The Myth & The Majesty

This is certainly shaping up to be an interesting day. Only a half day at work today; in a matter of minutes, the Admiral will be appearing and he, two other friends and I will be driving to Minneapolis with all ... well, okay, most  of his worldly possessions. Which is, of course, followed by the unloading of his worldly possessions. And then hopefully supper. A depressing event? Most assuredly. Will he like it better there? Seems probable. So it's probably a good change. Right?

... a year ago right now I was traipsing back to my hotel in London. It was dark, I had just had a fantastic meal at an Indian restaurant, and I was questioning the sanity of being out after dark by myself in London. I had spent the morning sightseeing in Derbyshire and a couple of hours getting to London and finding my way to Kensington. My hotel room was tiny but just about perfect; after dinner, I spent my evening watching "Ladies in Lavender" and figuring out what I wanted to see the next day. Today I'm in a cubicle in central Wisconsin and I get to go to a beer release after work. I can't complain, really, but the contrast is kind of cool.

Yet another one for Wausaunians: For the third time this month, Red Eye will be having a beer release tonight. This is one I've been anticipating, but then again, I haven't had a nut brown ale (be it Bull Falls, Leinie's, or a random microbrew I find at Trig's) that I didn't like. Plus it will cap off what is proving to be a rather long day.

How To Make An Impromptu Dessert OR Why I'm Not A Food Blogger (by Ashley) 1. Brainstorm. 2. Realize that all of your "usual" desserts take too long to make. 3. Do a quick online search for French desserts. 4. Realize that a) that's a broad search, b) most of the recipes are labor intensive, and c) you don't have any more time than you did before. 5. Pull a couple ideas from some of those and work up a plan. 6. Start defrosting sheet of puff pastry. 7. Run to grocery store because you're missing two other key ingredients (then marvel that you had puff pastry on hand but not cream cheese). 8. Let cream cheese soften at room temperature until it behaves well. 9. Preheat oven to 350°F. 10. Cut puff pastry into six rectangles, then each of those into two triangles. Arrange said triangles on a greased cookie sheet. 11. Bake for about fifteen minutes. Roughly halfway through, very carefully brush pastry with melted butter. (Let them puff up a bi

Today has been an interesting one. As expected since it started with miniature golf on a snow course in the middle of town. Combined with the realization that I know way more people in this town than I ever thought and I had a really strange few hours. It's a mildly reflective day as well. Not too out there but ... enough. And I'm playing with pictures again. Any guess as to my tendency today? No idea how the rest of it will go. Of course, it's only 4:00. (Pictures from top to bottom: Crossing a bridge in Wausau in the fog; Von Stiehl Winery in Algoma; a bridge over Spring Creek at Storm Mountain Center; looking out at Lake Superior from Madeline Island)

For the record, if you're bored this weekend it's your own fault. With the start of Lent there are fish fries all over town as well (as in "plural of fish fry," not "fish cut into French-fry-type strips" ... although some places probably have those, too). Several area restaurants will have a fish fry option and some have dedicated Friday menus. Tonight and tomorrow night, there's live music downtown at several locations. (Might I recommend Malarkey's ? Reggae tonight and blues/rock tomorrow, all of it good. Oh, and they're one of the smoke free options here in town.) If you're in the mood for a laugh, Cali's has stand-up comedy (as they do every Friday night from September to May). Something like eight dollars for two performers, starting at nine tonight. I don't guarantee the price -- I rarely remember that one correctly. But that's in the ballpark. Tomorrow is the 15th annual Ice Tee Classic , taking place on the Squar

Well! Here we are. 1,000 posts. A landmark 2,440 days in the making. 500 posts ago I decided to take a new approach and write a guide; today I think I'll be updating that a bit. So! Let's give it a shot, shall we? ----- My name is Ashley. I’ve been blogging here since June 15th, 2003. I was 19 and working at a day care so that I wouldn't be flat broke when I went back to school in Rapid City, South Dakota. I had a serious boyfriend, had only ever taken one trip by plane and had never left the country. Suffice it to say that things have changed a bit! I am now 25 and have been living for the last three years in central Wisconsin. It's snowier here, but I like it most days. Oh, and I'm single. And I like to talk about it. These are a few of my favorite things: - Storm Mountain & the Black Hills - The ranch - Road trips ... Travel of any kind, actually - My Chacos - Movies - Reading about movies - Books -  Pseudophilosophicalizing This bl

