Getting Vigorous Exercise

 

Today I worked on campus, and all my complaining about not getting vigorous exercise minutes ceased. My colleague and I walked at lunch, and then I was going to take the free bus up the hill as usual, but it was too full to get on. Another one came, but he said he would be sitting there for eleven minutes, and I figured I could walk up the hill faster than that. Not quite, because I literally got to my building at the same moment as the bus did, but in the process I got so many vigorous minutes that it made up for my lack of them the last two days. Plus I got enough staircases to raise my daily average for those too, since my phone had been cheating me of one per day lately. Guess what I'll be doing during my lunch break tomorrow?

I had gotten to work a little early and was going to sneak out a little early... and wouldn't you know, my boss was leaving at the same moment? Usually he leaves well before I do. He didn't seem concerned at all, and we walked along faster than I usually walk alone, but I still just missed the bus I was planning to take, which either came early or was the bus before running late. Instead, I took another bus that let off a few blocks further from my hairdresser's place, and that worked perfectly. After my haircut, I walked back up to the Square to catch a B bus; someone said it had just come, but it would have been two minutes early according to the schedule. Then, two minutes later - another B bus came! So that worked perfectly.

Famous Hat

Would You Say That to a Man?

 

Today was a frustrating day. I ran for like eight minutes but didn't get any credit for vigorous move minutes, and of course my phone cheated me one staircase, as it always does. I had something delivered to Ma Hat but the photo they sent me as proof of delivery didn't look like her place and she said she couldn't find it, so I was a bit panicked until she got a message that she had a package at the front office. Better yet, they gave a tracking number so I know it's the package from me. Then I sent out the Night Prayer invitation, but Rich said he didn't get it, and that it wasn't showing up on the group page, which is odd because it came to me. Other people must have gotten it, because they showed up for Night Prayer. Travalon had a weird day too, like they were doing a competition with other clubs to see who could build the highest tower out of glass blocks, but the kids must have misunderstood and thought they were competing against each other, so they all made their own towers instead of cooperating to make one really big tower. Travalon says that on some random day, when there's no competition, they'll happily build a really tall tower together... but not when you ask them to, apparently.

Yesterday I discovered a social media page called "Man Who Has Everything." It's hilarious, and they should really do one for the White Person Who Has Everything too. The posts are all things that men say to women, only women are saying them to men, like, "Why don't you go clean the bathroom, John? It burns 71 calories and you need to lose a few pounds." Or, "'Men can be doctors too,' says man who has to make it all about gender." Or, "'I don't mind being called a chairwoman because I know the term covers both women and men,' says John the Chairwoman." Or, "'Quit calling me a male coder. I'm just a coder,'" says male coder who always makes it all about gender." And of course, "'I would be happy to help my husband with holiday preparations if he would just tell me what to do,' says CEO Claire. 'I've been known to change a nappy because I'm a very hands-on mother.'" (It's a British site.) (Apparently people are just as sexist in Britain.) As I kept reading these posts, they seemed mean-spirited, but then I realized that's the point - these are all actual things women have to put up with, so why does it seem mean only when some hypothetical man is putting up with them? They even sell shirts that say "Cyclist" and "Male Cyclist" for romantic partners, or "Legend" and "Married to a Legend," and the Legend one is only in women's sizes while the "Married to..." one is only in men's sizes. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's been angered by these things. I love how men just throw around, "Oh, the masculine covers both," as if they would want to be called "chairwoman." And why do they always act like being called anything feminine is an insult, but then we are supposed to be flattered if they tell us we're "one of the guys" and "taking it like a man"? Who decided male is better than female? Not a female, I can guarantee you that! 

Which reminds me, while I don't care at all about either Taylor Swift (her music is way too white for my taste) or the Kansas City Chiefs, I am puzzled by all the vitriol being hurled at them. It's like people are upset that a woman likes football, or something? I mean, there are way weirder conspiracy theories online about how the Liberal Cabal that controls this country made sure the Chiefs were going to the Super Bowl so that Taylor Swift could come out during the halftime show and tell everyone to vote Democrat. It's amazing how right-wing people are so prone to conspiracy theories. My observation is that they have a lower level of critical thinking; I remember watching the cult of personality around Obama in 2008 with unease, but once he was elected and didn't fulfill all their fantasies, they got over him. The cult of personality around Trump in 2016 was just as freaky, but even though he did nothing (what wall?), the cult has just grown stronger. I've seen videos of people at his rallies saying they would love him even if he killed someone. And don't get me started on the quasi-religious fan art! Oh boy. Is it any wonder people so insane would think a pop star is going to take over the country via football?

