The Worst Thing You Ever Did, Except for That Other Thing

 

Everyone's a punster lately. Richard Bonomo said he was going to make my post reviewing my cold "go viral," and when I asked Tiffy if we should do the Corn Maze tomorrow, she said, "Let's play it by ear." I have one friend on social media who makes terrible puns, and sometimes the comments other people make are even funnier than the puns themselves. He said, "Ents suffer from resting pitch face," and someone commented, "I was going to make a graphic of this joke, but I realized the ents don't justify the memes." Another time he said, "I stopped at the stand that sells cherries and fireworks. Bought a bing, bought a boom," and someone said, "Unsubscribe." But my favorite reaction was when the guy I think is his best friend (they have lots of inside jokes) said, "That would have been the worst thing you ever did, except for that other thing you did." I love this line so much that I am going to have to use it in some random situation, although maybe it won't be as funny as it was on this post. This same person said to the terrible punster on the post about the ents, "Would you stop?" and the original poster said, "Don't you mean WOOD I stop?" and his friend said, "You win this round." This is the content I'm looking for on social media. I'm sick of all the political arguments, and I don't need to see photos of everyone's kids starting grade whatever. I just want to laugh for ten minutes straight.

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Racing the 28 Bus

 

Today I worked on campus again, mostly hiding in my office and wearing my mask whenever I had to step out. Then as I was leaving the building, I ran into a couple of bus buddies. 

"Are you heading out to catch the 28 bus?" I asked.

"No, I'm driving, and I'm giving her a ride to the North Transfer Point. Do you want one too?"

Did I? That was an easy question. The 28 bus is so crowded that time of day that you can't get a seat until it's well past the Capitol Building. This is because there used to be a 28X during rush hour, and there used to be other routes (the 10, the 27) that the students who live close to campus could also take, but during the pandemic they really cut down the number of routes, and all the bus drivers who were laid off either retired or got other jobs, so they aren't coming back. Sitting in the back seat of a car sounded way better than standing squished in the aisle of the bus, desperately grabbing the straps hanging from the ceiling so that I wouldn't land on someone's lap every time the bus turned a corner. I did have some seatbelt fastening issues, but that's nothing compared to dealing with the bus. 

We got on the main road and saw the 28 bus just ahead of us, so we were sort of racing against it. It kept just making lights that we missed, so we thought it might actually get to the North Transfer Point before we did, but of course it had to keep stopping and disgorging enormous amounts of undergrads, so we soon passed it. We turned a different way than it did, then we were driving along and saw... the 28 in front of us?? How had it passed us? Just when I was thinking mass transit really is more efficient, we realized it was actually the 2 bus that had left 15 minutes earlier than the 28 bus. So we easily beat the bus to the North Transfer Point. We won the race!!

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One-Star Review: My Cold

 

Recently Travalon and I tried a free-range, 100% organic cold. It's very trendy - I see people talking about trying it on social media, and some neighbors have tried it too. Travalon tried it first, and he found it took him out of commission all weekend, but then he felt better. I didn't try it until Sunday night, and I found it to be a heady melange of congestion and excessive sneezing. Because I can work from home, I didn't get the full sick-day experience with this cold, but that wouldn't have changed my rating of it. Now it is a different experience, because it has moved into my chest and gives me such vigorous coughing spells that afterwards I'm light-headed, so do take that into account if you try this cold - what you experience on Day One might not be your experience on Day Three, if you are looking for consistency. However, if you prefer to change things up, then this may be the cold for you. I find this cold to be particularly aggravating at night, when I can't breathe at all without taking tons of over-the-counter drugs. One star. Would not recommend.

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Choose Your Own Football Commentary

 

I have indeed caught Travalon's cold, and yesterday I worked from home and signed off at two to rest. Today I was scheduled to work from home anyway, and I managed to work the whole day. Obviously I have nothing exciting to say about my life when I've just been sitting at home sick, but in my feverish state the other night I thought about writing a "do-it-yourself" movie review. Now I can't remember what it was going to say, but I could write a "do-it-yourself" football color commentary. The stuff the professional color commentators say is so inane, how could this be worse? I was inspired when one of them quoted Brady as saying he had to play "situational football" in a certain situation. Now how does that even make any sense? Isn't all football situational? Maybe the situation is third down and twelve, or maybe it's fourth down and inches, or maybe it's your basic first and ten. Or second and goal. The point is, every down is a situation, so football players always have to play "situational football." Anyway, here is a "choose your own stupid saying" football commentary:

