It can be difficult finding the urge to go outside when it’s cold, and it’s certainly hard to stay out there for an extended period. Here are some of the reasons (other than karate) that I’ve gotten off the couch so far this winter.
Mooseheart holiday lights, a drive through displayMooseheart holiday lights, a drive through display
Holiday lights – tons of places do special light displays approaching the holidays, including various zoos in the Chicagoland area, and as of this year, Six Flags Great America. I didn’t make it to those. I did make it to the nearby Mooseheart campus holiday lights, which runs from Black Friday through New Year’s Eve every year. This is a driving route, rather than walking, though it includes an option to stop for hot chocolate and a visit with Santa.
Fabyan Japanese Gardens 2018 Winter Solstice celebration
Winter Solstice celebration – my first visit to the nearby Fabyan Japanese Garden was for their first Winter Solstice celebration. They’re usually only open from May to October, so this seemed like a prime opportunity to explore. The event took place after dark – which made parking in a minimally lit parking area interesting – with a mix of lights and luminaries outlining the paths and architectural elements of the garden. The bridges were decorated, but off limits because of the risk of slipping with the combination of darkness and cold temperatures.
Snow leopards lounging at Brookfield ZooSea lion playing with visitors
Brookfield Zoo – While we missed the zoo lights this winter, we did make it to Brookfield Zoo in January. The indoor creatures aren’t exposed to the temperature change, which makes visiting them a good spot to warm up, in between seeing the animals that were clearly enjoying the cooler weather. On that particular morning, some of the aquatic creatures were remarkably active, even interacting with visitors through the glass. Sadly, there wasn’t snow on the ground at the time; snow adds a layer of beauty to the zoo.
How do you get up and moving when it’s cold outside?
Just after Christmas, I realized that there was an exhibit at the Putnam Museum titled Literary Heroines: Their Times, Their Fashions. The museum had been on my radar for the past few months; it’s just across the border in Davenport, Iowa, about a two hours drive, and neither of us had been to Iowa before. It was the next to last weekend of the exhibit, so our last chance to see it.
The Putnam website described the exhibit as “Strong and influential female protagonists spring from the pages of some of literature’s most iconic books with the Putnam’s the newest exhibit, Literary Heroines: Their Times, Their Fashions — open NOW!”
The exhibit featured “the apparel and interests of exciting and memorable characters, as they come to life through vignettes,” with a range of heroines form Hermione Granger (Harry Potter, of course), Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie), and Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird). I can only imagine how hard it was to narrow the list down to these twenty titles. Every exhibit included information about the book and the heroine, along with a mannequin outfitted appropriately.
I came out of it with a reading list; while I’m familiar with most of the titles, I think I’ve only read three of them. This is the list of books represented:
The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton) Putnam Museum: Literary Heroines exhibit
The Atomic City Girls (Janet Beard)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash)
The Forest Lover (Susan Vreeland)
Harry Potter series (JK Rowling)
The Help (Kathryn Stockett)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel)
Little House series (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Miss Fisher Mysteries (Kerry Greenwood)
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker (Jennifer Chiaverini)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)
The Plague of Doves (Louise Erdrich)
Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Wonder Woman comic books
The rest of the museum was entertaining, with many hands on activities for children of all ages (including those of us who are children with jobs, aka “adults”). We took the time to watch a 3-D movie about Oceans; it was one of three choices in the time we were there. And we played a bit… infrared pictures are fun.
Dorkstock has always been a labor of love, a mini-convention run by John Kovalic’s fans within a larger convention. This was our third year being hosted by Gamehole Con, and I think the first time that Dorkstock has been a four-day convention. We had an incredible game schedule this year, filled with assorted Munchkin and Chez games, among other favorites from Steve Jackson Games, and both Steve Jackson and Phil Reed were in attendance. We pulled out some classic Out of the Box games and other, more esoteric games like Cthulhu in the House and Knuckle Sammich.
