A cool stage and a close shave

On Friday, we headed up to Chicago to meet with family and friends for the Bruce Springsteen concert at Wrigley Field.

We were staying at the Palmer House, and after a slight mix-up with our check-in (resolved fairly easily), we got settled quickly. I thought I had stayed at the Palmer House on visits in the past, but apparently not. It’s a beautiful hotel, built 1923-1925, with an architectural Beaux Art style; I think it also has elements of the ‘20s Art Deco style. The Palmer House is on the National Register of Historic Places, and deservedly so!

We hadn’t eaten anything all day, so we decided to go down to the hotel lounge and have a bite to eat and a cool beverage. I was texting with our niece Jen, and she said her and her Dad and my sister (Tom and Diana, for future reference) were heading out to see the Bean at Millennium Park, and did we want to go? I said we really needed to grab something to eat, and they stopped by to say hi. Well, they decided to have a drink, too, then we all got to talking and laughing, then our friends Tom and Paula got there, so we talked and laughed some more, and then it was too late for them to go check out the Bean. They decided to go the next morning, but that was when we had to leave, so I STILL have not seen the Bean! I think we’ll have to do a Chicago weekend next year. It’s been far too long.

Anyway, after our fun, we headed back up to our rooms to get ready to head out to dinner and then the concert. We had decided on the Berghoff, which has been around for a while (after a brief hiatus). I remember going there in high school when my high school German club took a field trip! I think that time I had the sauerbraten, but this time I went with the schnitzel. When I saw it on the menu, I couldn’t resist the Rahm Schnitzel, which had a light sour cream/tomato sauce. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that it’s named after Chicago mayor and my political crush, Rahm Emanuel. It was delicious! Very tender, with a nice crispy coating, and the sauce gave a bit of tangy smoothness to it. Ausgezeichnet!

Then it was time to make our way over to the subway to head to Wrigleyville. No major problems getting there, or getting into Wrigley Field (other than having to leave our umbrella at the entrance...amazingly enough, it was still there waiting when we got out!). Our seats were great, a few rows up from the field, behind one of the dugouts, so we had a straight-on view of the stage. The show started about an hour late, so we were primed and ready to rock.

Now, let me preface my remarks with telling you that although I’ve always liked Bruce, and have gotten a few of his albums over the years, I’ve never been a super fan. I think he’s a great American artist, but one of those that I just wasn’t all totally into over the years. I’ve read that his concerts are major experiences, but I had to find out for myself. (Among the ten of us that went, only our nephew Rey had been to one of his shows before.)

Well, consider me a believer now. He played for about 3½ hours, and it went by so quickly. I thought I might get antsy during such a long concert, but I was having such a good time that it just flew by! I didn’t know every song that he played, but I recognized most of them. I got his latest album, “Wrecking Ball,” a while back, and I recognized most of those songs. (One of my new favorites is “We Take Care of Our Own,” which I think is what we’re supposed to do in our country, and it was played at the Democratic Convention.) So many of his songs are iconic, and it was so much fun to sing along with all those people in Wrigley Field! There were a couple of special guests, including Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine (Rey and Jen and I were like “Ohmanit’sTomMorello!”) and Chicago native Eddie Vedder. Very cool. Also cool to see Steven Van Zandt playing, because there was some speculation that he might be off doing something else. Not a chance! Oh, and Jake Clemons, nephew of Clarence, did a fine job on sax, replacing his uncle. There was a very touching tribute to Clarence.

It wasn’t until towards the end that they played “Born to Run,” and I’m telling you, I’m verklempt just thinking about it. We were all belting out “Tramps like us, baby we were born to run!” and jumping up and down. The final song was “Twist and Shout,” and I will never forget 40,000+ people singing that song and dancing. You know that part where you sing “Ahh...Ahhhh...Ahhhhhh...AHHHHH!”, going up the octave...by the time we got to the last “AHHHHH!” we were all jumping up and down and waving our arms around. Haha!