In this situation/stadium/dimension, you have to play situational football/the game to win/the lottery. Now what the quarterback/running back/baby back is going to do here is try to pass/run/deflate the ball so that they can score a touchdown/stick the landing/make the bookies happy. The quarterback is going to give the hard count/the soft count/the Count of Monte Cristo in order to make the defense jump offsides/jump in the line/jump around so he can draw a penalty/draw the drapes/draw a cartoon of Tom Brady playing badminton. In the end both teams want to score more points/score some dank bud/write a movie score so they can win the game/game the system/go to Disneyland. And that is what football, which is neither played with a round ball nor with the foot, is all about!

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Unitarian Pizza Party Gig

 

Today Travalon was still feeling under the weather, so we went to the Mass that is closer and later. There was a prickly pear cactus in their garden with ripe fruit, so I asked the priest if I could have some, and he said sure. However, it was not as delicious as the ones I'm not technically supposed to eat on the Nature Conservancy land, and it was full of seeds, and it left nasty little prickles in my fingers. I do not recommend it. 

Then Travalon and I drove to the opposite side of the city for my gig. My bandmate's Unitarian church was having a celebration for their totally redone sanctuary, and coincidentally it was her birthday too. We had pizza, fruit, vegetables, cake, ice cream, and coffee as payment for this gig, but really the celebration was open to anyone. We were playing on the back porch of a house next door to the church, so I had to leave Travalon to watch the previous group while I ducked into the house to get ready. The act before us was a duo playing flute and French horn, but then the French horn player also played the alphorn! And then he played the didgeridoo!! I watched from inside the house, and Travalon got videos that I will try to make into a movie at a later date. Then our band played, and we did some of the Ukrainian pieces we learned for our Ukrainian Independence Day gig as well as our usual polkas and bluegrass, and we ended with "Metsakukkia," the Finnish waltz that sounds kind of Russian. That's the song where I get to pretend I'm playing a balalaika because I use tremolo through the whole thing. Afterwards one of the women in the audience asked me if that last piece was "Hungarian, like those others." Since neither Ukranian nor Finnish is Hungarian (but Finnish is closer), I said no, it was Finnish. Then she asked if I enjoyed playing with the band. I wonder why she asked? I love making music with other people - that's why I sang in not one but two choirs for many years, and why I have been in so many bands. As I told Tiffy Friday night, I would probably pay for the privilege of playing out - I'm just so lucky that usually they pay me instead. Even if it is sometimes just in pizza.

The weather was very weird today, and when I was walking with my neighbor before the Packers game, it was cold and rainy, then suddenly it was sunny and warm. We walked again at halftime, and it was cool and rainy again. The Packers looked really good on both sides of the ball in the first half, then their offense stalled, but at least their defense held until the very end, when Tampa Bay was driving down the field to tie things up. They easily got the touchdown, but then they had to get a two-point conversion, and Campbell batted it down - no good! Then Lazard recovered the onside kick. Game over!! Travalon and I went for a walk afterwards, and it was cool and started raining on us. Such strange weather. I think I just have allergies from it, but I'm starting to wonder if it's more - am I catching Travalon's cold? Will see how I feel tomorrow about dragging myself into work.

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Goodbye to My Garden Plot

 

Yesterday right after work, my neighbor and I went to my garden plot to say goodbye. I have had this plot for a number of years, but I am banned from gardening in 2023, and it's highly unlikely that I would get the same plot back after that. Besides, this morning they theoretically plowed everything under and covered it with black plastic to kill all the weeds, so nothing would have come back up in the spring. My neighbor happily collected all the feral cherry tomatoes, and she and I each took a share of the spaghetti squashes. My beautiful pumpkin was a bit gnawed, and when I picked it up, I discovered it was completely rotten, so forget that. We did find the little trees by the parking lot had ripe Asian pears on them, so we ate a number of those. That was as good a sendoff to my plot as I could imagine under the circumstances.

