It was a gray, cold day here in Beer Town, but not as bad as it has been. But my Saturday Sky (I know! I haven't posted one of these for ages!) is not much to look at. I included some pretty church for interest.


Thursday was my birthday (39, if you're wondering) and I had a fabulous day! There were presents, food, and lots of cards! I almost ran out of room for all of them on my sideboard!


It's a bit humbling, really. I'm not sure I'm a good and thoughtful enough friend to warrant the outpouring I received. There was some serious love I was feeling. So nice, though! Many, many thanks!!!

Yesterday was laid back, but today was another fun day. V and I went shopping, then we had a terrific supper at County Clare, then we went to the Marquette v. UWM basketball game -- a cross-town rivalry that was a really good time. Marquette won (we were heavily favored) so I got to cheer a lot. We were pretty sloppy and high-strung during the first half, but we calmed down and got the job done during the second half. Especially the defense, but the offense really improved, too. Nice playing.


Then I came home and found this on Wil Wheaton's blog. HILARIOUS.


And now I'm going to bed. My life is very good right now. If Gator lived with me, it would be freakin' perfect.

_____

At least today's word is scientific...

A week ago Saturday we had an Anti-Bachelorette Party for my friend Anne who is getting married on Nov. 1. It was an "Anti-Bachelorette" party because, for some outlandish reason, Anne is not into barhopping while wearing a tiara made from replicas of male anatomy. Go figure, right?

So we congregated at Veronica's apartment, provided Anne with mimosas on-demand, played games, and watched The Wedding Singer. We did give her a bridal tiara and a magic wand, but we did not require her to wear them in public (nor were there any body parts of any kind represented therein).

Anne loves the game Apples To Apples, so we made a custom version of the game that contained words pertaining to her and her fiance, along with some standard wedding terms. It was a big hit.

Anne did not wear her tiara for the requisite smooshy-face pictures. Darn her.


An important thing I learned was that, with my hair pulled back and a sparkly tiara perched high atop my head, I look frighteningly like Toni Colette as she walks down the isle in Muriel's Wedding. Of course, my forehead (fivehead!) is even bigger...::shudder::


Veronica looked adorable, as always:



And we learned that Rachel's hair was not meant to hold such an insubstantial trifle of a tiara. She requires a full-on crown. Pity we didn't have one.


We ate, we drank, we made merry, we sang along to 80's music, and a grand time was had by all. You simply don't need a giant inflatable penis for that.

_____

Festival farewell

It was another uneventful week in the lab (except for that annoying yeast infection in all my cell cultures, but I really hope I have that under control) and another fun and busy weekend -- thus insuring that I will not become a dull girl because of all work and no play.

Friday night I went with Veronica, Rachel, and Rachel's family to the Lakefront Brewery tour and then for a fish fry. Rachel's son brought a date for me -- a giant stuffed alligator to stand in for Gator, my DH. He was quite the star of the tour, too! He loved posing with me:


We had a ball. Rachel's kids have taken to calling V, Anne and I their "Crazy Aunts", which I absolutely adore. I try to live up to this as much as I can!! Plus, there's nothing like chasing 8- and 11-year-old boys down the street so you can hug them good-bye and give them cooties! Hee!!

Saturday was Party On The Pavement and Art Walk in Racine, WI. I went down with my neighbor and we had a great time. First we walked around part of the residential area down by the lakefront. At Gateway Technical College there stands the first statue erected of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln portrayed together:


We strolled past the Hardy House, a Frank Lloyd Wright original:


This crazy pink Victorian explosion was the second house in as many blocks to have a sawed-off classic Milwaukee Harp Street Lamp in the front yard. I love these lamps. Apparently there is a way I can get my own one day. That is good to know.


I love the cool facades found on many Masonic Temples:


It was a gorgeous day for October -- the sky and the lake were clear and beautiful!


Soon, we headed to the festival. There was awesome Spanish food and tasty beverages and quite a crowd down at Monument Square:


Most importantly, this crowd included Chewbacca!!! And he spoke Shyriiwook fairly well!


Yes, that was pretty much the highlight of this dork's day! :)

We only got to enjoy a little bit of the festival nightlife before we had to catch the last bus back to Beer Town:


Back home, I listened to the Brewers beat Philly only to listen to them lose today and end their season. It was sad, but I'm glad we didn't get swept in the series and at least had one post-season win. At least that's something.

After the Brewers lost I watched the play-by-play internet coverage of the Broncos game, which they won. Apparently the Brewers and Broncos are not allowed to win on the same day. I hope this means smooth sailing for the Broncos here on out.

