Kaaona Necklace and Thrill Factory

 

Today after Mass Travalon and I recycled the plastic, again with some help from the guy who always used to do it, then when we got home my aunt texted me a photo of an envelope from a card I must have sent to my cousin back when I was in college. I drew this on the back:

She said, "A Famous Hat original. May be valuable." So I asked her if she wanted the crab necklace that used to belong to my grandma. I liked it because it came from Hawaii, but I realized it was for someone born under the sign of Cancer, which I was not but both my grandma and my aunt were. She said she might be interested, so I sent her a photo.

She said thanks, the photo was good enough, I didn't have to send it to her. Maybe I can wear it, because it only says it's for the zodiac sign on the back, and there probably aren't a lot of people around here that know what "Kaaona" means. Maybe I talked this up too much because I remembered the crab being cuter than it is, and I thought it was carved from a coconut, but it's just plastic. Wish my grandma had gotten one for me, but maybe I wasn't even born yet when she got this. It isn't the only jewelry she brought back from Hawaii; I had a seed lei of hers that I wore a ton until it broke, being cheaply made and like eighty years old, and I'm guessing the pin with the palm tree on it is from there too.

Then I had my Brazilian drumming lesson, and today we played with both the other instruments and the dancers. There are less dancers than I expected, but today I was in the very back row, so nobody in the audience would see me. Then people realized I had no idea what was going on, being a short person behind a lot of tall people, so they made me move up. I did improve a lot over the course of the lesson, and one of the teachers noted that we all improved a lot, but he also said we wouldn't have an hour to get better on stage. Will we be ready by the 21st for showtime?

Travalon and I went to Garver Mill after that for some tea, and outside of it was this... sculpture of a giant banana?

Then he took me to the Slow Irish Session. It really went well today, but we're a bunch of regulars so we know most of the tunes, and we all go slowly on the newer ones. I try to sit where I can't see the music projected, but today those spots were all taken so I was smack in front of the music and found it too tempting to look when it was a new tune - to be fair to myself, it's very hard to learn a tune by ear if nobody in the room knows it. We are getting pretty good, especially at playing together really well on the slow, soulful tunes. Travalon snuck in toward the end and I didn't even see him. He had gone to East Towne Mall to check out Thrill Factory, and he took some photos. Some of these are frankly rather terrifying. There's a miniature golf course, a bowling alley, and a tiki bar.

He spent time there playing Space Invaders, which my Gen X readers will remember. After all that, we went home and I skipped band practice. We have a gig in early March, but I know all the tunes. I'm happy with the schedule of Slow Irish session for my fiddle every other week, and band practice for my mandolin every other week. Tomorrow I have Moldy Jam, and a couple of people who were there tonight will be there tomorrow, and they both said bring both. Will let you know tomorrow what I decide to do.

Famous Hat

Milwaukee International Festival

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Friday after work Travalon and I were so tired that we stayed in the house and ordered a pizza – we were too tired to cook! Saturday we got up, and I made coffee that tasted amazing to both of us, but I have no idea why it would be so much better than our usual weekday coffee: same grounds, same water, same coffee maker, same cream. Maybe it was just because we could sip it at a relaxed pace while lounging in our reclining chairs? Then we went for a short hike at Castle Creek Conservancy, a surprisingly large wilderness area in Waunakee. The name is a puzzle, because the creek that flows through it is Six Mile Creek, not Castle Creek.

