Holiday fun

I'm in a tizzy of holiday preparations. Friday, I used the car share to finish up my Christmas shopping. Saturday was full of rehearsals followed by the Holiday Choir Concert. We sounded beautiful. There was also much baking for the dessert potluck that followed. I did find time on Saturday to get my Christmas tree. My friend Ellen agreed to help me transport and install it. I've got the lights on now (and I though of Dennis and Susan the whole time I was decking the tree all by myself). My apartment smells so good.

Sunday was all about the baking. I went to my friend, Sara's, house and we baked several different kinds of cookies. Much fun.

The rest of this week is filled with Solstice fun. I volunteered to help with the Solstice service on Wednesday. So I need to pack and get ready to leave for Christmas in the slivers of time that are left.

A whirlwind, but a happy holiday-joy-filled one.

Christmas spirit

It's good to be in St. Paul and away from all that crazy winter weather on the East Coast. Boston got 9 inches of snow? This is shaping up to be like last year when I had a much milder winter than everyone else.

I'm fully in the Christmas spirit. Decorations are everywhere (except my apartment - I'll get them up tonight, I hope). Need a second person to help with the tree, though. I've been catching the Christmas specials on TV. Family channel helps greatly since they've been showing pretty much non-stop Christmast stuff since the 1st. I hum carols under my breath when I walk. I've got about half of my shopping done. As a kid, you are all about the receiving, but as an adult, I think I may like giving more. I love picking out a really great gift for someone and imagining their reaction when they see it.

Potluck

Yesterday was a staff potluck (not all staff, just exhibits related folks, including design, development, the shop, etc.) Some tasty food and some scary stuff. I'm still not used to game meats showing up so casually. Boy these folks can cook them, though. This was my first real life encounter with the midwest "salad" which includes jello and whipped cream/cream cheese and many things that are counter-intuitive to a sweet salad. There were at least three of these. One was orange and had mandarin orange slices (sweet, like dessert, but not bad). One was white and I think had coconut. It was topped with pretzel bits. The last was green and was topped with sliced green olives with pimento. I chose to avoid that one. These dishes were in the minority, though. There were lots of veggies present. Big emphasis on the spicy, too. Also lots of wild rice, which is a signature MN ingredient. Someone made a dish I wish I had gotten more of. It had potatoes and corn and was subtly flavored with chilies. Delicious. I made my signature brownies (of course). I'm actually getting tired of making brownies, but it was cold and I had the fixings at home. I made a double batch and someone kindly cut my squares in half so there were tons of brownies, but when I went back to check later, they were all gone. Guess they were popular.

snow falling on ... not cedars

Just a quick post, since I'm still on company time. Just wanted to share how nice it is to be sitting at my computer, watching the snow fall outside my window. Big fat flakes and just enough wind to make them dance. Lovely.

SNOW!

First snow of the year. After a couple of days of rain, it was lovely to wake up and see snow. Not enough, though. Want more.

Been a busy week. Went out for drinks with some of the crew last Friday. Went out for sushi today with Ethan. Man, that canyon effect wind tunnel will kill you. Good sushi, though and always good conversation.

I'm working on a new project with a group at the Unitarian church. More later as it develops.

Choir continues to be great. Two weeks ago we sang this super fast song in Batak (I think) where half of the verses were nonsense syllables and the other half made sense, but in a language I did not understand. Then this week we sang "Deep Peace" which is beautiful and low, sonorous and smooth. By the end you felt utterly peaceful and happy. So much fun.

Catching up IV...Halloween

I had this brilliant idea for Halloween. I really love to dress up and give out candy, but you don't get trick or treaters in an apartment. Susan and I solved this in Philly by sitting outside on our stoop and handing out candy, but that was not feasible in my current apartment. While pondering solutions, my friend Tilly commented that her dog always freaked out on Halloween, what with all the kids ringing the doorbell. Tilly's got a great house in a local neighborhood, so we agreed to swap. I brought the candy and carved the jack o'lantern, she picked me up, set up a space for me in front of her house and even built me a fire. I headed her trick or treaters off at the pass and handed out candy. Her dog spent a peaceful night. And we both felt we got the better end of the bargain.

I reused a costume this year since I had little time to plan with other stuff going on. So here's me as the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

Which I think catches us up...whew.

Catching up III (wedding edition)

I left Friday (10/28), at an obscenely early hour in the morning, to fly - once again - to the East Coast, this time for my friend, Kim's, wedding. I got to spend some quality time during the day with my folks, which was very nice. Susan drove down that evening and arrived in the nick of time for all the chicks to head out for a round of haunted mine golf.