It's been cool but pretty up here lately, but today it's been nothing but rain all day. I'm glad I got my partying in when I did. I fear it's the last festival of the year. :(

_____

Rolling scientists gather no moss

Things have been busy here in Beer Town. I've been reorganizing the lab since late summer in between running experiments and TAing cell biology. But, never fear, I found plenty of time to play and frolic in the waning late-summer days!

I walk a lot here in the city, but a couple of weeks ago was the first time I walked in an organized fashion -- my first 5K! Al's Run is a major event up here -- there were over 15,000 people running, walking, and racing wheelchairs this year. It was a beautiful day for a 5K, but for a walk, it wasn't much of a challenge. Not only is it not very far, but there were so many people, strollers, wagons, etc. that I never got beyond what I would call a leisurely pace. It was a little frustrating, frankly. But I was walking with friends and once I was able to let go of my frustrations, I had a great time. The shirts were cute, too:


You can see that I was proud of the fact that I'd become a number:


Yes, that's the reaction for the hydrolysis of ATP on the back of my shirt. The Biological Sciences department had a team. That was our artwork. We are complete dorks.

More fun was had last Friday night when several of my classmates went to Caffrey's a local pub for happy hour. We weren't very good at darts, but we had a lot of fun trying. Here, my friends Xi, Priyanka, Radhika, and Mae give it a go:


And while I do truly, truly suck at darts, it turns out I'm not half bad at bar shuffleboard. Who knew? I think I'll be playing that more often!

Last night I went to the rally to send off the Brewers to their first playoff series against the Phillies (sorry, Mr. Yarnthrower, but I really hope your boys lose!!). The turnout was enormous and I couldn't see a thing. I could barely hear a thing, either, but it was fun to be there nonetheless. Also, I have no pictures, but they would have just been of the backs of the heads of the 14,000 people standing in front of me, so just close your eyes and picture that for a moment. Wow, it's like you were there!!! We didn't hang around for the party after the players left the stage, so as we were walking back to the bus stop, we were pleased and surprised to see the players buses come to a stoplight right beside us! We waved, they waved -- it was the best part of the afternoon! Turns out I'm a science dork and a sports dork!! Tomorrow I'm watching the first playoff game with my friend Anne, even though I kinda have to sneak out of work to manage it (it's an afternoon game). It will be worth it! Plus, I figure, watched cells never mate, so I'm really helping my experiment by leaving and ignoring them! It's actually a scientific strategy! I'm a genius! Just give me my degree now, please!

Well, since that's probably not going to happen, I'll just plug along in the lab and spend most of my evenings doing handwork. The last couple of nights it's been the Seraphina shawl. I love this pattern, but I wish I had softer yarn to work with. This is one of those times in life when one cannot justify yarn expenditures when there are four Rubbermaid totes of yarn in the front closet and one's stipend just went down. So, it's stash acrylic and it's a little stiff. It's a very pretty color, though -- TLC Heathers in Blue Moon -- and much prettier in person than in the pic. I think the weight of the finished product will help with the drape.


So that's what's been keeping me so busy. Which is good, because moss is so hard to get out from between my toes.

_____

Bad news football; good news baseball

So maybe I just shouldn't watch football this season.

I hadn't watched any Broncos games until today and they were undefeated until today. Maybe I'm bad mojo. This is, of course, ridiculous -- my presence or absence in front of a television screen has nothing to do with how the players perform miles away from me. But as far as sports superstitions go, it's completely reasonable. I will ponder this possibility and decide what to do before next week's game.

Since I have no television of my own, I had to go to the Union Sports Annex to watch the game -- they have Sunday Ticket -- and it just so happened that the screen showing the Brewers game was right next to the screen playing the Broncos game. It was maddening. It's bad enough watching two different football games at one time, but to watch two screens showing two games of altogether different sports, both of which I was heavily invested in, was really difficult. Plus, the football game was horrible, while the baseball game was terrific. An emotional roller coaster if ever I've been on one.

Anyway, the good news is that the Brewers won and the Mets lost, so the Brewers are going to the playoffs!! We're all very excited up here in Beer Town, to be sure. Go Brew Crew!!!

Oh, and I made one and a half dishcloths while watching all of this. True multi-tasking, I'm telling you. I had completely depleted my random dishcloth stash when I visited my family this summer, so I really needed to start stocking up again. I think I'm up to around four. Many more to go!