It’s hard to explain how this made me feel, but I’ll try. It was a sort of communal experience that made me feel so much joy. First of all, we were all at Wrigley Field, which is an American icon, whether you like the Cubs or not. Secondly, Bruce was just playing his heart out for us all. You have to respect that sort of work ethic, and the band was just incredible, as was the sound. (Max Weinberg...damn, man! Amazing drumming!) Thirdly, even a casual fan knows so many of these songs and can appreciate how well-crafted they are, and the amazing, populist lyrics. Finally, it was just so...JOYFUL. I honestly don’t know how else to describe it. For a few hours, you were taken to a place where everyone loves each other and just rocks out and has fun. Those 40,000+ people with me in Wrigley Field were experiencing the same thing, and it was just an odd feeling of community that I’m not sure I’ve ever felt on such a grand scale before. Does that make any sense? It rocketed up to one of the top five concerts of my life. (I’ll have to work on that list...the Stones concert I saw is probably #1.) Rey sent me a link of a great picture posted by a Springsteen roadie. This is what Bruce was looking at while playing. I hope he saw me cheering! Haha! You can see a short review and Springsteen's Wrigley Field show set list here.

We made our way back to the hotel via the subway again, and after winding down a bit, just crashed. Whew! Ken and I were off early the next morning, because we had tickets for the Notre Dame home opener against Purdue. No time to head home before the game, but we parked and grabbed a bite at our usual pre-game place if we aren’t tailgating. It was a gorgeous day for football, not too warm, and a few clouds to give us a break from the rather intense sun. It was a bit of a nail-biter, with Purdue coming back to tie it in the last couple of minutes, and ND kicking the game-winning field goal in the last seconds. Good grief, ND! Stop giving me heart attacks! We had some great seats, just a few rows up from the field, behind the ND band and directly behind the flag pole. So we got to see the Irish Guard raise the flag. Very cool.

Today, I’m happy to just veg out. Ken will head out and mow the lawn soon (after the Bears-Colts game...Colts are losing, arghhh), and then he’s excited to start his new job tomorrow.

What a fun weekend! I hope yours was and is as pleasant!

Evolution

I have plenty of other things to write about (our recent trip to Kentucky, the Democratic convention—wow, did our First Lady knock it out of the park, or what?!—the bizarre compulsion Republicans have to crawl inside the wombs of American women, among other things), but what is at the forefront of my mind today is change.

Not political change. Not Ken’s job change, although that is part of what prompted my pondering on this. Personal change. How we grow and develop as human beings.

‘Change’ is sometimes tossed around as a bad thing. As in, “Oh, how you’ve changed.” The implication is that you’ve changed for the worse. That certainly can be true for certain people, but I tend to see personal change as a necessary thing. If we’re the exact same people we were when we graduated from high school, for example, that doesn’t speak well for our sense of self-awareness, our empathy for others, or our ability to learn from our mistakes. Stagnation isn’t good for anyone.

It has been said that I have influenced Ken for my own nefarious purposes (although the source is dubious, at best), changing his values and belief systems. How silly. I don’t have that much power over anyone, and wouldn’t wield it in that way if I did. Ken is his own person, as am I. Of course, we discuss things; we pay attention to the world around us, we see what is working and what isn’t, and we talk about our thoughts on such matters. Not just with each other...we have friends and family that we also toss around ideas with. That is actually one of the more enjoyable things in life for me: having good discussions with others so that I can work out my own ideas on something.

This is how we grow, both intellectually and as human beings. My positions on many things have evolved throughout the years. I started out an idealistic liberal; I became fairly fiscally conservative for a while (although I’ve always been pretty liberal on social issues); I made another big swing back to the left, and I’m guessing that’s not going to change. I started out being for civil unions rather than full marriage equality. Like President Obama, my views on that have evolved, and I now fully support equality for all of our citizens.

I didn’t just decide to switch my opinions because I was, oh, let’s say running for political office. (Not to mention any names. *cough* Mittens *cough*) I took the time to read about things, took the time to fully think them through. I am not a religious conservative, although I was born into a religious conservative family. I made my own way and made my own decisions. I did not make them lightly, either.