Today Travalon felt a bit under the weather, and I thought maybe it was just allergies, so I walked with our neighbor as he watched cartoons. He felt a little better, so we set out for the Cornish Fest in Mineral Point, but we stopped in Cross Plains for coffee and a short walk, and he didn't think he could drive much further. We did make it as far west as Black Earth so I could go to the Shoe Box and get new sneaks. They're teal, really pretty, but a much larger size than I have ever worn before - I guess my feet are expanding! We had lunch at the place that used to be Coach's, and I brought half of mine home, then we thought about going to the Monroe Street Festival, which had lots of good live music, but Travalon was so tired that we came home and both napped a bit (in my case) or all afternoon (in his case). We were supposed to meet my colleague and her husband for dinner, but I told them Travalon was sick, then I walked around our neighborhood by myself (since our neighbor was at the restaurant we had been planning to go to, coincidentally), and eventually Travalon joined me out on the dock. We started to watch the Badgers play Ohio State, but it quickly turned very ugly, so we watched several episodes of Keeping Up Appearances instead, while I ate my leftovers from lunch. And that was our exciting Saturday.

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A Very Strange Situation

 

So there is a story in the news about the governor of one state taking immigrants seeking asylum in another state and flying them to a third state, where they were dumped unceremoniously on the unsuspecting population. Seems weird enough on the surface, but when more details come to light, it gets much worse. These poor immigrants were told there would be jobs and homes awaiting them in the place they were being taken, but of course there were no such things, so the people there scrambled to help them. They managed to arrange a Mass in Spanish for them in short order, and they found places for them to stay. Yet there are more insane details: the governor of the state that basically kidnapped these people under false pretenses also had his people register them as living in homeless shelters in far-flung states. This wasn't an accident; this was so that they couldn't possibly go to their immigration hearings, because if you are on the East Coast on Tuesday with no money, how are you supposed to go to a hearing on the West Coast the following Monday? They have to show up at the immigration office closest to their registered address. To be clear, these people are trying to follow the rules, but how can they when the people in power have made it so impossible for them?? At least they were dumped on a bunch of people who are considered, by the governor who kidnapped them, "Commie pinko libtards," because that type of person will actually help them. The last report I heard is that they were pleased with the way things had worked out after all, and that people were helping them find jobs. Hopefully the mess with their registered addresses can be cleared up quickly, so that they aren't deported for missing hearings on the other side of the country. I find this story very illustrative of why so many people are leaving Christianity, because the governor who created this mess claims very loudly to be a Christian, but who is actually following the teachings of Christ, him or the people who are now helping the asylum seekers? Would you want to be part of a church that advocates treating people the way this governor treated these people? Sadly, some prominent members of my own church have lauded the governor for his actions. I tell you, it's only Jesus keeping me in the Catholic Church because it sure isn't a lot of my fellow Catholics!

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Buying Stuff Online

 

It is quite amazing the things you can buy online, like Travalon's Groundhogs Day Hawaiian shirt. Since nothing in particular happened today, I thought I would do one of those interactive blog posts that I'm so famous for. (Who am I kidding? I'm not famous for anything - only my hat is.) In this one, choose a quality from Column A and an item from Column B, and see if you can find it for sale online! Then order one and have it sent to me. Ha! Just kidding, I don't need anymore junk around my house.

                    Column A                                            Column B

                    Rastafarian                                          Ottoman

                    Plaid                                                   Candelabra

                    Holographic                                         Cheese Board

                    Mardi Gras                                           Bolo Tie

                    Titanium                                              Slippers

                    Savannah Bananas                               Blender

                    Bootleg                                                Dessert Fork

                    Fair Trade                                             Theorbo

                    Artisanal                                              Water Disks

Mix 'em! Match 'em! Thousands of possibilities, and probably all available online! It's amazing how much stuff we didn't have before, and still don't need.

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Outside Sensor Mystery

 

Yesterday we noticed a message on our thermostat saying that the outside sensor needed two AA batteries. It was too late at that point to go out and look for this outside sensor, but today Travalon went out to where the part of our air conditioner that is outside resides to look for this sensor. He looked and looked, but he couldn't find anything that obviously took two AA batteries. At that point we were at a loss and were afraid we would have to call a repairman, but this evening as we sat on the porch, I spotted a little gray box that I'd never noticed before. It looked like a key box, and I pointed it out to Travalon, who wondered if it could be the outdoor sensor. It's not really "outdoors," since it's inside our screened-in porch, but that might explain why the outdoor temperature listed on our thermostat always seemed to be a little warmer than I expected. We took it down and figured out how to open it, and indeed there were two AA batteries inside of it. Travalon took them out and put new ones in it, and I went over to the thermostat and saw the alert had vanished. Mystery solved! If only all life's difficulties were so easily resolved... And it's strange that I never noticed the box on our porch until we needed me to.

