Here is a photo of the stuffed Union Terrace chair I bought yesterday at the Union. Apparently her name is Maple Fields.
Here is a photo of the stuffed Union Terrace chair I bought yesterday at the Union. Apparently her name is Maple Fields.
I was trying to remember this last night while blogging: at band practice, our guitarist kept calling a fermata a "four-mata." The bassist said, "We must have to hold it for four beats," but the guitarist said, "No, two beats. It's a two-mata," so I sang, "You say tomato, I say two-mata." Then today I was walking to a meeting with my boss and another guy, and we were talking about the administrative center they want to put all financial specialists into. At first they called them "pods," but then we all joked that we were Pod People, so they changed the name to SLACs (can't remember what that stood for), until we started calling ourselves Slackers. They renamed the groups yet again to Administrative Regional Teams, or ARTs... and the other guy pointed out that I would be in a Financial Administrative Regional Team, or FART. In fact, I will be in FART 5, and I thought that would be a fabulous blog post title, but I'd already promised Travalon that I would call this blog post "Travalon's Two Cents." And here they are:
After this latest presidential election, I’m not really angry about the results, but I must admit I’m very disappointed and shocked. I just don’t understand where more than half the voters in America are coming from.
This morning Travalon and I went to a church on the far east side. I used to live a block from this church but didn't go there because it was too big and ugly and modern for my taste, but now that I see all the lovely churches with beautiful music full of right-wing types who don't acknowledge the Pope, it seemed like the perfect time to give this church a chance. At first I found their worship band annoying, like something you would find at an Evangelical church, and the words projected on screens were kind of weird too. But then the bad music started to remind me of the church I'd gone to on Wednesdays as a child in Catholic school, when everyone used to talk about our obligation to the poor. On Sundays we went to the Episcopal church, and maybe if I want beautiful liturgy and social justice these days, I'd have to go to one of the Episcopal churches in town. That's what some of my former choir buddies do.
Then we went to the East Side Club to watch the Packers, and Jilly Moose joined us in the second half. They were playing the Bears in Chicago, and on their opening drive they got a touchdown, but then it seemed like their defense couldn't stop the Bears, while the Bears' defense could sure stop them. It was a low-scoring game by halftime, when I went to take a vigorous walk outside. Travalon had bought some raffle tickets, but we didn't win anything - no meat, no T-shirts in sizes way too small for us, and certainly not the 50/50 cash prize. At one point the Packers were first and goal, but they got to fourth down and decided to go for it, even though the Bears kept stopping them. I can see being aggressive early in the game, but in the fourth quarter like that, I would have gone for the field goal. With a minute left, the Packers were up by one point, so the Bears just had to drive down the field and get a field goal, which if LaFleur had opted for the earlier field goal wouldn't have worked. With three seconds left, the Bears went for the field goal... and MISSED!!!! I thought at first it was bad luck, but in fact a Packer got a hand on it, so it went off-course and doinked off the uprights. So after further review, the Bears still suck. There was a woman there wearing a Walter Payton jersey, and when she won one of the T-shirts, she joked that we all just wanted her to cover it up. Just like yesterday, there was an interesting license plate on a vehicle in the parking lot.
For some reason I had a lot of trouble staying awake during Irish class, then in the evening Travalon dropped me off at band practice so he could go to Leopold's. We practiced Christmas carols for our upcoming gig at the airport in December, and when we practiced "Jingle Bells," it reminded me that someone online sang the words to the tune of "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC. That is the kind of stuff I love on the internet. Last night Travalon was singing show tunes, and he was singing something from Oklahoma that goes, "When the corn is as high/as an elephant's eye," and I sang, "That's amore," so we both laughed and laughed. Infused chocolate might be how I get through the next four years.
Stay tuned tomorrow when Travalon will give his two cents about the election.
Famous Hat
I hadn't realized it had been so long since I blogged. Thursday I had nothing to say except that we had our usual Union meeting. Friday I worked from home, but in the evening Travalon and I did something exciting - we went to the Badger Men's Basketball game! They were playing Arizona, who were ninth in the nation, while the Badgers themselves weren't ranked. It was a very exciting game, with the Badgers pulling ahead right away and never falling behind, although at one point it was a tie. One guy named John Tonje got 41 points, and there were some amazing 3's from him and his teammates. The woman sitting right next to me recognized me from working at the Killer Building, so that was crazy. The student section threw confetti after the first basket, and they chanted "You f--ked up!" when the other team got a foul. The band even played "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind, and Fire. I had so much fun! But the best part (other than the Badgers winning) was that most of the 2014-15 team made it back to see Bo Ryan, the former coach, get his name put up in the rafters. Here are some photos.