So I find it ludicrous that anyone would disparage a person’s changing stance on such serious issues as religion and politics. (Attributing Ken’s changing stance on things to me is even more ludicrous.) Or even non-serious issues like types of music, or taste in movies. Aren’t we kind of supposed to ponder things, experience new things, branch out from our tiny little corner of the world? Isn’t that what makes life the exciting adventure it is? Oh, I suppose I could sit here and not challenge my previously held notions, take the easy and safe path of conformity, but what fun would that be? To take that path seems rather lazy to me.

One of my mottos in college was “Question Authority.” It was cool and rebellious for the time, and I can’t say that I’ve retained any sort of major disrespect for authority. However, I continue to question, and I hope I always will. Life wouldn’t be as interesting without pushing the envelope on occasion!

Heading for the hills

First off, I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. WOW! So many good wishes on Facebook, and it definitely made me smile.

Some of you may know that I turned 50 today. Although it feels weird to say “I’m 50,” I’m feeling really good about things. Health, a positive change for Ken in his job, plenty of great books to read and movies to watch, living here at Nutwood and enjoying its beauty...it’s all good. [Automatic superstitious action that I really don’t think works: knock on wood.]

So how did I celebrate today? After my usual workout, I headed downtown for a mammogram and a bone density test. Who knows how to party?! THIS GAL! I had it scheduled for last Friday, but for whatever reason, they had to reschedule, and today was the day they gave me. I was in and out of there in about an hour, so I was still able to enjoy the beautiful day and get some things done around here.

Part of that included packing a few things for a long weekend in the hills of eastern Kentucky with my family. They always have a big Labor Day celebration in this town and the historical society honors a different family each year. This year, it’s one of the families in our ancestry, the Marshalls. Pretty much my entire immediate family is going, and my Mom is super excited to have us all along. My Aunt June is visiting from Florida, so she is going, too. We’ll have fun, although I think it would be wise to keep my political leanings to myself while I’m down there. Cousin Greg (Aunt June’s son) and I were laughing about what I could wear. He suggested that I dress like a hippie and carry an “Occupy Salyersville” sign. I said that maybe I’ll wear my Obama t-shirt. Greg said I might want to consider wearing a French beret, as well. That cracked me up!

Anyway, although I’ll be connected, I won’t be online a whole lot. We’ll be out and about during the day and I’ll try and get caught up as much as possible at night. 

Thanks again for all the kind words on my birthday. It meant a lot to me.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Actually, only one big change. Congrats to my hubby Ken on his new job! He still has a few days left at his previous job, but will soon be at his new digs. I couldn’t be happier for him. He was definitely ready for a change, and I know he’s really looking forward to doing his best for his new company. It’s a smaller company, and they seem really excited to have him on board. We had a nice surprise on Friday, when his new boss emailed him and asked us to their family pick-a-nick at The Cove Saturday evening. I thought that was very thoughtful, and I enjoyed meeting some of his new coworkers and bosses. Yes, Super Introvert Beth was excited and happy to meet these new folks, believe it or not!

I continue to be scarce on here because I can feel summer winding down, so I’m trying to have as much fun as I can before the cold weather sets in. I’m spending some time sitting on the deck in the shade in the afternoon, just reading and enjoying the pleasant late summer weather. On the days where it’s not typical August-hot, I catch some rays, hoping to stave off my usual winter pallor as long as possible.

I had a fairly busy time this past week, and one of the highlights was lunch with Shane and Matt at a place Shane had read about online: Moser’s Austrian Cafe in New Carlisle, Indiana, about 20 miles east of Nutwood. Shane took us over there via the back roads, and it was fun driving through ‘60s-era subdivisions and looking at cool doors, interesting mid-century modern features, and the occasional glass-block window. The restaurant was a gem, with delicious schnitzel (their specialty) and tasty Austrian beer (Stiegl). Shane had the traditional Wienerschnitzel, Matt had Alt Wienerschnitzel (spinach and Swiss cheese...excuse me...Schweizkäse!), and I had Jägerschnitzel (bacon, onions, mushrooms, and red wine). To all you haters who said that my schnitzel looked like it had an octopus on it, you have NO IDEA how good it was! It was so good, with a nice vinegary tang to it. I went there with the intention of getting something with sauerkraut, so I could get my fix of that, but the schnitzel was fantastic, and the German potato salad and red cabbage was delicious. Moser’s was voted one of the ten best German restaurants in the country, and I can tell you that the food and the service was just fantastic. As Shane told our server (apparently also the owner), “Ausgezeichnet!” (Excellent!) Nice job, Shane, on finding a great place not too far from us! It’s always so much fun to try something new, and get away from chains and franchises. Ken and I had so much fun finding places like that on our big road trip.

