My mom went back to Florida yesterday and things are back to normal around the homefront. I'm looking forward to going to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday, the weather looks excellent. It will be Angie's first trip in her new costume. To my costume, I added a pair of faux leather boots.
On Sunday I believe it's time to take out the Halloween decorations. I noticed that Halloween is on a Wednesday this year, kinda lame. Either way, I'm sure we'll be handing out candy unless someone hosts something.
The NHL is still locked out with no end in sight. I'm trying not to pay too much attention and just hope for the best. My guess is we'll eventually get hockey, but the season will be shortened. I'm considering becoming a Gopher hockey fan this year to try and fill the void.
I finished reading my second book by Blake Crouch called "Run." I enjoyed the story, but not as much as The Pines. I've since started reading "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" to flip back over to non-fiction. I haven't been reading quite as much since Borderlands 2 came out last week. Every few days Brenton, Jeremy, Twedt and I have play-dates for a couple hours.
Around this time every fall, my musical tastes shift to more somber records. Out of the car with The White Stripes, Black Keys and Paramore and in with David Gray and Bat For Lashes. Not to mention my Halloween albums and scary stories read by Vincent Price.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Septemberfest
Last weekend we attended Oktoberfest at Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter in Stillwater. As I mentioned, my mug design was picked and featured on the collectable mugs. They also used my design for the buttons everyone was wearing for entry. It was really cool to get my first mug filled with Spaten Oktoberfest beer and see everyone around me carrying the same thing. Besides beer, we ate some roasted nuts, kettle corn, knackwurst, sour kraut and pretzels (The photos are posted on Flickr if you'd like to see more). We ended the night with a game of hammerschalgen, that game where you try to hammer a nail into a log using the reverse side of the hammer. P.S. I won that too. Woot!
We also attended the first play of the season at Park Square called Red. It was smaller-scale performance with only two actors and quite a bit of thoughtful/intense dialogue. I really enjoyed it. Our next play of the season is King Lear.
I also finished a book called The Pines, by a new author I discovered named Blake Crouch. Loosely inspired by Twin Peaks, it was a very engaging thriller. The pacing was quick and the descriptions were very good, creating a very papable atmosphere throughout. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately starting reading another of his books called Run.
Borderlands 2 is waiting for me at the house as we speak, and I plan on sinking some time into it and wrecking my eyes a bit over the next few weeks. My mom is staying with us until next Wednesday, so things are going to be busier around the homefront until then either way. We usually end up running around quite a bit, and I'll be checking out all the Halloween decorations wherever we end up.
Finally, I painted the room formerly known as the office. I still have the trim left to do, but the hard part is over with. We went with a orange-ish color called "cantaloupe slice"and it's pretty intense. Regardless, it looks much better than the ugly purple-gray color it was before. I also painted the radiator silver, which was an improvement as well. Now we're just waiting on the dresser to arrive, the last missing piece of our bedroom set.
We also attended the first play of the season at Park Square called Red. It was smaller-scale performance with only two actors and quite a bit of thoughtful/intense dialogue. I really enjoyed it. Our next play of the season is King Lear.
I also finished a book called The Pines, by a new author I discovered named Blake Crouch. Loosely inspired by Twin Peaks, it was a very engaging thriller. The pacing was quick and the descriptions were very good, creating a very papable atmosphere throughout. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately starting reading another of his books called Run.
Borderlands 2 is waiting for me at the house as we speak, and I plan on sinking some time into it and wrecking my eyes a bit over the next few weeks. My mom is staying with us until next Wednesday, so things are going to be busier around the homefront until then either way. We usually end up running around quite a bit, and I'll be checking out all the Halloween decorations wherever we end up.