Here are some photos from the Willy Street Fair parade yesterday. First, the Handphibians.

Dinosaurs and a unicorn!

It looks like this kid is emerging from the bubbles emanating from the Bubblemobile.

Look at that Famous Hat with the Bubblemobile driver!

Some animal headwear: a beaver and a loon.

The Forward Marching Band is at all the best parades and protests.

There were people in elaborate costumes on stilts.

Travalon also got some good videos, so at some point I may try to make a montage. However, one is sideways so I'll have to see if iMovie can correct that problem.

Famous Hat

Willy Street Fair 2022

 

Today after Mass, Travalon and I went to Mother Fool's Coffee House until it was time for the Willy Street Fair's parade... only the parade is never timely, so we waited quite a while. As always, I loved the Handphibians playing Brazilian drums, and I really loved a woman who had a little dog that did tricks and then gave her a double high five. So cute!! The Bubblemobile pulled over right where we were watching the parade, so then I had to watch the Forward Marching Band and everything else from behind it. It kept sending puffs of bubbles into the air, and one girl was catching some of them and rubbing them all over her face. 

After the parade, as always, we went to the Ker Fatou stand for baobab shakes. Usually I get the chicken yassa, but today I got the jollof rice, and oh my goodness was that good!! I gave Travalon a bite of mine (he had his usual peanut butter chicken), and he loved it so much that he went and got some himself. We looked at all the vendors, and we watched kiddie karaoke. Our favorite was this tiny, very blonde girl who belted out Alice Cooper's "School's Out," only she just knew that one line - "School's out for the summer!"  - so she just kept singing that, over and over. That is what I'm here for. So freakin' adorable!

Because I am so naughty (or overwhelmed) and haven't been good about weeding my garden plot, they are taking it away next Saturday. They said I could appeal, so I emailed and called them but heard nothing, so this afternoon Travalon, Rich, and I moved my kale and ground cherry plants and my little strawberry over to Rich's garden. I do have a beautiful pumpkin that probably won't be ripe before Saturday, so I'll lose that, but otherwise it's a relief to be done with it. As one of my bus buddies said, "I get no Zen from weeding!"

Then I had to run to band practice, and the leader told me to bring both the violin and the mandolin because Hardingfele couldn't make this gig, and she wanted two fiddles. I thought practice started at 6:30, but by the time we got done planting the stuff in Rich's garden, it was 6:30 so I called and said I'd get there by 6:45, which I did. To my surprise the hostess and Hardingfele were there, but not our fearless leader, who had called this practice for a gig next Sunday at her church. (We get paid in pizza.) She finally appeared at 7:00, and when Hardingfele said, "Wasn't practice at 6:30?" she said, "No, 6:45," so technically I was not late. Also, our band leader is the leader of a different community garden, so I would have been embarrassed for her to learn that I had been evicted from my plot, but it never came up since she didn't know I was late... or not late. And now that Hardingfele is (maybe?) doing the gig, I never took my violin out of its case. So if she doesn't show up, do I play on the instrument I haven't practiced on? Or do we just have two rhythm instruments and one fiddle? And should I care about a half-hour free gig? Whatever.

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OK Cap's Mom's Funeral and the North Side Festival

 

This morning Travalon and I drove to Wauwatosa for the funeral of OK Cap's mom. Afterwards there was a funeral procession, where we got one of those little flags that say "funeral" to put on our car so we could drive through red lights, and Travalon noted that he had never been in a funeral procession before. We went to the burial, then there was a luncheon at Mader's, the German restaurant in Milwaukee. Our beer was served in steins, and there was some confusion about whether we got to keep them. We sat with OK Cap, Richard Bonomo, Luxuli, and Prairie Man at lunch. The sauerkraut and pretzel rolls were both so good that I had seconds. We stayed about an hour and then headed back to Madison, to go to the North Side Festival.