You heard me right... HAUNTED MINI GOLF! It's like chocolate and peanut butter, why had no one though to put these things together before. It was STUPENDOUS! You got a glowing ball and a glow stick necklace that ID'd if you wanted to be scared or not. There were no overhead lights, lots of spooky sounds and body parts and scary lights. The holes had glow sticks so you knew where to aim but not what might be in your way. And there were kids hired to play 'ghouls' who would sneak up and try to scare us. They got us a couple of times, but by the end we were all just laughing at each other, swapping stories and screaming occasionally for the fun it.

Saturday was Kim's wedding, which was Renaissance themed. Susan and I wore our feste clothes. My mom wore a lovely blue outfit Susan had procured for her and my dad went as a monk. The ceremony was outdoors. The day was pretty, but chillier than expected. The wedding went off with almost no hitches. The food at the reception was delicious and the mulled cider was also quite welcome. They served Virginia wines, which I though was a really nice touch.

That night, I went with my mom, sister and a couple of their friends to see Celtic Woman at Constitution Hall in DC. The group was new to me. They are like Enya, but there are several of them. There was an amazing fiddle player, very pixie-like, who danced around the stage. The music was very lyrical and beautiful.

Catching up II

The adventure continues...

Through an extremely fortuitous set of circumstances, I discovered that Sarah Vowell (she of *Partly Cloudy Patriot*) was to be speaking at a local college. My friend Cari lent me her car (which considering she's got 2 kids under 3 is way above and beyond the call of duty) and I drove out to see Sarah who was wonderful, as usual. In memory of Rosa Parks, she read an essay she had written about Rosa and then some new stuff and old stuff I hadn't heard before. In the Q&A that followed the reading, I asked if she had a new book in the works. She declined to answer on the grounds that talking about it would mean she would need to actually start work on it. I bought her new book (*Assassination Vacation*) and had her sign it and guess what? She remembered meeting me when she spoke at the NCC in Philly. Yay! I think I floated rather than drove home.

That Thursday (we're at Oct 27th now, for those who are keeping up), I went to my New Member Orientation for hOurCar, which is a TC based carshare program that I've joined. I'm hoping that car share will meet my driving needs and obviate the need to buy a car. There are two car hubs near me and both are in downtown Saint Paul. I take the bus to the hub (or go from work), pick up the car, run my errands and return the car. I pay a low monthly fee, and a per hour/mile fee and they pay for gas, insurance, maintenance, parking, etc. The fleet is all Priuses. The hybrids are pretty cool. It's wild to sit at a stop and hear the engine quit and have that be okay because the battery is still working. I made my first big grocery run with the car on Saturday. Worked out pretty well. We'll see how well this whole thing works over time.

Catching up

So - It's been a really busy few weeks. I'll try to catch everyone up. The weekend before Halloween weekend was terrific. My friend Liza had a bonfire party at her house. It was great, really low key. Had a few beers sitting around a roaring fire (which I got to poke often, yay!). Talked with friends from work. Toasted the Most Stale Marshmallows Ever.

Following that I attempted to conquer the Trail of Terror (say it in the scary voice) with Renee and her husband Donal. But by the time we got there, we were confronted with a three hour wait plus they could not guarantee we'd be able to do all the haunted stuff. So we came back the following day about a half hour before it opened and managed to be about 20th in line. The haunted house was AMAZING! Super scary and really long. Renee was the brave one who agreed to go first. I took the chicken position of middle. There were these long dark passages where I clutched the back of Renee's coat and Donal clutched the back of mine. The spooks were really good at finding new places to hide. And they made sure to scare everyone. Sometimes they would wait for Renee to pass just so they could get me. After the big haunted house, we went through the smaller haunted houses that surround the big one. The small houses are themed (like Phobias and Clowns). I was in the lead for Clowns and it was super freaky. There's also a Haunted Hayride, which was much less scary. But the girls sitting in front of us screamed their heads off anyway.

The Trail of Terror trip (say that five times fast) was ostensibly for work (though really we just wanted to go). See - my museum is working on a new exhibit about the science of fear and, on Monday and Tuesday, Renee and I participated in a brainstorming workshop. So COOL. The haunted house experience added a lot to our perspective on what was scary and how fear feels. I love brainstorming.

food automata

Check me out. Last Friday, staff were invited to participate in a workshop about making food automata. I had such a good time. You can meet my happy fish automata at this website. You can see me gluing a cracker in the second photo down on the right. Or check out the video. I appear about halfway through.

http://www.dicemice.com/works.html

This thing they call...book club

I had my first book club experience last night. Book clubs are popular in the Twin Cities, often growing into whole other things over time (like music groups). Sara and Cari (from work) are part of the same book club, which they described with disarming honesty as "sucky." Seems the members are often not able to attend or haven't read the book if they can attend. Sounds about right.