Finally, I painted the room formerly known as the office. I still have the trim left to do, but the hard part is over with. We went with a orange-ish color called "cantaloupe slice"and it's pretty intense. Regardless, it looks much better than the ugly purple-gray color it was before. I also painted the radiator silver, which was an improvement as well. Now we're just waiting on the dresser to arrive, the last missing piece of our bedroom set.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Backyard Bash
We had a great time this past Saturday at the Summit Backyard Bash. It was an outdoor concert event held on the grounds of the Summit Brewery. It featured a lineup of all local bands including Caroline Smith And The Goodnight Sleeps, Halloween Alaska, Now Now and Doomtree. In addition to the music and drink, food was on-site from Dixies, Black Forest Inn, Barrio, Bennett's and more. Since it's not far from our house and weather was nice, we just walked over around 11am.
The setup was very nice. They had a large music tent with standing tables around the edges, plenty of bathrooms and enough space to breathe. Towards the middle of the day, things got pretty busy and the beer lines (yes, the lines for beer at the brewery) got a little long. I'm not sure the attendance number, but Summit had to have done very well.
This was our second time seeing Caroline Smith, who continues to grow on me. Doomtree is great group of very talented individuals, but not really my cup of tea for a live performance. The other bands were nothing to blog about IMO. Anyway, I picked up a Dessa's CD (who is a member of Doomtree) and it's quite good. Thanks to Spotify, I've been listening/tasting more music without investing a bunch of money. I'm hooked.
After brunch to celebrate Angie's Dad's birthday, we cleaned up the tandem bike and took it for a spin. It's actually really fun and worth every cent of the six dollars Angie paid for it a few years ago. We also did a little cleaning upstairs in the old office room, in preparation for painting. We haven't picked an exact color yet, but it's going to be some lighter shade of orange.
Looking forward to Oktoberfest this Friday night at the Gasthaus, the weather says 74 and no rain at this point. Not that rain would stop me from going, but I really don't want my pretzels to get soggy. Saturday we're going to see "Red" at the Park Square Theater. It's the last weekend we have before my mom comes to visit next Monday.
The setup was very nice. They had a large music tent with standing tables around the edges, plenty of bathrooms and enough space to breathe. Towards the middle of the day, things got pretty busy and the beer lines (yes, the lines for beer at the brewery) got a little long. I'm not sure the attendance number, but Summit had to have done very well.
This was our second time seeing Caroline Smith, who continues to grow on me. Doomtree is great group of very talented individuals, but not really my cup of tea for a live performance. The other bands were nothing to blog about IMO. Anyway, I picked up a Dessa's CD (who is a member of Doomtree) and it's quite good. Thanks to Spotify, I've been listening/tasting more music without investing a bunch of money. I'm hooked.
After brunch to celebrate Angie's Dad's birthday, we cleaned up the tandem bike and took it for a spin. It's actually really fun and worth every cent of the six dollars Angie paid for it a few years ago. We also did a little cleaning upstairs in the old office room, in preparation for painting. We haven't picked an exact color yet, but it's going to be some lighter shade of orange.
Looking forward to Oktoberfest this Friday night at the Gasthaus, the weather says 74 and no rain at this point. Not that rain would stop me from going, but I really don't want my pretzels to get soggy. Saturday we're going to see "Red" at the Park Square Theater. It's the last weekend we have before my mom comes to visit next Monday.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Labor Day Weekend-ER
We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend at the Amey cabin. It was the first official road trip and cabin trip with the new Forester, too. We decided to get up early and make the drive Saturday, which worked out really well because we didn't hit any traffic and made great time.
After we got settled, Don took us out fishing on Loon Lake. The weather was excellent, the lake wasn't crowded, and Angie had the first fish in the boat right away. Shortly after that, she had another bass on the line that put up quite a fight. She managed to reel 'em in, and it turned out a to be the biggest fish she'd ever caught. I was pretty excited, considering she caught it on a Ultra-Light rod with 4lb line and artificial bait. We spent some more time trolling, and both Don and I caught a few more bass. I also had a big Northern on the line (which we a had visual on) but he got off before I could reel him in. Overall, a very fun and productive day on the water.
