photo op

back from

Cedar Rapids and the National Czech and Slovak Museum, seeing an exhibit on artist Alphonse Mucha (one of my favorite artists).  Czech Village not terribly exciting or interesting, except for getting kolaches at the bakery.

Snowmaggedon 2012

Status: Awaiting blizzard...
Predicted snowfall: 10-13 inches

Signs

you are back in MN...meat raffles and pull-tabs...

also pork scones...Oy.

Deflated Santa

I passed by a deflated (inflatable) Santa on someone's lawn.
Christmas is canceled this year kids...

status quo

Well, back from the sunniest place in the country, Colorado.  Back to cold cold cold and dreary, half-gray
skies.  I have to say though that the Des Moines airport is a dream to go through.  It's really pretty civil and tolerable.
In other news, my little Italian bus friends wanted to sit with me today.  I wish my Italian was a little better so I could understand what they are saying.

butter-Cy

As part of the homecoming festivities, there is a a sculptor who has fashioned a butter-sculpture of the ISU's mascot, Cy, out of 300 pounds of butter.

http://www.kcci.com/news/entertainment/Butter-Cy-created-for-ISU-s-100-Homecoming/-/9356786/17101468/-/l7eeyqz/-/index.html


http://amestrib.com/sections/news/ames-and-story-county/birth-butter-cy-day-3.html

If he fell over and killed someone, would it be butter-cyde?

The fascination with all things dairy or ISU in this town is really quite something... I'm not sure I know the proper adjective to describe what that is.

Suicidal squirrel

Today, while walking home, I saw a suicidal squirrel run into a woman's bike.  The squirrel seemed to run directly into the wheel of her bicycle.  The startled cyclist let out of shriek, sending the skittish squirrel scampering up a nearby tree. 

at bus stop

Guy with Panama hat, combing his big mustache with a comb.

guys on bikes

I'm pretty sure I just saw 2 Mormon missionaries riding their bikes down Northwestern Avenue.
They were in their suits with little name tags and bike helmets.
Hey guess they gotta get around town too.

Swedish

This technically falls under the category of Minnesotan misc. but we met
someone who has actually had Swedish egg coffee, which I may
have previously mentioned seeing (and wondering about) at the Minnesota
State fair.   Thanks to my native Minnesotan classmate Lindsay for
enlightening us about its possible culinary merits.  I probably still won't
try it because of my dislike of eggs.

edits

Just to add to that, the dog's name was Nom Chompsky.

Also, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with the whole concept of the walking taco.  It's basically just a taco salad served in a plastic bag, these little single-sized servings of chips type bag.  Except even to say "salad" would be stretching it, because I don't think there are vegetables, unless you count corn chips as a vegetable.  But it's the big thing, especially for tail-gating parties and the like.  Whoopee...

biting

My linguistics professor used to have a dog named: Chompsky

Aaah...those linguists and their puns...

Grammy rocks

"I can do anything- I'm a grammy!" - this is what the bagger at Dahl's said!  We didn't have our usual, large
canvas grocery bags with us, so in a pinch, found a drawstring plastic bag in the trunk of the car and brought
that in when stopped to pick up a few items.  Well as it often does, a few items turns into several, and before you know it, we're at the register with 4 boxes of cereal, milk, etc. etc.
The grammy-bagger at the register assured us she could certainly fit everything in our bag!

coolness

I went away and the heat wave passed.

It's 63 degrees right now!  It's glorious.

Tweet!

we found a nest of baby goldfinches

nest of baby goldfinches

fair devotees...

http://www.iowastatefair.org/fair-attractions/food/
I do appreciate the fact that "healthy choices" are listed alongside my "on a stick" choices!
Only 7 days til the Iowa State Fair begins!

If you are curious, there are currently 57 items on a stick, including, improbably enough,
salad (?), a hard- boiled egg, honey, Hot Bologna,

1. Chocolate-Covered Deep Fried Cheesecake
2. Griddle Stick (turkey sausage wrapped in a pancake)

signs o' turnover...

End of July is...move out of apartments time, new leases start up Aug. 1
Look for: dumpsters overflowing, lots of crap and then sadly some things in pretty good shape
and not really used, as we continue toward our disposable society.
Of note, checked out someone else's pretty crappy dresser (you know the particle board kind) and in the top drawer, a bag full o wine bottles (!) they hadn't time or inclination to dispose of?  Or redeem for the deposits.
Ay... college towns...

bunnies

Returned to heat wave in Iowa... missed bunny-hopping competition but are still in time
for other rabbit shows at county fair!  We also talked to some volunteers/organizers of Beep Baseball
the
2012 NBBA Beep Baseball World Series - Ames Iowa takes place this week- it's an adaptive version of baseball for blind and visually impaired people!

wholey cow...

