WORTstock and Too Much Making Music

 

Today after Mass we went to Warner Park for WORTstock. Now WORT is the local community radio station, and I assume the -stock part of the name pays tribute to the legendary Woodstock music festival decades ago. I have never been to WORTstock before, but Travalon tells me they have it every year. How did I miss it in the past, especially if it was at Warner Park, which is so close to us? Parking was interesting, because a local credit union was also having their member picnic in another part of the park, specifically the Duck Pond where the Mallards play. (True story: I am not a member of this credit union, but two organizations I am the treasurer for do their banking there, so I got two invitations. But WORTstock sounded more fun.) We got there and immediately ran into a coworker of mine from my first job on campus. He is long retired. We sat with him, his wife, and granddaughter, and we listened to a bluegrass band and a Cuban music band. We had Uyghur lamb kebabs and fried plantains from a Costa Rican food cart for lunch, and Travalon also got us some coconut shrimp from yet another food cart. We had to leave during the Cuban music (which broke my heart) to get to my Brazilian drumming lesson.

I'm not saying I'm the worst person in the Brazilian drumming class, but today (my second lesson) the instructor kept standing in front of me and saying, "Famous is holding her drum wrong. Be sure to put your left foot forward, not back, or you won't be able to control your drum," and, "Famous is holding her drumstick wrong. Be sure to hold it closer to the middle, not at the end, or you won't be able to hit your drum hard enough." Eventually he gave up on me playing the smaller drum with the more complicated rhythm, and he sent me to play one of the big drums you just pound on the downbeat, which is what I had done for the entire lesson the first time. Honestly, if I spend the whole course hitting the downbeat on the big drum, that is just fine with me. I don't need to be the world's best Brazilian drummer, and it helps that you don't have to hold the big drums, because those little ones get heavy after an hour of holding them. I will say these classes do seem to count for some exercise.

Then Travalon and I returned to WORTstock to hear a couple more bands and eat more food. We had some sweet wontons from another cart and Jamaican food from yet another cart. We did miss a jazz band during my drumming lesson, but the band that was playing when we arrived was a fun, pop music cover band that did a couple of original tunes that were actually really good. We also saw the Daughter of Denni and her mom, the Widow of Denni. I can't think of a person I'd be less surprised to see at this festival - as Travalon said, it had a mini-Willy Street Festival vibe. The next band was kind of bluesy, with an awesome horn section, but we could only stay for a couple of songs because I had to get to band practice.

There was an Irish Slow Session today, because they changed from the fourth to the third Sunday, but I figured my bandmates would kill me if I missed today, since I missed last week for Anna Banana II's dinner party, and I will miss next week for Memorial Day weekend travel. I went, but our newest fiddler was at a wedding, and Hardingfele just didn't feel like showing up. Our bassist said I should play the melody with the lone fiddler, so I tried on the mandolin and then asked to use one of the spare violins the lone fiddler has around her house. We tuned one up and I tried to play it, but I was sightreading some of the songs, and my brain cells were on strike after that Brazilian drumming lesson. The bassist jumped in on some of the songs, and she is really good, just a pleasure to listen to. Then there would be a tune she said she didn't know, so I took the violin back, and it's not my violin so I struggled. I know all violins are basically the same... but they're not really the same. Still, it was fun to play violin again. Maybe I'll bring mine to practice along with the mandolin from now on. Of course, the Brazilian drumming is a ten-week course, so I'll be braindead for the next ten Sundays.

Famous Hat

Norske Niko, and Best Day Ever for Jerry the Kraken

 

Sorry for my silence the last couple of days. Thursday I was on campus, frantically getting work done and going to online meetings. The only other person around was the department chair. At three I went for a walk outside, and it was quite windy. I watched a sailboat on the lake for a moment... and then the horn at the Union went off, which usually sounds an hour before sunset, but when it sounds three times in the middle of the day, that's the sign for all the boats to get off the water ASAP, because a storm is coming. I went back into the building, and an hour later the chair asked if I wanted a ride home before the bad weather hit, so she drove me to my car, and then I logged in from home and did another hour of work. In the evening I talked to Tiffy, because I was supposed to make a decision about my promotion by the next day, and I wanted her opinion. I had made a list of pros and cons, and they were exactly equal. She suggested flipping a coin, because if it came up, say, Heads I stay hourly, and I felt disappointed, then that would be a sign that I should become salaried. A great idea, but I haven't done it yet.

