Top 5 Things About the Iowa State Fair 2009

Sunday I went to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.  It was my 2nd time going, and it really solidified the fact that I’ve now established a tradition and that attending the Fair is quite an awesome adventure.  Here are my highlights from this year…

5.  THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE

This sounds like a cop out, but you’ve never experienced anything like the Iowa State Fair until you’ve been there.  So many people, rides, animals, etc.  Every year since 2002, more than 1 million people have attended.  (You should be one of them.)

4.  FREE SHOWS

There are countless competitions, shows, concerts, etc. at the Fair.  The big names cost money, but everything else is FREE!  This year I saw part of a great competition, which included two amazing Irish dancers, and heard a band called She Swings, She Sways.  Both were fabulous!  I highly recommend going to the band’s myspace to listen to their music.  The concert was even better because the weather was amazing (complete with a cool breeze) and there was an adorable kid who got very into the music.

3.  BUTTER COW

I think I’m still understanding how important the butter cow is to the Iowa State Fair.  Apparently it’s a Very Big Deal, even outside of Iowa.  And every year, in addition to the cow, there’s another incredible scupture.  Last year was Shawn Johnson.  This year was not Michael Jackson but Neil Armstrong and his famous moonwalk.  (We concluded that the Fair missed out on a golden opportunity to feature 2 moonwalks by not having MJ there as well.)

EDIT:  Mental Floss has posted a list of 10 past/present butter sculptures at the fair!  See it here.

2.  FOOD

I think last year I did better (or worse?) in the food area.  This year I didn’t eat as much, which leaves me a little disappointed now, but I think my body thanks me for it.  I had fries, a donut, a cinnamon roll, fried green beans, and the most amazing chocolate chip cookies.  All were delicious – esp. the cookies, green beans, and donuts.  However, I did not get any cheese curds, funnel cake, or anything on a stick.  I just realized that the official Iowa State Fair website has a list of all the foods at the fair.   Holy crap, I wish I had seen this sooner.  Next year, it is ON!  I’m going to start saving my money now.  (Jen, did you find that ice cream place?  If not, next year!)

1.  FRIENDS

Last year I was introduced to the Fair by my friend Sarah and her family and friends, who have a tradition of attending together every year.  (Sarah has only missed one fair in her entire life so far!)  This year the group included about 15 people, including……JEN!  It’s so much fun to go with friends, friends of friends, parents of friends, kids of friends, and friends who were in the same SLIS class but haven’t seen each other in ages.  :)  So to everyone I went to my 2nd Iowa State Fair with, thanks for making it a blast!  I’m ready for next year!

- Jill

http://www.iowastatefair.com/services/fooddirectory.php

The Best Farm to Live On?

I have been doing a lot of driving around the Midwest over the last two weeks on my way to interviews, which I may or may not blog about soon.  My favorite thing to look at while driving (ooh wait, sorry, SECOND favorite after lakes!) is wind farms!  They are so pretty!  I know some people complain about them and actually think they are ugly because they seem so strange in the farmland, but I think they’re great.

Did you know that Iowa is #2 for having the most wind power installed in a state?  I haven’t seen any wind farms in Iowa; I think maybe they’re in the N/NW part of the state.

Wind farm in Iowa. Pretty, no?

Wind farm in Hancock County

I did see wind farms in Illinois on my trip.  Illinois is ranked #10 in most wind power.

Wind farm in Illinois

Another wind farm in IL

What a good, CLEAN way to get energy!  Way to go, Midwest!  It’s nice to know your boring flatness is good for something.  :)

- Jill

Amber is resurfacing!

Gasp! the air feels fantastic! I have been absent for way toooo long from this blog, and so many things have happened that I should have written looooong posts about, but I’m going to give the long/short version of them all combined in a neatly ordered list.

1. Jill, Steve, and I joined Team Fiona with Sarah and her family for the walk for Angelman Syndrome in Des Moines, IA.

2. Lindsay and I roadtripped to Peoria for a Wizard rock show to see Lena of the Butterbeer Experience, Lauren of the Moaning Myrtles, and Kristina of the Parselmouths (and we also got to see NinaMyrtle and the Ministry of Magic). We both wore super cute blue summer dress and hats, but it got cold so we had to switch into the clothes we bought at the nearby mall…

3. Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson got married, and I had to read all the tabloids. I never would have predicted that Ashlee would become my favorite Simpson. Life is weird.

4. NerdGirl Lindsay gets Married! (Lindsay left her wand in Iowa City, but I made sure to bring mine, because what good wizard bride doesn’t get a photo with her dress, flowers and wand? and Lindsay is for sure the good wizard bride.)

5. Bachelorette party for Sheila in Chicago! Never ever ever stay at the Wingate by Wyndham in Arlington Heights. The staff will stalk you and make you feel most uncomfortable. And apparently the staff at Howl at the Moon ALL know the words to a Spice Girls song now, even though back in February, when the Spice Girls WERE IN CHICAGO, the staff acted clueless to our requests, huff huff.

