Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Things To Do In Wisconsin When You're Dead

In no particular order

1. Read. I went through Practical Demonkeeping, A Dirty Job: A Novel (Lamb was checked out of the library when I went), The Amulet of Samarkand (we were trying, in vain, to get Lex interested in it), god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Kitchen Confidential, and (with the family) the first 19 chapters of the new Harry Potter. I think I may have mentioned that I'm a voracious reader when I have the time and inclination.

2. Paddle about in a canoe.

3. Backyard soccer, mainly of the "chip it into the inner tube" variety.

4. Watch the birds, as long as it takes absolutely no effort whatsoever. We had ducks in the back yard all the time, there were some goldfinches at the house next door, and on the last day a swarm of vultures landed in the back yard. That was a little disconcerting.

5. Play with fire.

6. Sample the local beer. Did you know that they brew beer in Wisconsin? I tried a couple of different offerings from New Glarus, and I sampled all six of the house beers as we lunched outdoors at the Milwaukee Ale House, but the Sprecher Hefe Weiss was the stand out of the trip. I think I may be able to get it here. I'm hoping.

7. Come up with an amusing new nickname for the state. Wisconsin is now Curdistan. Spread it around.

8. Buy cheese. We bookended the trip with cheese purchasing excursions, hitting the WineCheeseDeli as soon as we got to our destination and stopping at the Mars Cheese Castle on the way home. Thanks for the suggestion, Natalie. Cheese from Mars! Cheese from Mars!

9. GermanFest in Milwaukee. It's such a beautiful language.

10. Chill until you're practically boneless. I recommend the book-beer-sunglasses-iPod-lawn chair combo. Your mileage may vary.

11. Visit the brand spanking new Apple store in Madison.

12. Watch the talented water skiers in Janesville, cringe at the cheesy presentation, enjoy the fabulous glutes.

13. Hit Maxwell Street Days in Madison. Look in vain for Maxwell Street, because it doesn't exist.

14. Farmer's market in Madison. Try the hot spicy cheese bread.

15. Spelunk.

16. Marvel at the rapacious greed of the folks at Taliesin.

17. Marvel at the rapacious greed of the folks at House on the Rock, which you really only wanted to see because of that scene in American Gods.

18. Blow them both off, find another way to spend $400. I suggest beer and cheese, which should be easy to find.

19. Be endlessly amused by all the Wiscaaaaaansin accents.

20. Did I mention cheese?

6 comments:

Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

Welcome back! Sounds like a great trip. Curdistan! Noted...

Foofa said...

Sounds like an awesome trip! Beer, cheese, books...perfect. Glad you liked the castle. I'll be swinging by there in a few weeks myself.

Dale said...

Quite a cheesy post. And comment. It's fun being dead!

vikkitikkitavi said...

Mm. Cheesey! (said in Pee Wee Herman voice)

deadspot said...

Thanks, Flan. It was pretty great. The looming piles on my desk when I got back, not so much...

We were in Milwaukee on the last day of our trip for GermanFest, so we made sure to go through Kenosha on our way home. It was definitely worth the stop. Next time, I'll have to pack a bigger cooler.

I do like the cheesy...

Writeprocrastinator said...

No offense, if I am in Wisconsin, I would be dead or watching Procrastinator Junior compete in a sporting event...hopefully not both at the same time.