[Orominuialwen]

Easter. It's absolutely beautiful durig the Vigil Mass when all the lights are turned off and you look down from the choir loft and see the congregation all holding candles. It's also wonderful when you bring your mandolin and get to play with the Estudiantina choir (they sing in Spanish), even though you've never practiced with them before, in addition to singing with your own choir. The marathon of singing five days in a row is even fun: practice Wednesday night, singing for a trilingual (English, Spanish, and Latin) Mass on Maundy Thursday night, singing Good Friday afternoon, singing for what feels like the world's longest Vigil Mass (2 hours and 45 minutes) on Holy Saturday night whichwas trilingual and ended at 11 PM, then singing for Easter Mass when you have to be there at 8:30 in the morning. It's also wonderful when after the disorganized semi-disaster that was Maundy Thursday, the Vigil Mass goes off fairly smoothly. The music is unbeatable, too. The Hallelujah chorus, Schutz's Cantate Domino, and a chant by some monk named Wipo that poeple have been singing for over 1,000 years (Victimae Paschali Laudes), Stabat Mater (from Pergolesi's Stabat Mater Dolorosa), along with some other pieces I can't even remember right now. Going over to a friend's house where a big group of people gather for every major holiday and being able to have a mandolin and penny whistle jam session with another friend is great fun as well.


Painting my nails for the first time in 8 months. It makes me feel wonderfully girly. (Sad but true.)

Those wonderfully crazy Native American and misprononced place names that seem to be found only in Wisconsin that nobody outside of the state can ever say properly, much less spell. Some examples include: Oconomowoc, Peewaukee, Prairie du Chien (pronouced 'Prairie doo Sheen'), Waukesha, Ashwaubenon, Waupaca, Waunakee (it's the only Waunakee in the world), Racine (pronounced ray-SEEN), Antigo, Manitowoc, Outagamie, Kewaunee, Menominee, Wausau, Sheboygan, Chippewa Falls, Baraboo, Oshkosh, Ozaukee, Fond du Lac (pronounced Fondue-lack), Wauwatosa, De Pere (pronounced Duh-PEER), Kickapoo, Lac Courte Oreille (pronunced Lacouda-RAY), Winnebago...

You have no idea how much fun I had compiling the above list. I never really though about how many place names here that I take for granted as normal that are really quite unusual.