Friday I had more questions for my boss about the promotion. She said she would find out and get back to me, so I worked frantically and had another online meeting, then at the very end of the day my boss said my question had stumped everyone, so they were going to give me until Wednesday to decide about the promotion while they did some research to answer my questions. I would hate to go for the raise and promotion but then lose the security of twenty-plus years of seniority when I'd already be losing a week of vacation. When Travalon came home, he felt like doing something, and I was jonesin' for another lavender French soda like I'd had with Anna Banana II and Jilly Moose at the North Side Lounge, so Travalon and I went there. We had a pizza for dinner, and I had my lavender French soda. He had a delicious cappuccino martini - I might have to get one at an earlier time of day sometime.

This morning I slept in and then wasn't feeling the greatest (for example, I thought I might have pinkeye), so I was glad to hear Crystal Palace were playing for the FA Championship and so Travalon wouldn't be going anywhere before noon. I half-watched the game while doing other stuff but was excited to see them win 1-0 over Manchester City. Here are Jerry the Kraken, Roy, and Roy Jr. celebrating.

And some more photos of this momentous occasion. It's the first time they've ever won!

We thought briefly about going to Morel Day in Muscoda, but we decided it would be a lot easier to go to Syttende Mai in Stoughton, since it's much closer. Added bonus: maybe we'd get to see Hardingfele play the hardanger fiddle. I grabbed Niko, of course. As we were driving away from the house, a crane looked like it wanted to cross the road, so I advised Travalon to slow down, and then another crane flew right in front of us to join it... and then a third one hit our car. My first instinct was to jump out to see if it was okay, but then I realized a pissed-off crane wasn't going to be much fun to deal with, so we watched from safely inside the car. It seemed to be walking normally, so I guess it was okay, and in fact I think it attacked our car on purpose. I have seen it do that to other cars.

We found street parking in Stoughton not too far from the main festivities, like the feast at the Sons of Norway Lodge. Oh my goodness, that was worth the trip! That was probably my monthly allowance of sugar intake - two types of pudding, fruit soup, and other treats including a sun buckle. Plus real food like meatballs, fish chowder, and red cabbage. Travalon was disappointed that there was no lutefisk in sight, but he conceded that he probably wouldn't have eaten it anyway. One weird note was that we were right in line behind a guy that looked like someone from the past I really didn't care for. I wasn't as sure if the woman with him was what I remembered his wife looking like, but then she said something to him, and he turned to me and said, "How are you?" Better when I thought you didn't remember me! We made some awkward small talk, but fortunately the Sons of Norway decided where people should sit, and they didn't sit us anywhere near each other. Phew!

After lunch we walked up Main Street to the Stoughton Opera House. It's so beautiful inside.

Beautiful outside too, but I didn't take a picture of that. We also went to an art gallery because we loved this work in the front window.

If you are a person who doesn't mind Dear Leader's constant grifting (or only care when it offends your Islamophobia because he's taking a plane from Qatar), then disregard this. Or... look and learn. We also went to a crystal shop, and I was in love with a crystal that lit up a lovely peach color under a blacklight flashlight, but it turns out you have to have a special UV light - my basic one is the wrong wavelength. So now I have a tiny one that has a different wavelength. I bought these three crystals.

Here they are under the special UV light.

I checked my other crystals, and this one looked amazing under this special UV light.

You can also see a bit of the uranium glass rosary glowing behind it. And my orange mushroom light glows under this wavelength when it did nothing under my regular blacklight.

The green one just had little flecks that glowed, but nothing exciting enough to take a photo of.

Getting back to our day in Stoughton, we went to a museum with a very cool interactive display where you could choose your occupation, hobby, and how you got to the US, and it showed what your life would have looked like. There were also artifacts, like a hardanger fiddle, but apparently we just missed Hardingfele playing at the Stoughton Opera House - by the time we got there, the next act, a string quartet, was playing. 

Our next stop was nearby Lake Kegonsa State Park, where we took a walk along the lake. Travalon took some photos.

We did spend some time just sitting and listening to a very loud oriole. We saw him briefly, but then he flew to another tree, which had a bench under it. We didn't see him again, but he kept singing very loudly right above us. That was so delightful - orioles have a very cool song.

Still to come: photos from the Arboretum and the Spring Green Nature Conservancy land, and some weird screenshots from DuoLingo. Stay tuned!

Famous Hat

Photos from Horicon with Anna Banana II

 

This morning I took my usual detour to get to work with all the construction going on... and then some braintrust tried to drive a truck that was too tall under the railroad bridge on Troy Drive, so we all had to take yet another detour. I was sure I'd miss the shuttle, but I got there with a few minutes to spare... and then forgot my computer in the car. At least I realized it about ten steps later - it would have been really bad to get to work and not have a computer! And then nobody else was there, so nobody would have even noticed if I'd missed the shuttle and had to wait for the next one. Here is the truck we pass every day on the shuttle ride.

