Good evening! Can you believe that it will be September next week? So before August expires, let me present the latest Thursday Rundown…

Start of the Semester – Washington State University kicked off the academic year on Monday and things looked just a bit different. The entire Fall 2020 semester is remote so the traditional start-of-the-year excitement and visuals were absent. However, Cougs persevere and everyone from our faculty to our staff to our students are making the best of the arrangement. This includes our social media team. With so many things off the table because of an empty campus, we are trying to be creative so we can still deliver an engaging and spirted experience to the #WSU community.

The start of my first full semester as a staff member at WSU is a bit different than what I had envisioned.

Robin Being Robin – Speaking of the start of the semester, one of my favorite people from my days at Coastal Carolina University recently got A LOT of national media attention. From Barstool Sports to CBS This Morning, she was everywhere. Robin Russell is a theatre professor at CCU and a good friend. Last week, her daughters captured her teaching a remote class lesson. Robin was leading her class of freshmen in a dance session and there was no shortage of encouragement. The video shows Robin in her element and is a 100% genuine testament to her passion for teaching. Come on, Suzanna!

A screenshot from Robin’s viral video on the left and a photo of Robin and I on set of “Coastal Now” on the right.

Not Fair – Sadly, there was another development with someone I thought highly of during my #CCU tenure. Jessica Hughes, a 25-year-old staffer, lost her life in a car accident earlier this week. Before she worked as a professional in Student Accounts, I knew her as a student. She served on my #CCUSocialMedia Student Advisory Council, worked as an intern in University Marketing and Communications, and even allowed me to feature her for multiple social campaigns. She was filled with humility and faith, an authentic kind soul who always gave me way more respect than I deserved. Last time I talked to Jessica was when we sat by each other at a funeral shortly before I moved. True to her nature, she was there supporting a friend who had lost a loved one. Please pray for Jessica and her family.

Jessica Hughes will be missed. The top right photo was from when I featured her for #CCUfamily and the bottom photo is our #CCUfamily Advisory Student Group of which she was part of.

Parenting Hacks from 2017 – It can be tough for new moms and dads to navigate the parenting waters. On this date three years ago, I provided 10 hacks for keeping your baby happy based on my limited experience with Sloan. This morning I looked back on that blog post and was reminded of some good tips I can use with Beau. If you happen to be a new parent, feel free to take it or leave it.

In August 2017, I provided my best baby hacks.

Blue Moon Price Gouging – My preference for Blue Moon has been documented in this blog before. Since $1 Blue Moon Pint Thursdays at a popular bar in college, I have always preferred the beverage when ordering the occasional beer at a restaurant. But gee wiz, the price is going up! I took this photo while stopped at a traffic light over the weekend. This particular bar (which will remain nameless) was promoting a glass of Blue Moon for $6 like it was a good deal. Excuse me? I like the beer a lot, but not that much. If the tendency for COVID-19 to spread in bars wasn’t enough of a factor to keep me away, these prices certainly are.

So…ummm…is this supposed to be a deal?

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Thank you for joining me for another Thursday evening. Enjoy your final August weekend and we will catch up again next week. Until then, please continue to pray for end of the coronavirus. Don’t Blink.