This week, we’ve got the Republican convention to watch, then later in the week, we’ll be heading out on another road trip to eastern Kentucky with my family. Mom’s minivan is full, so we’ll be driving down in the Mustang. (Ken’s, not mine.) Mom’s family is from that area, so she’s really excited to take us all back to where her folks came from.

I promise more substantive posts soon. I have plenty to say about “legitimate” things, believe me! Heh.

Things to do, people to see

It was a busy weekend for the Nutwood gang!

We started Friday evening with a trip to the Cove, i.e., Coveleski Stadium, home of the South Bend Silverhawks. The Silverhawks are the Class A team for the Diamondbacks, and it’s really a nice little ballpark. Ken had arranged for an outing for his PMI group, and we also got tickets for his Mom and for Shane and Matt. We got some beers and then had our picnic dinner. The game was fun, but since none of us follow them really closely, it’s mostly just an excuse to mess around and have fun and be silly. We’re good at that! Every Friday, they do fireworks, so we ooh-ed and ahh-ed and enjoyed them a lot! (The popped collars were to tease my niece Heather, who has a major problem with popped collars!)

Our friend Andy and his parents were in town this weekend, so we met them for lunch on Saturday. It’s always great to see Andy, it was great to see his Dad again (we had met him once before when they were in town for a game and stayed with us), and it was wonderful to meet his Mom. She is just a lovely lady! It was a beautiful day, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy it. We gabbed about several things, and although I don’t often start talking politics with people whose views I don’t know, I did this time (I know Andy has a liberal bent). I sent him a message later and said I hoped I wasn’t out of line in doing that, and he said it’s always fun to talk about politics and religion! I must not have been too outrageous, because I saw his folks again today (more in a moment), and his Mom said that she’s glad Ken and I are friends with Andy. I don’t think there’s any way to take that in a bad way, do you? They are just super nice people. I look forward to seeing them again one of these days!


Oh, and Andy had some tickets for us. Super excited! We love going to games, and are forever grateful for Andy’s help in getting tickets.


That afternoon, we just took it easy and enjoyed the gorgeous day. We both sat out on the deck and soaked up some sun, and ended up falling asleep out there!

Sunday was another relaxing day. Ken got a round of golf in, and got the lawn mowed. He revved up the chainsaw and chopped up that small oak tree that fell last week. Dinner was barbecued ribs, corn on the cob, and some cucumbers and onions. All really yummy! Watched a movie. It was a very pleasant weekend, with beautiful weather. The summer seems to be winding down, so that feeling of wanting to enjoy it as much as possible is setting in. The days are still nice, but it’s getting cooler at night. Great for sleeping, but still an indication that fall isn’t too far away. The summer has flown by! ::sigh::

Today Ken went back to work, and I headed over to Notre Dame to hear Andy speak. This was fun for me for a couple of reasons. Although I know where the stadium and pavilion and hockey arena are, as well as the performing arts center--oh, and the library, of course!--I’m not all that familiar with the campus. So I had to go online to find a map so I could locate Fitzpatrick Hall of Engineering. I had no problem, although I did ask a nice gentleman walking by if that building I was heading towards was Fitzpatrick. I was on the right track! Then it was a matter of finding the right classroom, and I had no problem. Jeez, it was such a throwback to my college days...trying to find the building, finding the classroom. For some reason, I was always nervous about that, but I always managed.