Okay, so I know I promised State Fair pictures a long time ago. But somehow this pressure has become too great and I've just not been blogging instead of doing all the photo manipulation required to present such a post. And, since Yarnthrower reminded me that I made a New Year's resolution to not feel guilty about my blog, I'm permanently throwing that to the back of the back burner for the sake of blogging in general. So there, guilt! Away with you! Ppbbfftt!!

On to a little progress report! The Maui Shrug is indeed finally finished (the one I tried to do for the Ravelympics and failed horribly) but I don't have pictures yet. It really needs to be modeled to be seen properly, and that will require enlisting the help of a second party to snap the pic and looking decent myself for the picture. This will require planning. So it may be a while. I can't help it. I'm vain yet lazy. It's a terrible burden, I assure you.

My friend Anne's bridal shower was a couple of weeks ago and I finished all her gifts in good time and went on to have a blast at the event itself. It was held at a wine bar and there was quite a spread. And I couldn't believe all the gifts she got -- what a haul!! And that was just the shower!!!

My addition to the haul included dishcloths,


potholders,


lid hats,


and a market bag.


I put it all together and made fiber content/washing instructions tags for everything.


She loved it! Here's Veronica, Anne, Me, and Rachel at the shower. It was great!


I have also finished the wedding gift for Anne and her finace, but finished pics will wait until after the giving. Just in case.

Tonight I started the Seraphina shawl. I've never felt the shawl love, but this pattern is calling to me for some reason. I've only got a tiny bit done, so I'll save pics for next time. But I'm really enjoying it so far. In fact, I think I'll get back to it right now!

_____

The fun never stops -- and I'm pooped!

Ever since finals, I've been relishing the thought of having some nice, veg-out time for myself -- maybe a whole day in my pajamas kind of thing. But it seems, instead, that I've been in uber-socializing mode every night of the week. Christmas parties, graduation parties, dinner at friends' homes, stitch night. Oh, and there was some massive paper grading thrown in there last week. All of this has been incredibly fun and I'm so happy I now have the time to enjoy all this socializing without guilt (except for that still-not-sent-Christmas-card guilt), but I'm still almost as exhausted as I was during finals! Since I'm on my own for the holiday, I hope to get caught up on some serious sloth.

Tonight the professor I was a TA for is taking me to dinner at the Water Street Brewery and to my very first Marquette Men's Basketball game as a thank-you. Isn't that sweet? I'm very excited. I'm not a basketball fan, but going to a sporting event is always fun, even if the sport itself isn't my favorite. Plus, this is my school now, and I'm a supporter, even if the constant sound of soles squeaking on the floor drives me a little nuts. Anyway, I think it will be a really good time. Plus, I really like Dr. Waring and I always have fun with her.

Last night's festivities included attending a Christmas concert put on by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. The music was varied (Farandole, pieces from The Nutcracker, Silent Night, Sleigh Ride, etc.) and the performance was top-notch. The space in which it took place was amazing, too. The Basilica of St. Josaphat is a beautiful old Polish cathedral on the south side of the city, built in the late 1800's using stone from the demolished Chicago Post Office. It was completely renovated in the 1990's, and the interior is crazy with its ornamentation.

I don't think pictures can do it justice. There was just so much to look at!! It was a magical evening.

This weekend won't necessarily be all that restful either, considering my darling little Tetrahymenae have seen fit to be difficult and now I must run experiments tomorrow that were supposed to be run today. Darned little guys. Like they have their own little lives to live, or something!

Oh well, I can sleep when I'm dead, right?

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The new reality

This semester is not going to leave much time for blogging. It won't last forever, but it's going to pretty much be this sporadic all fall. Not that I'm that exciting to begin with.

Baseball season is going away and I'm sad. Of course I'm sad that my Brewers didn't make the playoffs after such a promising start, but Gator is a Cubs fan, so one of us was going to be happy no matter what. As long as the Cardinals bit it.

My last game of the season was a blast, as always. I've totally gotten the "going to the baseball game" bug. It's just so very fun. This time, V invited me along to her workplace picnic at Miller park.


At the tailgate, there were celebrity sightings! Exciting!

I was accosted by a Klements Racing Sausage (My favorite! Bratwurst!):


Bernie Brewer was starting to drag after many pictures wth fans. I admit that I perked him up a bit by patting him on the behind. That's why he's looking a little shocked in this pic:


I've loved every second of my time at Miller Park this summer. I can't wait until next year.

_____

'Tis me risin' from th' dead

Arrrr! It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Shiver me timbers!

