Bachata Lesson at the Monona Terrace

 

This morning when I got on the shuttle to work, my shuttle buddy that I usually talk to wasn't there. I wondered if she took an earlier one to avoid me because she is sick of talking to me, but then I thought maybe she was sick or something. Everyone else is lately. We pass this artsy van every time I ride the shuttle, and this time we stopped where I had a perfect view of it... but by the time I pulled my phone out, the shuttle had started moving again so the photo isn't that great.

At lunch I walked with my colleague, and we must have walked really vigorously because I got a lot of active time and already had my steps for the day even before we charged up Bascom Hill. I am a little concerned for her, because she is going to China to visit family, and will they even let her back in the country? She's been a citizen for years, and her kids were born here, but I'm imagining the customs people stopping everyone but her white daughter-in-law. Everyone says no chance that would happen, and I hope they're right. 

I took the 4:40 shuttle back to my car (I usually catch the 5:00 or 5:20 shuttle), and my shuttle buddy got on at a later stop, so then I wondered if she did in fact take an earlier shuttle to avoid me. She waved warmly but didn't sit by me. I took the early shuttle in order to get to the Monona Terrace in time for a bachata lesson. This is a type of Latin dance that is very beautiful to watch, at least if it is being done by girls in their twenties wearing cute, flirty skirts and high heels while dancing with slender guys in white shirts and black pants. However, I have always found the music for bachata kind of boring compared to other Latin music. It comes from the Dominican Republic, and that is about as much as I know about it. The invitation said you didn't need a partner, and that was true - this was like a big Zumba class, and only a few people had come with someone they knew. Most of us were alone, and the younger people ignored me, but the postmenopausal ladies were very friendly and welcoming to me. A Peruvian guy taught the class, and I didn't need any exercise after my vigorous lunchtime walk, but I got it anyway. The class was so much fun; apparently they have these once a month, and next month is Irish dancing. They're totally free. I believe I know what I'll be doing the Thursday before St. Patrick's Day! Travalon didn't go tonight because he was at a girl's basketball game, and I don't imagine he'll go in March either. Dancing isn't really his thing.

My FitBit is going to have a cow - it has been telling me for over a week that I am not training hard enough, because I should be getting a cardio load of 60-75 (again, no idea what the units are), but I've been getting 30 lately. However, today I had three and a half hours of active time and a cardio load of like 112, so now it's going to yell at me that I am over-training. There is no pleasing that thing.

Famous Hat

Is This Even a Textversation?

 

I forgot to mention that yesterday I spaced out and prayed a rosary while walking around the house during my lunch break, so then there was no need to pray one at Adoration. Instead, I prayed the Chaplet of the Precious Blood, the Padre Pio Chaplet, and the Infant of Prague Chaplet. That still left me a lot of extra time, so I just read old entries in my prayer journal. Also, I ran into Cali just before going into the chapel, so we sat together, but of course we didn't talk because it's silent in there.

Today I worked on campus, and at lunch I went to an early music concert of Bach cantatas. It was so cold out that at my afternoon break I wanted to walk inside, so I checked the schedule for the big conference room overlooking the lake. I don't know if I got the day wrong, but the schedule looked clear, and yet there were people in it when I peeked inside. I did find an empty classroom on the first floor and walked around the periphery while praying a Divine Mercy Chaplet. Then on the way home I could see an amazing sunset, but by the time I parked in the garage and ran down to the dock, it had faded a bit.

I zoomed in so you can see the stripes of pink and white. It looked delicious.

Travalon gets to color tropical animals at work.

There's not nearly enough coloring at my job. 

This evening Anna Banana II sent a text to the group Night Prayer chat that just said, "Yes." I assumed that she meant to reply to someone else - goodness knows I have done that enough times myself - but then Jilly Moose texted back "?". Still not strange - she was wondering what the random "yes" meant. But the part that just killed me was that then Richard Bonomo immediately liked the question mark. I was like, this doesn't even qualify as a textversation, yet there's a lot of information being transmitted. It does remind me of years ago when Travalon put a sticker of a thumb's up under a post, I think my post, and then he gave his own thumb's up a thumb's up. I think I laughed ten minutes straight about that one.

