Marshfield

So, yeah.

I could say something like "gosh dang, it's been a while" here, but then I'd be starting EVERY post with that, and that's just pathetic. Let's all just pretend that there was no absence. Nobody noticed. A phantom me kept posting phantom posts and phantom you read it and it was totally great. Genius, even. OK, glad we got that established.

So, here I am.

In Marshfield.

Marshfield, WI.






I have a job here. It's pretty nice. I like all my co-workers. I like what I get to do. The word "epidemiologist" is in my official title. I wear nice clothes and weird colors of nail polish to work and people are generally cool with it.

I also have a boyfriend. He is not here. We both don't like that. However, we have gotten pretty good at getting into pissing contests with other couples that are currently doing/have previously done long-distance relationships.

In fact, now that I think about it, there are lots of things that aren't here. Musical venues. Restaurants. Clothing stores. My close friends. Decent cell reception. Other minorities. But, as they say here in the Midwest, there's no use dwelling on it.

I got to travel to Seattle for work recently. I really, really loved it. The weather was even nice. The sun came out. I bought flowers. It was great.

In San Diego near the Pike Place Market (above) there is a hot dog cart that sells... I guess kind of Japanese fusion hot dogs. This one below is the Matsuri Dog. Matsuri is "festival". It obviously has seaweed, green onion, carrot and Japanese mayo on it. It was pretty great.

There was also some fusion sushi. I think this was something called The Redhead? Anyway, it was also awesome.





Oh, and there is this salami place, Salumi, that just makes incredible sandwiches.



 I also got to go to San Diego and present a poster on influenza and vitamin D. More importantly, I ate this bowl of tom kha soup. It was awesome.

And then I saw this Marvin The Martian painting. Yes, a legitimate painting. I wish I remembered who the artist was so I could give him or her credit. It was pretty epic.

Also in San Diego was this little restaurant called Chocolat (yes. No, there was no Johnny Depp) and they had beautiful fresh mozzarella salads for lunch and I had this like three times and it was wonderful, and I miss it. I miss it so much that I kind of wish I hadn't taken a picture of it.

The other sweet thing that happened in San Diego: I went shopping with my boss at Banana Republic while buzzed off a couple margaritas and bought some awesome clothes. I think from now on I will ONLY shop drunk. I made some really good decisions, guys.

How about something closer to (my) home? Wallin's cabin is about an hour east of where I live, in Nekoosa, WI. In Nekoosa there is a restaurant called The Lure. They have a sandwich called the Vic"Tom"Izer. I'm a little hazy on the details as we were drinking the entire goddamn day, but from what I recall it is a BLT or a cheeseburger or maybe both, sandwiched in between two grilled cheese sandwiches. They use a giant steak knife to hold it all together.

Guess what they have in Marshfield.

They have a dairy store where you can drive through a drive-thru (of course, how else would you drive in a drive-thru) and buy a bag of milk and some eggs. These cows are standing out front.

 

This is unrelated to everything. I just saw these in Walgreens. That's all.

What else do I do in Marshfield?

I travel pretty much every weekend to see that boyfriend I mentioned above. It's great seeing him but it blows driving. I really hate it. I can feel my butt molding to the seat of the car.

I also shop online a LOT.

I started a balcony garden. It contains a bunch of herbs (including three different lavender plants), a rose geranium, a dying asiatic lily, and five tomato plants. It's pretty serious.

I made my boyfriend a quilt.

I made friends with a cheesemonger. They sometimes give me free cheese.

I joined an orchestra.

I joined a book club.

I signed up for this thing where you get a box in the mail every month with some random beauty samples in it. I can't tell yet if it's awesome or a rip-off.

I started writing physical letters to people I know. I love getting mail, which is why I signed up for the beauty sample thing. If you want a letter from me, let me know. The rule is, you have to write back at least once.

I listen to the child in the apartment across the street from me. Every time I hear her she is crying, screaming, sobbing about something. I'm not sure what.

The kids in the apartment right next to mine like to talk to me, and also run around with no clothes on.

I have started getting into canning and preserving stuff (I was going to type 'shit' there but then it looked too literal). It's now not horrible outside and things are growing in believable amounts. The other day I made green mango pickle (aam ka achar). Today I made rhubarb lavendar jam. Tomorrow I have plans to make rose geranium lemon curd. Also cardamom shortbread cookies.

I have a lot of free time. A lot. It's good and it's also pretty bad.

Welp, now I've made my glorious return. Except for that I never left, of course.