As much as I would like to post entirely in Piratese, it just doesn't come across in print very well. Arrrr!

Oh, yeah, Hi! Been awhile, eh? After my company left, I got a wicked cold and the workload this semester is crazy. I haven't blogged, I haven't done any handwork -- I do homework and sleep. Mostly, that's totally it.

But that's no fun to blog about! Luckily, I have a whole passel of pictures from when my Best Friend Missa came to visit me weekend-before-last. Yay!

She flew up from Missouri to see me, obviously, but also to see our favorite band, Rush, when they played here on Sept. 6. The concert was a total blast and we had a ball. Afterwards, as we walked to the bus stop, a couple of college-age guys on bikes stopped us. One had a bouquet of roses in his hand. He offered them to us and we were trying to politely refuse ("candy" from strangers and all that -- it was around midnight in the middle of the city, after all), when he explained that he was just having a really hard time riding his bike while carrying these flowers -- and wouldn't we like some beautiful flowers? So we finally accepted. Unless they contained this cold virus Missa and I both seem to have picked up, no harm came from taking flowers from a stranger. They were pretty beat-up at the time, but I trimmed them and put them in water when we got home and, by morning, they had perked up to be very lovely indeed. Missa beautifully posed with them:



Saturday morning we drove down to the Lakefront and Missa posed,


I posed,


We met some birds,


and Missa tried to get to know one of them better (it flew away seconds after this photo was taken).


We took in a few more sights, then met up with New Friend Veronica for the Miller Brewery Tour. It was fun, free, and included beer. Perfection? Dang close. Missa and I got up close and personal with a large fake beer bottle. Why not?


Missa, me, and V posed together at the back of the High Life Cruiser, a big, very retro Miller bus thing-y that we decided was just pretty cool. Although, I think that great old "Girl in the moon" logo may be the best thing about Miller. They should use it more, methinks.


Missa didn't get to stay nearly long enough, if you ask me. But it was great to see her, hand out with her, and to have my first official out-of-town visitor come to my humble abode in Beer Town! Yay! It was fun playing hostess and I tried to instill my insane crazy love for this city into Missa. I think I did a pretty good job. I can't wait until she can come back!

::cough::

Seriously, do you think those guys made us sick with infected roses??

::cough::

Yeah, okay, maybe not.

Wherein crazy lady tells too much, probably

Happy Saturday Sky!


Well, not totally happy because it's supposed to rain all weekend and all next week. Not that we can't use some rain, but this may become overkill. Now that I live in the city, I'm not as aware of the precipitation needs of the agricultural base, which is a little weird. But I'm pretty sure a solid week of rain in August is not what anyone was hoping for.

This has been an odd week. First of all, I haven't felt that great. I had a bright idea that I would start on a high fiber diet, because I'm sure my body would greatly benefit and also because Walgreens had a crazy sale on Grape Nuts and frozen vegetables. And at the risk of venturing into the world of TMI, let me tell you that suddenly increasing your fiber intake by over 100% does some freaky uncomfortable and disgusting things to your bod. I recommend that anyone else trying this just take the week off from work. My plan is to be strong, continue on and hope I adjust soon. That, or the regular price of Grape Nuts will force me to go back so subsisting mostly on cheap white bread, peanut butter and Ramen. I can only imagine that the reverse transition would be disgusting as well.

This week marks one year since I moved to Beer Town! w00t! My love for this city has grown steadily during that time to the point where any time I travel to other places I have a running internal commentary of how Milwaukee is better. This happened when I was in Toronto in July and it happened when I was in Chicago on Thursday. I think I'm crazy smitten and people are really starting to get tired of it. You know when your friend first gets a new girl/boyfriend? And if they say one more dazzlingly fabulous thing about the ravishing perfection of said new friend you will possibly jab their eyes out and/or shoot them in the throat? Yeah, I think I may be that girl. Only about an entire city, which is maybe just really, really sick. But I'm starting to think such an attack would be totally worth it because I totally love this crazy awesome city just that much. Hi! Crazy lady right here!

I know the burning question in your mind during that whole tirade of craziness was, "Why was Sus in Chicago on Thursday?" Never fear, I'll totally tell you. See, New Friend Veronica's old roommate Kristen is an intern for the NPR news quiz, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!, which I've loved listening to for about seven years. She got us free tickets for last Thursday's taping, so we motored down with much excitement. Traffic was pretty bad, so we ended up pulling into a parking structure a couple of blocks away from the Chase Tower about ten minutes before taping was to begin. This caused us to run two blocks in an attempt to not be late. Neither V nor I actually run in real life, especially without the aid of industrial strength sports bras, so the actual running was accompanied by a running commentary of how we don't really run and also, "My boobs are flopping like crazy, you?" and "Totally. I may put an eye out any second." I'm sure passersby found this cute and endearing.

