Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Democracy works when we vote

In the 2016 United States’ election, only 61.4 percent of eligible voters bothered to vote. (Read about it here.) That means millions of voters who could have had a say in our democratic process chose, for whatever reason, to remain silent.

Voting can be difficult, particularly in the 13 states that still don’t have early voting. In some countries, election day is a national holiday; that hasn’t happened here yet. Some states have laws that require employers to allow time off for voting, but there were voting centers in the 2016 election where the wait was several hours long; the time off allowed is generally less than that. Clearly, this is a flaw in both the distribution and staffing of those locations, and it harms our democratic process.

You can check the voting rules and voter registration deadlines for your state here: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote. If you are in any way outraged by recent political events, please remember that the midterm elections are coming up on November 6th. In some places, early voting has already begun. Even if you aren’t outraged, this is one of the few civic duties we have – military service is optional, jury duty is rather random, but elections are regularly scheduled and announced well in advance. At bare minimum, voting is a responsibility you should follow through on.

If you are inclined towards political involvement, take a look at this map and see if there’s a #StandOnEveryCorner protest scheduled near you. (If there isn’t, you can schedule one.) Some of these are daily events until election day. I’ve been combining the occasional night at Naperville’s corner with Pokemon hunting and occasionally exploring local restaurants. (There’s a grilled cheese restaurant! It’s called Everdine’s Grilled Cheese Co. and was quite delicious.)

Local and state elections matter, and in the past couple years, there have been several examples of every vote making a difference.

Be that vote.

Addendum: You can view your ballot choices on this website by entering your address: https://www.ballotready.org/.

Thoughts on A Fading Sun

Every so often, I receive a fabulous book to review that clearly expects a sequel. And, if I’m lucky (which I have been repeatedly, as the editor watches for sequels), I receive the next book to review a while down the line. That’s what happened with A Fading Sun by Stephen Leigh. I reviewed it last year for Booklist, and had noticed it on my list recently and wondered if the sequel had been published.

Lo and behold, the sequel, A Rising Moon, appeared in my mailbox. If you have time before November, I recommend reading the first book before the second one is released. What follows is the review I submitted last year:

The Cateni are a conquered people, hiding their traditions since the Mundoan Empire overran their land three generations ago. This is easier said than done for Voada Paorach, who sees ghosts and helps them follow the sun-path to the afterlife. She successfully hides her ability well into her adult life until the death of someone close forces her to reveal it. Cast out of her home and torn from her family, a ghost, Moonshadow, who fought against the original Mundoan invasion, leads Voada to Onglse, where the Cateni still openly rebel against the Mundoans. Commander Altan Savas has been sent to lead Emperor Pashtuk’s army in Albann; he reluctantly leads the oppressing army to what he expects, at best, to be a Pyrrhic victory on Onglse. Voada and Moonshadow move that battle to mainland Albann, where Altan is forced to follow in an attempt to salvage the Mundoan Empire’s hold over this conquered land. Readers will detect a resemblance to Ireland, Scotland, and England during the Roman era. Adults and teens who enjoy this story will eagerly anticipate the sequel.

My poor confused garden.

It’s now late September, and my garden isn’t quite sure what to do. The temperature has dropped and given us nights in the 50s and 60s, and I have harvested at least a dozen pumpkins, which being changing color when the temperature approximates fall.

One pumpkin ripe and ready to pick, one just formed.

But this week, we’ve had highs in the high-80s, and are expecting a drop to just below 70 by Saturday. There are flowers open on my pumpkin because of the heat, with new fruit having formed in the last week, while other pumpkins are ripe and ready to pick. The newly formed fruit will probably not survive, though it may be that a neighborhood squirrel or raccoon gets to them before the weather does… they’re quite soft at this stage.

My tomatoes are going through similar waves of ripening or over-ripening. On the extremely hot days, they split before they’re fully ripe, which means they go bad before I get to them. If they’ve split and haven’t gone bad, they frequently get eaten in the picking process, to avoid losing them. (Not to be confused with other tomatoes that get eaten in the picking process.)

I can’t really complain, as it extends my harvest. But I was swatting away mosquitoes this week, and I’m fairly sure none of us appreciate them having an extended season.

Legally Blonde (The Musical)

The 2018-2019 Broadway season has begun at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora with Legally Blonde: the Musical. While I’ve never seen the movie, I had some general knowledge of the plot before we went to the show last weekend. Not knowing the specifics, I was fairly entertained by the show, even with the bits that I felt were obviously predictable from the beginning.

Elle, in addition to being a flighty blonde, is upbeat and starts with the absolution conviction that she can follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School and succeed, despite her total lack of interest in law or serious studies. She is assisted by her sorority sisters throughout, both in real life and versions of them in her head (singing as a Greek chorus), and by friends she makes once she arrives at Harvard.

She goes head-to-head with her ex-boyfriend, his new girlfriend, and one of her law professors, none of whom believe she has a chance of graduating, much less landing one of the four internships offered by the professor. The only people on her side are Emmett, the professor’s assistant, and Paulette, a beautician she meets when she considers going brunette to convince people she’s serious about law school.