Famous Hat

Repeat Customer (Me)

 

Today I worked from home, and I mostly got caught up from being sick last week. A package came for me, because when I opened Ivan there was a QR code on a piece of paper in the package, so I scanned it and got taken right to the dude's website. He had more weird mushroom sculptures as part of his "Fugly Fungi" collection, and then he had something I had to have. I thought to myself, "Nope, it's stupid to spend money on this," but then I remembered the gift card I'd gotten from the health incentive thing at work, and that is exactly what it's for - buying stupid stuff you don't want to spend real money on. It's play money. So this is what I got:

And this is what it looks like under the blacklight:

The dude also sent this free... poster? 

And here it is under blacklight.

Maybe I shouldn't say "dude," since for all I know, this person is a woman. Whoever they are, they are an artist making things that glow under blacklight. I got my blacklight using the gift card five years ago, so now I might as well get more stuff to use it with.

Famous Hat

Led Zeppelin Documentary

 

Today I worked on campus, and it was so cold that my colleague didn't want to walk at lunch. Instead, I went over to Hardingfele's building, which is a total maze, and we walked through it for half an hour. I had put some stuff in the mail and was frustrated that it never got picked up until a grad student pointed out that today is President's Day, a fact that has no meaning to us state workers who don't get the day off. I also thought I had a fraudulent charge on my purchasing card, which seemed to be for medical supplies and not line up with any of my recent orders from Amazon, but when I looked more closely, I did see that the order number matched some books we had ordered, and the amount was different because only two of them have come in. So that was a relief!

Travalon picked me up after work, and we went to Oliva, the Mideastern restaurant on the corner of High Point and Old Sauk Roads, but it was closed on Mondays so we went to Swagat, the Indian restaurant in the same complex. Just to mix things up, instead of getting my usual chicken tikki masala, I got tandoori shrimp masala, and we had some very garlicky naan, so between the garlic and the tomato sauce it almost felt like I'd had Italian food for dinner. Then we drove south on High Point Road to the cinema to see Becoming Led Zeppelin, a documentary with a lot of old footage of the band members as kids and teens. I did learn quite a bit, like that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played on other people's hits like Lulu and Donovan and Shirley Bassey - you can hear them both on the theme song to Goldfinger. Jimmy Page was even on TV when he was a young teen, playing guitar and singing with some school chums, and John Paul Jones was a choir master and organist at a church when he was fourteen. It was also fascinating watching the concert footage of early Zeppelin, because you could really see how Robert and Jimmy were having a conversation: Robert would sing something, and Jimmy would respond on the guitar. Meanwhile, John and John Paul were having their own conversation on drums and bass. It was a shame that so few people were at this movie, because it was really good. Hardingfele and her husband saw it this past weekend.

Here is a photo I forgot to post of yesterday's sunset.

 

I should get going - it's time for bed. Know what else it's time for? Some DuoLingo bragging!

I had half an hour of double play this evening, plus my fifteen minutes of double play from doing a lesson this morning, so that's why I earned so much. Tonight was a lot of fun because I was creating geometric shapes on a graph. That is a lot more entertaining than adding fractions together.

Famous Hat

Romantic Valentine's Day Dinner (Two Days Late)

 

This morning after Mass, Travalon said we could go to Half-Priced Books to look for a book that the Shamrock Club will discuss at their book study. I have never gone to their book study, but everyone says how fun it is, and this particular book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, intrigued me. We went to the east side store, but they didn't have it; however, the west side store did, so we drove there, and as we listened to R&B music while driving the Beltline, I drifted off a bit. Travalon also found some books, and a Dudley Do-Right Funko Pop. There was a book about astrology there that I didn't get, but I did turn to the section on "The Sagittarius Spouse," and it said they wouldn't be home much because they are so ambitious in their careers. That doesn't sound anything like Travalon, who (like me) works to live. He doesn't live to work.