... down memory lane, that is. And let me tell you -- the things I'm finding are starting to boggle the mind. Take, for instance, this picture. Why exactly am I hitting on Calvin Coolidge? And where did that shirt go? I'm pretty sure it's the only vibrant orange shirt I've owned since I was five and I have no idea where it is now. [How do you lose something that color?] The strange thing is that it keeps turning up in pictures. Like this one, which I know for a fact was taken the year after Cal and I had our little interlude. Still orange. Still vibrant. On an unrelated note, I haven't been able to have Pippi Longstocking braids like that in two years now. I kind of miss it ... Kind of. As you may have noticed, the hill behind me in that lovely we-were-here shot is steaming. Taken during the family trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons in 2005. Where I took a few more pretty awesome pictures ... Like this. [Is that Mt. Moran? Why can't I remember?] Ab

I realized rather abruptly that my answer to this question was ridiculous and lame. So I'll ask you now, too -- What exactly are YOU waiting for?

(On Lake Superior, September 2008)

I have a fantastic life. Last night I had the somewhat bittersweet pleasure of throwing a party for the Admiral, who recently sold his house and will be moving to Minneapolis in a couple of weeks. Utterly depressing, yes, but that particular location is more suited to him. In any case, half the fun of the party was the incredibly varied group of people it brought. Engineers, dancers, car salesmen, florists, librarians, non-profit full-timers -- all sorts of sides of Wausau represented by almost any personality type you could imagine. As I was there, talking and telling stories and occasionally dancing (nothing like tango in the middle of a living room to make you realize how much things have changed) I was reminded of just how good I have it. Really. I have fantastic friends both here and elsewhere, people for whom I would do anything. T here are people to have serious conversations, people to just goof off, people to lend sound financial advice (did I just say that?), people t

(or: “A Post of Links to Everything Else”) I have shared my thoughts on Valentine’s Day in the past. I don’t really need to repeat myself. I'd rather give you other things to do. Keep an eye out for green text. If you want to hear what I think of V-Day ... There’s this incredibly rant-y one from 2005 and the SWG2L post I wrote last year which happens to be much calmer and more practical. If you’d rather hear a sweet story about someone else (I know I would), this lovely lady wrote something about her husband. [They’re awesome people, both separately and as a couple. My name is Ashley and I approve this message.] If you’re looking for a movie to watch with or without that special someone, I recommend redblog ... and I really need to put a permanent link in my sidebar. Heck, I read it every day -- so should you! Actually, there are two specific posts: movies for married folks and movies for single guys . As for the single women, may I suggest you pick something f

Twelve Things I've Done In The Last Thirty Days 1. Dressed up in a fabulous red dress and gone to a high-end fundraiser (where I looked great but spent the evening with people way outside my pay grade ... it was pretty awesome). 2. Dressed up in a NOMEX jumpsuit and hard hat and looked around a chemical plant in Texas. 3. Organized a going-away party for my fake husband. 4. Invited all sorts of people to said party by tracking them down on Facebook. Creepily. 5. Knitted a scarf. 6. Been to a 9th annual 23rd birthday dinner. 7. Taken sixth place in a cribbage tournament (out of 17 teams, thankyouverymuch). 8. Been featured on a blog devoted to movies and the people that watch them. 9. Helped feed about seventy hungry people. 10. Gone to two beer release parties. 11. Designed a waste treatment facility for a chemical refinery about twelve time zones away. Then again, that's my job. 12. Hit three years in Wisconsin.

I really don't have much to say today. I've been spending my evening combing through pictures for a couple of upcoming projects. It's been good ... I still hadn't gone through all of my recovered files from my desktop's abrupt and fiery death in September, so there have been a lot of trips down various memory lanes. And what a trip it's been. Everything from uproarious laughter to "That was so cool..." to "I should really call her" to "Wow. I ... didn't realize there was photographic evidence of that." No regrets, but sometimes I could do without a reminder. No, I'm not posting any of those. Instead, I'll leave you with one of the most peaceful pictures I think I've ever taken ...

