Point Made

Weather you will or whether you won't? If you live in Northeastern Wisconsin, mark this date on your calendar (1/27/18). When I logged the morning temperature, it was above freezing (32 Degree F.) Morning temperature? I usually log some time between 6:00 - 7:00 am. It was the first day in 2018 that this has happened. Lucy, our dog, marked the event by peeing on the pavement. Note, she usually prefers the trash between the garage and the neighbor's fence. I was able to monitor her while I was wearing an open zip-up fleece jacket (no lining). It was too early in the morning for sunglasses, but the conditions look good, and I will prepare for that later in the day. Ah, paradise! The sound of an old man bitching about what things cost these days My wife turned down the possibility of seeing James Taylor and Bonnie Rait perform in Green Bay. Seeing that the tickets started at $175 and went to over $400, she had a decision to make. Maria decided tha...

Specifically, where in hell have I been? I could answer that I was spending an extended weekend in Milwaukee, but Milwaukee is not in hell. Actually, I have fond memories of our years in Milwaukee. I miss the city and the friends that we made there. My Boss, by the way, is my conscience. I'm a creature of habits, both good and bad. I have been skipping my alone time in front of the computer. This means I been ignoring my writing both my blog and my current manuscript. You might remember I took a week off over the holidays. Last weekend, I didn't post either. A slippery slope I intend to avoid. Write On. I'm thinking of learning to speak French. I've been influenced by the commercials I've seen for the product Babbel. Why? Because I want to challenge my aging brain. I love the romance and beauty of the French language. I'm reading a new author, Peter May. He is a Scotsmen living in France. He seeds his stories with a lot of references and phrases in Fre...

In my new role, as theater columnist for Appleton Monthly Magazine, I am somewhat hampered by the fact that I'm writing for a monthly publication. Reviewing the road companies that tour through the Fox Cities or event the regional and collegiate productions is counterproductive because by the time we publish these events are over and done.My task is not to critique but inform. So this week, rather than rant about the current political scene or do a poor imitation of Andy Rooney bitching about the small irritations in an otherwise great life. I'm going to share my latest contribution to the magazine. How Do They Do That? By Jeffrey Jordan One of the first things I learned about the theater program at Lawrence University is that the program is designed for teaching. While it might be appreciated, there is no intention to seek to sell out crowds or critical acclaim. Aaron Sherkow assured me that the major focus is to expose the students to all of the elements of theat...

Walking into the jetway in Chicago, on my return trip from Cabo San Lucas, the air is frigid. Now let me explain frigidly. Frigid is when you wade into a lake or a pool on a warm day and the water is, by contrast, cold. You can tolerate it until you get into the deeps above your genitals and then suddenly you feel like your testicles are trying to come up into your throat. I don't know what happens to women in this same scenario, but men will understand. So there I am walking up the jetway with my...Okay, I've already explained that. Anyway, before my underarms freeze and render me unable to move them to find my ticket for my connecting flight to Appleton, I arrive in the relative warmth of the terminal at O'Hare. It was 83 degrees in Mexico. It is 6 degrees in Chicago and I'm going to Appleton where it is going to be colder and that is without factoring in the wind chill. For the record, the wind was blowing from the west at 10 mp...

Open your books to page 1. We find the requiem to the Green Bay Packer 2017 season. I want you to sing loudly for the high notes, and we will ask the orchestra to be silent as we sing acapella for the sad parts of this piece. In the first part of this song, we will be indicating the hope we had for the team. Then the dark Period of this saga, when the leader was injured and carted off the field. With our leader on that cart, it carried with his broken body the hope for a season of success.He would not return for weeks and when he did many observers thought it was too early. We are still writing the final verses, but my feeling is that no matter how well they play or even if they were to win all of their remaining games, the end is already here Now we turn to the family page. This is an illustrated page with the lyric's contained in the stories told by those images. If you can't see the words just hum along with the rest of us. Brogan & Tate (phot...

We welcomed some old friends over for our annual "tree cut "party. Some background here. When I met Maria, she had a tradition of joining with friends to travel to a tree farm to harvest fresh cut Christmas trees. After the selections were made, tied to the top of cars or loaded into trailers, and transported to Maria's house, everyone, plus other honored guests, supped on chili and bread and partook of the beverage of their choice. Over the intervening years, the event was reduced down to the family cutting trees and everyone else just coming to the party. This year we cut the tree the weekend before. The table has morphed into chicken tenders cooked and peeled shrimp, cheeses, veggie trays, store-bought deserts and other good stuff. Some people remark that they miss Maria's Vegetarian Chili. Every year there are new guests. On the other hand, some of the guests have been coming for many years. Helen Nagler has developed a following for her "Chex...

Parking Lots, Too Big, Too Expensive, Too Bad.  Like most retired people I've carved out a bit of a job that I do on a voluntary basis. I am a social media editor of Facebook pages. I am responsible for most if not all material posted on Metro Go and TSAC . Both of these sites are dedicated to informing people about transportation issues and the status of the development of our various transit grids. Transit Grids are the joining of various elements in the Transit System for a region that allows people to get from here to there in that region. Elements being as complicated as Airports and Train depots to as simple as walking right of ways and bike paths. The important thing is recognizing that all of the elements are important, but all of them must interface to be effective. The most glaring example of non-connection in Milwaukee is getting from the Mitchell to the downtown. Why people don't take the two buses that can get them from the airport ...