Bow Ball: Casino Row-all 007

Me, Emily, Will, Amanda and Joel

The Minnesota Boat Club's annual fundraiser gala was on Saturday night. This year's theme was Casino Row-all to go with the usual silent and live auctions, eating and talking, laughing and dancing. It's fun to see all the rowers wear something other than river-smelling spandex workout clothes. It's also hilarious to see some of the older club members let loose and dance. Almost everyone gets really dressed up, and it's a blast. The choker I'm wearing in the pictures was my grandmother's, and I haven't worn it once since I inherited it from her 12 years ago. I was waiting for the perfect occasion (i.e., the right dress). Here are a few pics from our evening.

Emily and me

Anna, Emily, Kim and me

Swedish Institute

On Friday I went to the Swedish Institute with my cousin. I hadn't been there in years, and it's a very short distance from where I live now. It was fun - all the rooms are decorated for Christmas right now, each room with a different Scandanavian-country theme.

When we were on the third floor in the immigrant artifacts section, I searched in vain for a trunk I saw there when I was in grade school on a field trip. I didn't see it, which kind of disappointed me, since many years ago, I based my cursive letter "M" on how some Swedish woman had painted the "M" on her trunk. If you've ever seen my signature, you'd know what I'm talking about...

Puzzle: Twin born second is the older of the two. How does that work?

From the Star Tribune today:

A North Carolina woman gave birth to twins: Peter emerged first, then came Allison. But it's Allison who is the older of the two.

How can that be?

"Yes, Peter was born first, it was at 1:32 a.m. [Sunday]," mother LC told WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C. And Allison was born 34 minutes later.

In between, however, came the end of Daylight Saving Time, sending the clocks back one hour.

Thus, Peter's 1:32 a.m. birth time lags behind Allison's 1:06 a.m.

"We just never even thought about it until after he was born, and then we realized it was going to happen. It was really kind of amazing," LC told the TV station.

This reminds me of those kids who don't have traditional birthdays because they're born on leap day. This poor kid doesn't get his birthright because the other kid beat him to it, all due to a technicality. Good thing Daylight Savings Time wasn't around in Biblical times - think how different things would've been for Jacob and Esau...

Woeful Turn of Events

This morning marked a sad occasion: the first time I've had to scrape my car windshield this year due to a frozen substance. I've gotten away without doing it on several other occasions, but today, the entire car was encased in a frosty coating.

It is also sad because I'm realizing that this is the first full winter I will have ever parked outside. Call me spoiled, but I like parking inside a toasty garage during the winter. I suspect I will be using both scrapers this winter. (Yes, I have two of them in the car at all times - and it came in handy the other day when I had to brush all the leaves off that had coated the poor thing.)

Goodbye Fall.

Busy Weekend

1. Saturday morning.
Took dock and ramps out of Mississippi River at MN Boat Club. It was muddy and cold and wet, but we won out in the end, and got the job done...

2. Saturday evening.
Went to the Wild game at the X in St. Paul. Great game, good offense, nice fights. They won...

3. Sunday afternoon.
Watched the Vikes game with my Dad. Great game, good offensive line, good pass rush - better than they've had all season, and good running by the rookie, Adrian Peterson. They won...

4. Sunday evening.
Went to the Guthrie. Jane Eyre was playing, and it was good. They won...our applause.

Oh, and 5.! I changed all my parents' clocks except one when I was at their house on Sunday. What would they do without me? =)

Rules for Enjoying a Halloween Party, and Lessons in Fringe Flammability

Last night I went to a costume party for Halloween. I haven't really done the costume or Halloween party thing in a long time, so this year I decided to go as a flapper, something I've always wanted to do. I even made my costume - fringed dress and all. I made it to several places without incident - until last night.

My advice to get a party really going is to accidentally light yourself on fire. Or, more correctly, light your costume on fire. That's right. I have personal experience in this regard, and can tell you that fringe is highly flammable, and you and your costume will be the talk of the party (at least until someone else does something even more stupid).