But one of our gamemasters goes above and beyond, creating 3-D and life-size versions of some of her favorite games. This leads to interesting e-mail conversations like “is an 18-inch hex large enough for a person to stand in”? (Yes, yes it is.) Among other masterpieces were the 3-D Dork Frag (originally published in an issue of Dork Tower), the 3-D Dork Tower board game (a parody of the classic Dark Tower game), the life-sized Escape from Dork Tower (not pictured), and the life-sized (with 18-inch hexes) Warhamster Rally. Those are certainly a labor of love. I’ll content myself with making the occasional Igor bars and running a few games.
Oh, and planning for next year… Gamehole Con announced their dates for 2019: October 31st through November 3rd. Can you say “Dorkstock Costume Party”?
I have found at my new job, working in a smaller office space, that I walk less than I used to. Given that I have a desk job, I already don’t move enough during the day. I was occasionally walking before lunch at my old job, but needed some extra push to get there at my new job.
On a Pokemon Go hunt with a few critters around me.
Enter Pokémon Go, which I installed when it first came out, then ignored for about two years. I recently re-installed it on my new(-er… just under two years) phone, and logged in. I initially installed it for parenting reasons… checking to see if it was appropriate for my daughter to play. I think I reached level 3 before giving up; I had a new house and things to do here (unpack, assemble furniture, repeat as needed), as well as a job and karate. When I upgraded my phone a couple months later, I didn’t bother re-installing it. Until now.
I walked at lunch a couple days, but found I needed a bit more of a stretch, and something to make it more interesting, since I was walking the same loop each time. By installing Pokémon Go, I’m encouraging myself to walk farther – the nearest in game stops and gyms are close to a mile away. On the other hand, I can’t really walk that far at lunch and still have time to eat… so I do that walk on mornings when I have a bit of free time before work (due to my shorter commute). When I only have time for a shorter walk, the old loop still works for hunting Pokémon, I just have to be careful not to run out of pokéballs, which you need to catch the critters. You can pick up more of those at gyms, stops, and in gifts from your friends. In each of those cases, the selection of items is random. The random selection at stops and gyms also includes gifts that you can send to friends. Every gift exchange increases your friendship levels; increased levels have in-game benefits.
A gift from Chicago!
The critters you encountered appear to be randomized too, some days you encounter more of one type than the other. Of course, being Pokémon, the goal is to collect them all, but some are harder to find than others… including some that are country-specific, so you pick them up when you travel or you trade with friends. Anyways, it’s an entertaining addition to outside walks, though it doesn’t work on a treadmill unless you have an Apple watch.
Give in to the dork side! Come play games with us at the 2018 Dorkstock!
I’ve mentioned Dorkstock here before, it’s a mini-convention within a larger gaming convention; it has been hosted at Gamehole Con in Madison the last couple years. This year’s theme is Infinity Dorks, because, in case it wasn’t obvious by the title, we’re dorks, and that includes an addiction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a special year for us in many ways. John Kovalic is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Dork Tower, which is the fandom base for Dorkstock. What does that actually mean? Well, it means there’s probably cake in addition to Igor Bars. Not that you really need more sugar after an Igor Bar….
It’s also a special year because it’s the first time that Steve Jackson and Phil Reed, who both play key roles at Steve Jackson Games, will be attending Dorkstock. If you know anything about Steve Jackson Games, you know that John Kovalic has drawn a few things for them, most of which involve the word “Munchkin“. As game designers, they’ll bring their own element of fun to the table, with a couple special events on the Dorkstock game schedule.
I would be remiss if I forgot to mention Scott Olman, a long-running special guest at Dorkstock. Scott is the inspiration for Igor (you can read about the core Dork Tower characters here), though John says he tones down the outrageous things that Scott does when he writes the comic. Scott will be running a D&D adventure titled Who Threw Rex Down the Privy, which is sure to be interesting!
Come join us in Madison, Wisconsin from November 8th through 11th for exciting games and a sugar overdose!