The Festival was in the Duck Pond, the ballpark where the Mallards play. By the time we got there, there were a few vendors selling things and a few people milling around, although there were some awfully cute kids having a fantastic time running the bases. Maybe things were livelier earlier? Travalon and I each had a crepe, and we sat in the dugout eating them and listening to the Jamaican dancehall music that a DJ was playing. Then we went for a walk on Governor's Island, and we still weren't hungry for dinner after that huge German lunch, so we went to the health club to swim. Only... the health club has changed their hours, so instead of being open 24/7, they now close at 7:00 pm on weekends, so we got there just after they had closed and were very puzzled. There was no note on the door, nor were there hours posted, which seemed logical, since we thought they were always open. We went home all discouraged but took a walk in our neighborhood, then we heard some distant booming - apparently there were fireworks for the North Side Festival! In the approximately three million emails I'd received about the event, I don't remember seeing a word about fireworks. We watched them from our parking lot, and Travalon said, "At least something went right this evening." I agreed, because if we'd gone swimming, we would have missed the fireworks. Still, if we'd known they were happening, we could have watched them from up close. That's just the kind of day it was.

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Halfway to St. Patrick's Day!

 

Sorry that I haven't blogged for the last few days, but not that much has been going on. Just work, and that's not too exciting. There was a beautiful sunrise the last two days, and Travalon got some good photos, but it's too late to post them now - too much work. So look for those sometime soon. Today I did get a short break from work to stand in the sunshine and watch the Ho-Chunk flag get raised in front of Bascom Hall. They sang and drummed, and several people made speeches, including the new Chancellor and the President of the Ho-Chunk. As I was leaving, someone called my name - it was a coworker from my job at the Press! She is still there, but working from home full-time. Of course I know it's been years, but it was still a shock to hear that her "little" daughter is a junior in high school. Whoa!

This evening I took the southbound bus, which is not nearly as packed as the northbound bus I usually take home, then I sat on Rich's porch, writing in Mariah my diary, until Travalon got off of work. We went to a Shamrock Club "Halfway to St. Patrick's Day" celebration at the Great Dane in Fitchburg, which is not far from Rich's house. I still had a $25 gift card they had sent me after charging me the totally wrong amount for shipping when I ordered a stuffed Great Dane for Travalon, so between that and the fact that our first (and only) beers were paid for by the club, it was a very economical dinner! I really enjoyed the potato and beer cheese soup, though it doesn't seem like a traditional Irish dish. What I remember from our time over there is every meal (except maybe not breakfast) involved potatoes and salmon. We talked to the guy who writes the club newsletter, and I said I would try to write an article about the Irish language. The challenge will be for me (with my degree in Linguistics) to make it not so technical that nobody else wants to read it. It sure is an interesting language - it deserves an interesting article.

Famous Hat

Swanky Soiree at the Art Museum

 

Today I worked from home, then I went to the campus art museum for a swanky soiree. There was an exhibit of historical documents showing when the university had been racist, homophobic, etc., although nothing about sexism. Some of these were not ancient history but were shockingly recent, like in 2016 or 2018. I think my personal favorite was when a black student saw his face photoshopped into a crowd at a Badger game that he had not gone to, in a photo used for recruitment purposes. If you can't find a legit photo of black people having a good time on campus, then maybe you need to change something other than the photos, ya think? I perused the exhibit and listened to the speeches but didn't really get into the part where people stood around drinking wine and eating hors d'oeuvres and making small talk. There were a lot of very important people there, and everyone wanted to talk to them. I don't want to talk to people based on how important they are but how interesting they are, and at that kind of event you can't really discuss the topics that would allow me to know how interesting these people are. I prefer small, intimate gatherings where people discuss the deeper questions of life.

Here are some weird DuoLingo sentences, as promised.

And here's some DuoLingo bragging:

Here are some flowers. First, a pretty one we saw on the walk around Tiedeman's Pond.

And this one in our neighborhood is trying to escape!

"I gotta get outta this joint!" (I'd just like to note that spellcheck recognizes every word in that sentence.) It's good to know that spellcheck knows gotta and outta, but it changes bassline to baseline. What the heck, spellcheck? I'm talking about when the beat drops, not my usual body temperature!