The book was "Anagrams" by Laurie Moore. It was...interesting. The writing was generally good and she's funny, often with pithy or witty comments. But the structure was strange and as a group, we could not decide if the ending was depressing or sort of happy. (Not to ruin it, but it turns out the protagonist is crazy, she admits it, but at the end of the book she retreats into her fantasy world. I figured she was happier there anyway.)

Anyway, it was nice to sit around and talk books and swap ideas on new ones. I've got 3 more trips east coming up before the end of the year so that's 6 new books to buy pre-boarding. For the group, I recommended we read Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell for next time. Assuming it's available, it should be a safe bet. I'd hate to pick a clunker my first time out of the gate.

quiet weekend

Quiet, but nice. It appears I'm somewhat allergic to Saturdays, in that I usually wake up sniffly, that turns to sneezy, then I require antihistimines to subdue the beast. Which does make for a nice afternoon nap. I also paid bills, did dishes, talked with my folks, normal stuff like that. Watched some bad TV and cheesy movies. I love the month before Halloween because everyone runs their monsterfest stuff.

Sunday the choir sang two songs; Calypso Alleluia (pretty much what it sounds like - but fun and toe tapping, not cheesy) and Sanctus et Benedictus, a cappella, which was so huge and moving it gave me chills. A smaller group from the choir also sang Kake Lambe, which a song of praise to the god of the harvest. It was fitting since this was the Sunday to make pledges. Ha.

Ghost town

Most of the exhibits staff have left for the ASTC (Association of Science and Technology Centers) conference. I'm not going this year since I'm still setting down and since I'm spending most of my travel money on getting to and from the East Coast. In fact, my friend Kim is getting married at the end of this month and I'll be flying to Northern Va for that.

What this means for me is that it is going to be super quiet around here for the next few days. I'm not sure what I'll do with this, but hopefully it will be fun.

Brilliant in theory, fails in execution

I'm pretty much recovered with whatever illness took advantage of me last week. I slept lots and took it really easy on the weekend. I did work up the energy to go to Game Night at Sara's. We played Scattergories - I was the only one who had played before, but that didn't really give me an edge, and Mexican Train Dominoes - which is my new favorite game. I crushed the competition. Seriously. But I was all John Robert's humble about it.

I also organized my hall closet which had gotten so bad that I could only open it slightly and slide things in and out. If I opened it fully, everything fell out. Now it's organized with the least used stuff on the *new* top shelf and lots of other organizational planning stuff. Now I'll open the closet occasionally just to remind myself that I can make order out of chaos, even if only in small spaces.

I'm still making an effort at meal planning before shopping, but it tends to fail in execution. I appreciate that I have less to carry home if I only buy what I'll be making that week. But when the time comes too cook, it's either too late, or I'm too tired, or I don't have enough time, or I don't want what I've planned for. So there's a half a roast chicken in the fridge because I haven't taken it off the bone to make into a curried chicken salad. On the good side, I did manage to make stuffed shells last night and I went ahead and portioned them out in to leftovers for lunch at work. Then I wrapped the rest in portions and froze them. Let's see if I ever use them again, or if I throw them out in a year.

My brush with DEATH

Sorry for the delay. I've been recovering from MY BRUSH WITH DEATH.

Last weekend, I went canoeing. It was a beautiful day, sunny, warm, with a light breeze. We were there to see the changing colors. I had a charming young woman as my canoe-mate and we chatted easily as we paddled up the river. We stopped on the banks of the river for a snack in a bucolic setting.

Then...on the water...Disaster Struck! No one knows what happened, but we capsized. We surfaced, sputtering, from the freezing water. Fighting the cold, we grabbed the ribs of the canoe and kicked feebly towards the banks of the river.

It really was scary, but with a weeks perspective, I may be exaggerating the danger slightly. We had on our life jackets. And since the day was warm, we were spared the greatest danger, which is hypothermia. It was embarrasing of course, but the folks we were with were very nice about it (and even snapped this picture for us). I'll share the other pictures soon.

state of being

Choir was great. It was like riding a bicycle in that I used muscles and positions I remembered, but had not used, from years ago. The sensation was also similar. The first time I started riding a bike as an adult, I remember this feeling freedom and flying when I pushed off. Singing again was also like flying.