It was a cold day, but sunny, so we went for a walk along the canal at Tenney Park. Tons of people were ice skating at the park, and when I used the bathroom, it smelled like the hot chocolate they sell at the concession stand. We went home and made our own hot chocolate, and I checked my email as I drank it... and saw we had missed a Members Social at the East Side Club, with free pizza and some sort of trivia contest. So bummed! It's our fault for not putting it on the calendar, but why send a reminder email two hours before the event? Why not a day or two ahead of time? If they hadn't sent the reminder email at all, then I wouldn't have felt bad because I would have completely forgotten that we missed it.

We did see some mallards and red-headed ducks at Tenney Park.

They kept diving under the water - maybe it was warmer than the air!

Since it was such a sunny day, we hoped there might be a spectacular sunset, but it was kind of meh.

Since we had missed the free pizza for lunch, we went to It's Good for You Pizza for dinner, which is Neapolitan style and way better than the frozen pizzas they have at the East Side Club. They make your pizza right there in front of you in a big pizza oven labeled "microwave." They also had these cute cakes for the Valentine's Day holiday, and since we hadn't been able to go out on the actual day, we each had one.

It was a chocolate cake with cherry filling in a white chocolate shell, with cocoa powder sprinkled beneath it and a bit of cayenne powder sprinkled on the top. We hadn't realized it was cayenne powder, so the kick came as a bit of a surprise. They even gave us a tiny wooden hammer to crack the white chocolate shell, although it was totally ineffective. We just ended up biting into them - not elegant, but effective. 

Travalon drove me to band practice, since the roads are still pretty bad, and then he went to a video arcade. He played "Mike Tyson's Punch Out" and still can't get past Bald Bull, just like when he was a kid.

He said there are instructions online for beating him in the modern game, but this is the original game from 1984. Travalon knocked him down a few times, but Bald Bull still knocks him out every time.

Our practice was much better than some of the recent ones have been, which is good, since it's the last one before our gig. Now it turns out our bass player can't make the gig, and Hardingfele (who arranged the gig for us) is going to be late because of a work function. And then we just found out about an emerita member's 90th birthday party the same day as the Shamrock Club St. Patrick's Day Party, so I will have to come late, and Hardingfele will have to leave early, but the band will play there too. I guess we are all very busy ladies! I thought Hardingfele was going to invite Crochet Girl, who plays violin, to join our band, but either Crochet Girl said no or (more likely) Hardingfele hasn't gotten around to it yet. I was happy that Travalon arrived while we were playing "Elizabeta," a cumbia in E minor that is one of my favorite songs that we do. He agreed that it is a fun song. It's the closest to playing in a salsa band that I may get in this life.

Famous Hat

Stepping Out over the Snow

 

This morning it was very snowy, so Travalon and I walked around the house with our stuffies. Here is the Irish bear family.

And here is Travalon's Elvis Beanie Baby with his miniature Beatles guitar.

I watered my neighbor's plants, and her Christmas cactus is covered in blooms.

My Christmas cacti aren't in bloom, and in fact they look really bad. I'd ask what her secret is, but the same person is taking care of both sets of plants. Her plants are in a very cold apartment with the shades drawn, so why are they so happy??

Travalon watched Crystal Palace, but they lost. Jerry the Kraken doesn't look that upset about it, unless he hides it really well.

It's that time on the Famous Hat Blog: time for some DuoLingo bragging!

This makes me nostalgic for the music course, where this Oscar character would throw roses if you performed the piece well.

We did go for a walk outside, and it wasn't too cold, but now the temperature is supposed to drop. In the evening Travalon dropped me off at an early music concert, but I had nobody to talk to during the intermission because Tiffy couldn't come to town with the bad weather, and my bandmate who usually goes to these concerts just forgot about it. The music alternated between madrigals and Marin Marais pieces for viols. Meanwhile, Travalon went to Leopold's, then on the way home we decided to stop at the North Side Lounge. I like the lights decorating the place.

I should have taken another shot from the inside to compare and contrast. I had a beautiful lavender drink.