Then we drove separately to Milwaukee, because I was going to meet Tiffy to go to the International Festival, and when Travalon heard that’s what we were doing, he begged to come along because they have chicken paprikash there. (Looks like it is well past time for me to learn how to make this dish!) There were all kinds of food stands there, including the Slovak one making the chicken paprikash, and a Serbian one with desserts that are the same as Croatian desserts. I ate way too much! Then we watched dancing from all over the world, and the Ukrainian dancing is very athletic, but the Lithuanian dancing made me laugh because the music sounded like a chicken was singing along in parts. Not sure what kind of instrument that was… Travalon had a Steak Night with the guys, so he took off, and when Tiffy and I had watched enough dancing, we walked back to the car and passed Christmas lights we hadn’t seen during the day. It was a display you drive through, and they don’t advertise the price, so we didn’t find out how incredibly overpriced it was until we were in line and it was hard to turn back. The big “sell” was that there was music that went along with the display, but the radio station barely came in, so we just turned it off and sang Christmas carols ourselves. Then Tiffy suggested we go to the Hawaiian restaurant in Wauwatosa for dinner, where we had raw tuna and guava cake. It’s a little shop too, so I bought Kona coffee, macadamia nuts, and another Hawaiian shirt. What a fun day!

Yesterday Rich, Travalon, and I went to Crema Café for brunch, but they did not make as impressive a cup of hot cocoa for Rich as they had that time we went for Pa Hat’s birthday. It had been a beautiful day, but of course it cooled off by the time Travalon and I got to Cherokee Marsh for a hike, and then it started to rain on us. I went to a Baroque music concert, and Travalon went to see the new movie about the Battle of Midway. We watched the Packers game, but every time the Packers got some momentum, the refs called a ticky-tacky foul on them. Seriously, every first down was getting called back, and every time they stopped the 49ers on third down, there was some questionable call so the Niners got a fresh set of downs. The Pack did hurt themselves with a huge turnover early and the offense getting nothing started for the first half, although the defense did a pretty decent job for most of the game until they were just too worn out to stop anything. Once the score was really lopsided, the advertisers must have told the refs to lay off, because then it was like a switch flipped, and they stopped calling them on the Pack and even called a couple on the Niners. I am trying not to be cynical about it, but everyone noticed – the Lions fans on social media were all, “How does it feel?” Sometimes it does seem like they decide which teams are going to win, which was unnecessary last night because the Packers wouldn’t have won anyway, but really? Did they have to make it that hard for them?

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Ethnic Day in Milwaukee

After that stupid dream about an evil screen on my computer taking over came true, on Saturday I woke up from a dream where I was getting frustrated because my phone wouldn’t charge. Then Travalon’s phone wouldn’t charge in the car that day! Was I doomed to have prosaic dreams that come true? However, I am happy to report that on Sunday morning I woke up from a dream where a comedian from the 60’s named Papa Dalo (he was from the Solomon Islands) was making a career comeback, and so far that hasn’t come true. He had a little daughter or granddaughter who was five and could really sing.

Friday Travalon and I went to an art event. A local artist whose work I have purchased in the past invited us to a dinner he had on the top floor of a swanky hotel, with lots of other people, most of whom seemed to have a lot of money. It was a dress-up event, and most of the women wore little black dresses, but you know me – I wore hot pink. There was a silent auction of this artist’s original works, and he told a story about each painting because he is also a motivational speaker. He was also selling lots of prints and accessories, so we bought a print of a band made up of the Fisher Price dog, a Lincoln log, a Monkey in a Barrel monkey, and a green Lego. That is the kind of whimsy this artist engages in, like one of his paintings was a hippo swimming in a bowl of Fruit Loops, and another was mountain goats climbing on an ice cream cone. Maybe he inherited it, because he told us a story of how his parents came to deliver some serious news to him and his brothers, but they were dressed as a bee and a beekeeper. It was such a fun night, and the people at our table included the owner of Travalon’s favorite store, Little Luxuries.

Saturday Travalon and I went to see his mother, then we drove to Milwaukee and met up with Tiffy. We had lunch at Conejito’s, Travalon’s favorite restaurant in town, and then we went to a Celtic Christmas art fair and bought stuff. We stopped at a Hawaiian store and bought more stuff, then Tiffy and I went to a concert of Sephardic music at an Episcopal church while Travalon hung out on Brady Street. We met for dinner at County Clare, an Irish pub, so it was quite an ethnic day: Mexican, then Irish, then Hawaiian, then Spanish Jewish, then Irish again.