One of the cool things about Brookfield Zoo is their seasonal exhibits. Every year, they have a butterfly exhibit, where you can walk into a tented area with a butterfly garden. If you’re lucky, the butterflies may land on you. But this year’s special exhibit, through Labor Day, is the Amazing Arachnids. (Some years, there are animatronic dinosaurs… those are super cool too.)
This exhibit has exactly what the name implies… lots of tarantulas and a few scorpions. And, of course, a plethora of educational information about arachnids, spiders in the media (books, movies, comic books), and a couple awesome photo opportunities including a giant Lego spider.
The variety of tarantulas is pretty amazing, as can be seeing walking through the exhibit. There are large and small tarantulas, with variety in colors and habitats. Some of the tarantulas had impressive amounts of webbing in their habitats; others had none that I saw. Some were highly visible, some tucked under habitat pieces, and others were well hidden. At least one seemed surrounded by its own webbing.
Photo opportunities at the Amazing Arachnids exhibit and a few tarantulas.
Outside the arachnids exhibit, as part of the same special exhibit ticket, is the Mission Safari Maze. Intended to be educational rather than difficult, we walked through this searching for posters on different animals. There were a few interactive exhibits, such as a spider web to climb on and a short set of monkey bars.
If you’re arachnophobic, stay away. Otherwise, I highly recommend you visit the Amazing Arachnids before summer ends.
In an odd combination of fandoms, we saw Heartbreak Hotel and attended the Bristol Renaissance Faire in the same weekend. And for bonus points, I noticed that Dirk and Guido’s opening act that day included a reference to Heartbreak Hotel (as “love poetry”… before they got into the obligatory sword fighting).
We took the train downtown to see Heartbreak Hotel; I’m not a fan of driving in Chicago. It’s the prequel to Million Dollar Quartet, which we had seen (twice) at the Paramount in the fall. As could be expected from the title, it delves into the history of Elvis Presley. While we both enjoyed it, we agreed that we liked Million Dollar Quartet more, both because of the style and the songs that were played.
Forget the giant scissors he’s swallowing… aren’t those shoes awesome?
As I mentioned in last year’s post about Bristol, we always try to catch at least one classic and one new act. Obviously, we watched Dirk & Guido again; the Swordsmen are always a delight. This year’s new act was a The Lynx Show, swordswallower and magician with a great sense of humor. We stumbled upon it because I had seen someone walking by with frybread, and then I found the frybread booth (also new, I think), which was directly across from the show stage minutes before the show. (I first tried frybread on our big road trip in 2013; I’m hooked, but don’t really like deep frying at home.)
Somehow, I went to Faire this year without eating garlic mushrooms. I may need to go back.
I may post more about our trip to Niagara Falls on later days, but here are some of the thoughts that went into planning it.
Transit
Selecting an airline isn’t usually difficult; Southwest is my preferred airline if it services an airport in the right area. Even when we fly carry-on only, like we did for our Philadelphia trip, I like the option of checking bags for free. The pricing is almost always comparable to the other airlines, so it comes down to selecting times I like for direct flights. (Chicago to Buffalo is just over an hour, an indirect flight doesn’t really make sense.)
I researched options for getting from the Buffalo airport to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Quickly dismissed was the Greyhound option; that’s from downtown Buffalo, and only at set times, so it would have required too many transfers. The airport shuttle was more appealing until I realized that I could rent a car for less than it would cost for both our fares one-way. Our lodging included free parking, so renting a car turned out to be a no-brainer.
On the other hand, I didn’t want to drive around all weekend, or bother to pay for parking multiple times in the Fallsview area. We picked up 48-hour WeGo passes, parked the rental car by our cabin, and rode the bus into the downtown area multiple times. When I returned the rental car, they thought I had filled the gas tank because I had driven it so little.