It's a big group. I've only met a few people so far, but that's not really the point. I really missed being part of a choir and joining my voice with others to make something greater than the sum of its parts. The music is varied, but luckily nothing yet that would require jazz hands. This will be a good experience.

My sister's birthday was Sunday (as was Dennis', Happy Birthday again). I think I got the present mailed in time. I'm really going to have to get used to this mailing thing. I can barely remember to send email (hence this web log). The post office always seems a little like magic to me. I give them a box and not too much money and they deliver the box for me half way across the country. It's so old fashioned and so real and tangible. Got another chance to work on this mailing thing today when I sent the present for my mom's birthday (on Saturday). Hope she likes it.

This weekend was overcast, damp and drizzly so I stayed in and caught up on my housework. Not so exciting. This weekend may be better. I'm supposed to go on a canoe trip down the St. Croix river. If I'm not exhausted from the trip, I'll also be hitting the Vali-Hi drive in for the last showing off the year. I hope I've got the energy. I love drive-ins. Something else old fashioned and nostalgic and fun.

Welcome Autumn

Fall came in with a bang. Yesterday was sunny, beautiful, and warm (in the mid to low 80's). I made sure to spend some time outside soaking up the sun. I even slipped out of work early and had a bubble tea, a nice walk and ended with an ice cream cone from my downstairs neighbors (B&J). Not as good as England's, but it was nice to sit outside and take in the street life from a different perspective.

About 6:30 or 7, tar black clouds closed in and the network stations began continuing coverage of Big Weather. All around were high winds, downpours, hail, even a few tornados. St. Paul was fine, so I just closed my windows and clicked to another channel to continue watching the season premier of Lost.

I woke up to a chill and windy first day of autumn. From short sleeves to do-I-need-a-jacket, in just a few short hours. Mmmm...now I want all the good hearty cold weather food. I may need to make a trip to the farmer's market this weekend.

Extra note - I'm joining a choir and the first practice is tonight. Wish me luck.

MN Faire

This was a good weekend.

The faire was excellent. It reminded me greatly of the MD faire. Similar layout, lots of music and street theater, lots of shows, good shopping, open alcohol allowed throughout the grounds. It even offered a few things MD doesn't that were really nice.

Such as:
*Pets are allowed so there were lots of dogs and even a cat there. The owners are very conscientious. I never saw any animal waste on the ground. Some of the pets were 'costumed' but most were just hanging out with their owners, hoping someone would drop food.

*There are two booths serving popovers with fresh butter. Very Midwest and sooo yummy. Cara was the 'guide' for the day. She's about my age and she's been going to this faire for about 20 years. Stopping first for a popover is one of her traditions in which we were glad to partake.

*There's a permanent building for the herpetological Society. Lots of scaly and cold-blooded critters being shown by people who obviously love them. Mostly snakes, turtles, lizards and alligators. And the primary form of display (except for the crocs) was for a human handler to stand near the fence and share the animal with the curious. We saw a couple of tortoises wandering the grounds with handlers. One tortoise was 'dressed' in a kilt. It was deeply cute.

I went with only three other people, so I was not overwhelmed with strangers. We all got along well so I wasn't too stressed by NEW PEOPLE. We had beautiful weather so, all in all, it was a great day.

So - new to my list of Minnesota recommended events is the MN Renaissance Faire. It runs about mid-Aug through end of Sept (next weekend is the last weekend). The Englands and Mertine/Molnars might have trouble getting away, but the Monks might want to give it some thought. If the trip was timed right, you could do the State fair and the Ren faire. Of course, that might be overload. Waskey, we'll find a way to get you here for at least one MN faire visit.

Nobody wants to hear about other people's dreams

I had a recurring dream last night that I could not shake. The song "Science Fair" by Trout Fishing in America played incessantly in my dream and I was trying to make a science fair project of the the rotting garbage that was all that was left in the world. Every time I managed to cobble something together, I would wake up and when I fell back asleep it would all start over.

In other news, I'm going to check out the MN Renaissance Festival tomorrow. I'm traveling with complete strangers who know this faire. In all probability, I'll be a wreck by the time I get home from having to interact with so many new people in one day.

Hmmmm-I'm not as depressed as I sound here, just a little unsettled.