Wow, Whole Foods AND Trader Joe's now in West Des Moines...

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/07/18/whole-foods-market-opens-with-a-rush-of-shoppers/

updates

It's hot.  And humid.  Probably not really that bad but it feels like it, like when you're outside for more than 5 minutes and are sweating.
Also I saw reindeer at the Scandinavian festival thing in Story City but really they were just kind of sad-looking, and also, probably hot. 
And a very old lady in traditional Norwegian dress, who might have been a wax doll.  But not really.  She might also have been hot.

are those legs...

I did a double-take today as I was going by my neighbor's car-- because I only saw a pair of legs hanging out
of the open trunk.  Naturally I was a bit concerned and stopped over to make sure things were okay!  Turned out he was laying in the trunk to install some sort of sound-proofing insulation... I told him it was a pretty funny site to go by and just see his legs sticking out of the trunk and I felt I should check it out and make sure the rest of him was there too!

signs

Signs you're at an ag school... I'm walking to campus to meet my husband and he calls and asks where I am...
"I don't know (glancing toward the upcoming intersection) but I smell horse manure"...
"Oh, okay you're at Pammel and Stange (streets)."(knowing the intersection)...

Hopping contest:

Caught the "tail" end of the regional Rabbit-Hopping competition in nearby Nevada, IA.  Winner (pictured
here) will go on to the Story County Fair & county-wide HOPPING COMPETITION.
The event is open to all 4-H kids and an open class option will also be available. The straight course and crooked courses have beginner to advanced levels. There will also be a long jump and high jump. Cost will be $2 per course per rabbit.

RABBIT HOPPING competition.  I mean how awesome is that.  These are some BIG bunnies, by the way.
Seriously, they are about the size of a small cat.

status...

Still no birds in the new location.  Bird seed has blown around a lot though.  So probably lots of birds on
the ground under the window are happy about this.  Mushrooms are growing really well, though kind of freakish looking.  Other plants = fail.

bird

Changed the location of the bird feeder.  Let's see if that attracts more (any) visitors. 
Had strange dreams last night... I was talking to Sara about the show 6 Feet Under...how weird,
I haven't watched that in years.  Also that I was taking a test with all those multiple choice bubbles to fill in.

also

soda

an "off-brand" of soda:

worms into bread...

We sold some of our surplus composting worms (the aptly named red wigglers) to a nice older guy off of Craig's list, who drove like an hour to get them.  Then we took the money and bought challah at the Dutch oven bakery...or challah bread as they call it there.  Those Dutch...

Science Friday, creationism Thursday...or

... Darwin was wrong.

This is what happens when I forget that the NPR station here is located too close to the religious station.  And the religious station is 91.3, which in Pittsburgh was an actual  radio station.  I happened to be listening to the radio in the car the other day, right around noon (thanks again, City of Ames for NOT having curb-side recycling programs...which is why I was driving back from the non-free recycling facility...although I did make
$0.60 from returning wine bottles).  But I digress... I don't listen to the radio too much here, besides for news, somewhat because I haven't found a good music station or a station that plays things I like anyways.
I turned on the radio and heard something about Creation Moment...now yes, that is probably a dead giveaway that what is about to follow is not of a scientific nature.  But for some reason, in my mind, I thought, oh hey, maybe this is like Science Friday and it is some science type thing at noon.  In retrospect, that wouldn't really work, since noon here would be 1 pm Eastern.  Okay...

But I was intrigued... I wanted to know about 100 ft- ferns... anyway, creation moments explained to me that our buddy Darwin got it all wrong... apparently what we call "evolution" has really been the opposite- survival of the WEAKEST not the strongest... there used to be way better species out there, like the previously mentioned 100 ft-ferns, as well as dragon flies with 6 ft-wingspans...Who knew.  Well turns out, due to natural deselection, all the really cool, strong species didn't make it, and the lamer, weak ones survived.
"They were bigger and stronger than creatures are today. Ferns grew over 100 feet high, and dragonflies had wingspans of six feet."
Crazy... apparently all the good stuff got corrupted by SIN and RUNNING DOWN.

follow that bouncing ball...

This afternoon I looked out my window (I was sitting at my desk) and saw one of those big red stability balls
rolling down the street, on its own steam.  No one came after it and it continued to go down the street, til
it turned the corner, out of my view.
How odd...