Lodging
I’ve had a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) membership since 2013, when we went on a 13-day road trip; two-thirds of our nights were at KOA sites. On a whim, I checked to see if there was a KOA in the Niagara Falls area. As it turns out, there’s one on each side of the Falls. Having never visited Canada before, I was set at staying on the Canadian side. I didn’t really want to pack a tent (even with free baggage), so I booked a cabin… well, a Kamping Kabin. Because it’s at a Kampground.
KOA Kamping Kabin – outside and inside views
Camping cabins are minimalist in nature. There’s a roof over your head, a door that locks, beds (one double and a bunk bed), and a table with a chair. There’s also a picnic table and seating on the deck. You bring your own linens or sleeping bags, which was most of our luggage needs for this trip. You also have to walk outside to get to the bathroom and the shower stalls. (Pack your own towels too.) In good weather, this works out nicely… and we had amazing weather at Niagara Falls last weekend.
Activities
Niagara Falls – Horseshoe Falls at night
Other than “see the Falls,” I had no idea what we would be doing in the area for two and a half days. I reached out to a friend in Toronto who mentioned that there’s a wax museum with movie stars in the area. Actually, there are two. And a rock stars one. While researching the museum, I discovered that they offered a Fun Pass that combined the museum, the SkyWheel (2 rides if you buy online!), some virtual rides, and a choice of indoor (wizards) or outdoor (dinosaurs) mini-golf. The pass allows you to do each activitiy once, any time within a year from when you activate it. Since we have no immediate plans to return to the area, we did them all Friday and Saturday.
Everything else we did was based on what we found when we got there. We ate at a mix of local (Tim Horton’s, Queen Victoria Place Restaurant) and speciality chain restaurants (Margaritaville and Hard
Rock), watched the nightly fireworks over the Falls, spent some time at the local Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, and spent Sunday morning at Bird Kingdom. We did some shopping, and then visited the Falls from the U.S. side Sunday afternoon before flying home.
I actually had a different post in mind relating to earning my black belt, until I saw what Google did with the photos that were taken on my phone in the last few days. When you take several photos in quick succession, Google takes the liberty of making an animated GIF out of some of them. This amused me, so I thought I’d share a couple of them.
After receiving our belts, we performed Sip Soo, one of the open hand forms we needed to learn before testing for the 1st degree black belt. This is a fairly small part of it, just what Google decided to clip together.
Part of Sip Soo (“Ten Hands”), the latest open hand form I had to learn to test for my 1st degree black belt
In addition to the excitement of earning my black belt, I received a sword as a gift. I started learning the first sword form a while ago, and practice it infrequently… it’s a black belt form. Now that I’m a black belt, I need to work on remembering it. I carried my sword to class the other night to show my instructor, and took some time after class to test it out on the mat.
Trying out my new sword.
Exciting times! I’ve already started learning the next open hand form I need for when I test for second degree black belt.
The movie Once, which I had never heard of until the Paramount Theatre announced their 2017-18 Broadway season, won an Oscar; the Broadway production won eight Tony Awards. This final show in the Paramount’s season is both heart-wrenching and inspiring.
Guy and Girl (they are never given names) meet on the streets of Dublin and quickly bond over a joint love of music. In less than a week, they share regrets about their past relationships, Girl pushes Guy into taking out a loan for a recording session, and they fall in love. But the unresolved issues of their past relationships loom over them, or as Girl puts it “You can not walk through your life leaving unfinished love behind you!” To find out what happens with their relationship and past ones, you’ll have to see the show.
They make beautiful music, both individually and together, and manage to draw Girl’s family and flatmates into their recording session, along with the banker who approves Guy’s loan. This is a show that will certainly inspire you to pursue your dreams. Much like the opening show of Paramount’s 2017-18 season, Million Dollar Quartet, the orchestra pit is empty – all of the music is produced on stage, showcasing once again an amazing amount of talent. Unusually for us, we saw it almost at the end of its run… this weekend will be the last at the Paramount. I highly recommend seeing it on stage if you have the chance.