Famous Hat

Randy Rainbow for President?

 

Yesterday Travalon and I went to visit his mom and give her the Croatian pillow, which she seemed to like. Two of his brothers and one sister-in-law were there too. After we came back to Madison, we went to Olbrich, where we ran into someone I knew from Slow Food circles and her friend. The four of us wrote messages on the new tiles that will go onto the Thai pavilion, then we went into the conservatory to see orchids and dinosaurs. Here are some photos. First, a couple of quails.

Some art installations.

Then we ran into a faculty member from my department. It seems like sooner or later I run into everyone I know there. Travalon and I went out for a walk in the outdoor garden, and here is the view from the Rose Garden Tower.

I have featured this view during other seasons, but maybe not this one before? 

When we came home, I did some DuoLingo, and it gave me this sticker.

In the evening we went to see Randy Rainbow, a very gay comedian who sings show tunes with new words, mostly about one of the people running for president. Travalon loved it when he closed the show with a song based on the "Trolley Song" made famous by Judy Garland in Meet Me in Saint Louis. Randy Rainbow claims he is running for president himself, and his catchphrase is FAGA, which stand for (something) America Gay Again. Neither Travalon nor I can remember what the F was, and we can't find it online. It was on pink baseball caps. 

Today I had some more coffee after getting to work, forgetting that I had a meeting until the fifteen-minute reminder came up. You better believe that I sat near the door so I could make a quick escape! Then in the evening when I went to catch the bus, there were a whole bunch of people who showed up just before it came, and I thought it was unfair that they would get on before me when I'd been waiting for a while, but somehow when the bus pulled up, I was right in front of the door and got to go onto it first. Did the college students actually defer to me and let me go first? Or was it just that I was waiting off to the side but the bus pulled so far forward that it was right in front of me? It was like magic!

This evening Travalon and I risked going to the health club to swim. Most of the month of January you cannot get a locker at the health club no matter when you go, but I figured it was late enough now that most of the New Year's resolution crowd would have given up, and indeed there were only the usual number of people there tonight. It was so wonderful to swim, but my FitBit is not giving me credit for moving vigorously. I ran earlier today, but it only gave me two minutes of vigorous activity, so I thought swimming would surely count... and it only gave me credit for moderate movement, not vigorous movement. It's based on your heart rate, and lately it seems like no matter how hard I try, I can't get my heart rate up high enough. According to Google, this either means that I'm very fit or that I'm in heart failure. Personally I don't think either of these things is true, I just think the FitBit is getting stingy. My phone is the same way - it keeps cheating me out of one staircase a day. So annoying!

Famous Hat

Secret Message on a Banana

 

Yesterday evening I read a story about a boy whose mother left a secret message for him in a hard-boiled egg. He didn't know until he was an adult and she had died that she was the one who had done it, and in the story he didn't reveal her methods. I thought it would be cool to do something like that... and then I remembered that it is very easy to write a secret message on a banana, and then by the morning it would show up. However, the message appeared faster than that, so Travalon found his secret message last night, not this morning when he would have gone to grab a banana. He did seem delighted by the message. He even took a photo.

This morning Travalon and I cleaned again, then we ran some errands, including out in Sauk. We saw eagles in all three spots, and Travalon got photos.

We didn't see any goldeneye ducks today. After eagle watching, we got coffee to brew at the Mixing Bowl and then had quiche there for lunch. Next door is a sort of antiques shop/art gallery, so we went there and Travalon got a book his dad used to own about fishing. I got this crocheted pickle. We couldn't decide if the white lines were supposed to go under or over the eyes; it was sold with them under the eyes, but we thought maybe they should go over the eyes, like eyebrows. However, that makes the pickle look mean, so I turned the photo upside-down so you could see it both ways, if you can get over that it's upside-down. Maybe I should just take a new photo...

I will leave it to my readers to decide which way is better. 

After getting back to Madison, we took a walk at Governor Nelson State Park on a trail we had not been on before, which took us to a road with a beautiful view of an inlet on the lake. Travalon took some photos with his cell phone, since he had not brought his good camera. 

