14 Comments on “Feeling Madisonian”

1. Down to the grommets? Funny. There’s a good Nepali restaurant in downtown Madison if you get a chance. I haven’t been there in many years, so it’s probably changed owners and now they only serve water buffalo tartare with wasabi, or something. If you aren’t in immediate danger of atherosclerosis you should check out the frozen custard. It’s like soft-serve ice cream, only it will kill you dead from cholesterol overload. Extremely decadent, and mostly only available in Madison.

2. Yay! Madison!

   I grew up about 10 miles north in DeForest.

   Yes, thats right. DeForest.

   No, it’s not next to DeLake.

   No, it’s not near DeHills either.

   I know I know… its reflex to make the jokes… I even fell victim when I met my first resident of DePere, Wisconsin…

   Me: “Oh, DePere, thats on DeLake, right?”

   After which I soundly thumped myself for saying it.

3. Boucercon is in Madison next year.

   I plan to find McCarthy’s grave and relieve my frustrations on it.

   Along with all the booze Ken Bruen pours down my gullet.

4. Ah, Madison. Take a trip down State Street and try the food from the many nations of the world.

   And don’t forget to tip the guitar-playing hippies.

5. I used to work in UW-Madison’s tech department.

   I don’t know about quality of life, but driving to work was always scary, because most of the students drive like deranged Roman charioteers on LSD.

6. Madison is fun, I’ve got a number of friends who live there, and visit there fairly often.
   I highly recommend the Essen Haus – tasty German food and beer. Lots and lots of beer.
   (608) 255-4674
   514 E Wilson St

   They’ve also got a great Mexican place that features burritos the size of your head, but I can’t remember the name of it off the top of my head. :-/ Have fun!

7. Do me a favor.

   Buy a skateboard, and ride it straight through the Capitol building 4 times in one day. No, seriously, the marble floors are so smooth you can’t say no to the speed, and it’s quiet. Oh so quiet. The doors are lined up in such a way that you can motor straight through without turning.

   As you fly by the security guard in the rotunda in the middle, wave, and yell “Steve says hi!”

   She loves it when people do that.

8. That would be La Bamba’s Burritos.

   The EssenHaus is a good time. The food’s not the greatest, but the atmosphere is positively old world. A boot full of dark beer and a live polka band and I think I’m in Bavaria.

   The picture that Mr. Scalzi posted was taken about three blocks from my house. If he wanted, he could come over for dinner.

9. When I first saw UW Madison I thought “Wow, U of Illinois with hills and a LAKE!”

   I wish I could go to college there.

10. Madison is one of those places where your taxi driver might have a Ph.D. in linguistics. So many folks like it so much that, after attending the university, they just won’t move away.

11. I’ve been to Madison twice and I really enjoyed it. I would imagine that Capitol Square is very colorful now. I went in August a few years back and most of the spring foliage was losing its fight with the heat.

    Enjoy the trip!

12. Madison is (or was) also the home base of the band Garbage, which always seemed odd, to me.

13. I grew up in Green Bay, so Madison was that really cool college town we high-schoolers got to go to for various academic and sporting events. My take: great to visit, wouldn’t want to live there.

    You’re coming 261 miles west of there for CONvergence, right? Maybe Lileks will let you sleep on his couch. :)

    (And to prove I am from where I say I am, De Pere is not on De Lake, it’s on De Fox River.)

14. Does a laser beam shoot out from the top of that building?