Best in Show (Pajamas) and Boob Sex
All of my pillows and blankets have been moved to Ripon, so I've been sleeping straight up on the bumpy living room couch this whole Milwaukee weekend. But I've been so busy and so thoroughly worn-out that it hasn't been a problem at all.
Friday night was Feminist Wine and Movie Night Storms the Bastille. A group of my faves went to a Milwaukee festival at Cathedral Square, posing as a French culture (including Cajun/Caribbean) celebration. We're pretty sure the Bastille Days festival exists because the city randomly acquired the an Estee Lauder Eiffel Tower model, and decided to make a weekend out of it. Which is cool, so I got some Leinny's and didn't even bother with the ice cream crepes. Danced to the Dumpster Funk band.
Des was trying to recall as much French history as she could, and I had a great time sending out a mass text to every history dorkus I could think of and reading the theories and recollections of the French that came back to me.
Back on campus, we drank hard liquor and tried to watch one of Sut Jhally's "Dreamworlds" docs, but the mood wasn't exactly appropriate. We couldn't really get past the outdated '80s and '90s clothing or musical stylings, even though the truth is, the stereotypes in music videos today haven't changed at all.
Very early Skype session yesterday morning, and then Sarah Maxwell and I were reunited for a train ride to Chicago, i.e. for HiraBee loving. The three of us blocked traffic with a lot of group hugs.
We spent the day in Lincoln Park, starting off at Minnies restaurant. It was a diner-looking place, but the gag is, every food item is 1/3 of its usual size. Cute sandwiches and fries... but the coffee and the bathrooms were regular-size. It was amazing food, and even better company.
Ambled about the Sheffield area and De Paul campus. We met so many quirky characters, like the aromatherapy salesperson who told us patchouli causes people to be mellow and calm. I wanted to ask if he was sure it wasn't the weed you smoke before wearing patchouli, but I decided against it. His assistant behind the counter looked murderous.
Went to a classy lingerie store and stumbled upon really tacky dog show cartoon pajamas with huge light blue buttons. We were laughing so loud that a clerk asked us if we needed assistance, meaning she wanted us to leave. Fair enough.
Found a cafe called the Bourgeois Pig and got sorbet. Sarah's raspberry cone broke open in her hands and the people behind us thought she had a gnarly nose bleed. It only got worse when the ice cream dripped between her legs.
We were on a mission to find Boystown, an LGBTQ neighborhood. We made Sarah ask directions most of the time; the responses were usually cute, if off-beat. But we did find it, and the first stop was, duh, a used bookstore. Found a copy of "Cry the Beloved Country" for $1.10. The older clerks there asked me if I got my outfit imported from India... I had to tell them it was from a $10 sales rack in Macy's two years ago! One of the men told me he saw Alan Paton speak in the '50s, and I told them I spent five months in South Africa.
The most interesting discovery of the day was Oz Park, which was indeed "The Wizard of Oz"-themed. We got Dairy Queen blizzards and watched the dogs play, and talked about how pretty the flowers were. It was a brief return to childhood.
We walked past statues of the Tin Man and the Scarecrow, but kept wondering where the Cowardly Lion was. A man heard us talking about it and asked us if we knew. Apparently he was going to meet his girlfriend's sisters for the first time and that statues was the set meeting place, and he was feeling nervous and under pressure. He said it didn't make sense that when entering the park, you pass the Tin Man before the Scarecrow, and mused about what it meant to meet under the Cowardly Lion and not the Tin Man.
We caught a cab back to the Amtrak Station, and while we were driving past the park we saw the Cowardly Lion, our friend and his girlfriend. Cute.
Wanted to nap on the train ride back, but a drunk and very loud corporate lawyer made it impossible. Sarah and I couldn't help but listen in to his conversation with the other corporate lawyer next to him. It was pretty awful.
The man said he wouldn't mind seeing a black president; this way, people like Jesse Jackson would stop insisting that racism still exists. That pissed the woman next to him off; she said he wasn't conservative enough and had just shown his "true colors," whatever that means. They were talking about how corporations are the victims of unnecessary hatred; they made America great, after all. He said most of the corporations he defends are victims of people without money who sue just to get money.
I don't really care if people think that, but they were being SO LOUD about it. And, even creepier, dude kept going on about how awesome it is to be married and Catholic and have so many kids. As if to prove his point, he kept hitting on all the children around him. He picked up and shook a stranger's kid at one point, and the poor kid ran away sobbing. He called all the little girls pretty and told one girl in a black dress that when she grows up she'll find out that "the little black dress it the most important thing in a woman's repertoire, ask your mommy about it." The little girl answered that she'd rather wear pink because it was a girl's color, and the woman corporate lawyer told her that was a good answer.
Keep in the mind that the man REEKED of vodka and gin during all of this child obsession.
Toward the end of the train ride, the man told the woman that his brother, who is 44, was just diagnosed with cancer for the second time. The brother has saved $5 million up until this point, but said his biggest fear is spending that money on treatment and dying anyway. He can't stand the thought of dying poor. So, he's just going to let himself die, and be comforted by the fact the he has $5 million in the bank.
I hope that story is not true, or at least exaggerated. Because if it is, that is the saddest thing I have ever heard.
So Sarah and I got off the train in a weird mood, but had a lot to relate to her sister and her sis's boyfriend about our day. Got din at La Perla, and even though we were dead tired, split a pitcher of margaritas. We all crashed in Colleen's bedroom on the East Side, and it was the most cozy night I've had in a long time.