His parents were there today, and we sat together. We laughed as the room started filling up. There were the three of us, and the students were mostly clustering to our left. I said, “Three of these things are not like the other...can you guess which ones?” His Mom seemed to get a real kick out of that!

Dr. Andy VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Andy did a great job with his talk. He discussed his project he helped to work on at CERN, which was about measuring and filtering aerosols, and his focus was on particulate matter. This has applications in climate science (what needs to be present so that these aerosols form?) as well as personal monitoring equipment. Andy’s research focused on particles less than 10 nanometers. Much of it was beyond me, but I have enough of a background in Chemistry that I was able to grasp the concepts. Some of his former professors were there, and they were the ones who asked the most questions after the talk. Andy had immediate answers for them, which always indicates to me that the lecturer knows their stuff. I told Ken that he seemed like a natural at the podium, very approachable, engaging, and knowledgeable. Along with his main job, he is going to be an adjunct professor at USC in Nanotechnology, and might be doing a thing here and there with Notre Dame, too. Fantastic job, Andy! Yay!

After parting ways with Andy and his folks and wishing them safe travels, I headed back to my car. I don’t feel guilty about not working out today, because I got a good walk in! It was such a beautiful day, it’s such a gorgeous campus, and I was feeling so good that I must have had a dopey smile on my face. I exchanged grins with a guy on a bike as I tried to get out of his way, smiled and waved ‘thank you’ at someone in a car who let me walk ahead of him, and even exchanged a smile and a nod with a priest that I passed. I walked by the stadium on the way back and got a couple of pictures, including one of the statue of my favorite ND football coach, Lou Holtz. When you’re there for a game, there is just a mass of humanity in front of all the statues, so I was able to get a nice shot without all the humanity!

ND campus VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I really need to check into going to more lectures there, because I enjoyed that thoroughly. We live about ten minutes away from one of the nation’s premier universities, so I should take more advantage of that.

Another early night tonight, because I’m picking Ken’s Mom up tomorrow to take her to her MRI appointment. Happy slumber!

I’m aliiiiive!

Whoops, I can’t believe it’s been almost two weeks since I updated! I guess this was a needed hiatus. I’ve just been enjoying the waning summer since we got back from our recent trip. It’s only mid-August, so we should still be having some warm and humid weather, but it’s been surprisingly cool, with a hint of autumn in the air. Anyone in the Midwest knows what “a hint of autumn” means, and it’s more than a little bittersweet.

I’ll try to do a quick recap of our trip back from Florida, and get a little caught up here.

Our drive down to Florida was mostly Interstate, so we could get down there quickly. On the way back, we took the back roads, which are always much more fun and interesting! We drove up along the Atlantic coast in Florida, and entered the Lowcountry of South Carolina on our way to Charleston. I was captivated by the area. There were vast landscapes of swamps, punctuated by stands of tall pines and live oaks dripping with moss. We encountered places with rundown homes and trailers, only to see working plantations a little farther down the road...a long lane lined with live oaks, just like in pictures you’ve seen!

On our journey through the Lowcountry, we stopped in Conway for lunch. It was a nice little bistro on Main Street called Crady’s. I had a delicious Turkey Caprese sandwich, and Ken had a Cordon Bleu Panini. The owner came out to talk with us, and she was a very charming lady. I wish we’d had more time in Conway, because it was a river town, and it looked like they had a fairly vibrant downtown and a riverwalk. The owner is also a baker, so we got some biscotti and a toasted macadamia nut turtle to go. Mmm, delicious!

Charleston was a charming, smallish city. We headed downtown for a bite to eat, and planned on walking around the downtown area after dinner, but when we walked out of the restaurant, it was pouring down rain! We weren’t very lucky with weather on this trip, but we know that’s a risk in August. However, we saw enough that I told Ken that I would really enjoy going back to the area for a full vacation. There is a lot of history in Charleston, and I thought the downtown area was very intriguing. I noticed gas lamps like you see in New Orleans, and mentioned that to Ken. Oddly enough, my niece Jen said that she has several colleagues who have spent quite a bit of time in Charleston, and it’s one of their favorite places. She said that it seems to be an amalgam of Cape Cod and New Orleans. That’s exactly how it struck me, too! So yes, we’ll be going back there. It looked like a really neat place to visit!

