Holiday...it would be so nice.

Tomorrow night is my third holiday party. The past two years the parties were held at a hotel 50 minutes from downtown. It was tres chic and a good deal of fun, but it was quite a drive. This year, the party will be held in a restaurant two blocks from the office. This means that I can walk there and stumble home at the end of the night. And instead of drink tickets...open bar! Just in case, I'll be bringing my flask.

I haven't been to an office party yet that didn't provide gossip afterwards - usually alcohol and/or sex related gossip. Hopefully this year will be no different. Already we have drama. The members of the fun committee have been bickering about the details of the party and one of them has decided not to attend in protest. Yeah, the Fun Committee. Its name just screams irony, doesn't it?

Bananas!

The Messiah has arrived in Milwaukee, and of course, I mean Whole Foods. It's interesting to see how people react to the supermarket. Some seem to feel the satisfaction that Milwaukee is now respected enough to be graced by the Whole Foods chain. Some people are upset that another corporation is going to stamp out the local "alternative" grocery stores. And then there's another group of people that don't seem to care. I fit in the third group.

I stayed away for a month or so to let the crowds lessen, but eventually I realized that I had to make the trip just to keep up with pop Milwaukee-culture. After dinner one evening I decided to walk to Whole Foods, which is a 20-25 minute walk. I needed bananas and I was open to buying something else if it caught my eye - maybe some ketchup. Haha, who am I kidding? It's all the preservatives in ketchup that make it good.

Anyway, I felt strange in Whole Foods. But it wasn't the store that made me feel strange; it was the other people. They seemed to be there for a reason besides grocery-shopping. I think they wanted to prove that they are beyond traditional supermarkets. They care about the hormones pumped into the cows, from which they get their milk. They want to recognize the ingredients of the orange dye applied to the organic cheese puffs. The don't want to eat gluten! But I think they also want to show that they can afford it.

I've found a way to give my grandmother a heart attack. Show her the price of organic bananas. And then tell her that I paid that price. And threw one of them away when it had too many bruises. She doesn't even know that "organic" is pretty meaningless when it comes to bananas too. She would, however, be pleased that I received a 10 cents credit for bringing my own bags.

The upside of the Whole Foods arrival, though, is that it has started a dialogue regarding our food sources. I have decided to switch to organic milk. I did a paper in college on female hormones. During my research I was surprised to learn how much estrogen et al. is used in the dairy industry and then passed into the environment, usually in the water systems. It has a big impact on fish populations, but I forget exactly how. I'm also considering joining a CSA, community supported agriculture. By joining, I'll receive a weekly CSA box, filled with vegetables from a local farm! Some of the vegetables I'd be unfamiliar with, but I've always felt that I need more chard in my life.

I wonder how it explains the pro-life stance.

Why Mommy is a Democrat

Christmas has arrived in Milwaukee

I wish someone had told me that the Christmas parade would be passing in front of my apartment on Sunday morning. There's nothing quite like being woken up by a marching band - especially on the morning after Dan Goldin Day.

I was also shocked when I looked out of my window to see the big red dog, in helium form, floating down the street. Who knew that Milwaukee had the budget for that much helium?

Dan Goldin Day IV

So, another Dan Goldin Day has come and gone. And it seems that we have a new tradition.

For the past two years, DGD has included a trip to the local brewery. And for the past two years, we have been turned away at the door because the tour has been sold out. We even showed up 60 minutes early this year! We were there before the earlier tour had even left, and it was already sold out. So, in the same fashion as last year, we got a couple pitchers of beer and enjoyed the fish fry and live polka band.

We had to sit at two separate tables because our group was so large! Thirteen people showed up for DGD - Milwaukee. It was a proud day. We hope that another Dan Goldin Day tradition will be to meet new people. DGD 2005 saw two great additions to our circle of friends, and hopefully 2006 will not be different. Christie and I brought some of our new coworkers, and they got into the DGD spirit. I sensed no eye-rolling or shocked disapproval at any of our shenanigans so maybe they'll come out with us again. Only time will tell.

Course C

I'm not feeling too good about my exam, which is tomorrow morning. Even now, I don't feel like studying, because I'm worried that it'll just make me realize all that I still don't know. I've been concentrating on categories that are always on the exam. My game plan is to go straight for them and cut my losses on the things I don't know. I'm usually a good test-taker so hopefully that will help separate me from the riff-raff. The exam is always graded on a curve. Thirty-five problems in 4 hours, and a good number of them will take more than 10 minutes each to complete.

I'm not sure of the passing rate of this exam but it has to be better than the rate of the previous one. Hopefully it'll be around 40%. I think I can handle that.