********************************************************************
Harry brought a hurricane, trapped in a terrarium.
Ruth made a working model of a nuclear reactor.
There was a cure for the common cold.
Someone cloned his little brother and if the truth be told.
It was the finest, fanciest Science Fair anybody’s ever seen.
It was the finest, fanciest Science Fair anybody’s dreamed of.
(Amazon has a clip here -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003JXJ/103-4301609-7027055?v=glance)

Post-apocalyptic movie night

Last night was the next installment in Post-Apocalyptic Movie Night, organized by my friend Ethan. We've seen Shawn of the Dead (excellent!) and Omega Man (unintentionally humorous-especially the DVD interview with Heston about the movie). I think there was one other. We get together whenever an appropriate movie shows up from Netflix.

So last night was Return of the Living Dead. It was great. Did you know that this is the movie where "brrraaaiiiinnnnsss" comes from? It is. Plus the kids being attacked are (almost) all punks and there's a punk soundtrack. When the kids run around, it feels choreographed (in the good way). Like watching the Jets get chased by zombies. The zombies are fast, strong and smart. In a recurring bit, the zombies kill whatever rescue workers show up then call for backup. tee hee. The movie was made in 1985 and it is perfectly dated.

I had lunch yesterday with someone who started here about the same time I did. She and her partner came from Cambridge. We talked about how much we missed the East Coast and knowing the ocean was near. It felt good to share that with someone else here. Most of the Minnesotans grew up around here. They don't really get the "missing a different place" thing. I like Minnesota, I just feel dislocated. I wish it was closer to everyone else. Of course, I felt the same way about Philly initially, so I know this will pass. Anyway, Joanne has promised to invite me out if she goes to any cool shows or art things, so that's a good thing.

Vacation

Susan and I had a great NC vacation. We spent Labor Day week in the Outer Banks of NC. There was much sun, sand, ocean, pool, hot tub, shrimp, barbecue, frozen custard along with a healthy dash of alcohol. BTW - it turns out that watermelon mimosas (pureed watermelon and champagne) are as close to ambrosia as humans can come.

We also spent some time improving our minds and junk. We went on a brief hike, checked out the NC Aquarium, and went on a kayak eco-tour. The Aquarium was very nice and Susan discovered that the rays in the touch tank like her very much. They kept coming back for more petting. My shark photos have turned out well. The kayaking was cool. First time for both of us. We spent time in a lake and in the canals. We also got close (possibly too close) to an alligator. There's a picture of it, too, but since only his nose was sticking out, you'll have to take my word for it.

Leaving was really hard, but I got to spend a fun weekend with the folks. We played Mexican Train Dominoes and Spinner (which I suspect is also called Chicken Foot dominoes). And my mom taught me how to play Shanghai Rum, which requires at least 2 decks of cards and apparently more than two players. Fun though. Our group would definitely like Mexican Train. I'll be picking up a set soon

Photos will be posted soon-ish. I have a half a roll I'd like to finish before I post everything.

Anyone got New Year's thoughts? Cause I hear the Twin Cities are nice.

bad dreams

I could not shake the bad dreams this morning so I'm feeling a little weird. I'm still trying to make it out to the state fair. I had planned to go tonight, but Tilly asked if we could reschedule to tomorrow. I may try to go both nights. The fair is really big and I'd like to try to see most of it. I think with Tilly we'll focus on the Ag stuff, so maybe tonight I should hit the Midway and some of the other buildings, like art and technology.

Looks like all the apartments in the building are filled now. I've seen boxes at all of the doors. I haven't met any of my neighbors yet and if I'm out the next two nights, I probably won't meet them until I get back from the Outer Banks. I just hope Tempest doesn't cry at the door and piss anyone off.

Prairie Maze INSTALLED!

So my Prairie Maze project is drawing to a close. The new entry sign was installed today and the guides have been printed and installed as well. The first time I went to see, there were a few families already using the guide!! I'm so pleased.

mawrige

They're MARRIED!! It was a great weekend, capped of by a beautiful wedding. I had a great time (so thanks to everyone I had a great time with).

Looks like the cat's forgiven me for leaving her this weekend. Let's see how she feels after I leave her all next week. And I got one set of new neighbors while I was gone. They moved in to the apartment behind me. I haven't met them yet, but I plan to make brownies tonight and take them over to share.

Much work to do to prepare for being gone again next week.

Har Mar Superstar*

Veni, Vidi, Vici Har Mar Mall. I managed to find the mall last night and make my way back home, all on the bus. I still want a car, since the bus still takes forever to get me from point A to point B, but it's good to remind myself that I can get beyond my usual circle.

I did not find a dress, which was my original reason for seeking out a mall, but a conversation with Jane has convinced me that fancy is not the way to go. So I'll raid my closet tonight to find something more appropriately festive. What I did find while I was out was a waterproof coat with a hood for cheap. Score.