I don't get it

Earlier today I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt which said on the front: "Where the hell is Grinnell?"
On the back, it simply said: "Who the hell cares?"

Is this shirt supposed to be for promoting Grinnell College? Is it satire? I don't quite get it.

Ames 2.0

or.."if you build it..."

Apparently Ames has made some upgrades in the last several months. One of the sketchy aka
"stabbin cabins" bars downtown closed and one of the others was totally renovated & looks pretty respectable now. The crappy, claustrophobic antique store closed. Another store is expanding and remodeling. And amazingly, Ames now has a wine bar! Apparently (and oddly enough) it is also
the ONLY one in the state. We stopped to check it out and talk with the owners the other day.
So maybe things are looking up for our fair city...

spring thing

I had 4 new students in my class today! Maybe spring brings people out again.

tales of the runaway bookmobile...

We got to go on the public library's bookmobile!
Pretty cool. Apparently it makes its rounds on Wednesdays, including stopping
in the Fareway parking lot.

Are we in Ames?

or...California? Current unseasonably warm temp: 79 deg.
Oh and wait, it's only in the 50's-60's in Calif right now!

almost caused an upset...

...as a busload of elderly shoppers from the Green Hills retirement home disembarked at Hyvee supermarket today... they were all coming into the entrance/exit vestibule with their shopping carts, as I was trying to exit...
In other local news, we went to our first "All you can eat" pancake breakfast... I always feel like
the next line here should be that lawyer in the episode of The Simpsons who says..."Do these really look like the actions of a MAN WHOSE HAD ALL HE CAN EAT?"... I actually don't remember why there was a trial going on in that episode, except Homer was on trial for some reason. Something about an all you can eat seafood dinner.

What are my neighbors doing?

That's the name of my game today. Help me figure it out.
They are loud.
They are downstairs.
There is a sporadic loud thumping sound.
Are they jumping up and down? No, probably not, because the sound reverberates, it's echoing off the floor. Are they throwing something on the wood floor? Must be, not that carpeted part. Wouldn't make this noise.
Maybe it is an exercise machine? But the timing is off.
It might be a ball, like those heavy balls you used to throw in dodge ball.
Seriously though, what are they doing. Thump, thump thump.

stores

I'm pretty sure I saw a brand of soda (or as it's called here pop) named:
Hillbilly Holler or maybe it was Holla.
Why I don't have my camera on me for moments like this is beyond me.
I saw it on the shelf, I think it's a store brand at Fareway. Not to be confused with Fairway,
which is apparently a trendy East coast chain. (I just read a whole NY'er article about different
upscale supermarket chains). The one here is more like an aldi's/economical type chain. Nothing wrong with that. I like to compare the best prices for avocados across the lines... except sometimes those "bargain" ones, even though they seem like a great deal, take about 4 weeks to ripen..hmm

weird links

I picked up a book in the library about teaching English and the author's name is Mosteller. I wonder if he's related to the late famous statistician.

smells like ...?

the university bookstore has Cyclone cologne. Scary or just weird.
Considering the cyclone (named, in a feat of originality, Cy) is some weird
bird/cyclone amalgam, what the scent of Cyclone is supposed to be, is a mystery.

self

self-deportation? Really?

the grammar rodeo?

A shout-out to all the 'burg people!
My grammar book specifically mentions the Pittsburgh/Western Penn. regionalism/dialect
"For instance, in Central and Western Pennsylvania you will hear 'The car needs washed,"...
** courtesy of Funk and Kolln, Understanding English Grammar

office

The Office for Responsible Research probably shouldn't amuse me as much as it does, but I can't help but laugh to myself when I walk by.
I picture some Far Side comic, where on the other side of the hall, there's another doorway, perhaps misshapen with a broken door knob, smallish, that says Office for Irresponsible Research... crazed lab rats scurry through the corridors and other experiments gone awry, people who haven't gotten IRB approval, etc. Maybe I've worked and been around academia too long, I'm not sure why ISU's insistence on putting that adjective in their office title entertains me...

eggs

I met the farmer who picked/collected my eggs yesterday- when I stopped in the farmers' market to buy eggs. Not only do they have the best price but it is nice to personally meet your local farmer. Can't get too much fresher than that, short of having your own farm.

Another nice thing about small-town life is you can go into a really good bakery and get 2 baked goods and coffee for about $4.00. Are you kidding me?!? It's like 1980's prices! Okay, granted most of the housing here is also stuck in the 1980's too...

Oh well...also in the last 2 week period it has managed to range from 60 deg. out to 13 deg.

I will have to report more on Dancing Liberty Tax Man and Garfield driving the car at Kmart...