Commencement

I use that term grudgingly.  That's what they call it here in the US, and convocation takes place at the start of the school year.  Weird.  Convocation was what we called graduation from university in Canada, and I will die on that hill.

Anyway....

Today was commencement at the college.  It's been a while since I last went.  Since the pandemic, I have typically livestreamed the event rather than attend in person.  But I woke up this morning and decided it would be good to go.  And so I did.

Three great reasons to go:

Cheering for the students, and especially seeing any of the library student workers who are graduating.  I saw one this year (the others are not graduating, so far as I know), and got to shake his hand as the processional filed past the assembled faculty.

Catching up with colleagues.  Diana, for instance - her husband is my dentist, and so I get to hear from him how things are, but it's been far too long since last I saw Diana.

The regalia.  I've always loved that.  And I wish that my robes were a better quality.  Maybe I'll look into replacing them one day.  We'll see.  But it was cool to wear my doctoral robes among my colleagues for the first time since I earned them three years ago!

Congratulations to this year's class.  I wish them all success with where academia and careers and life take them.

sometimes I am happy with my cooking

Pork tenderloin is a staple in out home.  At the restaurant, I cooked it sometimes.  It wasn't always available.  Here?  Trader Joe's seems to have it all the time.  So we make it often, and I love it.  It's easy to season and cook and pair with things.  It's hard to screw up.  A great piece of meat.

I had some TJ's 10-minute farro on hand, and so I turned that into a farrotto.  Along with the pork tenderloin, that made a convincing dinner for a Thursday night.

Oh, and a new cocktail recipe:  The Arsenic and Old Lace.  Yum!

so... I swam

And that is about all we can say about that.

Sigh.

dinner and a concert

We had a night in DTLA last night, enjoying dinner and then a concert at the Disney Hall.  Let's see the photos!

So, we got pretty for the night....

There used to be a restaurant called Patina in a corner of the Disney Hall.  Lovely place.  We went there once, and I remember they had a truffle option with someone rolling a cart around to tables, opening a chest, then shaving truffle on to the dish.  Smelled awesome.  The place also had a water menu.  That one made me snicker.

Patina is gone, and the space is now Asterid.  We decided to give it a pre-show try, each of us enjoying the set menu.

The good:

The mezcal and rice cocktail. 

A winner.  I liked my cocktail best of the three of us.  Conrad also had a glass of a beautiful Pinot Noir that I would go back to try.

The food was pretty tasty.  And it built up well.  The little amuse of quarters of mini-turnips and shrimp chips was, well, a choice (turnips were great, the shrimp chips were just shrimp chips, puffs that you can buy in a store).  The crab and avocado toast was pretty, but the avocado wasn't unctuous enough. 

The shrimp tostada was excellent. 

The miso black cod was fantastic

(Van opted for the "beef dip", and his meal was even better for it).  The tres leches cake looked a mess by comparison to the precision of the preceding dishes, but it was damn tasty.

The place had carpeting, and we could hear each other talk.

The server did a great job with recommendations and explanations. 

The mixed or not as good:

It took a mighty long time to get that first round of drinks. 

The other pacing was a little wonky, taking time for the first course, then rushing by the end to the point where Conrad and I were done our cod, and our plates were cleared.  Van was not yet done, and I don't like when that happens.  Clear us all at once.  But they compounded that by bringing out dessert for me and Conrad but not one for Van.  Eventually he got his, but it was a noticeable gap of time.

Portion sizes.  Van paid $12 more for his beef dip entree, and boy, did he get a lot more food for his money.  I get it, it's a tasting menu.  But the entree did look disappointingly small on that big plate.

All in all, we'd go back, but we'd probably order a la carte instead.

 

On to the show!!

Kraftwerk is celebrating 50 years of their first album by doing a residency for several nights at the Disney Hall.  Van got us the tickets - he's known their music a long time.  Neither Conrad nor I knew their songs, but we were up for it.

I took some pictures right before the start,

and when I saw others around me taking photos and video, I did a little of the same. 

But not for long.  I didn't know the songs, but I was enjoying what I heard.  I was also loving the visuals used.  So I decided to put the camera away and just enjoy the show.

Good decision!

It was a long show.  1h55 of pretty much non-stop music.  No break, no opening act.  And we had a great time!  I'm really happy Van recommended we go.

So then, a successful night in DTLA for the three of us.  I can't wait for the next opportunities!

Feh!

I came, I got wet, I tried not to embarrass myself.

It was a "swim".

But, better than zero, right?

Sunday night that felt like a Saturday

Long weekends can really mess with the mind.  What day is it?  Who knows?  I am still convinced that it's Monday right now, for example.  Readers, I am writing this on a Tuesday morning.  I'm in a post-holiday fog.

It didn't help that weekend activities felt so shifted.  A lazy morning yesterday and ice cream plus a walk over at Caltech?  Totally Sunday.  Grilling on the deck?  Saturday!

But no.  The grilled dinner of steak and veggies was Sunday evening.  And a fine evening it was for sitting outside, enjoying the food and a lovely Cab. 

The confusion was made worse, however, by moving our online happy hour to this past Sunday when typically it's a midweek thing.  A Chicago theme, so I made the three of us Southsides,

but when we ran out of mint, I made myself a variation on a Sunflower for a second cocktail, using Italicus in place of the elderflower.

A fine evening, all in all.  Olive stayed close at hand in case a piece of steak made it her way (yes, one or two did).  And maybe the best part was that Conrad and Van did the dishes. 

Hey, I basically cooked everything and made the cocktails.  It was the least they could do!

and then we got ice cream!