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Anna Banana II's Farewell Party

 

This morning Richard Bonomo sent a text saying that the gate to our church's parking lot wasn't working, so we would have to park on the street or go all the way around to the other entrance. Travalon and I decided to park on the street, but we failed to take into account how far away we were, and that we had already been running a touch late, so by the time we walked through the rain to church, the priest was giving the homily. During Mass, I remembered how someone I knew years ago said with my floppy hat and offbeat ways I was like a side character in a book, and I felt slighted at the time, but this morning it occurred to me that of course I'm a side character - the main character is Jesus! I hope at the end of my life they say, "She was a really fun side character, always saying crazy things and making the place more lively. And she always wore a famous hat."

Rich said the Mass wouldn't count for me unless I got a dispensation, since we got there after the Gospel reading. After the Mass I approached the priest and told him our sad story, and he said, "Not your fault. You can have a dispensation." Then ten of us walked through the rain to the Edgewater for brunch, but they had no room for such a large group, so we walked through the rain partway around the Capitol Square to the Inn on the Park, where they happily accommodated us. It was a big birthday for Hockey Girl, so Travalon and I bought her brunch, but she didn't want a big deal made of it. I told her I was also not excited about that big birthday, but right after that my life became amazing, because I met Travalon and left my horrible job for a much more enjoyable one. 

It rained all day, but I had gotten quite a few steps during our brunch adventure. I really didn't want to watch the Packers game, since somehow I knew they would lose badly to the Vikings, so Travalon and I went antiquing. However, I was wearing a Packers hat and Packers jacket, so probably everyone wondered why I was so lame that I wore fan clothes but then wasn't watching the game. Alas, I was correct, and the Vikings beat the Packers badly. I have thoughts about putting all their money into an aging quarterback instead of investing in all sorts of positions, but anyway I am not expecting a great season this year. Then I needed just 250 more move hour steps right after five, so we went to our church, where everyone was upstairs at Mass, and I planned to sneak into the church hall and get my steps. (Since it was still raining out.) Some young guy followed me, but I thought maybe he was going into the adoration chapel. I passed it, and he passed it, so I asked him, "Can I help you??" He said, "Has Mass started yet?" and I said, "Mass is upstairs," so he turned around and headed upstairs. Sheesh, can't a girl get her move hours in peace?? Once I snuck out during the homily to get my move hours in the church hall, and then Rich came into the church hall too. He said, "What are you doing here during Mass?" and I said, "I could ask you the same thing!" and he said, "I have to get the pyx from the sacristy," so he had a legit reason for being there. I just had to get my move hours.

This evening Rich hosted a farewell party for Anna Banana II, who heads back to North Dakota tomorrow. There were twenty-two people there, and most of us brought vegetables or salads, so it was kind of healthy. Rich, of course, made his famous lasagna. The guy who usually brings two kinds of desserts made two kinds of bread instead, and oh man was it good! Jilly Moose brought garlic bread that went perfectly with the lasagna. Cecil Markovitch made his famous spinach salad, and of course I brought kale. There were other salads, and grape leaves, and jalapeño poppers, and olives, and I'm probably forgetting something. Anna Banana II made a fabulous pear pie, and her brother brought several types of ice cream. The pistachio one was outstanding. As Cecil Markovitch would say, "What a feast!" Only he said something different today. I meant to leave right after dessert, but then we got into a (for me) fascinating conversation about different Eastern Rite and Western Rite liturgies. Cecil went to a Ruthenian one with the Single B-Boy in a suburb of Chicago, and they said the congregation sang through the whole service. I would love that so much! Maybe it's time for another trip to Chicago... Goodbye, Anna Banana II. We'll miss you until your next visit!

Famous Hat

Department Picnic 2022

 

Today started more quietly. I walked with my neighbor while Travalon chillaxed, and as we walked through the nearby restaurant's parking lot, she said she liked to walk there after the cruises come in because she often finds change. I laughed and said she's just like the dog I often dogsit, who once found a shrimp on the ground before I could grab it, so now she always wants to walk in the restaurant parking lot because there might be another shrimp. People: we're not so different from dogs. Then Travalon and I took a walk around Tiedeman's Pond and ran a couple of errands before meeting Anna Banana II, Jilly Moose, OK Cap, and Richard Bonomo for lunch at an Indian restaurant. We got a bunch of appetizers to share, so then I was so full that I only ate part of my main course. As we drove home, my neighbor texted to ask if I wanted to walk again, so we did as soon as I got home.