In the midst of talking to several friends, I accidentally backed up into a candle that I didn't know was there. Whoosh - 12 inches of fringe singed by flames, and then my kind friend Britta swatted it out. The funniest part was probably my comment of "It's getting really warm in here," to which Britta responded, "Well, yeah! Linnea, you're on fire!"

No damage done to me, and only minor damage to the costume (the fabric of the dress wasn't very flammable, it was the fringe that bore the worst of it). And I have to tell you, I had a lot of fun with it once the danger was averted. Of course you know my first reaction - I am so wicked hot that my dress spontaneously combusted - and that pretty much started off a great night.

Quote of the Moment

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” —Voltaire

If I Were...

Courtesy of Julie - It's only taken me days to actually finish this...and that's not because of the links. Even now I could change half my answers gladly.



1. If I were a month I would be: December

2. If I were a day of the week I would be: Friday

3. If I were a time of day I would be: 6p

4. If I were a direction I would be: North by Northwest

5. If I were a piece of furniture I would be: A Really Comfortable Leather Sofa

6. If I were a liquid I would be: Espresso

7. If I were a stone I would be: Stonehenge

8. If I were a tree, I would be: Sugar Maple

9. If I were a bird, I would be: Egret

10. If I were a tool, I would be: Gam

11. If I were a flower/plant, I would be: I already am one - The Linnea Flower

12. If I were a kind of weather, I would be: Misty Fog

13. If I were a musical instrument, I would be: Cello

14. If I were a color, I would be: Red

15. If I were an emotion, I would be: Amused

16. If I were a vegetable, I would be: Fresh Green Beans

17. If I were a sound, I would be: An Orchestra Tuning

18. If I were a car, I would be: A 911 Carrera

19. If I were a food, I would be: Pasta

20. If I were a place, I would be: Home, Wherever That Happens To Be

21. If I were a material, I would be: Silk

22. If I were a scent, I would be: A Bakery

23. If I were a word, I would be: Bon Vivant

24. If I were a body part I would be: The Hand

25. If I were a facial expression I would be: Mona Lisa Smile

26. If I were a subject in school I would be: History

27. If I were a game I would be: Scrabble



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As if I don't spend enough time at work...

...I'm going to be there tonight for this event with several friends (non-work people, at least): Shadows and Spirits of the Capitol. It should be entertaining. My main goal, of course, is to find out if those rumors about the capitol being haunted are much exaggerated, or if an old Supreme Court Justice from the 1920s actually has been spotted in an office or two...

Unbelievable

I went to a work-related meeting yesterday afternoon, and heard something so PC it passed beyond ridiculous and made me laugh out loud in the meeting. A gentleman speaking before the group used the term "persons of record" instead of "offenders," and as you may imagine, at some point in the past "offenders" replaced "former inmates," let alone the "convicts" and "criminals." "Persons of record"?!? What does that mean, exactly? It's so vague, it could mean any kind of record - criminal, exemplary, Congressional, anything. Obviously, I was rather incredulous at his turn of phrase.

Libertarians at Large

toothpastefordinner.com

A reasonable discussion of marriage on ABC News?

Call me crazy, but I heard this story on marriage on the ABC Evening News on Monday night: Community Marriage Policies May Lower Divorce Rates. I don't find the story itself crazy - I've heard of communities getting involved in marriages - making it not just a community thing, or a contract thing, but a covenant thing with religious leaders and other members of the community. This community now requires premarital counseling to help the couple prepare for marriage - not just the wedding day. Pastors and priests in the community have all agreed that they will no longer perform "quickie" weddings. And it doesn't end at the altar - churches have agreed to promote programs to help couples strengthen their marriages.

I just found ABC's coverage of it to be the interesting detail. It was fair and balanced, and since the whole story discusses a Christian approach to community and faith-based involvement in marriage, you could say I was more than a little surprised to hear it covered by a national broadcasting company's evening news. Am I that cynical? I think I am...