We went to Mass at the church near us, and during communion they sang a modern liturgical song I actually liked by a woman named Janet Sullivan something - it was very tuneful. Something about all ages will know the glory of God. Then we took a walk at Tenney Park along the canal until we got to the Parched Eagle, where we had a beer. Travalon took this photo.

Sadly, it is closing in March. I'm not surprised, but it is the end of an era. I remember when it was up by us and they used to have bands sometimes on a Friday or Saturday night. I don't think moving to downtown Madison, where he had a lot of competition, was a wise strategic move, but after all he didn't ask my advice.

We ended the evening by going to the funny little pizza place not too far from us again. It's called It's Good for You, which might be true to some extent (how good for you is pizza in general?) since they make everything from scratch. Our lunch was made from scratch too, and I definitely feel the difference, not eating weird additives for a whole day. I had oatmeal for breakfast and fruit for a snack, so nothing too over-processed all day long. If only it were easier to eat like this all the time. I am guilty of bringing frozen burritos to work with me for lunch, and they may be organic, but they're still very processed.

Famous Hat 

Slightly Disappointing Evening

 

Today I worked from home, and it rained all day so I got very wet on my lunchtime walk. Then Travalon and I thought we would check out the fish fry at the East Side Club. They used to have caterers run their Friday night fish fries, but they really haven't had one since the pandemic, so they decided to do it themselves. We didn't get there until pretty late because of Travalon's work schedule, and then we were the only ones there besides the people working the fish fry. I think they are competing against too many actual restaurants. What they need to do is have something nobody else has, like before the pandemic they had Latin music dances every Saturday night. Why don't they bring that back? They were very popular.

As we drove by Olbrich Gardens, we saw a ton of cars in the parking lot. "What could be going on at this hour?" we asked each other, so we pulled in and parked. We could see people inside, but when we got to the front door, there was a big sign: "Private event. No public access." That explains why I hadn't heard about it in their email newsletter.

We decided to check out the Crucible, a nightclub we have never been to, so we pulled into the parking lot, and I noticed the guy in the next car was wearing a sparkly silver top and putting on lipstick. I said it must be a drag show, and Travalon said that sounded entertaining, so we got out of our car... and then we noticed everyone else was still sitting in their cars. Just then a woman came up to us and asked if we were there for Kink Night. I guess we look pretty vanilla, because she said, "This is a once-a-month BDSM event. (I assume she meant bondage, sadism, and masochism.) You might want to come another night. On Wednesdays we have karaoke. Also, the doors don't open tonight until nine." So we left.

We decided to walk over to Mariner's for an ice cream drink, since the rest of the evening had been kind of a letdown, and that was fine. They still had their beautiful Christmas decorations up, and for some reason the place smelled like nutmeg. We watched the very end of the game in which the Badger men's basketball team beat Michigan State, then we headed home. And then I remembered that there was a big folk dance festival at the Union, but at that point we didn't feel like going out again. Oh well, it wasn't a terrible evening, just a slightly disappointing one.

Anyway, it's time for some DuoLingo bragging:

So how long have I been wasting time with the Green Owl? The app told me I just had my ninth "Duoversary," so that means it's been nearly a decade, and yet I'm still only fluent in English.

Famous Hat

Lecture on Biblical Archaeology

 

Yesterday was just another day on campus. I thought I was going to walk at lunch with my colleague, but I found out too late that she was working from home to then go to the free organ concert at Lutheran Cathedral of the Midwest. Somehow I had hurt my back, so I was walking like a little old lady. I left a little early to catch the bus, figuring it would take me extra time to get to the stop, and indeed I got there just before the bus arrived. Then I just came home and chilled. I do have to note that this morning I bent over to get something off the floor, and there was a loud "clunk!" in my back, and then everything seemed to be fine. Something similar would often happen when we played tennis and I'd bend over to get the ball. Who needs a chiropractor when you can just bend your woes away?

