Fast Irish Session (We Just Watched)

 

This is what's going to get me through the next four (plus....) years:

Today I didn't walk with my colleague because she had a department luncheon and I went to an early music concert. Then this evening Travalon and I went back to Awildan Distillery, where we had gone last Wednesday. Tonight there was a fast Irish session, and I was surprised to see that I knew half the people playing there, including a mandolin player who had been at the slow Irish session and had encouraged me to attend the medium Irish session (which I have not been brave enough to do yet). I knew the harp player from the Early Music Festival, and the concertina player and fiddler gave me a puzzled look as if they knew that they knew me but couldn't place me, since I have watched them both perform numerous times. At one point they played a set of reels that I have played at the slow Irish session, so I whistled along, hoping my sound was covered by the tin whistle. Not sure if whistling is a faux pas at an Irish session... Of course, this was after a lavender cocktail. The bartender joined on the bodhran when he could, but he had to step out every time someone wanted a drink. At first Travalon and I were the only audience members, but as the evening wore on, more people gathered just to listen. I thought they were playing until 8:30, but they were still going strong at 9:00 so we left, since we have to work tomorrow. All this Irish music is going to get me through the next four years - that, and the Martians discovering a telephone.

Famous Hat

Laundry Tragedy

 

Here is a photo of the stuffed Union Terrace chair I bought yesterday at the Union. Apparently her name is Maple Fields.

Today I worked from home, and this tree in the neighborhood still has some color.

Then tragedy struck - my bra got put into the dryer!

I did get it untwisted, but the fasteners are pretty bent, so it may not be wearable anymore.

At Adoration I got some clarity, and I saw these bellflowers.

I got a couple of DuoLingo stickers today.

Apparently my score of 126 means that I am at a B1 level of speaking French, which means that I can converse fluently. Since this isn't obvious in real life, I'm thinking that I'm not really at that level.

Famous Hat

Travalon's Two Cents

 

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.

I’m not a Liberal Democrat, I’ve never been one and I do not plan on becoming one. I’ve voted Republican almost my whole adult life, coming from a conservative business owning family. However, in 2016 I voted third party ( just didn’t like either choice) and 2020 was the first time I voted for a Democrat since 1976 when I randomly picked Jimmy Carter over Gerald Ford in a mock election in grade school. This is because I just can’t stand the extremely vile personality of one Donald J. Trump. I thought character in a president really mattered as the Senate Republicans who impeached Bill Clinton for having an extramarital affair while in office said.

Apparently in the America of 2024 character in a president does not matter and the illusion among the vast majority of blue collar middle class and maybe even poor backcountry voters of saving a few dollars on groceries and a few cents on gas under Trump while expecting more inflation under Harris ( despite the fact it’s now down significantly )makes his vile personality and lack of character along with his status as the first convicted felon in our history to ever run for president totally irrelevant.

I understand many of these voters who first watched him verbally abuse and relentlessly attack his opponents in the crudest, most un-presidential way during the 2016 Republican primary debates thought he was cool and “ just like one of us” perceiving him as a normal guy, not a stuffy prim and proper boring politician and that he genuinely cares about and will fight for them. I read this is how the huge cult of the MAGA movement was born. In reality Donald Trump is an east coast wealthy elite crook, who only cares about his own interests and fellow super wealthy elites.

I was willing to give him a chance while watching these debates until he was asked about how as president he would handle the situation of the Mexican Border his response was “ we’re going to build a wall and Mexico’s going to pay for it” I thought “how? “ we can’t force them to, we have to trade with Mexico and are we going to be the bully of the world under this guy? I was turned off to Trump from that point on. I also come from a very conservative Republican county in Wisconsin(Waukesha) so it’s not the change in my life moving to more Liberal Madison or being married to Famous Hat - who is moderate, sometimes tending to lean to the left a bit. My gut feeling is that Donald Trump just isn’t a good person, at all, he’s a horrible one.