The big thing I had to do today was go to our department picnic. It was supposed to start at 4:30, but the food wasn't arriving until 5:30, so I figured if I got there around 4:30 I could help set up. To my surprise, the chair had everything set up, and a number of people were already there. I was a bit tired of socializing after my busy week, so at first Travalon and I sat off by ourselves, but a grad student who had brought her dog came over and talked to us, and we started talking about animal communication. I don't really enjoy small talk, but anyone who wants to talk about the deeper questions of life will always find a willing conversational partner in me. We also talked a lot to a grad student who is named after a sign of the zodiac, even though that is not his zodiac sign. The dog LOVED him, and I noted that if he is that good with animals, he could become a dolphin trainer if this doctorate in German gig doesn't work out. The most fascinating person of all was the chair's husband, who was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and ancient Greek Hawaiian shirt, and he seemed like he contained all the wisdom of the world. He told me about a band called Afro Celt Sound System, so after we came home, I listened to a few of their songs and found one called "Fissiri Wali Polka" that makes me feel like I'm becoming enlightened as I listen to it, so I listened to it over and over. The bassline alone is life-changing. This band plays a fusion of West African and traditional Irish music with an electronic twist, and the guy had said I would either love it or hate it, so apparently it's the former. I hope we get a chance to talk to the chair's husband again, because Travalon enjoyed talking to him too. It seems they are both Beatles fanatics.

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Rudolph Grotto and Wonder Cave

 

Today OK Cap drove Jilly Moose, Anna Banana II, Richard Bonomo, and me up to Stevens Point, where we had lunch at Bullheads on the Wisconsin River. We sat at a wonderful table in the shade from which every one of us had a view of the river. I bought OK Cap a dessert in lieu of gas money, and then all the Rosary Ladies ended up getting dessert, either carrot cake or lemon cake. Here's a photo of our view.

Then we went to Rudolph, where a priest even more energetic than the one in Dickeyville had built a garden and grotto. There were lots of flowers everywhere, and it was lovely. Here are some photos of things built of rocks.

In a tiny, musty museum, I found this uber Catholic setup:

There was a two-story "Wonder Cave" full of lit-up pictures like these:

This one had palm trees on it, so I had to take a picture.

We came out on top of the two-story "Wonder Cave" and immediately found this sundial. Rich noted that it was in Standard Time, and I retorted, "That's because it's REAL time!" and he said, "I knew you would appreciate it!"

It was quite a workout going through the Wonder Cave, and it got us four flights of stairs, but not enough steps, so we stopped for a walk at Little Plover River Park and found... the river? a creek? Here I am with Anna Banana II, OK Cap, and Jilly Moose, standing in front of it.

And here we have swapped out me for Rich.

Several of us had bought new rosaries at the grotto gift shop (because of course it had a gift shop, but they don't take credit cards), so we prayed with them on the long ride back to Madison. Once in town, we sat out on the patio of Waypoint and had dinner. The walleye is outstanding! Here is a photo Rich took of me so that you can see the water (and the Beltline!) in the background.

Our waitress took a photo of all of us, with the stone wall in the background.

Speaking of our waitress, when our bills arrived, they said her name was "Extraterrestrial." Since I remembered she had introduced herself as Ellie at the beginning of the evening, I asked if that was short for Extraterrestrial. She sighed and said because her initials are E.T., her supervisor had put her into the system as "Extraterrestrial," and she was unable to change it. That reminded me of the order for Toe Knee, which led to me creating a new dance craze that will surely sweep this nation. It's called the Extraterrestrial, and it couldn't be easier: You holler "Toe!" and touch your toes, you holler "Knee!" and touch your knees, then you wave your hands in the air and holler, "Togo! Togo! Togo!" Now try it with me: "Toe! Knee! Togo! Togo! Togo!" You sing it to the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Grotto."

