Monthly Archive: July 2008
Ferris Wheels and Funnel Cakes
After not making it on a ferris wheel for the entire Fourth of July holiday, I knew I would start going into withdrawal when the big fair came to town. This girl loves ferris wheels. And funnel cakes. And sweet corn dipped in butter.I’m a frugal sort, however, and the fair entry cost would probably be better used towards something like our electric bill or the ice cream addiction.
Even if I’m not going to indulge in the wild and wooly fair, I bet some of you will. What draws you there? The music? The 4-H exhibits? The rides? The horrible-for-you …
Your Voice: July 29
I am having a hard time coming up with a good intro. But there is a lot of very interesting reading for one and all in CW’s personal blogs this week:
• Working with hay bales is hard work, man, if you have done it you know it is no joke. On the “A Stable Personality” blog, Billie tells a nice, warm story about stacking hay bales with friends, and about stacking hay bales as a random act of kindness.
• christopher thinks about technology and connectedness, and ponders severing the cord.
• The first-ever Green Bay Packers News podcast! …
Five things to ruminate while pondering a third cup of Coffee
[We want to thank Jane Neal for these questions. It was great to get help from someone who writes for a living, and teaches. If you have a set of questions, please feel free to send them to us. Dino.]
1. When you listen to music, are you listening for the melody, the lyrics, or the whole package? I think different people love and listen differently. I can love a song totally for what it says, but I know other people who love songs and have no idea what’s being said in the lyrics. (”Hold me close, young Tony Danza”)
2. Are …
HR Committee Agenda-July 28th
It has been a while since I posted an agenda or meeting minutes. I got this one in the electronic mailbox, and I knew I had to sit down and relight my personal civic fire.
In the past, others have asked, why post this stuff? Those dudes and dudettes do not listen to the common man; those folks just listen to the fancy people. Maybe so, I respond, but maybe you are not speaking the right language. Maybe they do not know you, and you do not know them. Either way, I tend to think they listen.
But this HR Agenda jumped …
Your Voice: July 21
Welcome, one and all. It was a relatively quiet week in the CW personal blogs section, though perhaps that’s because there were so much great front-page submissions. Here are just a few of the highlights from the past week in the blogs:
• Jill Knetter writes about being maid of honor at her mother’s wedding. She has some conflicting emotions, and some very personal but also rather universal thoughts about marriage and family.
• Andy Laub looks back at the just-closed WCT performance of Over the River & Through the Woods, in which he played the lead. And he looks …
The Rights of Smokers
Before dinner last night, my little family and I went to Schofield FunDays to have some community time. We basked in the boyish bliss of the bounce house and giant inflatable slide until our delight was tainted by the actions of one woman on the playground.
As a way to lure our toddler son away from the rides, we promised him some playground time at the school playground near where we had parked. I ran around with Ben, taking too many pictures of him as usual, and Chris stayed on a bench with Baby Anna.
A woman with children came to join …
Six Questions in the Unbearable Humidity
- When you ride a bike, do you wear a helmet? My mom fell off of her bike last Tuesday, and she badly damaged her eye because she slammed down on her sunglasses. They think that the damage would have been far less severe if she had been wearing a helmet. Still, wearing one doesn’t come naturally to me because I never wore one when I was a kid. New habits have to start NOW.
- Are you taking any precautions against mosquitoes this summer? I’m freaked out about West Nile, so I won’t let my son have a wading pool in the …
ChalkFest: Gone with the click of an automatic sprinkler
Wausau’s ChalkFest was a hugely successful event…on Saturday and Sunday when the artists were spending literally hours creating their chalk masterpieces. Fast forward to Monday and reality hits as the city’s automatic sprinkler system kicks in. Thoughtless oversight? Or intentional washout?
I talked to many of the artists during the weekend, some of whose fingers were rubbed raw from blending chalk colors on the bumpy blacktop as they painstakingly etched their drawings to perfection. Some camped out next to their allotted square space (seriously, there were tents) and spent the entire two days creating and improving their personal masterpieces. Many of …
What do you want them to do with you?
This week, I was riding my bike on the east side when a strong, oily smell smote my nostrils. I looked around and saw a darkish cloud roiling above a funeral home. “Oh, cripes! They’re incinerating someone!” was my first reaction. And I somewhat recoiled at the sight; and unreasonably so. After all, they do indeed burn dead people — they call it cremation. You get to keep the ashes of your loved one if you want; you can hold onto them or scatter them in some special place.
But, having that blackish smoke invade my day was sobering and I …
Hey Brett-GO TO BED!!
I feel strange writing about Brett Favre. I have not wanted to really ever write about sports, save the for brilliance of Bobby Bowden or the metaphysical brilliance of Roy Jones, Jr., but I have had enough. I have had enough of this constant onslaught of this man and his never-ending string of manipulation at the expense of the people of this great state. Just a few months ago, I stood in County Market, and I cried. At 37, I cried as we all listened to the press conference played over the PA. Grown men …