Despite what you might think, it's not the big things in Tosa (Mayfair, Lowe's, Best Buy) that make me love our town. It's the small things shared with great people. Here are just a few:

- The twin German brothers at Hyde Park Tailors that work miracles on clothing. (And properly teach me to pronounce my last name.)
- Getting yelled at by Al at Cranky Al's on a Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to my beatdowns starting up again.
- Shopping for Moccasins at Old Towne Cobbler on 68th Street
- Using the Automated Package Center at the Post Office on Mayfair Road. In and out in a snap!
- Saying hi to Mary at One Hour Martinizing on 68th and Milwaukee and talking about the weather.
- Shopping for school project supplies at Drew's Variety after school.
- Sitting at a tall table in Vino 100, sipping wine, while the weather outside is frightful.
- Finding just the right gift at Underwood Gallery and also catching up with Pam on what's new in Tosa business.
- Seating yourself at Hector's and digging into chips and salsa while awaiting your Margarita.
- Grabbing a loveseat at the Rosebud and balancing your food order number on the back of it.
- Snagging a coveted window table at John's Sandwich Shop on a Saturday morning and waiting for a Veggie Scrambler and hot coffee.
- Walking the path on Menomonee River Parkway on an unexpectedly balmy day and enjoying the variety of dogs and walkers that are out.
- Chatting with Rose at ***'s while waiting for my Chinese take-out order. She always comments on how our kids have grown and whips up a great cheeseburger for them.
- Having a yummy lunch in a basket at Colonel Hart's after Sunday church while watching sports on the many TVs.
- Tosa Fest in the village, early on Friday evening.
- Watching a football game at Hart Park while the girls parade by the boys who rarely seem to be watching the game.
- Waiting for a table outside Balistreri's and wandering into Ultimate Confections to make the time pass more quickly.

What are some of your favorite Tosa things? E-mail me at westsidestoriestosa@yahoo.com and I'll post them in a future column.

Dear Santa:
I give up. Christmas is starting much earlier than I think is reasonable, but I can't seem to fight commercialism. I noticed that your house was up in Mayfair by November 1st. I was almost expecting Tom Turkey to rent it out for a couple of weeks, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Anyway, since I can't stop the ebb and flow of holiday merchandising, I may as well just embrace it and jump head first into the season like everyone else. However, I have a few requests this year. Can you find it in your heart to give us Tosa grown-ups some treats under our Christmas tree? Here are a few suggestions:

The gift of patience. Even if we're quasi-Martha Stewarts, at some point during the next 40 days, we're going to shop. Help us take a deep breath and know that everything will take just a little longer and we should leave the attitude in the car.

The gift of kindness. Again with the shoppers - there will be a lot of us out there. We'll be hustling and bustling and our packages will be jostling. Give us the ability to step aside for a mom with kids, hold a door for someone carrying several packages, or let a car merge in front of us as we're battling traffic.

The gift of big things from small places. When we're out shopping, encourage us to find the small Tosa stores that help make our village so great, such as Jilly & George, Anthilia, Juxt Home & Baby or The Underwood Gallery.

The gift of good friends and family. Help us to remember that the special people in our lives are more important than anything that can be bought in a store. And since food, family and friends go together so well, maybe we'll think about visiting the new Enoteca, the tried and true Hector's or sharing a pizza from Balistreri's with those we love.

Oh and be careful when you visit our beautiful old Tosa homes. Some of those fireplaces get a good workout this time of year and that red suit might need an extra dry cleaning.

Thanks Santa!
Love,
Karen

The recent flap in the Journal Sentinel about Wikipedia and the Lake Express made us all realize that if you say anything loud enough and in a public place, somebody will believe it. Although it calls itself a “free encyclopedia built collaboratively,” Wikipedia is merely a place for know-it-alls or know-a-little-bits to spout off, with little or no repercussion.

So, I was thinking, hmm....what exactly would Wikipedia say about Wauwatosa? Well, we have our own, nice little page. Well, maybe nice isn’t really the operative word, mostly because the main photo on the Wauwatosa Wikipedia Page (say that five times fast) is of “Municipal Tank No. 5.” Yes, if there’s a tourist out there who actually consults Wikipedia for travel information, they’ll see a photo of one of our lovely blue water towers. What surprised me is that there are 5 of these behemoths in our fair city. Who knew? Well, besides the Water Department, that is.

You also find out from Wikipedia that we are what is known as an Edge City, which does not mean we favor a certain brand of shaving cream, but rather that we are a relatively new concentration of business, shopping and entertainment outside a traditional urban area.

According to the Wikipedia Wauwatosa page, there are two main points of interest: The Anunciation Greek Church and the Library/City Hall Building. Apparently, everything else is what makes us so “edgy.”

There is some brief historical information, which may or may not be accurate and there is also this bit of trivia: One of the world's first airliners constructed by Alfred Lawson and Vincent Brunelli took its maiden flight in 1919 from what is now Currie Park. Hope those beautiful blue water towers didn’t get in the way!

So, if you fancy yourself a Wauwatosa historian, I guess you can feel free to head over to the Wikepedia Wauwatosa Page and edit to your heart’s content. And while you’re at it, why not put a picture of something, anything more attractive than Municipal Tank No. 5.

Yesterday, over my morning cup of coffee, I was surprised and interested to read that Wauwatosa has at least one prostitute living in our midst. Gosh, this gives new meaning to the term “bedroom community,” doesn’t it?