It's Memorial Day, a USian holiday I've never given much thought to.  The equivalent of Remembrance Day, I think, but because of its ballyhooed calendar position as the unofficial start of summer, it always seems like just another stat holiday to me.  So then, sorry to those who observe it, to those for whom it is significant.  I did not mark it as such.

Instead, we went to Afters and got ice cream.

And apparently it's Conrad's favourite.  Which is fascinating to me since I have never been there.  So apparently Conrad is holding out on me.  That Conrad.

It's a cool little place, not far from PCC and Caltech, in what is at least staged to be an old gas station. 

The available flavours were a little more sophisticated, too:  I noted an emphasis on milky/chocolate/tea flavours.  Conrad opted for the cookie butter ice cream,

Van had the dark matter brownie batter ice cream,

and I went for the milk and cereal with Captain Crunch on the scoop.

Tasty!  I would have liked more of a cereal flavour and maybe some salt in mine, but it was good.

And then we came home and I took a nap.  Yes, I am old.

a bit of baking

Being at home for several days means I am bound and determined to do some cooking.  I made a roast chicken last night, and it was not half bad.  But I was happier that the early appearance of stone fruit in the stores meant that I could pull out my quick and easy souffle recipe.

No, really.  Make a fruit puree, fold it into whipped egg white and sugar (a meringue, essentially).  Bake in individual ramekins.  Bob's your uncle.

A second night here of enjoying dinner together.  I made a Remember the Alimony

and switched to a rose with my chicken.  We'll all get together again tonight over at Van's for online happy hour and for grilling (steaks!).

This morning has been quiet and easy.  I won't quite say lazy.  No, we didn't go for a walk, but I did get back in the kitchen and made up a batch of scones. 

When was the last time I did that?  Honestly, not since some time last year.  A batch of dried blueberry scones for a holiday weekend Sunday morning.  A very nice thing, indeed.

the long weekend begins

And, ah, it begins ever so nicely.  A decent night of sleep, a bit of a walk, a breakfast at Amara with Conrad. 

Not my usual today - a variation on a cachito for me - but the usual for Conrad, the breakfast croissant.

And a good time was had by all!

the return

It happened.  Finally.  My issues of early this week seem to have settled down, or at least enough.  I was cautious about eating and drinking yesterday on a travel day, but there were no problems whatsoever, happily.

So, I made it home.  We made it home.  Conrad was with me

- he was going to come home today, but when I fell sick, he changed his plans to coming home with me instead.

So, yes, a drive to Green Bay, a plane from there

to Chicago.  Some lounge time, then a window seat home with views of I'm not sure where over the middle of the country.

We were to Van's by 7PM, in time for a light dinner and catching up with him.  And time spent with the little girl. 

So all is right in the world, it seems, for at least one morning!

Little Bay de Noc

Not much to report.  Still digestively a little off, and that's all you need to know.  Here's hoping for smooth travel tomorrow.  I will be good to get home.

Conrad and I braved the lakefront mayflies today to take a bit of a walk near our hotel.  More steps than the previous two days combined!  I have nothing else to report, just a couple of views of Little Bay de Noc and the Stonington Peninsula.  Enjoy!

stuck here

The best laid plans, right?

Sigh.

I think it was food poisoning.  I can't otherwise account for yesterday's delightful day of cramps and running to the bathroom many times.  I'll leave off any other details - let's not go there, ok?

So I was supposed to head home today, back to the library tomorrow, but no.  I am mostly ok today, though I haven't pushed things with my eating.  Let's see after dinner tonight how that may change.  I'll head from Michigan on Thursday along with Conrad, who cut his trip shorter by one day.  I spent yesterday mostly in bed, a bit of napping, mostly reading.  Today I got up well after ten (the sleep was welcome!) and then spent much of the day on this laptop, catching up on far too many emails.  So that's been fun, or something.

Off to dinner here, and a storm has rolled through.  Thunder and lightning earlier, some really heavy rain.  The photo doesn't do it justice.  Here's hoping we stay dry as we head out!

Sunday in the UP

I don't think this will be a long one in terms of narrative, but there will be plenty of photos.  I'm writing it on Sunday night and posting it on Tuesday as I make my way back home to Pasadena.  A Sunday of driving and sightseeing in the Upper Peninsula.  Pure Michigan.  Pure beauty.

A late start to our morning, but at last we were out the door of the hotel and in the car, and before you know it, we were in Munising. 

A small town, barely 2000 people there (if that!).  We stopped into a little coffee and book shop for a modest lunch,

and then poked in a store

and saw one little corner of the town before wandering down to the lakefront. 

We could have booked onto a tour boat

to go see the Pictured Rocks, but no, we opted to just go see what we could by driving into the National Lakeshore instead.  Still, it was a gorgeous day on Lake Superior!

First stop, Miners Castle. 

A cool formation, not overrun with folks, happily.  We got some great shots there. 

The water was stunning.  After that, it was on to Miners Falls,

another easy walk to see, and a beautiful sight.  More of a waterfall than I expected, to be honest.  Impressive.

The last stop was not in the park but west of Munising, near Christmas.  The Bay Furnace, the ruins of an old furnace operation right on the lake shore. 

We stopped to admire it, and I got to go down to the water edge

and touch the lake.

We noticed on our drive and walking just how green everything was. 

And also how there were spring flowers in abundance:  forget-me-nots,

violets,

trilliums. 

So fantastic.

I have an odd relationship with the UP because of a long in-law history that has ranged from fine (right now) to very not fine (18 or so years ago).  Today, though, this part of the world really showed itself off marvelously!

And then we came back to the hotel and had a good meal in the dining room overlooking the water.  Pork shank for me!