I guess today is REALLY my last day in Milwaukee, and I'm glad I had a second chance at it. I feel like I've said goodbye to everyone now. It's the perfect summer day outside, and I think I'll do some reading...
Friday night was Feminist Wine and Movie Night Storms the Bastille. A group of my faves went to a Milwaukee festival at Cathedral Square, posing as a French culture (including Cajun/Caribbean) celebration. We're pretty sure the Bastille Days festival exists because the city randomly acquired the an Estee Lauder Eiffel Tower model, and decided to make a weekend out of it. Which is cool, so I got some Leinny's and didn't even bother with the ice cream crepes. Danced to the Dumpster Funk band.
Des was trying to recall as much French history as she could, and I had a great time sending out a mass text to every history dorkus I could think of and reading the theories and recollections of the French that came back to me.
Back on campus, we drank hard liquor and tried to watch one of Sut Jhally's "Dreamworlds" docs, but the mood wasn't exactly appropriate. We couldn't really get past the outdated '80s and '90s clothing or musical stylings, even though the truth is, the stereotypes in music videos today haven't changed at all.
Very early Skype session yesterday morning, and then Sarah Maxwell and I were reunited for a train ride to Chicago, i.e. for HiraBee loving. The three of us blocked traffic with a lot of group hugs.
We spent the day in Lincoln Park, starting off at Minnies restaurant. It was a diner-looking place, but the gag is, every food item is 1/3 of its usual size. Cute sandwiches and fries... but the coffee and the bathrooms were regular-size. It was amazing food, and even better company.
Ambled about the Sheffield area and De Paul campus. We met so many quirky characters, like the aromatherapy salesperson who told us patchouli causes people to be mellow and calm. I wanted to ask if he was sure it wasn't the weed you smoke before wearing patchouli, but I decided against it. His assistant behind the counter looked murderous.
Went to a classy lingerie store and stumbled upon really tacky dog show cartoon pajamas with huge light blue buttons. We were laughing so loud that a clerk asked us if we needed assistance, meaning she wanted us to leave. Fair enough.
Found a cafe called the Bourgeois Pig and got sorbet. Sarah's raspberry cone broke open in her hands and the people behind us thought she had a gnarly nose bleed. It only got worse when the ice cream dripped between her legs.
We were on a mission to find Boystown, an LGBTQ neighborhood. We made Sarah ask directions most of the time; the responses were usually cute, if off-beat. But we did find it, and the first stop was, duh, a used bookstore. Found a copy of "Cry the Beloved Country" for $1.10. The older clerks there asked me if I got my outfit imported from India... I had to tell them it was from a $10 sales rack in Macy's two years ago! One of the men told me he saw Alan Paton speak in the '50s, and I told them I spent five months in South Africa.
The most interesting discovery of the day was Oz Park, which was indeed "The Wizard of Oz"-themed. We got Dairy Queen blizzards and watched the dogs play, and talked about how pretty the flowers were. It was a brief return to childhood.
We walked past statues of the Tin Man and the Scarecrow, but kept wondering where the Cowardly Lion was. A man heard us talking about it and asked us if we knew. Apparently he was going to meet his girlfriend's sisters for the first time and that statues was the set meeting place, and he was feeling nervous and under pressure. He said it didn't make sense that when entering the park, you pass the Tin Man before the Scarecrow, and mused about what it meant to meet under the Cowardly Lion and not the Tin Man.
We caught a cab back to the Amtrak Station, and while we were driving past the park we saw the Cowardly Lion, our friend and his girlfriend. Cute.
Wanted to nap on the train ride back, but a drunk and very loud corporate lawyer made it impossible. Sarah and I couldn't help but listen in to his conversation with the other corporate lawyer next to him. It was pretty awful.
The man said he wouldn't mind seeing a black president; this way, people like Jesse Jackson would stop insisting that racism still exists. That pissed the woman next to him off; she said he wasn't conservative enough and had just shown his "true colors," whatever that means. They were talking about how corporations are the victims of unnecessary hatred; they made America great, after all. He said most of the corporations he defends are victims of people without money who sue just to get money.
I don't really care if people think that, but they were being SO LOUD about it. And, even creepier, dude kept going on about how awesome it is to be married and Catholic and have so many kids. As if to prove his point, he kept hitting on all the children around him. He picked up and shook a stranger's kid at one point, and the poor kid ran away sobbing. He called all the little girls pretty and told one girl in a black dress that when she grows up she'll find out that "the little black dress it the most important thing in a woman's repertoire, ask your mommy about it." The little girl answered that she'd rather wear pink because it was a girl's color, and the woman corporate lawyer told her that was a good answer.
Keep in the mind that the man REEKED of vodka and gin during all of this child obsession.
Toward the end of the train ride, the man told the woman that his brother, who is 44, was just diagnosed with cancer for the second time. The brother has saved $5 million up until this point, but said his biggest fear is spending that money on treatment and dying anyway. He can't stand the thought of dying poor. So, he's just going to let himself die, and be comforted by the fact the he has $5 million in the bank.
I hope that story is not true, or at least exaggerated. Because if it is, that is the saddest thing I have ever heard.
So Sarah and I got off the train in a weird mood, but had a lot to relate to her sister and her sis's boyfriend about our day. Got din at La Perla, and even though we were dead tired, split a pitcher of margaritas. We all crashed in Colleen's bedroom on the East Side, and it was the most cozy night I've had in a long time.
I guess today is REALLY my last day in Milwaukee, and I'm glad I had a second chance at it. I feel like I've said goodbye to everyone now. It's the perfect summer day outside, and I think I'll do some reading...