So we got there, found the correct door, and made our way to the auditorium. Thoughts of the auditorium in the Chase Tower had always conjured up thoughts of an, oh I don't know, auditorium in a tower. And, while the building is, in fact, towering, the auditorium is actually down in the basement with a low little ceiling and a pretty small little stage. I don't know what else they do there -- probably incredible bank-related theater, I'm sure. On this night, due to some miscommunication, they had overbooked the show. So, while a group of people were standing around hoping for no-shows, we were swept into the packed auditorium and led to reserved seats in the front row directly in front of the panel! Sassy! We were incredibly special! Personally, I think all aspects of my life should work in this manner.

Watching the taping was great fun. The panel included Tom Bodett (he'll leave the light on for you), Amy Dickenson, and Mo Rocca. I think I was the only person there that was genuinely excited that the Not My Job guest was congressman Ron Paul. I think he's awesome (Hi! I live here in my pretty, little, high-up apartment, making googly eyes at my city and feeling it return my love manyfold. I can't be bothered to care what you think of my politics). Afterwards there was a question/answer session during which Peter Sagel almost fell into my arms. Okay, he sort of tripped and almost took a header sort of towards me, but that doesn't sound as cool. After the show, we went and ate McDonald's in the train station with Kristen because we are so classy like that. The ride home consisted largely of V and I belting out Journey's greatest hits which is always a good time in my book.

It was a really late night but it was so worth it. We're hoping to do it again soon. If I survive eating all these Grape Nuts.

_____

Eating my way through the fair

Yesterday, after I took my Radioisotope Safety final (which went just fine), New Friend Veronica and I went to the Wisconsin State Fair. My original goal had been to eat a variety of foods on sticks, because that is a major innovation of state fair technology. I'm sure someone has written a dissertation on the origins, histories and evolutions of foods on sticks. I'm sure it starts with the chicken (or other fowl) leg -- nature's food on a stick -- travels through shish kabobs, expounds on the importance of the corn dog and Popsicle in 20th century Western culture, and ends with a surreal listing of current fair foods on sticks such as pickles, pork chops and deep friend Snickers bars. At least mine would. Unless I did any real research and found something else cool.

There's a problem with food on sticks, though. They tend to be expensive. It's as if the stick were a premium souvenir of some sort that you'd pay dearly for, even if it didn't hold a delicious food item. Since I'm a poor graduate student, a quick check of the finances caused me to reevaluate my Fair goal. So I decided to Do The Fair on $20. I found that it was "Crazy Grazin' Night" at the Wisconsin State Fair, a promotion that involves selected vendors offering special portions at a reduced price or "buy one, get one" offers and such. In short, Bargain Food. Cool. This would prove helpful in the pursuit of my new goal.

Turns out, you can stuff yourself incredibly efficiently on $20. Here's how I fared:

Ticket to the Wisconsin State Fair	$8.00
Sen. Herb Kohl's flavored milk (strawberry)	$0.25
Apple cider doughnut	$0.50
Usinger's all natural hot dog (w/kraut)	$1.00
Dried cranberry/white chocolate chip cookie and glass of cranberry juice	$1.50
1/2 order garlic cheese dippers	$0.75
24 oz. Coke	$2.50
Funnel cake	$4.00
Cup of coffee	$1.50
Total	$20.00

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty impressed. Now you know how little it takes to impress me. Come on over and do a trick! I'll love you forever!

A little shot in the direction of the midway which makes it seem like a dinky little affair -- trust me, it's not.


After dark it made for a more interesting picture:


The handwork and craft displays were quite nice, even if they were all behind plexiglass and difficult to photograph:


The blue ribbon for women's knitted pullover went to this lovely sweater:


I decided against noting the name of the person who made this and stalking them until they become my new best friend -- proof that I have short moments of sanity, after all.


This embroidered sampler was fanfreakingtastic:


The top gladioli were all just gorgeous:


Bonsais are so cute. I love them.


The Grand Prize for oddest shaped vegetable went to this little gem:


The little old man standing beside me at the display leaned over to his wife and said, "That there's a male tomato!" Yup, pretty much. Judging by the state of the other fruits and vegetables on display, it wasn't that shriveled when it was submitted. Oh, what "hanging out" in the elements will do to a guy!