Today my colleague and I went to the Horticulture greenhouse over our lunch break. I had already taken her to the Botany greenhouse, so she asked me what the difference was between Botany and Horticulture. I said, "Botany is where you study the plant and say, 'Oh, it grows this way,' and Horticulture is where you tell the plant how to grow." She said that was a good explanation. We saw a blooming amaryllis, and she was taken with its beauty and said it reminded her of another flower, but she didn't know the word in English. I told her once I was talking to someone else whose native language was Chinese, and when I said I liked Baroque music, she didn't know the word but she put it into some app on her phone, and it gave her a Chinese word she knew so she said, "Oh, I like that kind of music too!" So my colleague tried putting "amaryllis" in her translation app, but apparently she didn't know the Chinese word it gave her. So she put the Chinese word for the flower she was thinking of into the app, and it gave her the English word "daylily." I can see that. She said in China they eat daylilies, but you have to dry the flower because it's toxic if you eat it fresh. I did not know that. I know a lot of flowers are edible, but I noted that in this country people seem squeamish about eating them, even when they are put on pieces of cake or whatever so it's clear you're supposed to eat them. People always think I'm weird because I do eat flowers. Rose petals are delicious.

After work I caught a bus right outside my building to take me to where I could catch the B bus going south, but I saw it go by while waiting to cross the street. I started walking down Park Street until getting to a stop just before the next bus was scheduled to arrive, and indeed it did come two minutes later. I went to Rich's house, and we had bao (dumplings) for dinner, then we prayed a rosary. He drove me to Blessed Sacrament, where some people had paid to have a fancy Italian dinner but I hadn't even known about it in time to sign up. You could attend the talk on Biblical archaeology for free, so we did, and the speaker (who works on a dig in Israel) related the different eras to the Proclamation of the Birth of Christ that is chanted at the Christmas Midnight Mass. It was so interesting! I thought Travalon might be interested too, since he loves history, but he went to a high school basketball game nearby and then picked me up afterwards. He said he'd like to go work on a dig where King Arthur might have lived. That would probably be a lot safer than the dig in Israel right now! In fact, the speaker said they are not going over this summer but are going to write about what they found last summer. The dig is not too far from where the war is, so I'd say that's a wise decision.

Famous Hat

Nonmusical Instruments

 

Today was another quiet day of working from home. It snowed again, but it's warmer now, so the snow is a mushy mess. I went out for a walk in my shoes and regretted not wearing my boots, but they are so hard to put on. I timed it once, and it took me four minutes to get them both on. Still, they really do keep my feet warm and dry, and at least they aren't hard to get off, just on.

When I went to Adoration, Rich popped into the chapel and gave me a little gift bag. Inside it were these.

The object on the left is something to use for navigating by the stars, and the thing on the right is a sundial. Aren't they beautiful? I haven't set them up yet. The instructions are in German first, and then English. They seem high-quality; I think they're made of brass. I love these kinds of instruments, although I am not adept at using, say, an astrolabe. I have just always loved the way they look, and old globes too.

Then when I got home, the mail had finally come and there was a letter from Greece to Travalon. He looked surprised, then he said, "Oh yeah! This is a birthday present for you, but it came really late." 

Personally, I find it hilarious that he got a fridge magnet with a quote from Colbert all the way from Greece. Are they huge Colbert fans over there? And how cool would it be if it were actually in Greek? True story: many years ago, when I was a starving college student, I took a class on Byzantine art that met in Greece (as well as Turkey and Italy), and I planned to steal a towel from a Greek hotel that had Greek writing on it. I mean, you always hear about people stealing towels from hotels, so it must be a thing. Of course every Greek hotel had towels with either no writing or the Latin alphabet to write the name of the hotel, so I didn't bother stealing any. I suppose that's why they did that.

And it looks like I never posted the photo of the Pantera socks Travalon gave me for Christmas.

I'm sorry to have kept my readers in such suspense. And if anyone doesn't know what Pantera is, it's Spanish for "Panther." Also, it's a heavy metal band I used to listen to a lot. You may remember the video Travalon took of pelicans, gulls, and cormorants on Pilot Island in Door County that I set to the Pantera song "Cowboys from Hell." It's one of my videos on YouTube that has actually gotten more than one hundred views. In my world, that's practically viral!

Famous Hat

Mars vs. Venus: Bad Mood

 

Today was my first Monday on campus in weeks. I had my annual review, and that was fine, but I had already seen the written evaluation so I knew it would be fine. I did wear this necklace that looked like it would glow under blacklight, and it does!

I don't have much to say about today, so here is an illustration of the difference between men and women.