He somehow won the nomination over 15 much more presidential-like and more qualified Republican candidates, his brash arrogant and crude style worked. It showed during the actual presidential debates against Hillary Clinton when he told her “ You should be in jail!” regarding the Benghazi email scandal she was accused of, and was never found guilty. Then Trump lined up a bunch of women and claimed they were all victims of sexual assault by former president Bill Clinton, who was now out of office for almost two decades, not Trump’s opponent. No proof, Trump probably just paid them. What other presidential candidate in our history has resorted to sleazy low tactics like this to win an election? Well, he won- not by the popular vote though.

Regarding his MAGA ( Make America Great Again ) slogan, not original first used by Ronald Reagan in 1980, who favored the rich but was a 100 times classier individual than Trump- what time period of greatness does that exactly refer to, as great as when? I can’t picture it being his first presidential term which I guess was ok, but I don’t remember anything particularly great about it. His huge border wall with Mexico promise wasn’t delivered, only two miles were built. Yes, there wasn’t inflation but his relentless tariffs on other countries we need to trade with the stock market 800-1000 points a day, which I noticed as an investor. He ran up the federal deficit by trillions and his sheer ignorance of the Covid -19 pandemic, getting rid of Obama’s pandemic response team, and not encouraging public mask use may have cost millions of Americans who became infected their lives. I don’t get it. Also he sparked the January 6th insurrection on the capital- a lot of unnecessary violence and death threats to his opponents in the Senate and House, because he was a sore loser, was guilty of a rape charge, actually convicted of committing adultery and paying a porn star hush money to cover it up( Trump supporting devout Catholics and so called Christians please don’t speak out about the evils of internet porn use when you vote for a presidential candidate who fully immersed himself in that world by his actions) let’s see what else.. he stole official White House documents and hid them in his Florida mansion, and tried to tamper with Georgia election results so he could overturn the state. Too little too late anyway, oh yeah and death threats against his former vice president for calling the final election results fairly. Just some of his arrogant crude rhetoric too;” African s—thole counties” “good people on both sides “ in a violent pro-Trump crowd incident in Virginia resulting in several deaths too. And history says Nixon was a crook for one incident? Trump makes him look like a saint to me. I’d rather vote for Tricky Dick’s corpse.

He also admirers evil dictators like Vladimir Putin ( calling his military invasion of Ukraine brilliant) Hitler, Stalin and Kim Jin-Un who has already fired nuclear missiles at other countries which luckily have failed. With his crazy extreme right wing proposals for his upcoming term of project 25( 80 hour workweeks for 40 hours pay) mass deportations of illegal and legal immigrants badly needed for agricultural work and other thankless jobs most whites don’t want to do, and many more tariffs on our global trading partners( expected by economists to drive inflation way back up, more than it was under Biden) and taking revenge on all his opponents- I believe he wants to be a dictator himself, turning our Democracy into a fascist state( if he can) I really don’t think he gives a damn about abortion either ( claimed to be the main season right wing Catholics have to vote against the evil pro choice Democrats) They usually go down under Democrats as there are more help options available for mothers with unwanted pregnancies and up under Republicans. He really didn’t give a damn about the deaths of millions of Americans under his watch. Why Trump of all choices for President America? why??? You’ve become a pretty crazy place that I always thought was pretty sane, just and yes, great! up until this orange stain and his massive cult following came along. I’ll never be able to trust you again!

Ok I’ve vented enough. Trump will be our next President no matter what I think about it. I have plenty of Trump supporters ( including two of my brothers in my life. I’m definitely not holding a bitter grudge against them for how them voted or want them completely out of my life, but our relationships may not be so close or cozy anymore, especially if you bring up Trump or any pro-Trump related political issues in my presence. I’m just going to leave the room then and live my life around you, like walking around dog poop on a trail. I took a two week break any from Facebook use, and it’s refreshing! I broke a very bad habit of looking at it too much, wasting too much time on it and I’m proud of myself. These are due to seeing posts by very pro-Trump hometown H.S. friends ( really acquaintances who don’t mean much to me anyway) the day after the election, rubbing in Trump’s recent victory in the face of the left. I don’t mean to see a cartoon of a big red middle finger “ This is for calling us garbage “ ( Just Biden’s thoughtless gaffe) a big red wave or Trump driving a garbage truck “ Cleaning Up The Crap” This is like a boxer who just knocked his opponent down for a 10 count victory and then kicks him in the head. Not humble gracious winners. No class at all. I not only unfollowed these people, I unfriended and blocked them. So my friends list is a little smaller and I may get a few less birthday wishes in two weeks on FB, oh well….They pop up anyway, arguing with posts by Democrat friends relentlessly. I just want to see posts about Wolves football, classic rock or Australian birds. When I go back on next week, it won’t be for more than than 10 minutes a day. More than that could be asking for trouble, running unexpectedly into some kind of pro-Trump garbage.

