WORTH LEARNING

This week I am finishing up my menu planning class. I’ve been doing a simple version of menu planning for decades, but I pushed it to a whole new level with the pandemic (Martha would be so proud of me).

I’ve reviewed scads of apps but they all come up short. Lately, I’ve been thinking about putting together my own recipe database to link to my menu plans, but just haven’t had the passion for it. I thought this class would inspire me to get after it, and maybe teach me a few menu planning tricks. I was mistaken. Menu Planning is simple and straightforward — not a lot to learn. But, I did get a zillion new ideas for freezer meals, slow cooker suppers, and some deliciously sinful desserts. My pantry is full and my oven’s hot. Let the games begin!

I also met some lovely Mormon friends. I admire Mormon women in general for a plethora of politically incorrect reasons. I think they’re the greatest homemakers and memory keepers ever. I wish I had motherhood to do over again. When Elon Musk builds me a time machine, I will definitely move to Utah and find me some sister wives.

P.S.
As I said, I’ve reviewed scads of apps. Even though I’m not totally sold on going this route, of all the ones I checked out, this is my favorite (partly because it is free and the others have monthly fees). If you’re interested, CLICK HERE Note: the app name is Mealime not Mealtime (I presume someone was fired for that typo when buying the domain name. Oops).

”Rice cakes have no business calling themselves cake at all!” - Unknown

WORTH SEEING

Fond Du Lac’s Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts has an exhibition running from January 27th to March 13th. It’s themed around the topic of winter. We think it’s important to support the arts - especially in our own backyard, so Keith did his part. He dug through his personal collection for some wintry paintings and will have three pieces in the show, including the one above. It features an empty Point beer case in the snow, and is titled Wisconsin Winter.

Point Brewery (Stevens Point, Wi), was established in 1857. That’s before the Civil War, folks. Give it a sip. In the same way champagne tastes like France, Point Beer tastes like Wisconsin, cows and all.

If you decide to visit, I would suggest the week-end of February 11-13th when the Art Center hosts the Wisconsin State Snow Sculpting Championship all weekend long. There is also an amateur Ice Sculpting Competition if you want to enter. It’s all part of the week-end Sturgeon Spectacular with “Horse-drawn Carriage Rides, Running of the Sturgeon (fun run) , Live Entertainment, Chili Crawl, Family activities and Sturgeon Mini Games, Hot Cocoa and Chocolate Crawl, and lots of Spectacular Specials at various bars, restaurants, and hotels.

Visit Lakeside Park on Saturday, February 12th for more family-friendly activities including the Outdoor Curling Bonspiel right on Lake Winnebago, Free Horse-drawn Carriage Rides through the park, Kids Fun Run & 5K, Biggest Sturgeon Contest, Snow Land family activities, live music, a huge community bonfire, and more. For the adults, don’t miss the Spear the Beer Specials as well as Spearing & Beering Festivities with Lakefront Brewery at Lakeside Park. And, of course, don’t miss the winter-themed exhibits at the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts.

WORTH FEEDING

Did you miss National Squirrel Appreciation Day? It was January 21st. Our four-legged rodent friends are fed each day by their two-legged human friend, Mr. May. They come to the patio doors and flick their tails and act adorable. I believe this is called “driving Keith nuts” because he is actually driven to stop whatever he’s doing and fetch some nuts to feed his little buddies. On this special day, the squirrels were treated to almonds, walnuts, cranberries, and blueberries.

That evening, I tried smiling and flicking my pony tail at Keith. He was confused at first but then put it together. “Do you want me to make you food?,” he laughed. Then he pulled a pizza out of the freezer while I acted adorable.

Mark your calendar for next year! Squirrels are counting on you!

WORTH COMPETING

Would you like to host a family Art Contest? At 240, we’re starting the new year with a cozy little competition. This month, we celebrate touques! (The word “touque” is pronounced like “toe” with a “k” at the end). Although they’re just a knit beanie, they’re the iconic headwear of Canada and all of its most sincere hockey players.

This month’s challenge is to design the fabulous touque of your dreams. The only limit is your imagination, eh?

I am asking my family to send me a photo of their finished touque art entry with the name of the drawing and any special historical achievements, psychic powers, or handy accessories associated with their touque. If they are concerned about starting from scratch, they can use the outline I send along. Please feel free to use the outline to start your own contest. Just click below and fill the door of your fridge with fanciful touque art.

“Pitter patter, let's get at 'er.” - Letterkenny

WORTH CATHERIZING

We had a little medical adventure since our last Worth It! love letter. During his annual physical, Keith mentioned to his doctor that he sometimes got a funny feeling in his chest. So the routine diagnostic battery was ordered and there was a little spot on the upper left that did not show blood flow. They felt they needed to further investigate because, among other things, it might be dead tissue from a previous heart attack or a blockage. After the heart catherization procedure, the doctor said Keith “has the heart of an 18-year old…we don’t often see heart’s as healthy as his.” Nothing to report. Pristine plumbing throughout. Their theory is that perhaps not enough dye was injected for the test (Keith has huge blood vessels), and there wasn’t adequate contrast to show the blood flow in that area, so it appeared dark. The dark spot was merely an artifact of the test. So what was the funny feeling? They don’t know and they don’t care. Move on.

Bacon’s back on the menu.

