Santa Claus Has Already Come To Town

Oshkosh kicked off its holiday festivities a couple weeks ago with a big gathering in Opera House Square. There was caroling, kid games, and food from some local restaurants (including my favorite new downtown cafe). Apparently this was the biggest party going on in the world that night, because Santa chose to stop by our town to meet the kids! Unfortunately I had only my crappy cellphone camera to document the scene. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the party, despite it being one of the first really cold days this year.

The next day Jodi and I stopped at the Fox Valley Mall in Appleton for some shopping. It's a fine mall if you need something that's there, but not really worth a trip unless you're in the area. But I guess Santa had a layover before heading back to the North Pole, because there he was again! I hate to say it, but he looked a little bored until a kid came by to chat a few minutes later. He must have been doing some market research, but he should really get back to the office to oversee production. No wonder there still aren't enough Wii's.

I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving

Today was our second Thanksgiving in Wisconsin, and also the second Thanksgiving for which there is snow on the ground. On Monday morning, we woke up to this:



Yup, that would be 4.5 inches of snow, the first real snow of the year. I must say, the true sign that we have lived in WI for some time is how I was only briefly moved by how beautiful the snow was-- I just kept thinking, "here are the four months of the year when I try to avoid re-spraining my ankle on the ice." Still, the town and campus did look aesthetically pleasing in the snow, and I'm finding that temperatures in the 30s really don't feel that cold anymore. I enjoyed inhaling the crisp snow smell while I walked across campus.

We are having a very quiet Thanksgiving weekend, mostly cleaning, grading, and getting some much needed rest. This morning I ate a bagel with lox (for nostalgic purposes) while watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and missing New York a bit. I never actually went to the parade but did go the night before the parade to see the balloons being blown up, which is an awesome experience. The parade is sheer commercialism and kitsch but I'm a total sucker for it (although I am concerned about the current relaunch of the Muppets-- I'm excited to see them getting some exposure but thought the cheesy Christmas song was so earnest that it desecrated the long history of Muppet irreverence).

This afternoon we went to some friends nearby for The Meal, and their table looked very fine indeed:



After the main meal and before dessert, we all went for a walk in the local park, which is still snow-covered. The annual winter light display throughout the park was already set up and we wandered around looking at the lights and throwing snow balls (always an excellent thing). At the top of this post is my favorite image: a man ice-fishing, in lights, right beside the lake where people will soon be ice fishing. [Note: the lake is not yet frozen. The top of the Fox River IS frozen, but it's not "safe" for ice-fishing the way the lake eventually will be]. A good, frozen time was had by all. We also ran into some friends who live in the same part of town and their extremely adorable daughter.

As we walked, we all talked about how Wisconsinites really have all of these structures in place to make the winter fun and more bearable; some people embrace the winter whereas some just muddle (or drink) their way through it, but there is really quite a lot to do here even once it gets bloody cold out.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.

Chicago Hope

At the end of October we spent a long weekend in Chicago; while Jodi attended a conference, I got my own work done in the beautiful public library. I like to see the main library buildings of the cities I visit, and this is the first time I had made it to Chicago's, although I didn't take the time to really tour it properly. But check out this scene, which shows only a small portion of the public computers they have available! And look how packed they are -- anyone who thinks libraries are still just places to find a book hasn't been to one for a while.


The reason I was working at the library rather than the very swanky hotel hosting Jodi's conference is that they charged $60 for Jodi's wi-fi and I didn't feel paying again for my own laptop. But I'll say one things for fancy hotels -- if they're really good, they manage to integrate modern amenities into their "classy" decor. Witness the Badgers above on a pair of beautiful flat screens. The best thing about the hotel is that it was literally right next to the park where the city was preparing for Obama's victory speech the following night. Heidi blogged about our tour of the scene (and what she got to see the following night!). We would have stayed the extra night, but we booked it well in advance and wanted to make sure we got home in time to vote. This is before we heard about early voting. D'oh!

Election Day is for Luzers

Today we voted!

Wisconsin is one of the 31 states where you don't need an excuse to vote early. In New York you still do, and "I don't like waiting in long lines" doesn't count. We figured that this way we can vote on our own schedule, do whatever we like on election day (get-out-the-vote, perhaps...) and encourage high turnout by reducing those lines.

Today we found basically no lines (about 1 minute wait for the ballot request form, and another minute for the ballot itself) but there was a steady stream of people going into and out of the polling place. And because Wisconsin is a swing state, our votes actually matter!

Another local voter advantage: I didn't commit a crime by taking that photo! Apparently cameras are prohibited in the voting booth in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and possibly elsewhere. In Colorado, the Secretary of State says

There is no state statute that prohibits videoing or photographing one's ballot. However, it is illegal for one to then disclose how one has voted.

WTF? Anyway, since felons are prohibited from voting in most states, I'm glad I didn't just become one. Take this, Colorado!

Wherein I Meet the Sausages

We've posted previously about the sausage race at Miller Park, and about PETA's quixotic crusade to get them to include a sixth contestant. Well today the sausages came to Oshkosh to appear at the homecoming game, and I got my picture taken with them. Actually only Stosh Jonjak (Polish sausage), Cinco (chorizo) and Brett Wurst (duh) were there; maybe Guido (Italian) and Frankie Furter had another engagement.