Could it be that our fancy new crossing signals were installed because we do have a “red light district”? And if we do, do you think their assessments went up too? Just imagine the conversation that went on at City Hall over that piece of property! (“Seriously, business has been down this year....”)

And could it be that this one “lady of the evening” puts the Fest in TosaFest? Sakes alive! It’s no wonder that our “National Night Out” is so darn popular!

Hey, now that I think about it, never mind the window displays, maybe this is Victoria’s Secret. Gee, we've always had a lot of runners, strollers and bike riders, but street walkers?!

We in Wauwatosa have always prided ourselves on our efforts to preserve history and now we can boast that one of our residents is practicing the “world’s oldest profession.”

Thank you. I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your wait staff.

There’s a gem of a place nestled on North Avenue between 85th and 86th streets, on the north side of the street. You’ve probably driven by it dozens of times. Perhaps you noticed the quirky clock on the front of this lannon stone Cape Cod that says “Time to Buy” displaying, ironically, the incorrect time. Or maybe you have seen the other sign, permanently planted in the front yard, that says “Holiday Clock Sale,” even in mid-summer, with no holiday in sight. Nevertheless, you should park the car and step inside Homestead Clocks and Accents, a one-of-a-kind blast from the past with more clocks per square inch than you can imagine. Shepherded by Clifford Gensch, a gangly, elderly gentleman with a caricature comb-over and more stories than you have time for, Homestead Clocks is a treasure trove in Wauwatosa.

I first stumbled upon the store when I had decided to buy my husband a mantel clock for our 15th wedding anniversary. I’m not typically a fan of out of the way places, but I knew my husband would appreciate knowing that his gift was purchased at that funny little store that we had passed for years. I stepped inside and was overwhelmed by clocks from floor to ceiling. There’s practically no place to stand inside the “store,” which is essentially just a tiny house packed with product, but I waited my turn as Cliff assisted another customer. When that person left, he looked at me and brightly asked: “How can I help you, young lady?!” I was immediately taken in by his charm and his warmth. He not only helped me choose a beautiful Sligh mantel clock, but he gave me a history of the manufacturer, the value of the clock and few fascinating stories to go with my purchase.

Since then, I’ve been back several times, to buy more clocks and accents or for a clock repair. (Cliff does repairs for many large retailers.) Every time, I’m treated like a long-lost friend and given a wealth of stories and anecdotes that are so fun to hear. In fact, I often bring my teenage daughter in with me because storekeepers such as Cliff are a dying breed that her generation will rarely see. In this age of employee turnover and chain store monopolies, a trip to Homestead Clocks will take longer than you want, but it’s always so worth the time. Go visit Cliff and tell him that the “young lady” sent you. You can thank me later.

Hi. My name is Karen and I’m an unabashed Tosa enthusiast. No, the City Council did not pay me to say that. I wear many hats, but this is what popped into my head when I sat down to write the first entry for my new Community Voices blog, “West Side Stories.”

First a confession: I’m not a native Tosan. Actually, and don’t hate me for saying this, I grew up on the north side of Chicago. (Don’t worry, a prenuptial agreement required me to pledge my allegiance to the Packers.) The neighborhood in which I grew up, Edgebrook, is practically a mirror-image of Wauwatosa, with its tree-lined streets and quaint shops. Our Drew’s Variety was called Value-Ville. Our Sendik’s was Peterson’s. Our “Village” was called “Uptown.” Our Gilles was called Superdog. The fact that I transplanted myself into a northern version of Edgebrook is probably not an accident.

My husband and I have lived in Wauwatosa for 15 years, but I really think of it as more like 20. We used to gaze longingly at Tosa across Center Street and save our pennies for the day when we could claim a Wauwatosa address. Once we made the leap, we never looked back.

Yes, I’m sure that the people in Whitefish Bay or Shorewood or Bay View feel the same, but I’ll admit it, I’m a Tosa Snob because I think everything’s better here on the West Side.

I’m a Tosa Snob because I love the quirky little places you won’t find in those other communities. I love sitting on the patio outside John’s Sandwich Shop, drinking a milk shake. I love wandering through the packed aisles at Drew’s, finding items for my kids’ school projects. I love walking into The Rosebud Theatre, snuggling into a loveseat and promising myself not to fall asleep because I’m so comfortable. I love browsing through The Little Read Book, trying to narrow down my choices to 5 or 6 titles. I love stopping in Swan Drugs and letting the kids get a pack of candy cigarettes. (Oh, stop it – it’s nostalgia!)

I love steering a cart through Wisconsin Garden and Pet and buying way too many flowers that I will eventually curse when I have to keep them watered. I love walking into Homestead Clocks, finding the strangest timepiece imaginable and then staying way too long to listen to Cliff Gensch share a story or two. I love standing in the middle of Balistreri’s, waiting for a table, while diners all around me eat pizza served on gigantic cafeteria trays. For me, it all feels like home and running into neighbors and friends simply seals the deal for me virtually every day.

What you won’t read about in “West Side Stories” are politics and issues. I steer far clear of such topics, and I’m sure my fellow Community Voices bloggers will be far more adept at that than I would be.

First and foremost, I’m a mom...of the stay-at-home variety. I have been a working mom, so I know a bit about those challenges as well. My view of the world, or Wauwatosa, is generally more fluff than fact, with a little bit of crankiness mixed in, covered (hopefully) with a layer of humor. I try not to take any of it too seriously because, really, there are more qualified people to do that for us.

Thanks for reading. I hope you’ll come back and feel free to contact me. All I ask is that you be polite, because that’s what your mother would have wanted you to do, right?