to time. Hope the rest of the summer treats you well.

It's June already?

It's been a long time since Melissa and I logged in with thoughts and updates from our life. So I thought I'd at least give some quick info about what's going with our lives.

The biggest news of the last 4 months has been Melissa's departure from her job at the Fazio lab. Melissa now has a Graduate Assistantship and works in the development department at the Wexner Center for the Arts. So far the job has give Melissa a lot of helpful experience as she is learning how arts centers operate. Melissa continues to work constantly. In addition to her 30 hours a week at the Wexner, she's taking full load of courses this summer, and shooting weddings on weekends as an assistant at Kiso Fotographia. Since I am also busy preparing for the job market, this means our summer is mostly relegated to Columbus, Ohio. Thankfully, Columbus is nice during the summer so stop on by if you are ever around.

What's up with me? Well, in a step confirming my disappearing youth, I just was made appointed to be a deacon at our church, Olentangy CRC. The selection made Melissa question the degree of the Holy Spirit's guidance within the wisdom of the church. I agreed that I might not be up to the task in all deacon responsibilities but I suggested the Spirit is good at finding diamonds in the rough. Otherwise, I continue to work on my dissertation and rush to get ready for job applications. I go on the job market this coming fall and hopefully get an offer by next winter. Thankfully, the Cardinals' poor performance has given me less distractions from my work.

You might have already noticed that we added our own radio mix using mediamaster.com (free, for those interested). Listen to our mixes if you want to mix up your music selection or mock our musical taste. Melissa would like to make clear all selections you like were from her and all poor selections were made by myself.

That's it for now - until we post again.