I was also in a big group photo with the chancellor of the university today, but really, which would you rather see?

To the Lighthouse

Last Saturday we took a short day trip to Sheboygan. (Because, hey, now we can say we've been to SHEBOYGAN). Who knew that a city which, much like Oshkosh, is typically the butt of middle-of-nowhere jokes could be so pretty? There was a lovely park right on Lake Michigan with a long walk on a jetty out to the lighthouse pictured above.

We also ate at a tasty (and very meat-heavy) restaurant on the bay, where we watched the beginning of the Brewers' game on big flat screen televisions. Once the Mets were out of it, we were rooting for the Brewers in the NL and are glad that at least they won that one game-- sort of a moral victory, if you will.

When going to the lighthouse, it's important to know how to get there. One also has to know how to squash it from afar:



I am squashing your lighthouse!!!! I am squashing your lighthouse!!!

I continue to really like Lake Michigan. The great inland sea is quite blue and lovely.

Gastronomic Fandom

It was a terrible day today for Wisconsin sports-- but on Friday afternoon at Pick 'n Save, great hope was witnessed amidst the bakery section.

RIP, Brewers' 2008 season. Your one postseason triumph, yesterday eve, is duly noted. Well done. As for the Packers... we did not see the game due to a Time Warner kerfuffle. Yes, that's right, some of us here in Northeastern WI did not get the Packers' game today. The horror!

At the moment, my beloved Boston Red Sox are in extra innings against the Angels. Let's go Papelbon!

Is that an Egg Roll in your canvas bag, or ....

Summer is waning, and we haven't yet posted about one of our favorite things about the summer and early autumn here: farmer's markets. Aside from the obvious "yum" factor (yum!), there's the beauty of buying local produce, supporting local farms, and seeing other folks from town when we go to the Oshkosh farmer's market. (The Madison farmer's market is a paradise unto itself, but at a 90 mile drive it's not precisely "local"-- very awesome, though).

Most beautiful of all, in Maccabee's eyes, is something rather unique to our local market: the Hmong egg roll stand. After all, what's fresh produce if it's not accompanied by a hot, crispy egg roll? Funniest of all, there are two stands right next to each other and both do a brisk business; both now offer a veggie option.

I think I may have just though of a new theoretical lens: the Eggroll Gaze.

When it was still summer (sniff!) we did a lot of successful cooking with the produce (including a splendid quinoa salad and two successful risottos). Now that the school year has started, life is very, very hectic, so cooking has fallen to the back burner (no pun intended). I just realized that the farmer's market pictures were over a month old--so here they are!

Wisconsin Crime Wave, Part II

The local summer crime wave I reported on earlier continues unabated. As a public service, please be alerted to this criminal act reported in a mass email I received at work today. The names have been removed to protect the innocent.

Missing Greenhouse Plant

During a recent research stay at Missouri Botanical Garden, I obtained a very rare member of the family of plants upon which I work, Brighamia insignis:

http://www.botanik.uni-karlsruhe.de/garten/fotos-knoch/Brighamia%20insignis%201.jpg

It was placed with my other research plants in the greenhouse atop Halsey Science Center.

Sometime between the afternoons of Wednesday, 13 August and Friday, 15 August, it disappeared from the greenhouse. This plant is not commercially available to any extent. If you see one of these, it is likely mine.

I want the plant back. If it magically reappears in the greenhouse by Wednesday, 20 August, no more will happen. After that date, I will file a formal theft report with campus police. Only so many people have access to that greenhouse. No civilian walked in off the street and took it; this clearly was an inside job.

The sooner the plant is returned the better. This species has no resistance to red spider mites and if not regularly treated with pesticide, will be dead within the month.

Please report any sightings to your nearest botanical law enforcement.

Civics Lesson

Today we visited the Barnes & Noble in Appleton to buy some fun stuff with Jodi's gift certificates. Jodi noted later that while our old B&N on 82nd St & Broadway specialized in psychology and Judaica, there is a bit more of a conservative focus in northeastern Wisconsin. These two books were prominently displayed on the welcome table.


I think I was offended not so much by the titles (it's fine to have a "case against Barack Obama", and despite his objective qualifications he has gained a cult of personality) as by the super-evil-looking pictures used on the front covers. In any case, I vented my political rage with an act of minute civil disobedience, turning one of the books over so you couldn't see the front cover.

A few minutes later, walking through the bargain stacks, I found this book:


Someone had apparently felt a similar call to political protest from the other side; whether an Obama or McCain supporter we can't tell, but I have to guess a Republican since Obama supporters should have stopped focusing on her by now. But this person had taken a slightly less agressive approach, turning the target book not backwards but simply upside down. This strikes me as simulataneoulsy less rude and more effective, since a customer can now immediately see the object of dissent. It also matches the only vandalism we've received thus far to our own Obama bumper magnet.

Having been taught a valuable lesson by my conservative neighbors on effective First Amendment expression, I returned to the anti-Obama books and turned them simply upside down.

Edit: By the way, Mom, I turned the Hillary book back right-side up.