I always jokingly complain that Halloween is the worst time of the year for folklorists because we (especially if we're listed in a university's expert directory as I am) get called to explain the holiday. Last year I got three calls. I did my little rap about the origins of the holiday and its changing nature over time. I've got it down. It sounds good. I'll tell you how to spell and say Celtic words like Samhain. I can be all authoritative. I get quoted. Usually it's for teeny tiny give-away papers. Still. Me, an expert. Imagine.
This year? No calls. Not one.
It is way worse than no kids coming by the house for candy. Honey and I have Gummi-Savers--a fat free food--to give away. Maybe I'll tell the kids about Samhain.
Or not.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Bags
I'm a bit of a bag collector. No, let me confess. For all my love of shoes (Crocs!), blingy bikes and bike parts, my desire for a LCD big screen teevee, etc., there is nothing that makes me feel quite so zingy as my bag(s).
I have just exited (I think it is safe to say) an semi-obsessive Timbuk2 phase. I still have a mini-metro and laptop bag that I will use, as well as a pleasing "design-your-own" classic messenger in red, ivory, and steel. My Timbuk2 phase is over, though, in part to a bag they only made for a minute, a vertical European design thing. I really liked. It was my default bag. But, mine has worn out and looks frayed and there's not a replacement to be found in all the land.
The Timbuk2 experience is nice. The bags are well made and have a funky color palette that appeals.
I also have a "nice" bag that is a distressed dark leather. I like it, but it's a little big and has no top handle. I use it when I want to take myself seriously, which isn't very often.
My custom Timbuk2 is great, save one key issue. I don't wear much red and it clashes. It's hardly it's fault, but it's still true.
Recently, I had been coveting a Chrome bag. Tough, roomy, bike messengery, great logo. What more could you ask?
Yesterday Honey and I had plans to meet folks for dinner in West L.A. I knew said bags were sold at a bike store over there. Honey was kind enough to both accompany me and tell me that the bag (which features a seatbelt buckle to open and close it) didn't make me look dorky. She may have been lying, but I chose to believe her.
It's deeply unpursy. I keep staring at it. I heart it. Be jealous if you must, but here it is:
Mine's grey. Contented sigh.
I have just exited (I think it is safe to say) an semi-obsessive Timbuk2 phase. I still have a mini-metro and laptop bag that I will use, as well as a pleasing "design-your-own" classic messenger in red, ivory, and steel. My Timbuk2 phase is over, though, in part to a bag they only made for a minute, a vertical European design thing. I really liked. It was my default bag. But, mine has worn out and looks frayed and there's not a replacement to be found in all the land.
The Timbuk2 experience is nice. The bags are well made and have a funky color palette that appeals.
I also have a "nice" bag that is a distressed dark leather. I like it, but it's a little big and has no top handle. I use it when I want to take myself seriously, which isn't very often.
My custom Timbuk2 is great, save one key issue. I don't wear much red and it clashes. It's hardly it's fault, but it's still true.
Recently, I had been coveting a Chrome bag. Tough, roomy, bike messengery, great logo. What more could you ask?
Yesterday Honey and I had plans to meet folks for dinner in West L.A. I knew said bags were sold at a bike store over there. Honey was kind enough to both accompany me and tell me that the bag (which features a seatbelt buckle to open and close it) didn't make me look dorky. She may have been lying, but I chose to believe her.
It's deeply unpursy. I keep staring at it. I heart it. Be jealous if you must, but here it is:
Mine's grey. Contented sigh.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Because it's my favorite format...
Wisconsin by the numbers:
Number of sausages consumed: 4
Number of beers consumed: 5
Number of beers consumed in the previous six months: 0
Number of the Wisconsin beers consumed on the same night: all
Number of ratio of sausages on the night in question to beers: 2/5
Amount of sauerkraut consumed: minimal
Number of artisan diet root beers consumed: 1
Number of times artisan diet root beer was sought after that: several
Success at finding artisan diet root beer again: nil
Perceived rarity of artisan diet root beer: high
Time of conference presentation: 8:30
Number of attendees at session: 10
Number of friends who later apologized for not coming: 4
Number who cited early time as reason for absence: 4
Pounds of cheese purchased: 4+
Amount of it shaped like Wisconsin: 0
Number of times downtown Milwaukee was circumnavigated: 5
Number of times in Crocs in the rain: 3
Feeling of Croc worthiness for anything after the fact: high
Number of things I wish I had seen in Wisconsin that I didn't: 2
What were they? Trek factory tour, Waterloo
Oldest bowling alley
Number of non-German food meals that were surprisingly good: 2
Food genres that surprised? Italian and Moroccan/Spanish
Times I checked e-mail while gone: 3
Times I checked on my blogleague fantasy football team: 5
Level of panic at Mike Vick's pseudo-injury: hysterical
How did Vick do? 4 touchdowns, 26 fantasy points
You didn't play him did you? Nope
So, how did Delhomme do? 14 fantasy points
Could you still win? Maybe
Would you have won with Vick: much more likely
You haven't won yet have you? Why, no, no I haven't
Will you? Maybe not
Anyway, back to Wisconsin...
Other purchases (besides cheese)? Spices, book, cheese stress squeezy
Number of visits to Milwaukee in sporkslifetime: 2
Number for the same conference: 2
Chances that sporks will go back if the conference schedules itself there again: low
Number of sausages consumed: 4
Number of beers consumed: 5
Number of beers consumed in the previous six months: 0
Number of the Wisconsin beers consumed on the same night: all
Number of ratio of sausages on the night in question to beers: 2/5
Amount of sauerkraut consumed: minimal
Number of artisan diet root beers consumed: 1
Number of times artisan diet root beer was sought after that: several
Success at finding artisan diet root beer again: nil
Perceived rarity of artisan diet root beer: high
Time of conference presentation: 8:30
Number of attendees at session: 10
Number of friends who later apologized for not coming: 4
Number who cited early time as reason for absence: 4
Pounds of cheese purchased: 4+
Amount of it shaped like Wisconsin: 0
Number of times downtown Milwaukee was circumnavigated: 5
Number of times in Crocs in the rain: 3
Feeling of Croc worthiness for anything after the fact: high
Number of things I wish I had seen in Wisconsin that I didn't: 2
What were they? Trek factory tour, Waterloo
Oldest bowling alley
Number of non-German food meals that were surprisingly good: 2
Food genres that surprised? Italian and Moroccan/Spanish
Times I checked e-mail while gone: 3
Times I checked on my blogleague fantasy football team: 5
Level of panic at Mike Vick's pseudo-injury: hysterical
How did Vick do? 4 touchdowns, 26 fantasy points
You didn't play him did you? Nope
So, how did Delhomme do? 14 fantasy points
Could you still win? Maybe
Would you have won with Vick: much more likely
You haven't won yet have you? Why, no, no I haven't
Will you? Maybe not
Anyway, back to Wisconsin...
Other purchases (besides cheese)? Spices, book, cheese stress squeezy
Number of visits to Milwaukee in sporkslifetime: 2
Number for the same conference: 2
Chances that sporks will go back if the conference schedules itself there again: low
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