Yesterday our neighbors had a “fry party,” which they said was a common thing when they lived in Texas. They deep fried some turkeys, and we could all bring things and they deep fried them, like onion rings, French fries, and cheese curds. Travalon and I brought clam strips; we also brought Oreos for a joke, but by then everyone was full so we didn’t bother frying them. There were also healthier things to eat, like lots of fruits and vegetables. It was so much fun! In the evening Travalon and I went to see John Cleese, of Monty Python fame. He gave a very funny but actually inspiring talk about how we should always be striving to better ourselves, and the disastrous examples of people who don’t think they have faults. It was an early evening, so that was a relief. It was our fifth night out in a row!

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Luau Cruise, Spring Green Art Fair, and Fireworks

I hope my readers had a good weekend, despite the cold temperatures and on-again, off-again rain. Thursday evening Travalon and I went on a Betty Lou luau cruise, and the weather started off threatening, but by the end it was a beautiful evening. The food was really good, and the music was wonderful, if more Caribbean than Hawaiian for the most part. Alas, I did not win either the hula contest or the best Hawaiian costume contest. The prize? Another Betty Lou cruise! It was a two-hour cruise, which is not enough time to see the whole Lake Mendota, so we had to cut off a whole section of lake that included the ginormous houses of Bishop’s Bay. Ah well, Travalon and I have seen those while cruising in our own little boat, the Megan Jaye.

Friday evening Travalon and I went to a free concert just off the Capital Square. It was Dark Star Orchestra, the premier Grateful Dead tribute band, and I was expecting to see more people wearing tie-dye. I did, of course, and even wore the tie-dyed hat I got at the Baraboo Art Fair last weekend for good measure. The band was really good, and they played forever. We ended up leaving before they were done because we were so tired from dancing to them all night.

Saturday morning Travalon had to work, so I met Rich and the Rosary Ladies for coffee and the rosary, and then when Travalon got home, he, Jilly Moose, Luxuli, and I went to Spring Green for their art fair. We spent a good deal of time there, so it was later than we expected when we got to the Nature Conservancy land out there with the cacti on it. A sudden storm blew up, so we couldn’t hike and ended up just driving back to town. The Rosary Ladies, Travalon, and Prairie Man had dinner at the Hubbard Avenue Diner, and I embarrassed myself when trying to show off to our Latina server: I tried to say something in Spanish, but she just stared at me, and then I realized it was half in Irish! Oops! It had gotten very cold by then, so Travalon, OK Cap, Cali, and I really had to bundle up to watch the Shake the Lake fireworks from the East Side Club.

Yesterday I skipped 9 am Mass to go to Oconomowoc with Travalon for his nephews’ family birthday party. They are twins and just turned twelve, so Travalon said they are past the toy stage. One loves old coins, so Travalon got him a couple of really cool old ones, and the other loves fishing, so Travalon got him some lures. They both really liked their presents. They had just gone to the Shedd Aquarium, so we had that to talk about. After the party, Travalon and I took his mom out to lunch, then we hiked briefly at Lapham Peak, but I was not dressed right and wanted to go home to change. I hadn’t been hungry when we had gone to lunch, so we ended up going to this incredible burger place called Wegl’s in Jefferson, then we went on an epic quest for paw print stickers and finally found them at the University Bookstore. We had to go to 5 pm Mass, and who should we see there but Jilly Moose! Afterwards the three of us had a bite to eat at Bellitalia, where we saw a rainbow, then she and I went for a rosary walk while Travalon fished at Tenney Park, where we saw a beautiful sunset. On the way home Travalon and I stopped at the co-op, and outside of that we saw a bizarre cloud. I took pictures of all of it and will post them at some point.  