After that, we headed up to Raleigh, where we met our long-time blogger friend, Sheria. I’ve spent some time in Raleigh before, but it was for technical school, so I saw nothing of the city. This time we got to go downtown, to meet Sheria at a barbecue place of her picking, The Pit. There I learned the difference between sweet, tomato based barbecue that Yankees prefer (haha!) and East Carolina barbecue, where the sauce is vinegar-based. I loved the vinegar-based stuff! It was delicious. (There is also the barbecue we encountered in Memphis, which is more of a dry rub. I’m really enjoying learning about various types of barbecue!) Beyond the food, which was incredibly good, we had a wonderful time talking with Sheria. I believe we talked and laughed and visited for close to FOUR HOURS.

What a pleasure to meet someone we’ve known online for at least five years. I think I was a little nervous about meeting her, and she said she was a little bit nervous about meeting us, but I knew that if you’ve been friends with someone online for five years, chances are good that you’re going to get along in real life. And that was the case! We talked and talked, everything from life in the South to religion to lots and LOTS of politics! Time went by so quickly, and before we knew it, it was almost 10 pm. We agreed to meet up the next day for lunch, so we had a nice time together before we headed out again. That was the morning that Romney announced that Paul Ryan was his VP pick, so we had plenty to discuss! (I’ll be writing more about that soon. I’ve been posting numerous articles on Facebook about it, so that’s another reason I’ve been scarce on blog posting.) It was yet another great experience in meeting one of our blogger friends. We’ve lost track of how many we’ve met, but we have never had a bad experience! Sheria is a true gem, and I am so pleased to call her my friend. I know that Ken feels the same way!

Then we headed north again. The plan was to stay in Charleston, West Virginia, but we went a little farther past that. It had been a while since I’d been in West Virginia, and I feel that it is really one of our most beautiful states. I love the rolling hills and the low mountains of Appalachia. We’ll be heading back to that area (eastern Kentucky, to be specific) soon, for a weekend with my family.

After a lot of driving, we were happy to get home. Sheeba was also happy to have us home, and with the cooler weather, he has been Velcro Kitty, as Kim says! On my lap, curling up with us at night, following us around...he’s our special boy!

One of the cool things from Florida was our visit with my Aunt June and Cousin Greg. I believe I mentioned that previously, that we had dinner together, but I didn’t mention the present she brought me. Her and Greg collected penguins at one point, and although they got rid of most of them, they still had a couple. When Aunt June realized that I collect penguins, she brought me a couple of beauties, which you can see here. One is a gorgeous black and red glass one that sits under a glass dome. The other is a foot tall, and he is made of glass, he is a decanter, and he is a freakin’ MUSIC BOX! That is one handsome, hollow, liquid-holding, music-playing penguin! I was so delighted to see these wonderful penguins, and so grateful to my Aunt June for giving them to me. I have nothing like them, and I will find special places for these beauties. Very unique penguins, and I am very honored to have them. Thank you, Aunt June!

Penguins VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After a week of taking care of business, we enjoyed an evening at our local minor league ballpark with Ken’s Mom, Shane, and Matt, and then we got a pleasant surprise when we heard that our friend Andy and his parents were in town for the weekend. We met up with them for lunch today at a place near Notre Dame and had a very pleasant time sitting outside and eating and talking. Andy is giving a talk at ND on Monday, and I plan on getting directions to the place where he is talking and going to see him give a discussion about aerosols. He is doing well after his graduation, enjoying his new job, and recently made another trip to South Korea for a space camp for kids there. He was still sporting a temporary NASA tattoo. :) I want one!

That is the latest! We’re just enjoying the last month or so of summer, and it’s hard to believe that we’ll soon be heading into fall. ::sigh:: We have lots of fun things planned for September, too, and I hope we have nice weather for it. But why did the summer fly by so fast? ::double sigh::

Enjoy a rather obscure song from one of my favorite '80s compilation albums, "No Wave." This is "I'm Alive" by The Secret.