Play in the City

...from finalist Karen Cinpinski

Memorial Day: not only a day for remembrance, but a time for celebration and togetherness. Just think how lucky you are to live in Milwaukee on this holiday weekend. Most inland cities don’t get the perfect blend of city-life and nature’s charm as Brew City. St. Louis and Minneapolis are both great, but neither have anything comparable to the breadth and beauty of Lake Michigan and its neighboring park system—especially this weekend as multi-generations gathered at Veterans Park for Milwaukee’s free Family Kite Festival to share an afternoon of child-like amusement and simple pleasure. Milwaukee’s skyline creates a picturesque backdrop for the vibrant triangular kites or the octopi, dragons, and bears bobbing and dancing in the cloudless sky as they create little shadows over the couples picnicking at tables or on grassy patches below. Don’t think for a minute you’re unwelcome if you don’t own a kite—there’s a lot more to experience! A father plays catch with his son like he did with his dad years ago, a mother and daughter watch sailboats floating along Lake Michigan, couples feed each other free food samples from local vendors, while others dance to acoustic melodies played by local singer-song-writers. Either way everyone was enjoying this unofficial start to summer during the kite festival. Also at this humble event, families who were tightly holding their kite strings could hear seagulls squawking above, applauds for the street performer who confidently juggles flaming batons, and the “cling” from silver bells on the four-person surrey bikes that zip around the lakefront drives. How many places have you visited where a vivacious city is bordered by a lake that’s more like an ocean? With the welcoming events and activities, Milwaukee’s lakefront is the perfect place to spend a day all summer-long!

...from finalist Molly Tumanic

Wisconsinites joke how our frigid winters “build character.” After about nine long months of intolerable weather, all that character building pays off starting with Memorial Day weekend. This year I wanted to try something a bit out of my comfort zone and get out and enjoy the weather. Saturday I went to a crawfish boil at Bayou. I was a little apprehensive knowing that the arms and legs of the “mud bugs” are still attached. I'm not a vegetarian, but it's easier to pretend your food was never living when it's not staring back at you with beady little eyes and antennae. I have to say I was a little disappointed in the meat to size of creature ratio, but it was tasty nonetheless. The weather cold and rainy, so we decided to eat inside. It took away from the crawfish boil Crawfish boil experience, but I at least got the idea of what it should be and I would definitely try it again. Not to be deterred by Saturday’s weather, on Sunday I headed to the lakefront for the 20th anniversary of Kite Fest. The kites ranged from colorful and elegant to sharp and aggressive, dancing on the wind and cutting through the sky, all with Milwaukee’s skyline as a backdrop. I wish I could expound on the technique of the handlers or the aerodynamic physics of such an event, but all I can say is that this is a truly unique event that brought people of all ages and backgrounds to our lakefront for innocent fun and celebration. In all, it was a pretty eventful weekend and I’m glad I had the chance to make the most of it. I’m going to need to rest up because next weekend I’m the 25-mile route for the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts! Hopefully I’ll get a chance to tell you all about it!

...from finalist Chris Haworth

Last week I attended an awards banquet in Austin, Texas for an organization, based in Colorado Springs, where I sit on their board. During the event they gave a farewell presentation to a long-time employee who was leaving the organization after 25 years of service.  The retiring employee was moving back home to Wisconsin to be closer to her family. I just had a sneaking suspicion that during the slide show honoring her they would somehow use the stereotypical symbols of Wisconsin, that being cheese, cows, beer, and the Packers.  Sure enough there it was on the final slide…a picture of her wearing a photoshopped cheese head, Brett Favre jersey, and text wishing her happiness in “the land of beer and cheese” all to the background music of Happy Days. This, of course, garnered a few requisite chuckles from the audience, but the joke was actually on them. Little did they realize how lucky the retiring employee was to be moving to Wisconsin. I guess I am reminded of how lucky Milwaukeeans, and Wisconsinites in general, are each time I travel to another part of the country.  The more I travel, the more I appreciate Milwaukee. I wish outsiders, namely those who liken our city and state with images that merely serve as a first course in a seven course meal, could experience Milwaukee in more than just a superficial level. Knowing the general kindness and generosity of Milwaukeeans would certainly begin to deconstruct these previously held notions. However, more importantly would be to see and experience it for yourself. While we proudly hold onto our cherished beer baron history as tightly as a weekly Friday night fish fry, we have come full circle culturally, socially, politically, and economically.  Gone are the days where the Pabst, Blatz, Miller, socialist mayors, and other powerful families decided the future of Milwaukee, they have been replaced with forward-thinking young professionals who have chosen to stay or move to Milwaukee to mold a new reality for our future and image.  Invariably whenever a visitor comes to our area they leave with the same collective thought: “surprise” Surprised about the pre-conceived stereotypes that have now been shattered by getting to know the new Milwaukee.  We’ve always been an underdog city since before the day when the New York Yankees called us “Bushville” during 1957 World Series.  Well guess what, “Bushville” surprised everyone back then by winning so now we’re repeating the feat nearly everyday, one visitor at a time.