When I moved to MN, I came woefully unprepared for the winter. Luckily the winter was unseasonably mild (just like this summer has been unseasonable warm and unseasonably short on mosquitoes - I think I'm getting spoiled). I was able to make do with a couple of pairs of regular boots and a dressy wool coat that is also very warm. But I knew that what I had would not cut it for the next winter. I'll need actual snow boots and a real snow jacket. But with this new mid-weight coat, I can continue to ignore this problem and hope it goes away. That works, right?


*Har Mar Superstar is the name of a local Twin Cities Musician. I just like the way it sounds.

A play's the thing

It worked. I felt much improved by the end of Friday. Of course, a large portion of that may be due to Sara and Brian (her husband). We had a lovely dinner at their place with lots of tasty things picked fresh from their garden. I picked and ate green beans and a whole cherry tomato, not to mention a stuffed pepper. I really get this whole delicious, fresh-picked vegetable thing. I'm just not usually able to pick my food and eat it minutes to seconds later.

The play was charming. All about infidelity, which is always a fun subject in a comedy. It was The Constant Wife by Somerset Maugham. Then we went out for beers afterwards. Made me feel all normal.

Of course, my allergies ate my Saturday so I felt back to weird me by Sunday. But now I've got trip anticipation bubbling through me. It's like I've got two separate tickles of happiness that catch me up all the time. One is just getting back to see friends (yay!) and then I remember the reason for the trip and I get goofy grinned all over again. Couldn't happen to a better couple.

Change in outlook

I've gone from funky to grumpy. I'm not sure that's better.

On a brighter note, I'm going to a play tonight. And as a bonus, I'm having dinner with my friend Sara and her husband before (plus they are my ride to and from the play). Maybe a little art will turn my frown upside down.

bleh

Feeling crappy today. It's raining and I started the day with a 2 hour bus journey so I could pick up some labels for the musuem. (could not borrow the car this time). It's not that far away, but I had to take 3 different buses to get from home to the vendor to work. Now I'm here and I just feel bleh. Oh well. Might as well feel bleh at work as feel bleh at home. Maybe things will perk up.

Foiled again

Turns out I lack the key ingredient for three different meals. I had grand plans to make a fabulous dinner last night but was foiled in my attempts due to missing ingredients. So it was chinese noodles instead. Tasty, but not the same as a real meal. Just did ordinary things. Returned a movie to the video store (I had already returned the box, oops). Picked up a bubble tea as a joyful little pick me up. I adore bubble tea. And I saw too late that they are offering thai tea with bubbles. I'll be back for that.

Today I get to run errands for work via the bus. Whoo hoo. We had a deluge of rain last night so its very humid today.
The rain was beautiful, but tricky. I was initially able to leave the windows open to listen to the rain, but when I would stop looking out the window, the rain would change direction and come straight in. Happened to me twice before I gave up and closed the window. Lovely sound to fall asleep to.

honorary cat

Yesterday I was bestowed the title of honorary cat for a day. I called in sick to work and the rest of my day progressed as such; sleep to 2pm - get up for glass of water, back to bed - sleep to 6pm - get up, eat leftover mashed potatoes, back to bed - wake up at 9pm, read for a hour - sleep.

Tempest stayed comatose and snuggled next to me the whole day. I think she was impressed.

Today - just the niggling remainder of a headache.

feeling nostalgic

I feel buffeted by the winds of nostalgia. It's a crisp, cool day, a good preview of what fall will bring. The air is alive with scents, all of which are triggering memories. It's overwhelming.

Cali time

I spent three days last week in LA for a client meeting. It was much more real than I expected. Granted my previous expectations were crafted by Hollywood and so not very trustworthy, but other than a noticeable predominance of large breasts, the people were pretty normal. Of course, we spend most of our time downtown, near the airport, in East La or in South Central rather than Beverly Hills or Hollywood. We did drive through, or rather by, Beverly Hills. It was the first night there, I was exhausted and had the backseat of the car all to myself. So I struggled to keep my eyes open.

It seems to me that there is not one LA, there are many, each with its own character. And for a place seemingly obsessed with body image, there are junkfood places galore. There's an eating holiday waiting there. Tamales, chilidogs, fish tacos...

