Philadelphia otherwise

Two Fridays ago I got myself onto a plane at BUR to head to SFO,

then from there onto a red-eye to PHL. 

Conference time for me, and an unusually condensed one this time.  I had originally planned to be there on the Wednesday, but life interfered, and so it was that I made it there for Saturday morning.  Checked into my suite,

got myself freshened up and pretty, and headed to my first meeting.

My time at conference was a lot about meetings, really.  Oh, I made sure to go to the closing session featuring Geena Davis (who was a wonderful storyteller)

(oh, and Gritty was there),

and I absolutely couldn't miss dragging Conrad and Van

to Sam's inauguration as president of the association (the improv musical theater was fun to watch),

but I didn't go to any other programs or presentations and only briefly made it to two official receptions.  And now that part of my life is done.  I have cycled out of my three-year obligation, I know longer have the inside scoop or participate in governance.  For the first time in over twenty years, I am not on a committee.  And man, am I glad of that.  The 150th anniversary of ALA will be celebrated in Chicago next year, and I'll almost certainly go to that conference, but after that?  We'll see.

Oh, there were morning walks to be enjoyed as well, both alone

and with others (thank you Amy and Steven for joining me - who will lead the walks for the Board now that I am gone?)

(and it's hard to tell, but that's the Liberty Bell in there!).

The real reason to go?  To see all of the friends from my years of involvement.  Like I did this time!  So let me rattle off some names and post photos.  I didn't get shots with everyone I enjoyed seeing, alas.

My buddy Sara (and hey there, Sam and Ed!). 

For three years we have been messaging and calling weekly and more.  Now that we are done our duty, let's keep in touch a whole bunch but make it about fun stuff!

Matt was there at Council, sitting right behind me. 

I had lunch with him and his wife, Kim, the next day,

and I hope I can convince them to come on a tour of Vietnam next year.

Lunch with my guybrarian message group:  Peter (with his husband, Matt, along with us), Matt, and Andy. 

Long may our messages fly back and forth, and may we have another conference meet up again.

Coffee with Denelle and Anne from the Ireland tour group last year. 

Denelle is already signed up for Vietnam, and I am excited that she will be going.  Anne just landed a new position as director of the fledgling LIS program at Marshall University, and I wish her great success with that.

Jose and April wandered past

while we were having coffee (and then Van saw them the next day, and they recommended a cheese steak place to him that he enjoyed).  I didn't get a chance to have a meal with them this time, so the next - I hope!

Evening drinks in the hotel lobby had a usual crew of folks, including Christina,

who has done so much great work in the association already.  It's always a delight seeing her.  She looks stunning in blue.

My last Board meeting, and I'll miss folks like Peter

and Nick,

among others.  Good folks.

A lot of friendly faces at the inaugural dinner, too....  

John! 

I've known him so many years, and I missed getting a meal with him.  I know he likes Vedge, and it would have been perfect for us to meet up there.  

My "little sister", Kathy. 

The Board brought us together.  May we keep that going!  I would love to visit her in SC one day.

And Larry. 

Ah, Larry, I've left you with a lot to take over and deal with, and I have so much confidence in your ability.  The buck has been passed (well, five of them in this shot, and hey there, Dina - thank you for our terrific working partnership these past few years).

Finally, Sam. 

Congratulations to our 2025-2026 ALA President.  A real pleasure and privilege to have worked with you.  May you steer our association successfully into its sesquicentennial.  Cheers!  And thank you to Skip for the Champagne!

That was the Philadelphia that was.  The people make the conference.  So seldom for me does the city make the conference, but the city can make a conference worse.  Looking at you, San Francisco (sorry, but I HATED it when we were there in 2015 - I don't hate it as a city to otherwise visit).  I didn't really see or experience Philadelphia, I know.  And maybe I'll be back.  We shall see, we can hope!

Vedge and Vernick Fish

I'll write more generally about my few days in Philadelphia in the next (I think) blog entry.  First, however, let's talk about the food.  Specifically, two dinners I enjoyed.

