Wandering Where We’ll Be

Church, choir practice several times, gaming, picking up things at several places, taking care of insurance, getting ready for Easter, seeing friends, biking to places, walking the dog, watched a movie, celebrated my mom’s birthday, drawing, watching bull-riding… sounds like we are really busy doesn’t it. Honestly, this has been one of the most relaxing weeks I’ve ever had. I don’t know if Tim can say the same since he’s the details person on this trip. He is also the main planner. I often ask him what I can do so I feel I’m contributing.

He said “Why don’t you write a blog entry before we leave?”
So here it is.

Blank.

These are a few thoughts running through my mind.

Thought #1: Tim and I celebrated mom’s birthday at their house on Thursday even though on this year her birthday falls on Easter Sunday. Tim had made these cedar outdoor candle holders with citronella candles so that was our gift. But I got to thinking about my parents basement. It has had the furniture and knick knacks in the same place for many years and I knew they would likely remain in those places for quite some time longer unless I offered to rearrange. Both mom and dad liked the idea. So Tim and I changed it around. It took awhile but it looks great. It was a lot of fun to see my parent’s faces after the change. They really liked it.

Thought #2: On Thursday night, it was my last gaming night. Jon had come up with an Aberrant game at my request because I was leaving and I’ve had the game for years and have never played it. To fill people in on what an “aberrant game” is, I’m going to have to use an analogy because unless you play a “paper ‘role-playing-game’”, you will never understand it.

Imagine going to an acting class and the teacher hands you a piece of paper that says a famous actors name on it (let’s say Brad Pitt). Then the teacher says “This is a script for a scene in Brad’s life where he is in an airplane that is being hijacked. Brad is in the 1st class section of the plane, 3rd seat in, next to the window. Brad is not acting in a movie, he is being his normal self in his real life. He has a wallet with $300.00 dollars in it; a cell-phone, and lots of credit cards. There is a screaming/crying woman next to him. The seat next to her is empty. The aisle runs down the middle of the plane; then 3 more seats on the other side with people in them. There are people seated in front of him and in back. The person in back of him is nervously talking quietly into his own cell-phone. One of the hijackers, with an AK-47 automatic assault rifle, is walking up and down the aisle of the 1st class section. The pilots and stewards are tied up sitting in the first 2 rows of the plane.”

“What does Brad do?” the teacher asks you.

At that point, you, who are playing Brad Pitt, look at your script to find out what you are supposed to do or say next. The paper is blank except for Brad’s name. This is free-form impromptu acting. No “official” script. So it is up to you to put yourself in Brad’s shoes and decide what he would likely do in this situation. Does he tell the crying woman to shut-up and then move to the seat next to her so he can tackle the hijacker next time he walks by? Or does he pick up his own cell-phone and call his agent to ask how popular he would be if he just sat there and did nothing? Or does he try to move closer to where a body of hijackers are (he would have to do other things to get to this point) and try to over hear their plans? Or… whatever else you decide he would likely do. Since this is like a script reading, you are not actually getting up and doing any of the things you say Brad Pitt is doing. You are merely telling the teacher what Brad would do. Then the teacher adjusts what the hijacker or hijackers or anyone else involved would do as a response or consequences of Brad’s actions. (if Brad tackled the hijacker, the hijacker wouldn’t just let Brad have his way, he would beat Brad into submission or worse, the screaming woman might faint, the other passengers would move away or maybe even help Brad depending on what the teacher had in mind for the likely end result of this script which could be anything depending on what Brad or some other “actor” does) You, the teacher, and anyone else who has another “actor/actress” on their page would be writing the script as you went along — free-form storytelling or script writing.

A ‘paper’ role-playing-game (not an online role-playing-game which is similar but in my view somewhat limited since I can’t fly my Pegasus to where ever I please [lets say into the upper atmosphere next to the ozone layer] or change him into a tank with my wizard spell abilities [after I create the spell].and run over several of the World of War Craft monsters that stand in my way)is a little more complicated than free-form acting and involves some rules and dice but it is very similar; Social problem solving at its best.

An Aberrant Game is a superhero game that is slightly more sinister than the normal superhero comic book. Jon came up this the storyline (the teacher who creates the scene) and controls what all the non-player-characters (the hijackers, crying woman, cell-phone backseat guy) do before, during, and after whatever we do with our player characters (PCs) (Brad Pitt). The rules state what kind of player characters we can create. With those “PCs”, we can do whatever we want within the scene Jon comes up with.
More than you ever wanted to know about role-playing-games.(smirk;)

Thought #3: Choir practice. I’m a “tenor”. That doesn’t mean I can hit a high “G” in the Halleluiah Chorus and make it sound “good”. As practice goes on, I become a baritone unless I gobble down every Ricola throat lozenge I can find.

Thought #4: Jake, our dog, loves wall to wall carpet. When we had an apartment, we had big rugs and he liked those because it gives his paws and claws something to grip when he lunged after a tennis ball (his favorite toy). We sold the big rugs last fall. He lived and played on the small rugs that were left. Now, at Tim’s parents’ house, he has carpet all over the place. He lounges around in the sunbeam, unless a squirrel, bird, dog or some other event captures his attention out on the back porch which has big windows and a sliding glass door. He can look out all windows, barking at small animals, in a sunny area on carpet, surrounded by no less than 2 tennis balls…DOGGY DREAMS COME TRUE!!!