We could not stay at the museum's usual hotel (apparently very quirky with the best breakfast in town). So we stayed at the Biltmore (THE Biltmore - steeped in history, it is ). There was another conference in town so the desk attendant upgraded the two guys I was traveling with to a suite so that he could gain an extra room. They were moved to the Music Suite. Name on the door, grand piano in the sitting room, ugly dog sculpture and everything. We were wowed at first but the bloom came off the rose after the first morning when it was discovered that the suite was not actually comfortable for hanging around. I got upgraded, too. I named it the Ottoman Princess room. It was really two rooms and one wall had been partially removed in order to frame The Bed. It was huge, comfy and beautiful. There was a partial canopy. I only wish I had gotten a picture.

Paul is very into super tasty hole in the wall food, so we ate very well. Including stopping at Maria's Tortillas right before we got on the plane to eat some melt in your mouth tamales. Sooo good.

the flaw in my brilliant plan

My hair was yucky this morning, so I decided to walkt to work in the rain (downpour) thereby obliterating any previous wonky bits. The rain was sweet and warm (if also, somewhat dense) and I got flashbacks to Susan and I playing in rainshowers at the Virginia Beach apartment. Nice and sweet. Got lots of sympathetic looks upon arriving looking like a drowned rat, also nice. Had to paper towel myself off significantly in the bathroom to take the drippy edge off my new look but the hair was thoroughly ruined, just as I was hoping for.

Except now it's two hours later and I'm still damp. Blech. I need a mini dryer at my desk to just dry my top. Hmmm - maybe I can use the air handdryers in the guest bathrooms.

Firefly!

Sci Fi is showing Firefly. In order. Fridays at 7/6c. Excellent.

And Serenity the Movie will be coming out. September, I think.

What a nice surprise.

company car

Working in this science museum is just cool sometimes. Yesterday, I was recruited to have my temperature and heart rate monitored while I listened to different pieces of music. It's for an exhibit we are developing on 'bio' music, loosely defined as a natural study of music. I'm constantly hearing bird calls and other animal sounds from the desks of the folks working on the project. Its a cool project.

Yesterday I found out that I can borrow one of the museum's cars. For museum errands only, so no borrowing so I can make my rounds of errands, but still. Here I was, ready to whine about not being able to pick up supplies for a project I'm working on, when the scientist I'm working with says, why don't you borrow one of the cars. Well, why not indeed.

You can't sleep through Dream the Impossible Dream

It's true. I'd managed to fall back asleep this morning with the radio on and was awakened by a lovely version of Dream the Impossible Dream. The song drew me up and out of bed. Nice.

Last night I bought some groceries. Not everything I need. I can never get everything I need. I walk home from the grocery store and while it's only about 6 blocks away, I'm a wimp and I get tired of carrying bags. After some early disasters of thinking I could suck it up. I now plan to only have 2 heavy bags or 3-4 light bags. Yesterday I stood in the aisle and weighed the small bag of cat food vs the cans of beans that were on sale. I could only carry one home (cat food won. I'll be back for the beans).

The Twin Cities are car towns. Public transport is not bad. It gets me where I need to go, but it's not great either. And there's always room on the bus, because so few people take it. It's funny. This area is so eco-conscious. Lots of folks at work bike or carpool in. Some of them take the bus. But they all have a car somewhere that they can use to get around. I love the shocked look I get at the grocery store when I tell the bagger, who has kindly offered to carry my bags out to my car, that I'll be walking home.

Still there are times when I need a car and I've got a growing list of things to do that mean I've come to one of those times. So I'm debating between renting a car or participating in car share (www.hourcar.org). I like the idea of car share, but I'm not positive it's for me - economically or convenience-ly. I've only needed to rent a car twice in the time I've been here. The first time I got an extra good deal. The second time is now and there are no good deals available. Anyway - I've got some thinking to do.

New gyro place

Last night, I got a 2nd wind and stayed late writing copy. When I left around 7:30, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the new gyro place around the corner from work was still open when I got out (per the norm, most sandwich places close after lunch). So, I skipped across the street and got myself a gyro, some hummus and some baklava. I could only finish the gyro (which was HUGE and came with fries), so I brought in the rest for lunch today.

I'm pleased to report that the gyro was quite good. Lots of savory meat, cucumbers and lettuce (I picked out the raw onions). Good balance of flavors. I've been craving gyros since Taste of MN and now I've got a new, nearby, stayin' open late place to fulfill that craving.

Birthday/4th of July

I never got around to describing my Birthday/4th of July weekend. Well, here goes.

Friday - My folk's plane was late so I hung out in the Big Backyard by myself, played putt-putt and read a book. It was a perfect summer night, warm and sweet smelling. I teased the couples who came by (the science museum makes a great date). I also helped myself to a healthy helping of raspberries. Everything in the Backyard is edible and the raspberries are at a peak right now. So waiting around was not a hardship.

