double feature, interrupted by bus ride and note cards

I went to see Captain America (2D) at Fresh Pond at noon. Liked it, mostly. Too many explosions. I was startled by the apathy of people, or maybe it's optimism. When I arrived, we could see trailers for future movies, but the sound was some sort of background music, unrelated to the images on the screen. The other audience members sat, apparently content. I went out and told the ticket taker, who said he'd tell the manager. The correct sound started just after the movie did.
Took the bus to Lexington center, bought some pens and note cards. I discovered that Papermate makes ball point pens that are partially compostable, but you have to take them apart and trash everything but the outside bit. There are clear and detailed instructions on the box about how to do this. There were only two pens per package. I lose ballpoint pens on a regular basis, so knowing that I probably wouldn't hold onto them long enough to be able to compost them, I didn't buy them. Also - the amount of trash is probably about the same as the totally single-use ones I buy in bulk. Spent an hour in the library, then went to see Beginners. Also 2D. Some of the images didn't even move (is it spoilers if I reveal that sometimes there are pictures on the screen with voice-over?). I think it's the best movie I've seen in a really long time. The fact that there were only 5 or 6 of us in the little screening room is no excuse for people talking during the film, though.

Minnesota (and Iowa, briefly)

I don't know why it never dawned on me, but the Mayo Clinic is actually a clinic, which is to say that it's outpatient only, closed overnight, although there are two big affiliated hospitals in Rochester, MN. The fact that it's enormous, world famous, and employs 1/3 of the residents doesn't mean that people sleep there, which is why so many local hotels have shuttle service, for patients who are getting daily treatments over time. The drop-off/pick-up area is so extensive that there is someone whose entire job is to announce to the folks sitting waiting for a ride which shuttles are arriving. There have been many wealthy patients, so there is a lot of donated art (including a Rodin sculpture, Warhol paintings, Chihuly installation and tons more) in addition to medical equipment and buildings. There is a carillon, too. I heard part of the Friday noon concert.
The Good Food Co-op had lots of fresh local produce and in the little cafe in the back I had the best blueberry buckwheat pancake I've ever eaten. Vegan, the size of a plate. Also had local sweet corn, and a biscuit (not Powdermilk, though, and no be-bop a re-bop rhubarb pie, either).
I've gone back to dying my hair green. The cook at the co-op remarked that when she gets old, she'll dye her hair too. I suppose it's somehow obvious that the green is covering gray.
Saw lots of good juggling, and juggled a little myself, including while marching in the very abbreviated parade - it was supposed to be only a couple of blocks to begin with, but then there was a severe thunderstorm warning, so we ended up just walking partly around the outside of the convention center and ducked inside once the rain came. There is a skywalk system between the convention center and the hotels and mall downtown, so we paraded a bit through that, and quit. I don't know whether it was severe, but it was a heavy-duty thunderstorm. In a startling move, violating the "think about it for 30 days before buying anything of substance" rule, I bought myself three clubs. I suppose I could claim that I've been considering it for 30 years, but that wouldn't be true - it never before crossed my mind to buy my own stuff, when Arthur has so much. We'll see how much use they get.
In the 1850s, Burr Oak, Iowa was a major crossroads, allegedly with 200 covered wagons passing through daily, due to the intersection of a pioneering track and a military road. Once the railroad was built, the town dried up somewhat, but Laura Ingalls Wilder lived there for a year while her father was managing the hotel. It was a perfectly pleasant destination for grabbing Iowa.
It turned out that our flight home was cancelled, because of extreme downpours in Chicago (where we were to change planes). I pondered briefly renting the car again, in order to drive the three hours each way to grab South Dakota, but thought better of it, which was just as well. We spent the night at the motel across the cornfield from the little airport. We were both so exhausted that all we had energy to do that evening was flop on the bed and watch HP & the Order of the Phoenix on TV - driving in that condition would have been quite dangerous.
For all the time I spent in the gym, I don't seem to have been filmed, even as an observer or passerby, but Arthur's in this one, blankly watching Chris & Jack pass old-style (and literally old) clubs at about 5:40 or so
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOuu5Gvzhzw&feature=related