That is my hat admiring it. It tasted like lavender for sure but was so potent that I am still buzzed way over an hour later. I can see why people like to hang out in bars, because we had great conversations with the people sitting beside us, and another group that came in after dinner at the Madison Club. I have never been to the Madison Club, since you have to be invited by a member to go, and you have to be rich to be a member. Tiffy's brother-in-law is a member, so she has been. These people said it wasn't all that, and also that their friend who was hopped up on cocaine and a few drinks was at a Level Twelve, which didn't go over too well at such a stuffy place. (He wasn't with them at the North Side Lounge - that might have been entertaining.) The place was pretty quiet when we got there, but it was full by the time we left. It was so much fun to get out after our morning stuck at home. When we left, it was snowing a little again. It must be making up for all the lack of snow we've had so far this winter.

Famous Hat

Valentine's Day 2025

 

I have been sick, so that is why I didn't blog the last couple of days - not much to say. I worked from home on Wednesday for a few hours and then watched some stuff we had on our DVR for years, something called Inside the Vatican that was really interesting, about people who are not the Pope who work there, and then Pope Benedict's funeral. The first recording started with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and a woman was doing a play-by-play like it was a baseball game, and then they would interrupt to interview someone who was some sort of acknowledged expert in Catholicism. At one point they had the running commentary and the interview going at the same time. It was nothing like watching Pope John Paul II's funeral: I had asked for the next day off weeks earlier to do "spring cleaning," but I kept thinking, "Who am I kidding? I should just work," but something kept stopping me, and so I could watch the funeral in real time with some other people without having to worry about getting up early the next day. That one was so beautiful. There was a second recording the date of Pope Benedict's funeral, and I thought, "Ah ha, here is the Liturgy of the Word! I will get to hear the readings and the homily!" since that was so moving during the previous papal funeral... but it was more coverage AFTER the funeral so I just deleted it without watching it.

Yesterday there was a big financial professional conference on campus that I was looking forward to attending with my colleague, but I just called in for the whole day and watched the final spring concert put on by the band director who was at this university for like forty years. Maybe fifty? He started young and retired old. It was a Public Television thing, so now and then they'd interrupt to say how if you donated, you could get the DVD of the concert AND a bobblehead of the band director. Of course, this deal is from six years ago, so it's probably no longer any good. I did feel well enough to attend the Union meeting by Zoom in the evening, and then afterwards I watched an online lecture about how plants can communicate and maybe even see. The author was in Puerto Rico, so you could hear little tree frogs behind her - that was a charming touch. 

Today I still felt crappy but did work from home all day. I had a meeting that ran long, so I had to duck out to recycle the tea Travalon had so kindly prepared for me, and I got back just as they were all logging off, so half of them were gone already. Before work, Travalon gave me my gift, "Ivan."

Here he is under blacklight.

He looks very grumpy. I feel like, since he came with a name, he should come with a whole backstory, like that he collects books bound in human skin or something. (That is a real thing, and most of the ones they have tested are actually cow skin, but the ones that are genuine human skin are - go figure - all from women.) 

I gave Travalon what he asked for: an Elvis Beanie Baby.

He did give me an extra gift I asked for, a tiny Irish Beanie Baby because mine somehow got lost. He ordered one online, then meanwhile he found one in an antique shop, and then just the other day he found the original one that got lost. Here they are!

From left to right: the one he ordered online, the one from the antiques shop, and the original one.

The weather has been crappy, and since I've been sick, I've been mostly staying inside and walking to music. Somehow when I tried to turn up the volume on this video, I made a screenshot.

"Who's listening in 2025?" This song is from 1992, and the older ones like that always seem to be quieter, so I turn the volume up... and then the next song from two years ago is blasting, so I have to turn it down. First World problems.

In case you were wondering about the weather right now, it's snowing very hard. Travalon and I were going to go to Alt Brew like we do every second Friday to listen to Currach, but the weather is so bad that if we do anything, we might walk to Mariner's. They appear to be open. In case you are wondering about the time right now, it's time for some DuoLingo bragging.

I'm still doing decimals and fractions. If this math course ever gets to calculus, it sure is taking its sweet time. Or maybe it's not moving me ahead, because with this virus brain I keep making silly mistakes. If anyone had told me that as an adult I'd be sitting around voluntarily adding fractions, I would have thought they were nuts, but here we are. Maybe I should just give up and do Spanish.

Famous Hat