We went to dinner at 128 Cafe. Anyone who visits me will be going here. This was my first time and I was very impressed. The chef has a gift for bringing together disparate textures and flavors so that they support and enhance each other. We split an app of 'pizza,' thin crisp crust, pineapple, jalapenos, goat cheese, arugula...might have been a few more things. It was sweet, savory, spicy, crunchy and soft, all at once.

For entrees, I had my dad get the ribs, for which this place is famous. They were delicious. The meat was perfectly tender and lip smacking. Mom had a roast chicken that was lovely. And I had pork tenderloin. The pork was served with a pear-rosemary demi glace, arugula, veggies and grits. I know grits and these were some of the best grits I have ever eaten. They managed to be silky smooth and still retain their individual character. Wow.

I dragged my folks home that evening to play Mexican Train Dominoes (my new favorite game). For this weekend, I borrowed my friend Sara's set since I don't have my own set yet. I'll buy one soon. All must play!

Bye bye BBTR

Okay - I've felt hotter, but it is still hot here. I spent most of the weekend inside my apartment hiding from the humidity.

I did slip out for a last trip to Bound to be Read (BBTR), which was a great independent book store about a block and a half from my home. The store is closing and I'm crushed. It was a really nice store, good selection and they had lots of community events. I had even signed up to participate in a science book club. The first meeting was to be held two weeks after they announced they were closing.

The initial announcement came at the end of May. I've watched the % off signs changing in the windows. They are up to 80% off and everything must go. Really, everything. They've tagged the bookshelves, the wall hanging systems, the stuff in the coffee shop. As I was checking out, the guy behind the counter asked if I wanted to buy the convenience basket in which I was carrying my books. Um, no. But thanks for asking.

more later

Had a great weekend with my folks. Very busy and much fun. Sooo tired now. I'm going to slog my way through work, sleep hard tonight and tomorrow I'll update here about my weekend.

So...what's your State Muffin?

Since moving to MN, I've been seriously amused by the volume and wackiness of the MN state symbols. Below is the list, as published by the state legislature (http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/symbols.asp)

In addition to such standards as...
State Bird: the loon
State Flower: pink and white lady slipper (Cypripedium reginae)
State Tree: red or Norway pine (Pinus resinosa)
State Motto: Star of the North
State Song: "Hail Minnesota"

Minnesota has also designated a...
State Butterfly: the monarch
State Drink: milk
State Fish: walleye
State Gemstone: Lake Superior agate
State Grain: wild rice
State Muffin: blueberry
State Mushroom: morel (morchella esculenta)
State Photo: "Grace" by Eric Enstrom

You betcha.

Tasting Minnesota

Behold the preparations for Taste of Minnesota (www.tasteofmn.com). This is a multi day festival. It starts tonight and ends on the 4th of July. Free music, fireworks every night, all the mosquitoes you can catch, and everything you never thought was possible to deep fry and eat off a stick.

I admit, I was initially disappointed by the advertised food selection. I mistakenly though that something called "Taste" of MN would showcase local foods and specialties. Maybe it does. Maybe the local specialties are corndogs and deep fried oreos.

My parents arrive tonight and I've got the whole weekend planned out. Tonight - let there be putt putt, fresh berries and then a scrumptious dinner at Cafe 128. There may or may not be ice cream from Izzy's afterwards. If I die after this weekend, I'll die happy.

Preparations

My folks are visiting this weekend and I'm about halfway through the cleaning. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Birthday and the 4th. Plus Taste of MN is going on so there's going to be greasy food, music and fireworks. All for me.

Just found out that a friend's daughter had emergency surgery. I feel bad for not have asked sooner, but I don't always see here at her desk so I didn't think it was unusual that I did not see her around. Bad me.

There were storms last night but the wind was blowing the other direction, so I slept with the windows open and listened to them rage. This morning dawned cool and breezy, pretty much a perfect day. Biked in (yay). Now I just need to see if I can sucker someone into playing putt putt with me. It's too nice to be inside. It's like I want to ask the teacher to have class outside.

Black-Eyed Susans

The black-eyed susans have taken over the Prairie Maze. They are about thigh tall and when you walk into the Maze they spread out in a sea before you. The whole Maze smells like summer, warm and clover and sweet. There are lots of other plants in the Maze (I should know, I just looked up the scientific name for 37 of them and that's not all there is). But you have to look to see them beyond the initial impact of the black-eyed susans. When the little kids run through, the plants are already up to their arms. It may be a while before adults get lost, but the kids are already having fun trying to figure out the Maze.