M+M

Before I head to bed, and before the clock ticks over to Sunday, I did want to mark an important date. Today marks 5 years since Conrad and I were delighted a privileged to bear witness to Martin and Mark's wedding in Denver.

Martin and I have roomed together at conferences for ten years now. We met Mark in 2006 while I was in the throes of appendicitis. We cannot say enough good about the two of them - as a couple and individually.

No, not a long blog post, but a sincerely heartfelt one: happy anniversary Martin and Mark. We hope we may raise a glass to you both five years from now, and well beyond.

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.

best things I ate in NOLA

I'm going to say this: I dined well in New Orleans, but I was not blown away.

A case of going to the wrong restaurants? A case of choosing the wrong items? A case of needing to eat pork products to fully appreciate the cuisine here? I don't know. But I don't write this blog to disparage things (not often, at least). I prefer very much to celebrate instead. As I sit here watching Federer-Tsonga, a list of the ten things I ate while in NOLA that I would happily eat again. Oh wait, some of them I did go back for!

;-)

Grilled marinated artichokes at Rambla. I really wish I knew more about this restaurant. It's a hotel restaurant, it has vegetarian options, the food is quite good, the space is great for groups to gather. Why was it so very empty both times we went there? Ah well. We dined there twice, and this was a winner.

Even better at Rambla? The special: butternut squash gnudi. Fried crisp on the outside, creamy smooth inside. Only $5. Just yum.

And before we leave Rambla, the spiced Marcona almonds. Yes, I could see sitting around with these and some fino some lazy evening.

The first dinner in NOLA, TK and I wandered nearby to Capdeville. A loud little place, but possibly the friendliest service we had in NOLA (and I have to echo something I read on Twitter - for a town that thrives on tourism, NOLA does not have particularly good or polished restaurant service). Anyway, Capdeville proved to be excellent for two items, one of which I didn't get a good photo of in the dim light, the bread pudding. Topped with brûléed bananas and served with a rum caramel sauce, it was good enough that TK and I joked half-seriously about nightcapping with it on at least one other evening. The other item was our entree, crispy-skin salmon on a salad of curried lentils. $15? A steal, a delicious steal.

I had dinner alone last night, sitting at the bar at Sylvain in the French Quarter. It was on my radar thanks to a friend, Adam, who works for ACRL. Parked with The Rites of Spring, I sat a couple of hours, waiting out a mighty rainstorm, talking a bit with the bartender. Good food, but the thing I want more of? Fried eggplant. This was an appetizer. I am, evidently, a pig. But so very tasty!

We used to make the smoked salmon cheesecake from Emeril's first cookbook at the restaurant years back. It was a hit and miss thing - some people loving it and some people finding it weird. I actually thought it was best while still warm. Emeril serves it cold at his namesake restaurant, and his is better. Silky smooth, napped with a green onion coulis. it made sense on a hot day with a glass of chilled rosé. My favourite part of my splurge lunch there with CG, other than CG, of course!

I had never heard of John Besh before recent seasons of Top Chef, but now I've been to three restaurants that carry his name. I liked them all, but the one that I went to twice was Domenica in the Roosevelt Hotel. The second time, four of us had a very late meal of pizza to make up for a night of poor grazing on meager selections of finger foods. It was the first time, lunch with TK and Martin, that was most memorable. Two items for me. First, a chilled heirloom tomato soup with lump crabmeat. Cold, tart, some sweetness, a bit of zip. Good. After that came fried squash blossoms out of which oozed a goat cheese filling that was not at all too heavy for the blossoms themselves. I think, in fact, these may have been the best things all week here. The batter was impossibly delicate. I never imagined in a town that features to much fried food I would find something that was fried and ethereal. But I did, and I recommend it highly, and I wouldn't mind a last order before I leave town.

Oh yes, I dined elsewhere, and I will be sure to have another post with at least photos of some of the other foods. But ah, some things that I would encourage friends to try if they're down here. And if you feel a little jealous of me for this dining, well, that just makes me savour the memory of them all the more. ;-)

conference folk

Leaving aside most anything else about the recent ACRL conference (I don't usually comment on work/library matters on this blog, after all), one of the best things about a smaller conference like that is how easy it is to see people, whether meeting up as planned or meeting up impromptu or crossing paths en route from points A to B.