I took this picture at the beginning of an awesome trip last summer. My parents came to visit for the fourth of July (which I only sort of talked about a couple of times) and I got to spend a few days actually taking a break with two people who also needed that break just as badly. Until that weekend, I had never spent any particular time just hanging out with my parents as an adult -- and that was something it was well past time to fix. I don't think they realized they were getting their picture taken when I snapped this one ... These are the people who raised me. They're also the ones who taught me to appreciate good wine, craft beer, intelligence, and a solidly built bridge. They're the ones who have listened patiently as I've put myself into one weird situation after another, or as I've taken up strange hobbies. Heck, they even go along with a few of them. In fact, this was taken between geocaches ... and shortly before I tried to lose a fight with a tr

Because I do pride myself on being a budding movie buff, and because there's plenty to say about it ... I think it may be time for me to give an opinion. Oh yes. I'm talking about "Avatar." Here's the thing: I heard about the movie for much longer than I care to admit. Years, in fact. Turns out I'm on the outside edge of enough nerd circles (and, admittedly, right in the middle of others) to hear about a movie that first required a complete revolution of The System in order to exist. And since it was James Cameron on top of that -- the director of a movie that continues to rank in my top ten -- I was naturally quite curious. After twelve years of waiting, do I feel a bit let down? Well, yeah, actually. Don't mistake me. Visually, this movie is so far beyond the realm of what I imagined possible. The transitions between CG and live action are practically seamless (and at times overlap in ways you don't expect). It is a lot of fun to watch, p

March 5th, 2010. "Alice In Wonderland." Maybe it's the cast ... I mean, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman,  and Anne Hathaway?  This movie could very well be nerd paradise. Especially since it's a Tim Burton on top of all of that. Maybe it's the fact that it's the acid trip that is "Alice." Maybe it's just the bright colors. All I know is I've been looking forward to it since I first saw a promotional poster almost a year ago ... and now it's 26 days away. Yes, I think it's safe to say I'm excited.

[Before I get started, welcome to my two newest readers -- you know who you are -- and if you have any thoughts on pseudonyms I can assign, please share them!] I judge you when you're eating out. It's true. It makes me sound like a terrible person, but if I see you when I'm in a restaurant, odds are good I'm judging you. In all honesty, it falls more into the "people watching" category than the "outright judging" category; I'm watching the strangers around me and trying to figure out what they're doing, what's going on in their lives. I'm quite good at picking out the first or second dates ... and I suspect I'm pretty good at determining who will get that second or third date. Could just be arrogance, since I don't have any proof of that last part, but I prefer to assume I'm right. Naturally. That's not the only time. To be even more honest, I can't always turn it off. If I'm bored in a store, or sitt

It's a Friday afternoon and I’m about at the end of my brain span. Good timing, really, but this wind-down period is a royal pain. Tonight should be a fairly typical Friday ... Or what I consider typical at this point. The Admiral and I have developed a "normal" Friday thing (I wouldn't call it a rut because it's always fun) and I'm going to be rather depressed when he moves. No more tango partner. No one to share a craft beer. Sad. But! It'll be a great start to this weekend ... One that I should be spending cleaning my house and getting caught up on all those pesky things that come with being an adult. (I'm not very good at those.) And I suppose if I really wanted to I could find somewhere to watch the Super Bowl. Naaaaaah.

The first drive I remember taking to let off steam was in college. I was stressed. It was sophomore year and I won't go into the details; suffice it to say that there were work-related, class-related, and personal things going on and I suddenly couldn't cope. At least, not in the middle of a dorm filled with loud, obnoxious, well-meaning friends. I needed out. That habit continued throughout college -- my Flying Jeep was my escape as long as I had five bucks for gas. So it was less than surprising when that habit continued after I moved to Wisconsin; the first drive I remember taking here took me south of town. I have no idea how far I drove or how long I was gone (although I can say I tested the governor on my brother's car -- my temporary loaner between the Flying Jeep and Sophie -- and it goes higher than I expected), and to be honest I'm still not totally sure where I ended up. What started tonight as a late-night post office run (which is what happens when you lea

Quick story: I'm reviewing P&IDs (again) and started a list. Got interrupted and stopped after only my first point. When I came back to it an hour later -- this note still on the Post-It pad and therefore not necessarily associated with anything -- I had to laugh. "All logic hidden or removed."

My whole life has been spent in the age of computers. I was born just after the founding of Microsoft; I grew up learning reverse Polish notation on my dad's HP calculator. When I was seven, my parents acquired their first personal computer (a "hand-me-down" that was being replaced at my dad's business) and I was one of the first kids in my class to know a) how to type with moderate proficiency and b) how to start and play "Oregon Trail" without assistance from my teacher. [Side note: We had that computer until I was 14, well after Windows 95 had come out and our old DOS-based system made the computers at school look brand new. To this day it's the longest I've ever known a computer to last. Suppose it helps that it couldn't be attacked by viruses...] When I was born, computers weren't common. Less than three decades later, they're everywhere. How weird is that. Anyway! Despite this omniscience, it wasn't until last night that I reali