so... that was Dallas...

I've been to Texas a handful of times before. San Antonio for Midwinter years back, Austin (and area) a few times more recently with Conrad (he's a UT alum). I liked San Antonio. I LOVED Austin. This time around it was Dallas. Not a vacation, however. No, this was conference travel, ALA Midwinter 2012.

I don't comment on work on this blog. I just won't do it. I will say before anything else, however, that no matter what I feel about my workplace (good or ill), I absolutely love my involvement with the American Library Association. I mean, seriously, there are so many good and interesting people I've met and continue to get to know. I find conferences rewarding on so many levels: content, networking, committee work, friends, dining, sightseeing. So let me point you to the report I posted in an official capacity and move on from there.

I would normally start off this post with talk of TK, my best friend. Assuredly, he will appear. But Midwinter in Dallas marked a milestone: ten years of knowing Martin. We met at the GLBTRT all-committees meeting in New Orleans in 2002 and started rooming together the next year in Philadelphia. Over the years we've become good friends. I cannot tell you enough how very much I like and respect this man (and do please vote for him as ALA Councilor-at-Large!). He puts up with all my high maintenance drama in the hotel room, and he has gotten me into some really terrific receptions and other social events. And we've killed many hours late at night talking about the Association and many other assorted bits of gossip. Dallas was the latest chance we had to spend time together, and I'm grateful for that. Did I mention that you should vote for him?

Added to that mix: TK. Yes, yes, I just saw him a handful of days before the conference when Conrad and I were in Baltimore. I don't care. I will happily take any opportunity to spend time with TK, and if it means that we can add in the library gossip to boot, then great! Plus, as lovely as it is to have our husbands added to the mix with us, the conference rooming together means that he and I can rattle off names and concepts without worrying about leaving them out of the conversation. TK had a very prestigious awards committee appointment that culminated in Monday's Youth Media Awards, and it was genuinely thrilling to see how bubbly he was over the whole thing. I couldn't wait to hear about it all after the award was announced and he could finally talk about it. I'm so very proud of the work he did.

I didn't dine out especially well in Dallas, I have to admit. In part it was because I had a working dinner one night, catered in to the hotel room of the ALA President-Elect. Another night I had three receptions all on different floors of the Dallas Public Library,

so that took care of dinner there. Lunches were usually pretty casual as well - assuming I even had lunch. I did manage pizza one day with my friend Peter, though. Other than that? Some mixed experiences.

A Thursday dinner with TK at Wild Salsa.


Reportedly, the librarians almost drank the whole place out of tequila on Saturday. I'm unsure why we're supposed to be so proud of ourselves for consuming booze. Big deal. Ah well. We had tasty food there, and it was a very good price. A belated celebration planned for TK's birthday. There was a Saturday dinner with TK, Martin, and CG at Dream Cafe. That took a hotel shuttle to get to, and it was a curiously quiet restaurant. Nonetheless, we had a good meal, again not too pricey. Enjoyable! On the Monday night, TK, Martin, and I headed to Samar.
I liked a few of the shared small plates, but the table we had near the bar was awful, there were a few not-so-great dishes (the whipped walnut oil on one was kind of disgusting), and by the time we left, I was in a foul mood.

Happily, there was a little place near our hotel that had just opened very late last year. More of a bar than anything, but they had a small and decent menu. It's called The Chesterfield, and if you want to have fun with cocktails, then check it out some time. In two days I managed to get there four times. ;-)



I didn't see much else of the city. It was hotel ---> conference centre ---> hotel. Repeat. I got to swim once with Liz over at an amazing fitness centre at the Baylor Medical Campus, but that was the farthest afield I got. On the other hand, the conference centre did have good coffee at the Starbucks, and it was convenient for meeting friends (like David). And as the days went on, I found myself busy at Council and happily engaged.

I don't know that I'm keen to get back to Dallas, but that's quite unfair given how little of the city I saw. It would be good to see Liz and Peter again, and get back to Chesterfield. And maybe dine at some new and better places. Ah well. The conference was fine, however, and now I just await Conrad's return from his own work travel.

More photos in the Flickr set, and do check out the photos others posted from the conference.

they grow 'em tall in Virginia

I actually wanted to title this post with David's last name. It's become an affectionately humourous thing to do to refer to him by it, but you have to imagine that in doing so, there is an exclamation point. Hence: Xxxxx! It's a one syllable last name, and lends itself beautifully to this silliness. Alas, I don't put last names on this blog if I can help it, and so I shall not do so now.

Instead, let's know David for a few other things:

• height - they grow 'em tall in Virginia
• humour - the man laughs a lot. Smiles. Laughs. Cheerful. Cheering.
• hotness - I KNOW that many many men in the GLBTRT would looooooove quality time with David. Whatever that means!