First day there and I hit a goldmine: coffee with Courtney that led to further chitchat with Trevor, Lee, and Aaron. Sitting in the Marriott lobby with Courtney, we were able to call over to passersby we knew and waylay them for at least a hello. Back at the hotel, I was soon joined by regular conference roomie/dear friend Martin. He and I each had separate dinner plans, but we caught up on things as he ironed. Pre-dinner came drinks at the Marriott with Marisa and Susan. We had hoped Dan or Jake might be able to join us, but alas, no. And then on to a very good meal of vegetarian (theme of my conference dining!) tapas with Michael - not a librarian, but we all need a break from librarians sometimes!

I have no day two photos of encounters, though there were several including familiar faces like Dan, Michael, Jules, and Lisa at cocktails for GLBTRT members attending ACRL. Well, I do have photos of Martin, certainly, and vanity shots of me trying on clothes at H&M, but now I'm just being silly.

Day three I got to sit down with CG, whom I'd bumped into a few times. In the end, it was a short conference, and planning dinners together with her became impossible (darn it!), so we had to be glad of at least time together in the morning. CG looks as lovely as when she left Chicago, and Conrad and I miss her immensely.

So many other people I saw and didn't snap photos of. Brief conversations, all too brief: Kathryn, Missy, Josh, Adam, Scott, Eric, Mark, Dan.... I begin to forget them all already. Forgive me.

A good conference for seeing people, catching up with them, and meeting new people as well. And a good conference - I've been less pleased with the content offered at ACRL in the past, and I think they're getting better at appealing to a broader range of academic librarians. End of commentary on that, and now I'll look forward to the familiar faces I'll see in New Orleans in June!

vegan dinners in Philadelphia

Pre-cleanse, there I was in Philadelphia for conference, rooming with Martin and dining out with him. It was almost as if the cleanse had started early. Smack me if I run on too much about the cleanse, by the way. Anyway, two nights last week I enjoyed a couple of meals that I might aspire to while cooking at home. Give me some good produce and let me see what I can do.

Thursday night we dropped by a casual social for our fellow gays then headed over to Mi Lah. I found it through a quick Open Table search, and it turned out to be a good choice. When we arrived and were seated, and after I got back to the table from washing my hands, I found Martin chatting with the man at the next table. They'd crossed paths earlier that day at a conference session, it seems, and we ended up pushing tables together, enjoying food (until the guy, Jeff, left), and talking conference stuff. Good conversation throughout the evening. Oh, and BYO! Always a nice thing.

Mi Lah was interesting. The name suggested Asian cuisine, and the staff appeared to be Asian, too (Chinese? I regret not knowing better). The food, however, ranged about globally. There were a number of tasty-sounding options on the occasionally comically-spelled menu (cauliflower stake? dinner for Buffy?), and picking was not easy.

Appetizers: yucca tarts for Martin and sweet potato "pattie" for me. Substantial appetizers, and tasty.

Entrees: grilled seitan for Martin and African peanut stew for me. I couldn't finish the large portion, though it wasn't for lack of enjoyment.

We finished the wine, declined dessert, and headed back to the comfort of the hotel for a good night of sleep.

The next night was a more refined meal at a restaurant Martin had found out about, Horizons. We sat upstairs, Martin enjoyed a cocktail and I, a glass of wine. A tough menu - I wanted everything. Truly. Not a hint of meat or fish or cheese, but goodness it all sounded good. As much as I liked Mi Lah, Horizons was a better choice still.

Appetizers:
Martin's ramen bowl with grilled baby bok choy, pickled shiitakes, menma, pho broth.

My salt-roasted golden beets served chilled with smoked tofu, avocado, capers, house baked pumpernickel, cucumber dill sauce.

Entrees:
Martin's Pacific Rim grilled tofu with spicy gochujang, edamame pureé, royal trumpets, yu choy, smoked miso dashi.

My cauliflower and smoked eggplant braciole with roasted olives, english peas, grilled garbanzos, sicilian salsa verde.

Again we declined dessert, though given the sophistication of the two courses we ate, I am curious to know what the desserts would have been like. Perhaps another visit to Philadelphia. Contented, we enjoyed the cool night walk back to the hotel.