Afterwards the whole student section ran down onto the court and danced around. I was loving that vibe, then when it died down, we went to Local Motion, the bar in a couple of train cars. (Travalon was there once before, and he took photos that I posted on this blog, but now I can't find them.) There were too many people at the bar to order, so we grabbed some free water and sat on a couch, enjoying the beautiful lighting and the soft club music in the background. We will have to come back on a quieter night, because some of their drinks looked amazing. As we walked back to the car, I needed to powder my nose, so we were going to duck into a hotel lobby, but it locked at 10 pm. No worries - some people went into before us, so we just slipped in with them. There was a giant inflatable Bucky Badger there, so he and Travalon got into it.
Today Travalon and I went to explore more of the paths we went on last weekend. We tried taking the branch labeled "Path to Governor Nelson State Park," but it just seemed to lead us to a path labeled "Path to Town Center" that went left and right. We went right, but it was just a loop, so we went left... and ended up on the same loop. As we headed back to the car, the path was labeled "Path to Town Center," and then when we got to the car, we looked for a map (unsuccessfully), but we saw another sign that said, "Path to Town Center." It didn't specify which town center, Westport (which doesn't have much of one) or Waunakee. Then as we drove home, Travalon spotted a path on the other side of the road, so we will have to explore that sometime. Here are some photos, including of a little area with benches overlooking a bend in the creek.
When we came home, my hot fuchsia third eye beanie had arrived!
Here is what it looks on me, a little crooked. Oops!
It came with stickers and amazing tissue paper.
Then we went to a Christmas craft fair at the East Side Club. I'm not sure if this person who parked there was happy or sarcastic.
I got some crystals: a selenite wand with chakra crystals (oops, upside-down), a diamond-shaped crystal of moss agate, and an obsidian crystal with the phases of the moon etched into it.
Then we went downstairs, and one stand giving free chocolate samples was manned by a couple who were gaga over my Copper Falls hoodie, because they had been married there, and my third eye toque, because they had the All-Seeing eye in their business logo. We got some, er, infused chocolate from them.
Two dark chocolate, two raspberry, and two coconut. Since we had no plans this evening, we thought it would be a good time to try it. Then we went to a Natives Art craft fair. I got some earrings.
Travalon got a print and a keychain. (Sorry, no photos yet.) By then I had gotten my steps for the day, so we headed home and waited a bit before trying the infused chocolate. The guy had said it takes half an hour to kick in, so I prayed a rosary as I waited to see if these were just delicious chocolates or anything more. By the end I did feel weird and happy, and then Travalon and I were conversing in show tunes and laughing about nothing. He decided to watch the Badger football game, even though they are playing Oregon, who are #1 in the country, so I'm not expecting big things out of them. Oregon's kicker is named Atticus Sappington, and I was thoroughly enchanted with that name. It seems like he should be The Third or something, right? It's so snooty, not at all what you'd expect on a college football player.
I decided to use my altered perception to create art, since while cleaning I'd found my third canvas. I still have plenty of blacklight and glow-in-the-dark paints left, so I decided to paint my cartoon alien surrounded by heavenly bodies. (No, not Playboy Bunnies. Stop it!) As I thought how when people would ask, "What's the name of your painting?" and I would say, "Atticus Sappington III," I began to laugh hysterically, so Travalon asked what was up, and then he began to laugh. Anyway, behold Atticus Sappington III!
But that's now how he's meant to be viewed. Here he is under blacklight.
And here he is glowing in the dark.
And here he is, as I walk from the darkness back into the light.
Maybe that isn't that exciting in a photo, but it looked really cool in real life.
Originally Travalon and I had thought that I should call this blog post "All Roads Lead to Town Center," but when I said that to him not too long ago, as he watched football under the influence, he was very adamant that I should call this blogpost "Atticus Sappington III." So that is what I am doing. I am writing this while a bit goofy - let's see if it makes a difference.
Famous Hat
Today at work I heard a really good talk on the neuroscience of prejudice, then I was going to walk with my colleague at one instead of our usual time of 12:30 to accommodate her schedule, but as I was heading to our meeting spot in front of the Limnology Building, she texted that she couldn't walk until 1:30. I said too late, I'm already out walking, and I can't do it at 1:30. At that time I had a Very Important Meeting with the Chair for her to make some double-caffeinated coffee for me so that I wouldn't fall asleep during the department meeting. And do you know, it worked? Then right at the end of the day my boss told me that I was going to get my promotion from Financial Specialist II to Financial Specialist III. This won't come with an immediate pay raise, but it does raise the high end of the salary range for me, and it also should mean I will be salaried instead of hourly for the first time in my life. Yay!