Rock the Vote

Below you'll find three finalists for this blog. Please vote for your favorite by sending an e-mail to [email protected]

The rules are simple: one vote per e-mail address. Just put the name of your favorite blogger in the subject line. Make sure to post comments on the finalists' posts, let them know what you think.

Stick with us, folks!

The blog contest is running just a tad behind schedule, so voting will start next week, Tuesday, May 29 and will run through Thursday, June 7.

The finalists should know who they are by now and they’ll be busy the next few days putting together their posts for us to vote on next week.

Thanks for your patience! I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to finding out who is in the running and what they've come up with ....

One more for the road

Play in the City and I got a mention in Milwaukee Magazine this month in an article called “Cyber Crazy,” which lists some of the most noteworthy blogs about Milwaukee.

I love what they said about my site: “The blog’s upbeat tone is a tad relentless, but it covers an impressive range of fun stuff to do.”

I’ll take that as a compliment. There are way too many downers is this world, and I’m doing my part to create some balance!

And it covers an impressive range of fun stuff to do. Heck yes it does!

A few other blogs that were covered are ones I read regularly, including Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced, Blog of the Mark, and Taste of the Town.

Anniversary

It's been a two whole years today since my very first post.

Time sure flies when you're having fun. J

Contest Update

The finalists for the blog position are just about narrowed down and will be announced within the next few days. These finalists will each be asked to write a post for Play in the City, and then readers will vote on their favorite.

What do you think might be a good Milwaukee-focused topic for them to blog about?

I started a new blog

After spending way too much time trying to come up with an appropriate name for my new blog, I finally bit the bullet and started one up on Sunday.

I’ve done six posts in three days in an attempt to build up a little content.

It’s a bit fluffy so far, but I like to think it won’t always be. I imagine there will be plenty of random musings and rants, some links to news stories and videos, and I also hope to be able to ruffle a few feathers from time to time since I so very much enjoy doing that. J

I may have a few writing opportunities in the works - and I hope to have more eventually! - and I plan to use the blog as a showcase for those, too.

And of course, continuing to get out and about in my great city of Milwaukee will surely be on the new blog agenda, as well!

I do hope that some of you who have come to be regulars around here will check in on my new site from time to time. (While of course continuing to read Play in the City!)

I’ve “met” so many great friends through blogging, and I hope to be able to continue our online relationships!

So here it is: erinnevicosi.blogspot.com

Hey there!

I figured it was time to check in, seeing as how it’s been a week since my last post.

Stir has informed me that they’ve received some very strong applications for the blog position and are in the process of scheduling interviews. You have until next Friday, May 11, to apply, so if you’re planning to throw your hat in the race, you’d better do it fast!

I’m glad that I’m able to be a part of this contest they’re conducting … it’s giving me a few weeks to get used to the idea that I’ll be done soon. I’m doing well with it – it’s actually been sort of nice this past week to not have to worry about what to do and what to post about.

And it’s given me a chance to look forward to the things I’ll be able to focus on next!

I got some good news today: the article I wrote last year for Backpacker Magazine will run in the June issue, which will be on newsstands May 22. What perfect timing! It’ll be under my old last name, which I think is a good thing, since hopefully I’ll have plenty of clips under my new name … eventually. If you’re at the bookstore, be sure to check out the 60 Minute Fixes column in the mag, all about Milwaukee!

The next issue is that of my new blog, the one I want to start before I leave Play in the City, so that I may link to it here in hopes that some of you will continue to check in from time to time. 

The problem is, I can’t think of a good name for it.

It’s a lot of pressure. There are something like 75 million blogs in cyberspace with more being created every single minute. I want mine to have a somewhat original name, a name that really fits me and my outlook on life.

Indulge me for a moment, won’t you? Help a girl out. Here are the thoughts I have about what my blog name might convey:

I’m a positive person who loves life and all that comes along with it.

I’m excited about where my life is going. I feel that for 20 some years, everything was lined up for me and I was working toward getting into the real world. Now I’m here and it’s incredibly exhilarating to know that the possibilities are endless.

I’m going to achieve things in my career. I’m going to own a home and travel a lot and hopefully meet my much-wanted and already much-loved kids someday soon. Life is EXCITING, people. I love it, even on the days when it sort of sucks. I feel like I’m on the cusp of so much that is unknown …

I also understand that life won’t always be so peachy. Loved ones will die, hardships will inevitably come. I hope that I have the strength to get through them, and I also want to appreciate every second of the non-hard times.

I’m very opinionated. I rather enjoy sharing my opinion with others, whether they agree with me or not. I don’t like fake people and I rarely mince words, especially with those close to me. I think we all owe it to one another to be a little less superficial.

I love to read good books and I want to focus more on writing.

I love being center of attention.

I love the outdoors and I want to do what I can to help our Earth, even if I do think that people talk too much about Global Warming.

I want to continue to get my name out there and get more articles published. For now, my blog will be where I link back to my media coverage, both from this blog and elsewhere.

I don’t know yet how I see this blog taking form. Will I post all the time or hardly at all? Will it focus on my personal life? Politics? Creative writing? Books I’m reading? Restaurants? Career? Family? Random rants and raves? Who knows! But it’ll probably encompass all of this.

So … have you got any suggestions for a good blog name for me?