Conrad is still in Honolulu (back on Thursday, yay!), and David needed a bit of a break from rural life downstate with Farmer Dave (his partner). A trip to Chicago, a chance to hangout outside of conference? Heck yes!

I met him downtown - he had walked over from the train station. Our first mission: Nordstrom Rack, where we'd successfully found shirts to fit his frame last summer. Fun shirts. Apparently Farmer Dave made some comment about David shopping with me and coming home with more embroidered shirts. That made me laugh.

We both hit the racks and the fitting rooms - David had a haul of 15 to try on. We found this one in particular that was just so bad 80's Parachute Club sort of gear that HE had to try it on. Lo, it was a woman's top on the wrong rack. It kinda fit him, but he doesn't have the bust to really work it.

;-)

David ended up with a few shirts and a pair of shoes, while I tried on several possible ones

before settling on a couple of short sleeve Brokeback shirts.
Size small. I just wanted to brag about that.

A late lunch then at Bin 36, a cab up to Boystown, more stores and ice cream, a walk home. Laughter.
A ton of it.

Dinner was at Wakamono on Broadway - we took along a bottle of Chardonnay and settled down to tempura and maki. No other big plans for the night - David wanted to see photos of BC, and I never mind boring people to tears with photos!

We kinda slept in. And then we kinda just lounged around a long while before bothering to head out, this time to Hearty Boys for brunch sitting at the bar. I wish the food were better - the menu reads so well, and the waffles looked great. Tough as leather and cold. I didn't mind - conversation was good, and the atmosphere in the restaurant was fun, too. Plus, at least I had a bit of bacon.

And then it was afternoon. David and I looked at more BC and other photos lazily before I roused us to grab a coffee and go walk over by the lake a bit. We were barely home after that when he was off to catch his train back to Farmer Dave, leaving me to hope that he can come visit again - Conrad has only met him once but would have enjoyed the visit a lot - or that I can check out downstate one weekend down the road.

Silver Fox

There is a long list of men in my life with whom I'm a tiny bit smitten. I don't mean in love with in the Conrad way, no. But there are some sweet, cute, hot, funny guys whom I just once in a while think, hmmmm.... And then I shake my head and remember how happy and well off I am.

Let's see (in alphabetical order), some examples:

Brett

David

Greg

Luis

(with apologies to all the other handsome men I know who I did not add to this particular list - some of you very definitely know who you are!)

And then there's the Silver Fox in all his silvery foxiness. Ah Dale. Handsome and charming. Snarky as all get out. Southern. Did I mention silvery and foxy?

Dale came to town last weekend for a few days of courses. I ended up backing out of Tuesday dinner with him and Max, but I did get a Sunday afternoon to enjoy his fine company.

We shopped.


We went to Bin 36 for drinks and a very late lunch/snack.

And the whole while I basked in his foxiness
and was content. Well, the service was a little off at Bin 36, but the cheeses were fine.

Sadly, I will not see him on my quick jaunt to Baltimore next month, but I will get to meet up with him (and his partner, Steven) in DC in June. Small delights to look forward to...

Anaheim dinners with roommates

Early Saturday morning. Earlyish - it's gone 7:00. Conrad is still abed, though he'll soon need to get some breakfast before swim practice at 9:00. It's a grey, very wet morning in the aftermath of some mighty storms through the night. I'm one-hand typing mostly thanks to a mishap on Thursday night while chopping basil.

Time, then, to post a few more photos!

This year at Annual, Martin and I took in another roommate, David (shown dancing in the street at the Disney Village to the smooth sounds of one of those Pan Pipes bands). A fellow swimmer (in Houston), another "family" member. Sweet guy. He and I managed to get to an outdoor, long-course practice in Fullerton on the Saturday morning, then had dinner together at Roy's after breezing through the GLBTRT social on Sunday. How funny that I finally made it to a Roy's after a few aborted attempts in Chicago and a few trips to Hawaii. Tasty, though, and it made me yearn a little for joining Conrad on one of his trips there. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, though, spring rolls (we thought we had ordered pork, but the bill said duck - tasty enough, but so hot from the fryer that we obviously couldn't tell a difference in what the meat was) and a butterfish that was in an intensely flavourful sauce. A rich meal in the end.


The next night David was back in Houston, and Martin and I dined at Catal in the Disney Village.
Our first stop, actually, was a reception, from the balcony of which we could look down on our own, more-modest hotel. We sat out on the balcony in the warm evening. RAD stopped by to chat at some point. Some vendors crowded around our prime location for viewing the fireworks later on. And while the food was fine if not especially memorable (my rabbit was lukewarm and ok though I rather liked the harissa-flavoured couscous), the bottle of Tempranillo was good and reasonably-priced, and the waitress was utterly sweet and the highlight of the meal.

Next conference, though, I will remember to use red-eye reduction...