published 4/29/08

Solar power at the Cabin!

If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the solar panel.  I thought it would be a fun "self portrait", but it didn't turn out well.  The solar panel did.  For more pictures from my "spring 2008", click here.

published 4/5/08

16th annual celebration of my 39th Birthday!  (OK, so I'm 55!)

The highlight of this year's celebration, was having Tom Berube there. (that's Tom on the right)  Tom was on staff when I first started at Bismarck State College, and it was great to have an old friend already there.  The guy on the left is Pat Gross, one of my best friends at BSC, and also a good friend of Tom's.  When Tom left, we had serious concerns for his health, it was great to have him back, and in great health.  For more pictures click here.

published 2/19/08

Ben's Wedding

Our son Ben, married Kyleigh Kline on Saturday, Feb.16.  For a look at some pictures of the event, click here.

Published 1/21/08

The Cabin in the hills

I call it my Fortress of Solitude, I figure you don't have to be Superman to have one.

To see pictures of the cabin in the frost we had over Christmas Break, click here.

Our first family outing at the cabin.  Hannah and Gavin are sliding on the hill right in front of the cabin.

For more pictures, click here.

Published 12-26-07

An early Christmas Present!

Meet the newest member of our family.  This is Xavier Charles Rude, son of Ben and Kyleigh Rude, born November 30, 2007.  For more pictures from our family and Christmas, click here.

Published 11-29-07

Minneapolis trip a November highlight!

This was the view out the hotel room window (the last few times we had a good view of a wall or air-conditioning unit).  Grace and I were in town for a convention, AMATYC, which stands for American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges.  It was the national convention, and I had a chance to present my workshop, "The Three Pound Universe".  We also saw some old friends, for a look, click here.

Cabin progress. . . here is the new stove during it's first use.  For a look at the progress of my project (good and bad) click here.

Published 10/16/07

Working on the cabin.

Labor Day weekend, the floor and most of the wall framing arrived in the back of my old Toyota truck.  The site had been prepared earlier.  For a look at the construction of my cabin in the woods, my major project this fall, click here.

Published 8/25/07

Summer Highlights 2007

I didn't play any gigs this summer, and that was fine with me.  I was busy enough, as you will see if you follow the links.  Although this was taken on the Fourth of July as we camped by the river, and it was great, we didn't have any time to get back to the river the rest of the summer, and my new chair did not get sat in, very much.  To see more pictures from the summer of 2007, click here.

Back to farming!  In a way I never left, or at least never quit.  Although I joke about being a retired farmer, in reality I have been the operator all along, it's just that I sub-rent the pasture, hay, crop and farmhouse.  This summer I got back into it physically.  Big physically for me.  I remember driving tractor on these fields, and driving a tractor like this one was a far distant dream.

For the story, click here.

Published 6/22/07

Me and Crazy Horse

We're kind of old buddies.  I've been up to see him face to face four times now.  Dad was going to come with me to the top, but had to turn back.  (he developed balance problems)  For more on our adventure, click here.

Phil Hiede visits!

Phil Hiede is a friend I hadn't seen in 30 years. 

Phil was the campus pastor at Minot State College at the time I went there.  I got to know Phil well in our many adventures, including Campus Ministry Retreats at Rendahl.  Many people don't remember, the reason I bought the Rendahl Church building was because I was hoping the beautiful site could have continued in some form of  Christian ministry.  Because I was involved with Lutheran Campus Ministry through Phil, we tried to use the Rendahl building as a retreat center for Campus Ministry.  We received a small grant to get started, and did have 12 retreats there between late 1972 and early 1974.  Unfortunately, most college students expected things like "real" bathrooms and even showers, which we were in no position to provide.  It took me a long time to pay off the loan, then years later, we used the church for our wedding, and Goodrin Woods' birthday party, which turned into a regular August picnic.  At one of the picnics it was decided to pass the hat to help re-shingle the parish hall, as I certainly didn't have the money for it, and it needed to be done.  Over $400 was raised, and Dad said he would pay the balance, so we went for it (1991).  Although the guy who did the shingling was told several times to haul the shingles out to our dump, (conditions were very dry) he did not.  He thought he could burn them safely in a barrel, and instead burned the church down.  That was a very great tragedy in my life.

Seeing Phil and visiting with him was great fun, remembering the good times and the good friends.

This was the scene at Metigoshe June 8, in front of the Christian Center.  The lake road is getting paved after being rebuilt last year.  Just in time for a Metigoshe Reunion I am working on for the summer of 2008.

2008 will be 25 years since Mark Ronning passed away in 1983.  I am trying to organize a Metigoshe Staff reunion for the camp staff of Camp Metigoshe in the Ronning Era.  I know for me, and many of us who worked there, Mark was a very big influence in our young lives.  He started at Camp Metigoshe, (at that time it was called Metigoshe Lutheran Bible Camp) in 1966, which means an  18 year old counselor his first year, is now 59 years old and will be 60 for next year!  I'm not far behind at 54.  I think we should get together while we can.  So if there is anyone out there who reads this, and is a former Camp Metigoshe staff member from the Ronning Era, please send me an e-mail at artrude@hotmail.com !!!!!

published 5/26/07

Editor's note:  I reformatted my pictures so the webpage will download quicker.  To see any of the lead pictures in a larger size, just click on the thumbnail size picture.