6. Sheila gets married in 21 words: walk down aisle power out water pours through roof priest says holy cow trees uprooted walk out of church all sunny.

7. Iowa City floods. Things are getting better, I just unpacked my emergency evacuation bag last night. My apartment was fine because it was on top of a hill, but water came up from 3 sides leaving only one road out–very scary. And my poor Art Museum (you can’t really see it in the video, it is just past the Theater Building). I feel incredibly guilty that I didn’t even help sandbag it (I only sandbagged one day, which is pretty lame of me. Although, most of the sandbagging was done on the east side of the river which we weren’t supposed to cross. Other people did though. But I am a loser and follow whatever anyone tells me…) I’m sure I don’t need to go into too much detail since it has kinda been all over the news. P.S. My roommate Cassi is the lovely videographer and narrator in the video.

8. And last, my anxiety disorder has made a reappearance. Maybe someday I’ll go into more detail on this since I think mental disorders definitely need to be discussed more openly so they can be better understood and so I guess I have to talk the talk, right? Not right now though. Things are getting better! I think I have finally found some medications that are helping (yesterday I smiled while by myself for the first time in a week! I was dancing to Ingrid Michaelson in my bedroom, which is also something I hadn’t done in several weeks. I never realized how much I normally smile until I stopped and the frowns just feel so foreign.) While I’m on this topic, let me just praise praise praise the latest installment of the Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot:

Princess Mia is one the best books, YA or not, that has portrayed depression honestly and realistically, and it is the first book with a depression theme where I have actually felt a connection with the character–many books on this theme seem to feature already jaded characters who endure incredible trauma or tragedy in their lives, which is definitely a needed literature, but I think it is also important to show that depression and mental disorders can hit even the cheerful, the happy, and the, well, average. Go Meg Cabot!

phew, now I am all caught up with the boring elements of life, I am free to blog about more relevant things, like why Sleeping Beauty and the Santa Clause 2 DVDs were in the SF/HORROR section in the library…

amberj.

A Riddle

Yesterday I was doing my math (as always) and listening to First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (highly recommended!!).  I’ve read the book before, which is why it is OK that I listen to it on CD while I do other things.  But as I wasn’t really paying attention to the book, I was startled into attention when a riddle was mentioned.  As I said, I have read the book, and therefore have also read the riddle, but since I like to speed read my way through the first time, and have not went back and done a reread of the book yet, I hadn’t really worked out the riddle.  Well, actually in the book they answer the riddle, but you still have to think about the logic of it to understand it.  So I’ll propose the riddle to you, dear readers, and see if any of you are smarter than me and know the answer without having read the book.

The Riddle

There are 2 doors, and in front of each door is a guard.  One guard always tells the truth, while one guard always lies.  One door leads to JK Rowling and a treasure trove of Harry Potter stuff for life while the other door leads to life serving Lord Voldemort.  You do not know which door is which, and you do not know which guard is which.  You can only ask one question, and to only one guard, and then you have to choose.  What question do you decide to ask?  And then which door do you pick?  Why?

Please respond in the comments if you will.  If there are no answers, or no correct answers, by Monday, I will post the answer!

Mysteriously yours,

lindsayF

P.S.  Every time I turn on the TV, and it’s a news program, and they’re talking about the flooding in the Midwest, they always report from an Iowa town.  I think that’s funny- that they only are reporting from Iowa…not that the Midwest is flooded, and is going to get even more flooded.

Did you ever wonder?

If there were more people or pigs in the state of Iowa?  Well… don’t wonder anymore!  There are about 16.9 million pigs located in Iowa, while there are only about 3 million people living here.

Anybody remember Animal Farm?

<3, lindsayd.

Jinx! You owe me a Coke (aka a pop, not a soda).

I just finished listening to Meg Cabot’s book, Jinx yesterday night.  I loved it.  Even though Meg Cabot’s books are all pretty much the same plot – girl meets hot boy, girl gets hot boy in the end, except with different charactres and different settings and circumstances – I never get tired of it.  Jinx (aka Jean Honeychurch), is about a girl who moves in with her aunt and uncle in NYC to escape a situation in her hometown: Hancock, Iowa.  Hot boy = Zack Rosen.  I’m going to ruin it and let you know that Jinx and Zack get together in the end….but then again if you have ever read a Meg Cabot book, the ending was already spoiled for you.  I did have 2 problems with the book.  #1: She called pop soda.  It’s like a big Midwest thing that we call it POP.  We all know this.  There are exceptions, but I’m pretty sure that almost every single person in the state of Iowa calls it pop.  And Meg should have known that one.  The only other problem I had with this book (which I probably wouldn’t have had had I read it instead of listened to it) was that the boy from Iowa (I cannot remember his name off hand) had an accent.  I was a bit offended – why did you do that reader?  Why?  The reader voiced “Iowa boy” as a southern farm boy.  What?  It’s true.  I hope Meg Cabot didn’t have any say in that one.  I hope she listened to it and went – why did she do that?  That’s not what I was going for.  Oh well though.  Creative license I guess.  That’s all for now – must focus on homework.  Blurgh.

<3, lindsayd.