WORTH READING

If you’re at all like me, there is an overwhelming number of books you want to read, and very limited time to read them. Since I take notes when I read, I hoped if I shared some snippets with you, it might help you decide if the book I’m recommending is worth your time. If not, at least you get the gist of a very good book. I think we are all artists and creators in our own way. This book is full of ideas to make us all better ones.

1. TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME

“What next? The truly prolific artists I know always have that question answered because they have figured out a daily practice - a repeatable way of working that insulates them from success, failure, and the chaos of the outside world. They have all identified what they want to spend their time on, and they work at it every day no matter what. Whether their latest thing is universally rejected, ignored, or acclaimed, they know they’ll still get up tomorrow  and do their work.”

2. ESTABLISH A ROUTINE

“A little imprisonment, if it’s of your own making, can set you free.”
“A routine establishes good habits that can lead to your best work.” - “When you don’t know what to do next, your routine tells you.”
“When you don’t have much time, a routine helps you make the little time you have count.”

3. MAKE LISTS

“Lists bring order to the chaotic universe. I love making lists.  Whenever I need to figure out my life, I make a list. A list gets all the ideas out of your head and clears the mental space so you’re actually able to do something about them.”

4. FINISH EACH DAY AND BE DONE WITH IT

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. BUILD A BLISS STATION

“Silence and solitude are crucial. You must retreat from the world long enough to think. practice your art, and bring forth something worth sharing with others.”

The idea for a Bliss Station is from Joseph Campbell.  It can be a place or an hour where you are isolated from the world and create.

“The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds and makes of all political and social life a mass illness. Without this housecleaning, we cannot begin to see. Unless we see, we cannot think.” - Thomas Merton

6. LEARN HOW TO SAY "‘NO’

“Saying ‘no’ to the world can be really hard, but sometimes its the only way to say ‘yes’ to your art and your sanity.”

7. FORGET THE NOUN, DO THE VERB

Kurt Vonnegut assigned this homework to HS students: “Write a poem and don’t show it to anybody. Tear it up into little pieces and throw them into the trash can. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.” According to Kurt, that is the whole purpose of making any kind of art — to make your soul grow.

8. MAKE GIFTS

“One of the easiest ways to hate something you love is to turn it into your job. Be careful about monetizing your passions.”
“Don’t make stuff to sell.  Make gifts.”
“Where there is no gift, there is no art.”

“God walks out of the room when you’re thinking about money.” Quincy Jones

9. THE ORDINARY + EXTRA ATTENTION = THE EXTRAORDINARY

“Your attention is one of the most valuable things you possess, which is why everyone wants to steal it from you. First you must protect it, then you must point it in the right direction.”

“Keeping a daily diary and writing about your life, you pay attention to it, and over time you have a record of what you paid attention to.” (paraphrased)

“If you want to change your life, change what you pay attention to.”

10. WHEN IN DOUBT, TIDY UP

“Creativity is about connections, and connections are not made by siloing everything off into its own space. New ideas are formed by interesting juxtapositions, and interesting juxtapositions happen when things are out of place.”

“I love my mess.  I intentionally cultivate my mess.”

Tidy up your studio space because it loosens you up and helps you get unstuck. It helps you explore. You might come across something that creates new work. It is not to clean but to come into contact with your stuff so you can make more room for what serves you and make room for new things. Tidy without concern about the results. It should be a form of play. 

Sleep is tidying up your mind. Naps are a secret weapon. WAKING MODE is the best for creativity.

Dali slept holding a spoon. When he nodded off, he’d drop the spoon and have a few minutes of WAKING MODE. 

Caffeine nap. (1) Drink a cup of cup of coffee/tea/soda.  (2) Take a nap. (3) Wake naturally in about 15 minutes when the caffeine kicks in. SELF-INDUCED WAKING MODE

I bought my copy on Amazon for Kindle. Here’s the link: KEEP GOING by Austin Kleon.

WORTH PLAYING

A Viking friend, Gary Gilbertson, introduced me to HNEFATAFL, also known as Viking Chess. Deceptively strategic and complex, I imagine Vikings gathered around a great table to play, to work out a battle, or to explain how a conquest was won. It has been my favorite game since I first played it in October. Here’s a link to an Atlas Obscura article about the games captivating history. CLICK HERE

Archaeologists say the game is over 1600 years old. They often find the game sets in Viking burial sites and sunken ships.

My play is improving, but Keith is a strategy savant. For the record, I have not been able to beat him yet. Bacraut!

“It is better to stand and fight. If you run, you’ll only die tired.”
- Viking Adage

WORTH PHOTOGRAPHING

But I did win this month’s Photo Shoot-Out with this image of a possum. These are the one and only marsupials in Wisconsin, so I was thrilled. How awesome is this? We had a staring contest. He froze. I froze. It lasted forever. Eventually, I blinked, Possum won.

Did you know the males have two penises? Colonial Americans thought the males bred with the females via their nostrils. It gets even stranger. They thought the female gave birth by sneezing the babies into her pouch. Nose sex! Those pilgrims sure had an exciting fantasy life.

Keith and I’ve had ongoing photography duels for years now. We call them Photo Shoot-outs and aspire to build our own OK Corral someday.

WORTH LOVING

People say the longer couples live together, the more they look alike. I decided to surprise Keith a few weeks ago by duplicating his clothes and accessories to a tee (the things I do to amuse this man). I bet you can’t even tell us apart, can you? Until next time, embrace those simple pleasures. The clock is ticking. We send you our love! - Mary and Keith

“Great minds dress alike.”