Chicago loose ends

Wherein I share photos of folks who are not strictly ALA folks and I share photos of meals outside of the major meals I wanted to spotlight.

Loose ends.  Oh, Peter.  I have a general practice of just writing what I write and not worrying about whether the prose is all that good.  I have no illusions of this blog being optioned for publishing deal or a film or television series.  Can you even imagine?  So I write what I write and look back and cringe and laugh.  But it does remain true to at least part of me, so I keep it all.  The loose ends it is.  That will teach me to write placeholder titles days in advance!

Friday morning in Chicago, and it was breakfast with Matt and Kim at a place we could all walk to, a Chicago Waffles location.  So much on the menu to choose from, but I opted for an omelet, something I rather like but seldom have.  Broccoli and cheddar in this one, and it was enjoyable. 

I liked the potatoes on the side as well.  That was a filling start to the day.

Friday evening, and we met up with Courtney and Robert along with Courtney's sister, Chelsea; Chelsea's husband, Andy; and their two daughters.  The family had driven down from the Madison area, and we were supposed to be joined by Courtney and Chelsea's parents as well.  They couldn't make it up from Indiana, alas, so it was just the eight of us at Eataly in downtown Chicago.  A fun time!  I hadn't seen Chelsea and Andy in at least a dozen years or more, and I had never met the girls.  Conrad had never even met Andy!  We shared some light bites and pizza, pasta, and wine.  Conrad and I also enjoyed their version of Last Words. 

After dinner, we headed over to the Langham Hotel with Courtney

and Robert

and shared a bottle of wine at Tavelle, looking out at the river and catching up.

Saturday lunch was with ALA folks whom I like very much.  Five of us had a leisurely (very very leisurely) lunch at Southern, not far from the convention center.  Great company.  Maybe a little pokey there, but the food was terrific.  I had a Hugo Spritz to start

and settled on two appetizers for lunch:  deviled eggs and fried green tomatoes. 

Oh, and we all shared a cornbread that Kathy, the southerner at the table, refused to accept was proper cornbread. 

Whatever it was, she liked it.  We all did.

Sunday lunch was with Robert (not the same Robert as above) at Apolonia.  Conrad was there for that one.  I thought my blue crab eggs Benedict were nicely done - I always appreciate it when the yolks are still runny, and these ones were. 

We shared pastries that looked lovely but were honestly kind of dry.  Ah well.  I really did like my eggs a lot.

I have no photos of my sandwich from Danke in Sterling Food Hall from my lunch with Michael on the Monday.  It was a good sandwich, and the food court was pretty cool (and pretty busy).  Just so great seeing Michael, though. 

It's been far too long.  We met years ago through our work at each of our libraries in Chicago on digital collections and hit it off - he became someone I would go for occasional happy hour drinks with.  Good guy.

That brings us to Tuesday lunch and a reunion with Rachel and David. 

We met up not far from Rachel's work, dining at The Gage.  It's such a reliable restaurant, especially since it's in such a touristy spot on Michigan Avenue.  There's something of a classic bistro feel to it.  I've enjoyed cocktails and food there several times, and this one was no less good.  A gin and tonic on a hot and humid day was sweet relief, indeed. 

I opted for a cold sandwich as well, a lobster roll. 

No, not a typical thing for Chicago, but it sounded so good.  It was tasty, a little wet.  I devoured it happily.  Rachel and David were such excellent company, too.  It's always a treat to see the online happy hour folks in person, and I will see all of them in person this calendar year!

Conrad and I also had a very nice dinner at The Publican with his colleague, Nate, and Nate's wife, Allison.  I didn't take photos of that meal, but we did enjoy it.

That, friends, wraps up Chicago.  I hope it does.  It was quite the ten days away, and although there was a lot about the time away that just sort of off, there were great friends and wonderful meals throughout.  I'm glad we had those. 

it's about the people, and it always was

I went to ALA Annual this year thinking that it would be my second-to-last time, planning on Denver 2028 to be the last.  Other than the annual deans and directors meeting I go to in Sacramento, no other conferences planned.  Retirement in 2029, after all.  But I came out of ALA Annual this year realizing that this year was, in fact, likely to be my last conference.

When I was a bright young thing, I loved going to conferences.  I loved going to programs and dozing off in the back but also hearing about things I could aspire to do at my library.  I loved listening and using that as a springboard to ideas to follow up on for research when I was on tenure track.  I loved seeing presenters talk about things that were completely outside of my area of work just for the fun of hearing about those things.  I loved attending key note sessions and feeling a little thrilled at the big names that were sometimes up on that stage.

