Why God invented mosquitos.

Last night we checked out the DCI show in Greendale. It's interesting going to these things. Here are these kids (some of them really small - I can't believe I was ever that young sometimes), who have worked so hard, traveling around the country - they were pretty impressive, most of them.

The rules are clearly different in judging drum and bugle corps marching compared to high school marching band competitions (they are a lot more lax). Marching off the field, no rules about marching on the field, chaos, etc. Anyway, I had a good time.

Funny though, the first group we saw was - how shall we say? - bad. I didn't want to say it. But they really were. And my thought was: If the whole show is like this, should I stay?

Clearly this group was a brand new corps, so they are on one end of the learning curve. The group was small in comparison to the other corps and the marching and music was so not clean. (Listen to me judge - I was terrible when I was in hs marching - at least my playing was horrible. I know, I'm such a hypocrit.)

But the rest were pretty fantastic. I had my favorites (I won't mention names - *cough* Velvet Knights *cough*), but overall it was thoroughly enjoyable.

The fans really get into this stuff. My mom told me this story about my dad dragging her to a show with the NY Skyliners when they were first married and he and his friends were wooping and screaming and the like. You'd think they were at a football game or something.

As my grandpa used to say, "Good stuff, Maynard."

Downside: bug bites, people. In the end, I was scratching endlessly. The stupid mosquitos came out about a half hour before the show ended and of course, I was a target of their blood lust. Simply put, God was punishing us when he invented mosquitos. They carry disease, they annoyingly fly right in front of your face (and sometimes buzz in your ear), they bite you in the most inconvenient of places (back side of my knee - ugh! - and on my scalp - yes, my scalp), they cause you to use the stinkiest antidotes to the itch (bring on the Calamine), and though they don't fly at the speed of light, they make it impossible to kill them!

So, that was that.

Then I went out for pie. With ice cream. Yummmm.

A late night secret post...

So, I have to tell you, I decided (mind you, very last minute and thinking I was fooling someone - who? I have no idea) to run out to Culver's for a little (itty-bitty-bit) frozen custard. This isn't any of that sweet-tooth savior-created pseudo-healthy stuff. Oh no. This is in-your-face-gonna-put-some-meat-on-ya frozen dairy heaven - er - custard. And instead of opting for the one scoop vanilla in a dish (which, I swear, was my intention), I got the two scoop sundae with hot fudge and Snickers.

Let the self-loathing begin. Okay, not really. You know what? I love it. I love it and I won't deny it. I won't hide it. I won't pretend that this stuff is quite possibly the best stuff on Earth (move over Snapple) - because it is!

Besides the secret rendezvous with the drive-thru attendant (and the point that I keep screwing around with this stuff), I noticed that the SUV ahead of me had that window chalk-writing on it. Random numbers followed by the date and some more random numbers. I had to giggle.

You see, dear readers, in Milwaukee, this means you've had your car towed. Probably for unpaid parking tickets too. (It's possible they do this everywhere, but I just don't know and never bothered to find out.)

What's funny about this is that the chalk-writing is an immediate indication of said event. You would think that people would be mortified to keep that on their car windows (please don't notice that I'm a slacker who refuses to buy the extortion sticker to park in front of my own house that I pay taxes on). You would think. But it turns out that people keep this on their windows for a long time - like some bizarre badge of honor. A scar from the war with the meter maids.

The SUV ahead of me had a date written on it from May. That's really not all that bad. My mom had one on her car for over a year. But that was just because she wouldn't take her car to the car wash (don't get me started on that one). And that chalk-junk-stuff doesn't come off with the rain. You have to physically wash it off.

Much like everything else.