Anyway, for those that have read this, 2 days left and our trip starts. What a change this is going to be.

Blog you all later,
Dan

OK, here’s a quick post to get caught up on what we’ve been doing this past week.  We’ve been keeping busy with last minute preparations and getting together with friends and family, but I’m getting anxious to hit the road.  I’m sure this last week will fly by, and we’ll be on the road before we know it.

Last Monday, Dan went to the dentist to have a root canal finished.  Everything seemed to go fine; his mouth was a little sore initially, but he hasn’t complained of any pain lately.

On Tuesday, Dan and I (and Jake) went up to my parents’ cabin in northern Minnesota with both my parents and Dan’s parents.  The cabin was finished late last year, and we thought it would be fun to go up there with our folks since we had some free time before we left.  We lucked out by picking the best day of the week, weather-wise.  It was a beautiful, sunny, spring day, in the mid-50’s.

We made the three-hour trip in the morning, stopping once at a wayside rest north of Milaca.  Arriving at the cabin around lunchtime, we gave Dan’s mom and dad a quick tour of the cabin and, then, had soup and sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch, we lingered around the table for a bit before going outside and showing Dan’s mom and dad around the rest of the lot, walking down to the lake and showing them the “porch” down by the lake and the garage/bunkhouse near the cabin.  We also walked down the road to the public boat access.

When we returned to the cabin, I – with Dan’s assistance – assembled a Spinach-Potato Pie for supper.  While it was baking, we hung out in the cabin and visited some more.  After dinner, Dan’s parents took off for home; they had planned on staying just for the day, and had to get home to take care of their dog.  We had a great time that day, spending some time with our parents away from the normal bustle of our everyday lives in/near the city.

Dan and I and my parents stayed overnight and returned home after lunch the next day (Wednesday).  We arrived home in time for Dan to go to his weekly role-play gaming in St. Paul.  We had hosted the group at our place until a week before we moved out of our apartment.

On Thursday, we drove out to the small town of Brownton, MN (west of the Twin Cities) to have lunch with our friend, Liz.  Jake has twice stayed with Liz when we were out of town for long weekends.  We ate at Cactus Jack’s in the nearby small town of Stewart.  Dan first met Liz when they both worked in the flooring department at the Home Depot in northeast Minneapolis – the “Quarry” store, so they were critiquing the tile installation job at Cactus Jack’s.  We also heard from Liz about all the drama that goes on in a small, rural town in central Minnesota.

Thursday evening was choir practice.  I sing and play guitar with the St. Mary’s choir that sings for the Saturday afternoon (5:15 pm) mass.  My mom also sings in the choir, and – since we’re staying in Shakopee and Dan isn’t working – Dan is singing with the choir for these last few masses (Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil).

On Friday, we met our friend, Shawn, for lunch at Big Bowl in Edina, MN.  Shawn is in the midst of his own transition, having just left his long-time job at American Express (now Ameriprise Financial) for a job with YMCA.  We ran a couple errands and stopped at Panera Bread to check email and get a few things done online.  For dinner, we went to a Fish “Fry” at the local KC Hall with my parents.  Even the Knights of Columbus have become more health-conscious, offering several different kinds of fish, including oven-baked.  After the fish fry, we watched a movie that my mom and dad had picked up at a garage sale earlier in the day, “The Rookie.”

On Saturday, Dan and I took our bikes to run some errands in Shakopee – Target, Dan’s bank and my bank.  Then, we rode through the old part of Shakopee, including stops at the house that I grew up in until I was 9 years old, the pet store in downtown Shakopee, and a gazebo overlooking the Minnesota River, threatening to flow beyond its banks from the spring snowmelt.

After attending and singing at Palm “Sunday” mass in the afternoon, we went to Panzanella restaurant in Shakopee with many of the other choir members and their spouses for a “farewell” gathering for us.  We had a lot of fun having dinner and visiting with our friends in the choir.  We received a very nice card, along with $200 that had been contributed by choir members!  A great big, heartfelt THANK YOU to the choir!!

On Sunday, evening we went out to dinner with my sister, Brenda, her husband, John (Anderson), my other sister, Jackie, and her husband, John (Aldritt).  We went to Machu Picchu restaurant near Lake St. and Lyndale Ave. in Minneapolis.  A couple years ago, Brenda and her daughter, Amanda, traveled to Chimbote, Peru with others from their parish, St. Michael’s in Prior Lake, to visit and help out their sister-parish.  While they were in Peru, Brenda and Amanda visited the real Machu Picchu, and Brenda had wanted to go to the Minneapolis restaurant ever since she returned from Peru.  None of us had been to the restaurant before, but we were eager to try it.  Both the food and the drinks were great!  Brenda had had and enjoyed Pisco Sours when she was in Peru, so that’s what she (and I) had to drink.  We all ordered various Peruvian stir fries, called Saltados (I think).  I had the vegetarian one, with broccoli, red bell peppers, carrots, red onions and french fries – yes, that’s right, French Fries!  We all thought that including french fries in a stir fry was rather odd, but it was very tasty.  I want to do some research to see if adding french fries to a stir fry is really authentic Peruvian cooking.  It was fun to try a new restaurant and spend some time with my sisters and their husbands before we leave.  Thanks to all of you!