Even before 2010, my ALA life took at turn.  I'd always wanted to be involved, and the added need for tenure to do service at a high and national level meant that I sought out such opportunities.  From inauspicious beginnings on an ACRL section committee and an NMRT committee (where I met the awesome Aaron Dobbs, who was chairing it).  In 2010, I was elected to ALA Council, and in the years that followed I spent a total of 13 years on that body, six of them as a member of the Executive Board, three of those six as the Treasurer of the association.  I chaired committees and served on others since then as well.  Conference became a place for meetings, lots and lots of meetings in some instances.  I stopped going to programs.  Annual (and Midwinter) became different for me than for most people.

At this year's Annual, I had no obligations.  None.  I am not elected to anything, I serve on no committees.  I came in with so much freedom to schedule as I wished.  And that was weirdly disconcerting.  I combed through the program and tried to find the things that would interest and even excite me, and there wasn't much.  I attended programs, and I came away uninspired, not having seen much that I wanted to bring back to my workplace.  I appreciate all those who presented - thank you to them! - but I just didn't feel engaged.  On the last night of conference, I was at a hotel bar later on, sitting next to one of the association's senior staff members.  She asked how I enjoyed the conference, and I hesitated before deciding to be honest.  I told her that the time had come for me to stop going to ALA and instead encourage and support my library team in going to conference and then in facilitating the new things they want to try as a result of their attendance.  But me?  No, I was done.

I also came to Annual with a real desire to lie low, to avoid running into so many of the people who made my last years of governance work so unpleasant, so acrimonious, so personally draining.  I don't swear much on this blog, but wow, did I fucking hate dealing with those people and those matters by the end of my time.  So I came to Annual, and I made the deliberate choice to seek out the people I really like and care about and wanted to see.  Dinners, lunches, coffee breaks, drinks late at night, morning walks.  I made the most of those, I tell you.  And it was awesome.  Because that's what ALA still has to offer me:  the incredible people.  Let's not call it networking.  Let's call it what it is:  real friendship.  That was what made Chicago so worthwhile for me.  I loved my time with them and how Conrad could plug into it at times (no, no Van at the conference - he didn't see the need to be towed along, and I don't blame him).  True, I avoided people at conference, almost entirely successfully, but I saw so many that I love dearly.

And I don't need Annual to see them again.  To stay in touch, to send emails and texts and cards.  To do online happy hours.  To visit.  So that is where I will focus in the future.  I won't go back to ALA, and it is weird that there are so many professional associates in my life whom I will never see again in person, but I hope to see my friends time and again.

That's a less sunshine-y dump of my thinking than I usually do on this blog.  Sorry about it.  Let's course correct a bit, and let me share some photos of my friends with my thanks to them for the time we had together.  There will be other friend photos to come when I post about a few special meals.

Matt and Kim! 

I had such a great morning with them, grabbing breakfast together and heading to a day spa where Matt had his first ever facial.  We then wandered down to my old place of work, and I showed them around a little there.  A few days later they finally got to meet Conrad when we had a quick evening drink.  Van and I had dinner with them when we were in Montana a couple of years ago, and I would love to go back for more of a visit.

John! 

I got to see John earlier this year when he gave us a tour of his library at Dartmouth.  This shot was when we crossed paths near the exhibits hall.  We had breakfast a few days later as well.  I always delight in seeing him.

José! 

I'm sorry April wasn't with him to catch up with as well, but it is always great when we can get together.  Much chat about concerts and tenure and the like, and a good coffee break with him.

Amy!  Karen!  Kathy!  We were missing Sara from our little cohort reunion, and I for sure will get to see Sara her way (and look forward to her coming our way).  Lunch together that included Stephanie, who is now a Board survivor like us and who is another person I really enjoy seeing. 

What a terrific cohort we were, though.  Bonded through that experience and now beyond.  Amy and Karen were morning walk stalwarts this past trip, and Kathy and I got to have one last coffee together as well.

Peter and Matt! 

It should be easy to see them again and again so long as we are in SoCal and they are in Sacramento.  And I have Peter on my guybrarian text message thread.  Conrad got some time with Matt one day when Peter and I each had other obligations, and I'm glad the two of them had that time.