The last time I was in Philadelphia, I was doing a monthlong cleanse diet.  Not quite vegan, but pretty close to it.  And it wasn't a problem.  After all, there is a gem of a vegan restaurant in Philadelphia:  Vedge.  Here's what I love about the place:  it doesn't serve up tofu or seitan or other such things pressed into shapes and called "Mom's meatloaf" or "turkey dinner" or stuff like that.  I have vegetarian friends, and they love stuff like that, for sure, and good for them.  I mean that.  Like what you like and eat it.  But if I am going to be meat free, I want to really enjoy vegetables and fruits and grains for what they are, not what they are pretending to be.  So I love places like Vedge or the now sadly gone Green Zebra in Chicago where the vegetables were the beautiful, glorious stars of the plate.

My dinner dates on Saturday in Philadelphia were Andrew and Ed, two good friends who both enjoy food.  Neither had been to Vedge before, so I was glad to bring them there for the first time.  It was an easy walk from the hotel.  We got to our table, ordered drinks (the Sea Legs for me, which I enjoyed),

and alerted the server that Ed had a food allergy that we needed to work around.  She took the menu back to the kitchen, and shortly after returned with it marked up.  There were eight dishes that we could share with Ed, one or two of them modified a little, and so we ordered them all.

I didn't get photos of everything.  The light was low, and I don't like being too much of a nuisance taking photos, especially when enjoying a meal family-style.  I liked everything that we ate - no surprise there - but my favourites were the spicy dan dan noodles,

the eggplant bracciole (which I remembered from previous times eating there),

the deviled celery root crepe, and the rutabaga fondue.  Look, here's how much I enjoyed things:  I willingly ordered and ate and enjoyed things with mushrooms, like the portabello carpaccio. 

Andrew and Ed enjoyed the savoury courses as well.  Opinions were more mixed on the ice creams (the potato chip ice cream wasn't what we hoped, though it was fine), but the blueberry buckle with sage ice cream was a clear winner at dessert.

It was a very good meal, just what I had hoped from the restaurant, and though Mike teases me that there are other worthwhile places in Philadelphia to try, I will come back to Vedge when next I am in town.

After the dinner, we didn't simply return to the hotel for drinks with whatever colleagues were hanging out in the bar.  Instead we headed to a comedy club

to watch Stand-Up with Strings.  Andrew's son, Eli, was playing bass throughout a multi-comedian set, and we were there to enjoy it all. 

Eli was terrific - my first time meeting him and hearing him play.  He improvised and responded to cues, intentional and otherwise.  The comedians were a mixed bag, and that's fine.  The last two were the best, each of them interacting with Eli, able to do so on the fly.  It was a fun way to end the evening. 

The three of us walked back to our hotels, and my long day (I had landed that morning at 5:30) came to a good end.

Sunday night was dinner at Vernick Fish.  I gather that the Vernick name is a known one in Philadelphia, and I liked what I saw when I was researching a dinner place online.  I hadn't realized it was essentially in the lobby of the Four Seasons, and it was perhaps a little more upscale than I had expected, but that's all fine.  The company with me (Van was there, Sara and her husband Peter, and Amy)

made for an excellent evening.  I didn't photograph every single thing at dinner (like my cocktail, the A Day in the Life, which was tasty, or the eggplant katsu we shared and that I think was the best thing on the table that night), but I did get shots of my oysters (delicious)

and the halibut (the accompaniments outshone the fish, which was - sorry! - a little overcooked)

and the desserts (an olive oil cake, a dark chocolate mousse, a banana pudding sundae, all of them quite fine). 

We had some good wines.  The setting was bright and attractive.  It was a good dinner.  I realize I have less to say about Vernick Fish than Vedge, and perhaps that's because Vedge is the more interesting to me.  But both meals were fine.

I think most of us had a nightcap at the hotel bar after that dinner - it is a conference, after all.  And that capped the last of the finer dining I had in Philadelphia!

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!