My new diet plan

Find two of the largest relatives you can find, and have your picture taken between them.  I felt small. 

These are my cousins Gary and Ron Odegard.  My mother and their mother were sisters (Mom's sister Anne).  It is always fun to see them, been a treat for me since I was an infant.  I didn't get to see them often, as they grew up in Chester Montana, as I grew up in the Turtle Mountains.

I also republished my original thesis, (thanks Gary) "Algebra Anxiety" if anyone is interested. 

Click here to read "Algebra Anxiety" the Thesis.

Click here to read the study unit, "Algebra without the Letters"

A Great Weekend!

Some people have different dreams.  I saw some of mine come true last weekend.  When I was a kid and used to go to the west end of our pasture to get the cattle, I used to hang around this one hillside that I thought was a special place.  I always thought it would be a nice site for a cabin.  Well, I'm not getting younger, so I am going for it.  My buddy Steve Schadler (who does landscaping professionally) was over for the weekend, and it was a dream come true to see the site opened up and the trails made.

For more pictures, click here.

published 4-24-07

A small Disaster at the Farm

The old garage burned to the ground April 16.  Dewey had been burning garbage earlier, and assumed the fire was out.  Later he looked out and saw flames in the grass by the garage, and by the time he got outside, the flames were on the south wall.  For more pictures, and a little more story, click here.

published 4-4-07

My 15th annual celebration of my 39th Birthday!

Numbers were down this year, bad weather and lots of conflicts interfered, but obviously the quality was still there.  It's great to get together with old friends.  We are fortunate that each of us married some outstanding people.  From left to right, Alan and LuAnn Henning, myself (my lovely wife was taking the picture), Jim and Donna Mellmer, and Terry and Sue Fugere.  (I don't know what Sue found to look at, but it was still a good picture)

published 2-27-07

Gavin's fourth Birthday highlights family events.

For a look at our 4 year old grandson's Birthday Party, click here.

Dad and Bernice made it down for Christmas, which was a highlight this year.  Compared to the fantastic family trip to Brazil over Thanksgiving for Brandon and Alini's wedding, it was a bit anti-climactic.

My personal highlight was buying a used Yamaha V-Max which has made the winter fun when I go to the farm.  Although the old Scorpion Brut was good, the Yamaha is a much improved sled.  I love it, but don't like the lack of economy.  I guess you have to pay for all that power.

published 2-6-07

Algebra without the Letters is a study unit for people who see no purpose to algebra, and struggle with "Algebra Anxiety".  This was a part of my masters thesis on Algebra Anxiety.  Math anxiety is quite well documented, but Algebra Anxiety is unmentioned in the literature other than in my thesis.  I find many people experience a unique anxiety with Algebra because "letters do not belong in Math".  Because the usage of letters in math is opposed to the students understanding of what letters are for, the construction of words, when the basic premise of Algebra makes no sense in their "world" for some students (especially concrete operational thinkers) none of the rest of Algebra can possibly make sense.

I offer my little study unit in the hope it will help people who have this problem.  I use it in my Beginning and Intermediate Algebra classes, and I know it has been a substantial help to some students, so now I offer it here for everyone to use.

Click here to see: Algebra without the Letters

published 12-6-06

Brandon and Alini's Wedding

was incredible!  We had an amazing time, with 7 family members from North Dakota traveling to Santos Brazil over Thanksgiving!

We had a great time on the beaches, several in fact.  For a look at more of our Brazilian trip, click here.

published 11-16-06

October 1 was a beautiful day!

Grace and I took a motorcycle ride by Papa's Pumpkin Patch, and out on a sandbar.  Later we took the boat out and did a little fishing, for a look, click here.

published 11-7-06

I'm a Professor!

Well, Assistant Professor, but still a professor!  I realize this is a shock to some of the people who have known me the longest.  I love my job at BSC, and now I have been moved to a tenure track, which means my title has changed to Assistant Professor, and in three years I am eligible for tenure, which if granted will change my title to Associate Professor.

Time will tell. . .

Published 9-26-06

Brewer and Shipley!

in Bismarck September 20, it was a great thrill for me.  I had 7 Brewer and Shipley albums in the 70's, and before the concert I found 5 of them.  I loved the acoustical guitars, the vocal harmonies, and the terrific writing.  In my opinion these guys should have been super stars, if not for Spiro Agnew and a ban on airplay by the FCC.  For more pictures, click here.

I had a chance to visit with an old friend.

Classmate Stephanie Evans was visiting her mother last weekend, and we had a little while to visit.  For a look at a few pictures of a couple of old friends, click here.

Published 9-17-06

More 2006 Highlights

Labor Day at Long Lake was a special weekend with Gavin and Hannah.  My friend Bruce McKnight was also there, and he took this shot of me and Gavin in the morning mist on the lake Saturday morning.

To see more of our labor day weekend, plus other end of the summer highlights, click here.

Published 8-2-06

Summer 2006 (a few highlights)

One of the big highlights was getting together with our old friends Bob and Ruth Stenson.

To see more of the highlights, including a trip to the original campsite of Camp Metigoshe, and our spring trip to the Black Hills, click here.

To see more of my pictures from earlier this year,(2006), and a little bit of 2005, click here.