Robert! 

Our country's acting Librarian of Congress, but also someone I've know for years.  The three of us had a good lunch together and talked all over the place.  I do hope we can get to DC next year or soon and see him and his John there.

Ed! 

(And Amy, again)   I feel very lucky that I connected with Ed at Council and then through additional work within ALA.  That has turned into messages and postcards and dinners in Fullerton - hooray for that happening again next month! - and even a trip to Rhode Island.  One of the most thoughtful people I know in so many ways.  I'm rooting for Cabo Verde for him.

Lessa! 

So close-by in SoCal, but we see each other far too seldom.  I think Lessa must be my favourite ALA president I have ever worked with, but she is a friend a delight all around, and I look forward to our dinner plans with her and Christian next month.

There were other folks I didn't get photos of:  Brett, Ann, Steven, Sophia, Maggie, Christina, Ana Elisa, and more I can't quite think of at the moment.  People I'd love to see outside of a conference setting one day, and perhaps I will.  There were friends I know more from a non-ALA setting, like Gary

and Phil,

more people I would love to hang out with one day and not have to travel across the country to see at a multi-day event.

I'm going to be busy in years ahead with seeing folks, I hope.  But maybe some lazy Saturday this summer I'll get busy with some notecards, some snail mail hellos to friends.  Conference behind us, friendship rolling ever forward.  That would be nice.

spring break vacation, Day 6

A full day in New Hampshire, the only one of the trip - that was day 6 of spring break.

But I lie, a little.  We actually did dip into Vermont again.  More on that to come!

Our hotel was kind of in this odd area between Hanover and Lebanon, near the Dartmouth College hospital complex, in among offices and a shopping plaza and even some apartments.  It was a cold morning (patches of snow still here and there in New Hampshire),

so Conrad and I bundled up

and made a bit of a walk around the area,

making sure to stop in at Starbucks on the way back.  We had some hotel breakfast, then Amy picked us all up to head into Hanover.

Day 6 was the last day that we were visiting any libraries and the last day of meeting up with librarians we hadn't already met up with.  Amy parked in town and then led us onto the Dartmouth College campus.  Past what looked like an art museum. 

Into the central quad.  And there was the Baker-Berry Library. 

Wow.  Classic looking, beautiful.  Our destination for the tour.  We arrived in side right when John was coming from his office and arriving at the welcome desk.  Nice timing!

John took us around various parts of the library, showing off such cool things as a room dedicated to Theodor Geisel,

a marvelous Orozco mural,

spaces for printing and related arts,

and all the other beautiful spaces. 

It was such a treat to see.  John has worked there for a number of years, so it felt like we were getting some cool insights into the library that a regular tour might not enjoy.  Such a nice time.

The tour done, we all - John included - headed across the quad to PINE Restaurant in the Hanover Inn. 

There we had a leisurely lunch (fried chicken bao buns for me and a mocktail)

and gossiped.  Eventually we set John free to head back to work and the rest of us strolled in the little town, buying a few souvenirs.  Amy finally bundled us back up into the car, and we were off to Vermont!

Yes, Vermont again.  Just across the Connecticut River from Hanover, so it wasn't some massive trek, assuredly.  Conrad and I have a friend and former neighbour in Chicago who is a Dartmouth alum, and he was sending us all kinds of recommendations (and expressing his pride and delight that we were visiting that area).  One thing he suggested was that we go visit King Arthur Baking Company,

and so we did.  That was fun, browsing the large shop, picking up a few items.  We capped that with a coffee and snack (maple sandwich cookie for me),

and then headed back to the hotel for a while.

Ed drove us the opposite direction that evening, away from Hanover and down to Plainfield where Amy and her husband Thom live in a condo in a schoolhouse that they had converted. 

We had a round of Last Words there,

then walked nearby to Poor Thom's Tavern,

the tavern that Amy and Thom own.  Finally, we met Thom! 

Great guy.  And he runs a terrific tavern.  Cocktails,

then a fried chicken poutine to share,

and then a burger for me that met all my hopes and expectations. 

Oh, and peanut butter pie - yum! 

What a terrific meal we had, what a fun time.  Thom was able to join us for much of our meal, and that was great.

Dinner done, it was time to head back to the hotel.  On to Boston the next day.  Sadly, that was the last we got to enjoy time with Amy.  I'm hoping I can get her and some others to meet up in northern California with me this summer!