Later that evening, we were treated to a Pontoon ride courtesy of Terri and Rick. We had a few cocktails and relaxed as we cruised, it was very relaxing. On the way back home in the car, Don and I decided it would be fun to stick our heads out of the sun roof. It turns out, you should probably take your hat off before doing this, a lesson we both learned the hard way. So after Ang doubled back to pick up our hats, we headed back to the cabin to call it a night.
Day two we loaded up canoes and went to the landing nearby on the Namekagon River. The water was super clear and we saw lots of carp along the way. I think we went about 9 miles before taking out again at the Trail Bridge Landing. Besides the large rock at the landing almost capsizing Don and Linda, we all made it back safely.
After a nice breakfast, we headed out to Loon Lake again for a final day of fishing. Ang caught another nice bass, picking up right where she left off. Don and I were both fishing shallow and I was having great luck bringing in bass with a top water popper lure, when disaster struck. As I went to remove the hook from my fish, he thrashed violently and sent a treble hook deep into my right thumb, past the barb. To make a long (rather painful) story short, we ended up making a trip to the ER to get it removed. Besides pain, I was feeling more angry with myself for not being more careful, and for putting everyone else out to take care of the situation.
The doctor poked me with a needle, numbed the area and went to work. I didn't have the stomach to watch, but after a few minutes the deed was done. After the hook was removed and we made it back to the cabin, Don was nice enough to take me right back out on the lake to finish our day of fishing. I even put that same type of lure right back in the water, scary hooks and all. I caught one final bass, removed the hooks safely and we called it a day.
We didn't end up driving home until the evening, which allowed us to miss all the traffic again and have a easy trip back home. In the end, it was a great weekend, full of of fun and full of lessons learned.
After we got settled, Don took us out fishing on Loon Lake. The weather was excellent, the lake wasn't crowded, and Angie had the first fish in the boat right away. Shortly after that, she had another bass on the line that put up quite a fight. She managed to reel 'em in, and it turned out a to be the biggest fish she'd ever caught. I was pretty excited, considering she caught it on a Ultra-Light rod with 4lb line and artificial bait. We spent some more time trolling, and both Don and I caught a few more bass. I also had a big Northern on the line (which we a had visual on) but he got off before I could reel him in. Overall, a very fun and productive day on the water.
Later that evening, we were treated to a Pontoon ride courtesy of Terri and Rick. We had a few cocktails and relaxed as we cruised, it was very relaxing. On the way back home in the car, Don and I decided it would be fun to stick our heads out of the sun roof. It turns out, you should probably take your hat off before doing this, a lesson we both learned the hard way. So after Ang doubled back to pick up our hats, we headed back to the cabin to call it a night.
Day two we loaded up canoes and went to the landing nearby on the Namekagon River. The water was super clear and we saw lots of carp along the way. I think we went about 9 miles before taking out again at the Trail Bridge Landing. Besides the large rock at the landing almost capsizing Don and Linda, we all made it back safely.
After a nice breakfast, we headed out to Loon Lake again for a final day of fishing. Ang caught another nice bass, picking up right where she left off. Don and I were both fishing shallow and I was having great luck bringing in bass with a top water popper lure, when disaster struck. As I went to remove the hook from my fish, he thrashed violently and sent a treble hook deep into my right thumb, past the barb. To make a long (rather painful) story short, we ended up making a trip to the ER to get it removed. Besides pain, I was feeling more angry with myself for not being more careful, and for putting everyone else out to take care of the situation.
The doctor poked me with a needle, numbed the area and went to work. I didn't have the stomach to watch, but after a few minutes the deed was done. After the hook was removed and we made it back to the cabin, Don was nice enough to take me right back out on the lake to finish our day of fishing. I even put that same type of lure right back in the water, scary hooks and all. I caught one final bass, removed the hooks safely and we called it a day.
We didn't end up driving home until the evening, which allowed us to miss all the traffic again and have a easy trip back home. In the end, it was a great weekend, full of of fun and full of lessons learned.