All in all, a fabulous time was had. It was a fair, it was a quest, it was a dirty vegetable (okay, tomatoes are fruit) peepshow. What do you want? Fabulous Ecuadorian flute music? Oh yeah, there was that, too.

Now if someone could just roll me into the lab, please?

_____

I'm flaking again

Title sung to the tune of "It's Raining Again" by Supertramp.

Now that Gator's socks are done, I'm trying to get back into my routine and flake it up on a weekly basis. I'm afraid I've become disillusioned with the patterns from the SimplySnowflakes group, so I'm going back to my solitary ways (though I'm staying with the group, I'm just not going to participate in the sign-ups anymore). This pattern was a free Lion Brand pattern (Number 4) and it's okay. Not my favorite, but not too bad. I had to go back to size 10 thread (I had been using size 20) because the pattern is actually written for sport weight and the middle was killing me in such a small gauge. I'm so used to size 20, though, that this seems so bulky and inelegant. I'm sure it's a personal problem, so I'm going to ignore it.



Yesterday I went to the Brewers game, which was great until the ninth inning when we blew a big lead only to go into extra innings and lose 8-6 to the Phillies. It was still a fun day, but the outcome of the game was a bummer.

After the game, New Friend Veronica took me to JoAnn so I could get a zipper to finish the Zodiac. I've decided not to embroider anything on it, mostly because a) I can't find a design that seems just right, b) I can't find a 50% cotton / 50% acrylic yarn in a yellow that will match the buttons, which I'm not willing to change, and c) my duplicate stitches always look like crap, and why crap up a perfectly good sleep sack? So I've decided to just block it, put in the zipper, finish a pair of baby socks that marginally match it (they're made from leftovers from my First Socks -- hey, there's some orange in there!), and call it good. The more I look at the Zodiac without embroidery, the more I like it, anyway.

Tomorrow is my final exam for the radioisotope safety class. I'm very excited for it to be over. So much so that I'm going to the Wisconsin State Fair right after the final as a reward. I'll try so hard to remember to take pictures of the craft and needlework highlights. And food on a stick. Because, really, it's all about foods on sticks.

_____

Nothing new, so something old (ish)

I'm not flaking right now because I'm trying to get Gator's socks done before his birthday. Can't show progress because I want the color and style to be a surprise to him. The rest of the world has been taken over by Harry Potter-dom, in which I do not indulge. This makes for boring blogging. Sorry.

So I'll tell you about last weekend, which I never got around to blogging about at the time. It'll be like time travel! Exciting!

As I've said before, Milwaukee is the City of Festivals. All summer long there are festivals for this and that -- mostly ethnic in nature -- plus fairs and church festivals and myriad reasons to spend all your money on various foods on sticks. Many of the festivals make some sort of sense, reflect the culture of the ancestry of large contingencies of SE Wisconsin residents, etc. Heck, any reason to party, right? There's Polish Fest, German Fest, Irish Fest, Arab Fest, African Fest, Festa Mexicana, Festa Italiana and...

Bastille Days! Yes, the French residents of Beer Town (both of them) are well represented in the festival circuit. Somewhere along the line, someone salvaged a 40-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower (which apparently was once part of an Estee Lauder mall display), turned it over to the Milwaukee School of Engineering, the lit it up, set it in a park, and now we party around it and have an excuse to drink wine as well as beer! Genius!


Did they at least have a variety of French wares and food items to get people into the mood? Of course not! The closest we could find was some Cajun offerings. And in true festival form, I had mine on a stick. New Friend Veronica and I pondered the moral (and kinda icky) implications of my possible enjoyment of gator (little "g")-on-a-stick, but since Gator (big "G") wasn't there to witness the actual mastication and (mostly) because it was just too cool to pass up, I did, in fact, order gator-on-a-stick. It was okay. But it t'weren't no brat. (Why don't they serve brats on sticks???) I also enjoyed some Cajun spiced "French" fries. Oh la la!!


Of course, they tried to make things more French. They did sell beignets, but they were little more than glorified funnel cakes. I'm sure they were a slap in the face to French chefs everywhere. I had two.


NFV had two, too!


They did manage to book some fairly decent French music and an act that was reminiscent of Cirq de Soleil (but much more "Milwaukee"). A good time was had by all. If only I knew enough French to say something witty or pithy in French now! Ceci nes pas un witty saying!

I crack my ass up.

_____