Reasons Famous Hat is in a bad mood:

• Her coworker didn't say hi to her.
• She read an article that said Capricorn is the worst sign.
• She remembered that time in fifth grade everyone was invited to Stacy's rollerskating birthday party except her.
• Travalon's TV is so complicated that she can't figure out how to turn it on.
• She can't find her favorite pen.
• She has PMS.
• Travalon recycled her favorite water bottle.
• Her FitBit didn't give her credit for vigorous exercise even though she totally ran as fast as she could.
• Travalon left the coffee spoon on the stove, and she didn't notice when she did the dishes, so it was dirty the next morning when she went to make coffee.
• She ordered a malt but just got a shake.
• The fitted sheet just does not fit.
• The Packers didn't win.

Reasons Travalon is in a bad mood:

• The Packers didn't win.
• Wolverhampton didn't win.
• The Bucks didn't win.
• The Badgers didn't win.
• He didn't win... the 50/50 raffle. Did they even mix up those tickets???

Famous Hat

Packers' Season Finale and Mamastep's Birthday Party

 

Sorry for my silence the last few days. Friday I had a quiet day of working from home, but then I had an exciting drive over terrible roads to Rich's house to see Mr. Icon. He was in town but leaving yesterday, so Friday evening was my once chance to see him. Kathbert and El Vegetariano were there too, and the son of the guy who makes fabulous desserts came a little later. Mr. Icon was saying that you can really see the Northern Lights up on Kodiak, and Rich said he'd heard someone once say they were way north in Norway and could see the Northern Lights as a full circle. Mr. Icon said at four in the morning sometimes you could see the Zodiacal Lights, which looked like a disc at the horizon, and when I asked what caused that, he said, "Zodiac poop," so Kathbert said, "My sign is the only one that doesn't poop," since Libra is the only non-animate sign. But El Vegetariano said the lady holding the scales would poop. Then the Dessert Guy's Son sang us a Weird Al Yankovic song called "Your Horoscope for Today" from memory, and it was hilarious. I feel like there was something else about the conversation that I was going to say, but it's eluding me right now. Travalon was at the Badger Basketball game during all this.

Also on Friday, Travalon painted his glowing rocks: the Beatles Apple logo and the Wolverhampton logo.

Yesterday Travalon and I went out to Sauk to see eagles. Here are some photos.

We also saw lots of Canada geese and goldeneye ducks.

At the dam we saw lots of eagles flying around.

In the evening we went to the East Side Club for the Packers Watch Party. They were doing so well against the Forty-Niners that we thought they might actually win, but in the end they lost by a field goal. Still, an excellent season that we had thought earlier would be a rebuilding one. They got just as far in the playoffs as Rodgers usually did - getting knocked off by San Francisco every year. Now we are hoping for the Lions to win the Super Bowl, since they're the only interesting team left, and they have never won it. I believe they have never even been to it, the only team that hasn't. This is their year. (I hope!)

Today we went to Mass in the gym, but there was no sign of the choir. When I asked the guy handing out the bulletins after Mass about it, he shrugged and said he guessed they got the day off. Then we got lunch at Zippy Lube before going home to actually clean the house a bit. It still needs a lot of work, but it really looks a lot better already. We need to do this every weekend.

In the evening we went to Mamastep's birthday party at the Nitty Gritty in Sun Prairie. Everyone else brought her a present, but I didn't even bring her the thing she already owns, the salad bowl and forks she left at Rich's house after my own birthday party. Travalon and I sat next to some very fun women, and we chatted all evening. One said a friend of hers makes soap, so we were looking at the website, and there were soaps for each zodiac sign. All the other signs had bright, colorful soaps, but the Capricorn soap was gray. Why does everyone think Capricorns hate bright colors? Am I the anomaly here? I am so tired of being told I'm the worst sign and that my colors are blah ones like brown and gray. Is it because there are so few of us that we get the worst of everything? Kind of like how everyone pushes Gen X around because we are such a small generation. 

Mamastep got her glass for unlimited beer even though her birthday is tomorrow, and then her friend whose birthday was earlier this month got one too. Then they both got mini sundaes with candles. I said to the waitress that my birthday had been this month too (although I hadn't brought my purse and couldn't prove it), and she said I couldn't get the glass for unlimited beer (which I didn't want anyway, not after an amazing spiced pear old fashioned), but she could give me the mini sundae. Mine didn't have a candle, but it was free, and it seemed a little bigger so Travalon and I could split it. It was like a bite and a half of sundae - just the perfect amount. I guess my birthday festivities are still going on!

Speaking of things still going on, there are still some houses decorated for Christmas.

They must be of the school of thought that the Christmas season doesn't end until Groundhog's Day, which is actually Candlemas. I approve!

Famous Hat