Less Than a Week Left of Winter Break

Standing on the Top Platform of the State Capitol Building in Topeka

It was Tuesday, with one more week until class begins, and the alarm went off at 5am. I put on my suit and tie, had a leisurely breakfast and some coffee and went over my speech one more time. Then, I drove to the Sunrise Optimist Club of Topeka. 

Once I mingled with them for a while, drank some more coffee, and they went through some announcements and drawings for a few different raffles, I was introduced as the morning speaker. Then, I gave one of the most passionate talks of my life about the Represent.US movement. 

There was a naysayer in the crowd, which was great. Although this caught me off guard, I eventually got him to admit out loud that he really didn't care about what the general public thought. It was too bad that this admission wasn't during my talk (it was in private afterwards), but I got it out of him nonetheless. It was a great learning experience, and I will be better prepared for the next talk. And the next one after that. 

After just giving a talk in Atlanta at my math conference on Friday, it hit me that I've been getting a lot of public speaking in lately. According to Warren Buffet, I'm getting some good practice with the number 1 skill that will increase my worth by 50 percent. 

After my talk, I changed into something a little more comfortable and went to the office to work on getting my classes ready. Somewhere around noon, I needed a break. 

I thought to myself, "Hmmm. I've never been to the Capitol. When's the next bus?"  

Over at the northeast corner of campus, I struck up a quick conversation with someone waiting for the bus. The bus arrived quickly. My campus ID gets me anywhere in Topeka for free on the Metro. I really love this since it provides an easy avenue to reduce my carbon footprint. 

The Kansas State Capitol Building has about five floors to explore. One of the highlights was this mural of John Brown outside the Senate Chamber. It is called Tragic Prelude by John Steuart Curry.

Kansas is very proud of John Brown. This picture is recreated in many different murals in businesses around Kansas. Take Wichita Brewing Company or John Brown's Underground in Lawrence as a few examples. 

The literally breathtaking highlight of the Capitol visit was to get a Dome Tour. I was the only person on the tour, so it turned out to be a private one! The tour guide must go on the tour with me, however, which meant that she had to ascend the 296 stairs to the top with me. I kind of felt bad when she started breathing very heavily.  Like I said, it was literally breathtaking. 

It was also figuratively breathtaking as the opening picture suggests. When I walked out on the platform, it was hard to combat the vertigo. In the year and a half that I've lived here, I had no idea that you could go outside on the platform on top of the Capitol!  

When you come to visit, and the schedule isn't packed, can guess where I'm taking you?  

On a complete side note, it got to 60 degrees today in Topeka. That means a bike ride has to occur since I'm trying to ride 2017 miles in 2017. Well, 1995.5 to go!