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The Chicken or the Egg

The theme of the wedding reception we attended on Friday evening was Hawaiian, and so there was a pineapple on every table as the centerpiece. Since nobody had claimed the pineapple on our table by the time we were leaving, I grabbed it. As I was sitting here a few minutes ago eating pieces of the pineapple, a sudden thought occurred to me: the question of what came first, the chicken or the egg, is really a silly one. If you subscribe to the theory of evolution (as I do), then clearly the egg came first because there were eggs before there were ever chickens. Think about it: chickens descended from dinosaurs, which hatched from eggs, so at some point a creature almost like a chicken laid an egg and then an actual chicken hatched out of it. Seriously, why was this question even considered a puzzle? The answer is so blatantly obvious.

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My Photos of Hawaii: Part Two

As promised, here are the rest of my photos of Hawaii. These first few photos are from St. Raphael's in Kauai, which claims to be the oldest parish on the island.

 

Grotto at the end of the Stations of the Cross walk

 chapel

 Lourdes grotto

the original church

The rest of the pictures are from Maui. This first one is an interesting license plate we saw at the county park with the various pavilions representing immigrant groups.

 sunset over Maui

 

 hula performer at our resort

 pool at our resort at night

 whale swimming by our boat

 the island of Lanai

pit the pig was buried in for the luau

These next photos are of the dancers at the luau.

This next shot is of a wooden statue outside of a restaurant called Lulu's where we ate brunch. It seems to be a tiki-style Elvis Presley.

The next group of photos are from the Garden of Eden. Note the spelling mistake on the sign.

 

The last two photos are of the south coast of Maui, where there are no towns and barely any people. It looks so much like the west coast of Ireland. The first photo is of a natural arch over the sea. The second one gives you an idea of how rocky it is.

I hope you have enjoyed this photo tour of the Hawaiian Islands. I sure enjoy looking through them!

Famous Hat

My Photos of Hawaii: Part One

Yesterday Travalon and I went to swim, but my arms were so sore from weightlifting that I had to wade instead. Then today after work I went to the Arboretum because all the crab apples and lilacs are in bloom, and some of the magnolias were still blooming. It was like being in a scent cathedral, having all those wonderful fragrances overwhelm me. They were supposed to be blooming last year for our wedding photos, but because of the late spring, only the magnolias were in bloom at that time. We still got some good photos.

Speaking of photos, as promised here are some I took in Hawaii. Most of mine were the same as Travalon's (though not as numerous), but I did have a few shots he didn't get.

 This is a parade through Waikiki - it was part of a Japanese festival.

 Travalon took this photo of the sunset over Waikiki with my camera.

This isn't the best photo of me, but it may be the happiest! Oops - my flower is on the wrong side - I am NOT single.

 

 I just really liked this shot of Diamond Head with the trees in front of it.

This is a picture of the wedding cake. It is very small because there were so few guests.

Somehow Travalon didn't get a shot of this rainbow over our resort on Kauai.

Another tropical sunset, this one over Kauai.

This is a shot of the "backyard" of our resort, where the pools and fake waterfalls were.

 OK, I love tropical sunsets. This one is over our resort in Kauai.

Our resort on Kauai was great, but they apparently had no budget for third-floor elevator buttons.

Here is a shot of the fake waterfall spilling into one of the pools at the resort.

 I thought this sign at the Kauai Coffee Plantation was hilarious.

 Coffee flowers at the Kauai Coffee Plantation, i.e., future beans!

This shot shows you how rugged and remote Polihale Beach is.

These next shots are from our helicopter ride over Kauai.

 
These last shots are mostly of the vista coming into Allerton Gardens, which was breathtaking with the turquoise water, magenta bougainvillea, and graceful green coconut palms.

You can barely tell, but this is Travalon and I standing in front of the roots of a giant fig tree. These trees were used in the filming of the movie Jurassic Park.

I still have another post's worth of photos from my camera, so stay tuned!

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