At lunch Hardingfele and I took a walk, and she insisted I take a selfie of us in front of a lilac bush, so here we are.

We had a very tense department meeting this afternoon, and I had to take minutes. Yikes! Whatever it was about, it had to do with faculty - I as a staff member am not privy to the inner politics. One person said they wanted the minutes to reflect "this," and I thought, "Reflect what? There have only been vague hints and innuendos." I knew I should have refused to take minutes today! Then tonight something amazing happened: all five Rosary Ladies were on Zoom to pray the Rosary, even from Bosnia! I can't remember the last time all five of us prayed the Rosary together.

Here are some more photos from Travalon's good camera. First, a view in our neighborhood of (from left to right) a crabapple, a magnolia, and a redbud in full bloom.

Here I am with my aunt and uncle at the Arboretum. I will post more photos from the Arboretum soon.

Here are the photos from our trip to Horicon last Saturday. First, the abandoned nest with three eggs.

The tree swallows are so pretty and iridescent.

The trilliums (trillia?) were in full bloom.

We saw a catbird in a tree.

And maybe three brown-headed cowbirds? I'll see if Merlin can identify them.

And also a mourning dove.

We saw a pair of swans.

And a number of snowy egrets.

I believe this is a pair of gadwalls.

The purple martin was posing so majestically.

And an invasive house sparrow has also moved into the purple martin complex.

We saw one lone pelican at Patrick Marsh.

We also saw a great blue heron.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Sunday. This is a pelican at the Sauk Dam.

On the beach we saw this oak tree in bloom.

And across from Mercado Marimar, we saw this iridescent SUV.

More photos to come! Stay tuned!

Famous Hat

Photos from Horicon with My Relatives

 

Today did not start out auspiciously. Between time off for out-of-state guests and the ten thousand meetings I've had to go to lately, I was behind and knew it... but then the keyboard on my computer wasn't working. I tried restarting it three times, but finally I checked for ideas on my phone and it said to hold down the start button for twenty seconds... and that actually worked! Then someone from a small college I was helping out with travel booking for a research trip said they needed the invoice TODAY for their expenses, which at this point are half estimated because they haven't been charged yet and will be converted from several currencies, but somehow I did get something to them. I spent the rest of the day frantically digging out of the hole, except when I went outside on my breaks (not the morning one, it was raining), and my neighbor who can't remember anything these days still has my schedule memorized, so she was waiting for me. Sigh. Then I went to Adoration and prayed with the lava rosary.

As promised, here are some photos from Travalon's good camera. These are all from our trip to Horicon with my aunt and uncle. First we have a coot.

Next, a great blue heron.

And of course a beautiful snowy egret.

How about an egret and a pelican?

A lovely pair of red-headed ducks.

Here are some pelicans doing their cooperative fishing.

How about a pair of blue-winged teals?

We even saw a wild turkey.

This purple martin looks like it would like to speak to the manager.

More to come; it's late, and Blogspot is still only letting me post photos one at a time, so it's slow going. 

Famous Hat

Olbrich Gardens and the Arboretum

 

Today I met Anna Banana II for brunch at Crema Cafe, then we went to Immaculate Heart, which was open this time. The rosary display was gone, but we were able to go into the sanctuary. There is a kind of display on the wall out in the hall about the green scapular, like a setup in a high school for the basketball team that won the state championship in 1996, and I had thought maybe that was the Shrine to the Green Scapular, but we saw the actual shrine in the sanctuary.

Then we went to Olbrich and walked around outside, where we ran into a grad student from my department and her mom. She was wearing her doctoral robe, but she isn't getting her doctorate until the fall. Her mom doesn't really speak English, so we just smiled at each other. Here is a pretty flower that was near the bridge to the Thai pavilion. 

We went into the conservatory and saw lots of blooming orchids, including this interesting one called Gallo Gallo. Isn't that Spanish for Rooster Rooster?

I had to go home and join a meeting for an hour, then Anna Banana II picked me up, and we went to the Arboretum and sniffed just about every blooming crabapple tree and lilac bush. October may be a visually beautiful month with good weather, but May wins because it doesn't just look beautiful, it smells beautiful. This interesting tree didn't have a scent, but I thought the flowers were so pretty. 

It is called a pink mountain silver bell tree, which is a colorful enough name, but I like to think of it this way: Pink Mountain silver bell tree, so I can wonder where Pink Mountain is and long to visit.

We met OK Cap for dinner at the Great Dane, then Anna Banana II went with some other Night Prayer folks to a praise meeting, and I waited on a lovely porch for Travalon to pick me up. I got three decades of the rosary prayed as I waited, so maybe tonight in bed I can finish the other two, because of course it got late. I'll try to post the photos from Travalon's good camera tomorrow.

Famous Hat