This evening I talked Travalon into taking me to Awildan Distillery for a slow Irish session. It's actually called "Learn-a-Tune," and I went once (back in June maybe?) and then hadn't managed to get back again until now. I figured Travalon would have a good time tasting the delicious cocktails and talking to the friendly bartender, and he did. (I had the pumpkin pie cocktail.) Meanwhile, I was the only one who showed up for the session, so I got a private fiddle lesson and learned a slip jig called "Cock and Hen" and reviewed a polka called "Mickey Chewing Bubble Gum," or "Bill Reilly's Polka." (A lot of Irish tunes have multiple names and multiple versions - we were trying to find the version of "Rocky Road to Dublin" that I know, and every one the teacher found online was a little different.) Apparently at some point my bridge had fallen off and I'd put it on backwards, so the teacher fixed that. She also said not to be afraid of fine tuners, which the Early Music types were very scornful of so I had long since gotten rid of them. I also don't know where my chin rest and shoulder rest are, since the Early Music people didn't approve of those either. The teacher said she thought I should find and/or replace them, and get new strings since I randomly have a gut string for my D but none of the others, and she said at least the E string should have a fine tuner. I have neglected this poor violin for far too long, since the Early Music Festival no longer happens and it's been years since they have needed me to play fiddle in my band. It's time for me to play it again, and this monthly session will help. If I get brave enough, I'll bring it to the big Irish session sometime.
Last month my aunt sent me videos of her cousin playing in an Irish session in California, a snippet of "Rocky Road to Dublin" and another of "Drowsy Maggie." I more or less know both tunes, and I texted back that I'd love to play with that session, and my aunt said if I'm ever out there, they play every Monday and Thursday and would love to have me. Hmm... it might be time for another trip to California.
Famous Hat
Today I heard that Nick Fuentes, the guy who said right after the election, "Your body, my choice," got doxxed. If you don't know what doxxing is, it's a despicable practice of putting a person's personal information online so they will be harassed, and it usually happens to women, often Jewish women who are doing investigative reporting. As you can imagine, these women often have to flee their homes. I don't condone doxxing, or sinking to the level of the other side, but I did feel a little shiver of schadenfreude when reading that Mr. Fuentes was whining about how he now has to live in fear. In addition, men online are challenging him to a boxing match. How can it not feel like karma that a man who has spent all his time instilling fear in women and minorities now feels it himself? I guess our side has finally gotten sick of playing by the rules when the other side said, "Rules are for suckers!" This isn't going to make for peace, ultimately, but right now it doesn't even feel like peace is possible. After all, this isn't throwing the first punch but simply responding with a harder hit. As someone said of Fuentes, "Play stupid games and win stupid prizes."
Can you believe these flowers were blooming today?
It's that time of year when I can see sunsets out the dirty office windows again.
When I walked at lunch with my colleague, I was telling her about strange stories that are in the rightwing media but legitimate sources say are completely false, and she told me one of them is going all around Chinese media too. I find this fascinating - why is Chinese media interested in fake, sensationalistic stories meant to get the low-information crowd here all riled up? Why do they even care what happens here? Are they trying to prove to their own people that our country is so crazy that we do these things that all normal people would agree are crazy... IF they were happening? Considering that schools can't give kids a Tylenol without parental permission, it really stretches the imagination that you could send Tommy to school and get back Tammy that afternoon without anyone consulting you. It always amuses me how the other side says liberals are terrible at governing and can't get anything done, yet they are so deadly efficient that they are secretly giving sex-change operations to thousands of minors behind their parents' back. We are all just waiting to see how the Right is going to blame Democrats for all Trump's future failings (and they will be myriad) when the Democrats currently have absolutely no power. The mental gymnastics with these people are astounding, but I guess you learn to be that way when you are such an obvious hypocrite but have to convince yourself that you are the Party of Law and Order despite electing a criminal as president.
In the evening Travalon and I went swimming for the first time in weeks. Not much to say about that, but it felt great. I said both the warm pool and the hot tub seemed less warm than usual, so he said that was something to blog about. I guess it is, at that.
Famous Hat
More random than a rabbit on a B-17!