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Galena Take Two

 

This morning I drove Anna Banana II and Jilly Moose to Galena, insisting I could do it without GPS. I was fine until getting to Galena itself, where there's no sign pointing to where the historical part is (like there is in Mineral Point), but it turns out you just follow Highway 20 and it gets you right there. We managed to find a parking spot right downtown, and then we went shopping. We mostly went to different shops than I went to with Tiffy on Sunday, although we did go to the shop with some New Age stuff and lots of Hawaiian shirts, where I bought the "I'm not a Virgo" necklace, and the proprietress remembered me. Maybe with the hat and the tie-dye, I am a memorable person. Anna Banana II bought a jacket there much like one I bought there some time ago, and she promised not to wear it at the same time I wore mine, but honestly I thought it would be kind of funny if we were all twinsies. I mean, we don't look anything alike. 

We had lunch at a place with mediocre pizza, and then they didn't take credit cards so I was going to pay by check, but the waiter said if I did, I would have to pay the whole bill instead of just my share. Say what?? So I did, and the others gave me cash, but Anna Banana II was pretty annoyed by that so she didn't tip him that well. She and I had leftover pizza, so we went to the shop that just sells every kind of root beer and asked if they sold ice. They didn't, but they did sell coolers and then would give us ice, so I now have a commemorative root beer shop cooler. Other shops: two sock shops, several tea shops, some cookware shops, lots of jewelry shops, a pasta shop (I got Wisconsin Badger pasta, which is just W-shaped pasta in either neutral or red), candle shops, candy shops, coffee shops, and even a sports memorabilia shop that Travalon would like. 

We took a trolley tour of Galena, and Anna Banana II and I had trouble staying awake even though the tour was interesting. I think I need my own personal trolley for those nights I can't sleep. You know those nights: you go read in the living room, and after an hour you finally feel a bit sleepy. What if you could just ride a trolley and fall instantly asleep? They should have one that goes around town after hours for insomniacs to ride, and one of those night owl types could make good money driving it. After the tour we shopped some more, then we heard a brass band playing a free concert in a little park area. Here are some photos. Check it out - their phone number has an area code for our area!

The guy in the red shirt has a white clarinet. The others were saying it was albino.

And this sign kills me - parking since 1855? Who had cars back then?

Then we drove to Mineral Point and had dinner at the brewpub there, but it has changed ownership, and the menu is very limited. Anna Banana II ordered the garbanzo bean salad, which was described as having pesto, but she said it tasted like baked beans. I had a pork quesadilla that was fine but nothing exciting. The street corn soup was good. One thing that did make me very happy was that I was able to get a replacement glass for the one that broke some years ago with a cartoon of a dog on it, saying, "Sit. Stay. Drink. Good human." When I brought it home to Travalon, he was so happy! Maybe I should have gotten two. They are on the menu now, so we can always get more.

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Not Just a Restaurant - the BESTaurant!

Here is a photo from yesterday, when we were walking at Jackson's Landing. Anna Banana II and Jilly Moose are standing on the bridge by the canoe launch.

And here is a photo from this morning, of Travalon wearing the Yellow Submarine shirt I got him in Galena, along with Anna Banana II, before we set off on our adventures and left him to go to work.

This morning Anna Banana II, Jilly Moose, and I hit the road and drove to Sheboygan, where we met Tiffy at a very foodie restaurant called Field to Fork for lunch. We went to a folk art museum in town, and parts of that were interesting, parts were weird, but the bathrooms on the third floor were my favorite part. Check out the men's bathroom!

The sink in the women's bathroom was very cool and funky and hard to figure out how to use.

This museum made me feel a bit saner, because these people were energetically filling their houses and yards with all sorts of art. Now my rosary mandala up in the loft doesn't seem quite so crazy!

Then we went to Kohler-Andrae State Park and hiked on the boardwalk for a bit before taking off our shoes (except for Jilly Moose) and walking in the waves along the beach. It was a gorgeous day. I talked a guy walking along into taking our photo: this is me, Anna Banana II, Jilly Moose, and Tiffy.

We saw a flock of seagulls standing on the beach, and then suddenly they flew into the air. There were so many of them!

After our long walk along the beach, we wanted to get dinner in Port Washington, so Jilly Moose was looking up the best restaurants, and she said, "The bestaurants." I said, "That's it - that's my blog post title!" We ended up at one called the Beacon with a patio right on the water, on the ground floor of a hotel that had a gorgeous swimming pool and hot tub. Travalon and I might just have to make an overnight trip to Port Washington... It was a beautiful evening with the nearly full moon rising over the water, and a great blue heron flew by, squawking loudly. We could hear the gulls crying in the distance. Such a perfect vacation day!

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