Maybe it’s living in la-la land and not the grim reality of life on our country today, but I want to engage myself in as many diversions from Trump and his disgusting politics as possible. I’d much rather watch hours of classic cartoons than a few minutes of CNN and especially not pro-Trump fake news Fox. I don’t need my viewing pleasure tarnished by seeing his hideous smug smirk.

I went to a nearby dive bar the other day called The Willows. I enjoy its friendly atmosphere and I’m usually very comfortable having a drink or two there. After this election I was a bit leery someone might mention how great it is that Trump won as most of the clientele is very blue collar. A half drunk older guy did indeed mention the election loudly out of clear blue, but to my pleasant surprise he said “ I voted for Kamala Harris, not really a vote for her but a vote against Trump - he is one vile motherf—ker! If he focuses on the economy and not taking revenge on people, maybe we’ll be ok…” well said, but that’s a big “ if”

It looks bleak with the Senate and House going all red and with all the yes-men he already appointed to his cabinet, but I hope certain laws, the Constitution and states rights and maybe a enough sane logical thinking in the Senate and House slow this wanna-be first American dictator in his tracks and sanity and normalcy in Washington and the nation prevails.

One more thing on a personal level, of course it’s very disturbing, but I decided not to let Trump and his horrible proposals and arrogant crude rhetoric make me sick or drive me crazy, because he is definitely a narcissist, and if he knew that I didn’t vote for him and I was mentally suffering, he would enjoy that, he would sit back and laugh. Narcissists want their enemies or people who disagree with or don’t like them to suffer. I’m going to be ok and not give the orange stain the satisfaction.

God Bless you, America - you stupid fool !

Famous Hat again. I sent this email yesterday: "I've been thinking about our conversation more, and the biggest reason that I am angry with Trump supporters is because they supported a man who tried to violently overthrow the government. Considering that their side always says they are the "patriots," that makes them huge hypocrites. And if they say they don't support everything he did, but they are voting for him as the lesser evil, then they either need to take back all the years they called people who voted Democrat "baby killers" when those people might not have supported abortion, or they need to own their treason. You can't have it both ways unless you are a hypocrite. You can't say the other side supports every evil their leaders support and then turn around and say you don't support everything your evil leader did. I consider them hypocrites and traitors and huge liars, and I will not pray with them until they have shown a modicum of contrition. Which I doubt they ever will. Since Catholic media seems to be in on the lying, per your own report, I am seriously considering leaving the Catholic church. At least we have been trying to find the people who haven't bent their knees to Baal, if they exist in this country. A lot of Catholics here support Trump over the Pope, which is nuts. I've had it with all of them."

It is very strange that "the party of law and order" elected a criminal, and "the party of patriotism" elected a traitor who tried to violently overthrow the government, and "the party of Christians" elected a man who regularly breaks all the commandments. I don't believe they stand for anything anymore, other than the simple maxim: "Trump good, others bad."

Famous Hat

The Bears Still Suck (Just Barely)

 

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

Atticus Sappington III

 

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

Learning Irish Tunes on My Violin

 

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

Karma

 

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?

And my DuoLingo level is now 125!

What does this mean? It means I'm at a high A2 level in French. Which has something to do with a test, like our grad students have to take the B1 level test in German. It measures your fluency. I barely feel fluent in English anymore - I'm always like, "What's the word for this again?" - so it feels unlikely that I would be fluent in French, but maybe I should take the test and find out. And what would I gain with this knowledge? Bragging rights?

Famous Hat