This show was a delightful start to the season. I’m looking forward to see their interpretation of The Wizard of Oz in November.

Pokémon Go

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.

Pokemon Go gift reads "Greetings from Commemorative Ground Ring; Chicago, Illinois, Unites States" — 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.

Dorkstock is coming!

Dorkstock 2018: Infinity Dorks, Nov 8th-11th, 2018, Gamehole Con: Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall, Madison, Wisconsin — 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!

The Dan Camp Journey

Four years ago, I embarked on my first drive to Dan, or Black Belt, Camp, with a carload of teenagers (none of them mine) and the vague notion that I’d be doing karate all weekend. Our first stop was a rest area on I-65 in Indiana, where one person slowed down long enough to receive copies of the New Testament for all of us. That resulted in some interesting car conversations as we proceeded to a popular (with our karate family) lunch spot. Beyond that, well, we stayed up late, got up early, and did karate pretty much all weekend. There were team-building exercises, some general silliness, and new friendships that came out of the weekend. Every year since has been a different adventure, with a new mix of driving companions and the same overall giddyness that comes from doing karate for a whole weekend with two hundred or so of your closest friends.

Strawberry milkshake in a mason jar at The Farmhouse — Strawberry milkshake in a mason jar… is that enough whipped cream?

This year was no different in that respect. After years of driving by, both to Dan Camp and other events towards or past Indianapolis, and only having stopped at the shop before, we ate lunch at The Farmhouse at Fair Oaks Farm. If you’ve driven south on I-65 recently, you’ll know that it’s hard to miss the billboards for Fair Oaks Farm; between the restaurant and the farm, there were probably a dozen before we got there. (Driving north, there are two that tell you that you missed it and you can turn around at the next exit.) This is unquestionably the first time I’ve been served a milkshake in a mason jar. They are, as it turns out, the perfect size. The meal was delightful, prefaced by some fresh cornbread and well, no, we didn’t make it to dessert. But I generally consider dessert to be optional when I have a milkshake.

After lunch, as I mockingly pointed out the scenic corn and soy (and more corn and soy, as this is the midwest), I noticed a faint rainbow out of the corner of my eye. It wasn’t until my companions (who weren’t driving) looked that we realized there was a double rainbow, with a far brighter one hiding below the faded one I had spotted.

Beyond the exciting weekend activities – have you ever played balloon “soccer” on a windy day with multiple balloons per team, and only karate moves allowed to propel the balloons? – the weather was just about perfect. Two years ago, there was a downpour along with some exciting thunder and lighting on the Saturday afternoon, which forced a break in our outdoor activities for a bit. This year, there was a bit of rain on our drive Friday, and a light sprinkling Saturday afternoon.

Foggy morning from the suspension bridge — Looking at the giant slide from the suspension bridge, through the fog and a spider web.

Sunday morning, as I began packing the car, I enjoyed the fog that had settled in overnight. I went back to the cabin for my phone, then walked onto the suspension bridge to get some photos. (The bridge is one of those things that you either love or hate about the camp; it bounces quite a bit when everybody is lined up, crossing the river.) Just me and my arachnid friends.

Spider and web with a foggy morning river in the background. — Pretty spider and web with a foggy morning in the background.

People come into our lives for a reason.

Just over 8 months ago, we welcomed Arwen into our lives. She is, without a doubt, still a force of chaos, also known as a kitten. I know, she’s over a year old now (since she was 6 months when we adopted her), and technically not a kitten, but I don’t think she realizes that.

She has taught everybody in the house a bit about patience, some better than others. Diane still has points where she barely tolerates Arwen, particularly on the bed at bedtime. But I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to find Arwen lying next to her, and sometimes June is there too.

If there’s human food involved, Arwen’s the first one there. Constantly. But she’s not up on the counter (as much) while I’m cooking, and has learned most of the time to wait until I put a plate down to lick. That said, I still won’t walk out of the dining room with a plate of food at the table, and leftovers have to be tucked away while we’re eating.

June and Arwen curled up together on the sofa — June and Arwen

She’s been great at getting June to exercise, they will tear through the house playing at random times. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I wanted a kitten, to encourage the older cats to move more. (Hasn’t work so well with Diane.) And they curl up together at times, just like June and Diane still do.

She is a mighty insect huntress. I can always tell when there’s an insect in the house, because she’s suddenly leaping straight up at the window or the wall. I rarely notice what kind of insect it was. Unfortunately, I have far fewer spiders than I used to; I think she’s eaten all the obvious ones.

She’s even learned not to use her claws when grabbing people. She still reaches out to grab me, but now it’s cute instead of painful. Her obsession with nibbling on toes, well, that’s still a thing. Slippers are our first line of defense.

Amazing Arachnids

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 (me being silly and a Lego spider) at the Amazing Arachnids exhibit and a few tarantulas. — 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.

Heartbreak Hotel and Ren Faire

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.

The Lynx Show, swallowing giant scissors — 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.