poblanos rellenos

One small reason why I haven't blogged cookie much lately is because, frankly, it's been a series of mediocre efforts from me as of late. Not horrible food, but not food I'm especially proud of or care to post photos of. Perfunctory food.

That, sadly, is kind of what some friends got from me a couple of weekend back when I cooked a small dinner party while Conrad was out of town.

We haven't entertained much at all lately. Weird travel schedules, cozying up in the domesticity of home without others. We've been bad about seeing people. A couple of weeks ago we were going to finally - FINALLY! - see Allan, Paul, and Bryan. Weird struck again, though, and Conrad ended up being in Hawaii instead. Poor him.

I was pleased with the warm chips and guacamole I made - I've been on a Mexican kick lately, I admit. I also rather liked the simple mango sorbet that I served for dessert: fruity, light, refreshing.

The main course? Meh. The refried black beans were fine. The simple red cabbage slaw was colourful and fine. The chiles?

Well, at least one was decent enough to photograph.
I had made a turkey filling, poaching thigh meat and shredding it for sauteeing with some seasoning. Tasty, really. But the chiles were fragile, the filling heavy for the fragility, and the batter was a nightmare to work with.

I was not entirely happy.

Good company made a real difference that night as it all turned out very happily. So nice to see the guys again.

The other thing is, I was rocking the four-way apron. Totally adorable, if I do say so myself. ;-)

CiL

I'm not going to write too too much about last week's Computers in Libraries conference. This isn't a work blog, after all, and I do not make a habit of reading all the brightest and most prolific minds out there in the glamourous world of librarianship. I hope they will all forgive me that transgression.

I'm torn, though, on the conference, and it may take me time to process. Funnily enough, I actually think I may want to go back next year. We'll see.

Big names there, or names who think they're big. A few of the egos need a bit of a pin prick, I'm sorry to say, and there was more than a faint whiff of cliquery and, well, male cattle feces. The Puritan in me also has some small scorn not for the rampant drinking itself but for the idiotic pride people took in being hungover the day after. Let that be an end to my scathing critique.

Still, there were some great presentations. I unabashedly point to my roommate for the conference, Brian, as the lead example. He spoke on e-books, and he was head and shoulders above so many others. I was very proud of him.


His good friend Bobbi (the redheaded woman in the shot above and in several other shots) spoke a few times, and I was impressed by her content, her manner, and her outfits. Great shoes, but I think Jodie won that contest.

There were good people to dine with - I found the Brussels sprouts at Zaytinya memorable among the dishes the group

of us had, and the entire evening at Jaleo on the last night to be quite fantastic.





I think the take away I really got from the conference was being able to talk about libraries and library technology with people outside the usual ALA bubble. That much I appreciated. And Brian, whom I had known virtually thanks to the magic of Twitter and then Facebook turned out to be a very engaging and sweet young man. Martin and Todd are safe - they are my set ALA roomies - but Brian is a good candidate for other conferences, or so I hope.

speaking of fabulous shirts

Let it be known that the shirt Brian is wearing is mine, a treasure from the most recent NZ trip. And I look fabulous in it. So does he, though. Also, it looked good on TK, I have to say, though he might argue that point.

My shirt? Less fabulous, but I do like how well I'm sucking in my gut there. Not a bad shirt on me all in all.

;-)

29

Thank you Iowa!

Going by my friend Geoff's rules on what constitutes visiting a state (or province, or country), I am now up to 29.

The rules:

• Must leave the airport
• Must do one of the following:

1. use a lavatory
2. eat a meal
3. sleep overnight

Almost two weeks ago now (!!), I got in the car and hauled myself (and another librarian) across the flaaaaat expanse of Illinois, stopped for a delicious lunch, drove over the Mississippi, and on in to Iowa as far as Iowa City. A small conference, a presentation to be made. Not at the University, mind you, though I got a bit of a look at what seemed to be a handsome campus.
No, I mostly stuck to the small area around the hotel on my one night stay.


I wish I'd seen more.

That said, I will credit Iowa for this: New Zealand soft licorice in the store. I was so very tempted to by up all the bags!

Buster (and not just him)

I'm breaking up the recent travel posts into smaller parcels, focusing on certain aspects rather than lengthy missives or overviews of days on end. And on a day that found me immensely frustrated with (and totally bitter at) work, what better thing to blog about than the new guy in my life. I'm a fool for him, and he knows it.

Buster.



Ah Buster, a handsome, happy dog. Could a guy ask for more. His partner in crime is Coney, and together the two rule the Baltimore home owned by my best friend Todd and his partner Michael. I spent one night with them all, and Buster knew he had an easy mark in me. I spent much of the Sunday night with either his head or his butt parked in or by my lap, and anytime I let up with petting and stroking him, he made it clear I wasn't done.

The next day, he walked me around the lake. Sunny morning, TK and Coney alongside. Best Monday ever, as an earlier post mentioned.

Coney is a little less demanding of attention, and it comes on her terms: when she's had enough, that's it. Simple as that. She was good to me, but Buster got his hooks in me something fierce.

Ah, but I have a secret from Buster and Coney: there's another girl in my life. Maggie. Sweetest girl ever, loves chasing things, glad to lick your face all over and non-stop. She lives with Geoff and Kent in DC, and I daresay she rules the roost there, too.

Conrad and I don't have dogs - we live too selfish and nomadic a life to provide a dog with attention and care. I have to say, though, that for one weekend in DC and Baltimore, it was nice to pretend and have that extra bit of affection flowing both ways.

yep, still gay

I've said it before, and I cannot repudiate it: this shirt is totally a gay figure skating shirt.



But I love it, and I rock it. So there. Carry on...

perfect day

Easing myself back into blogging with a simple entry on a sunny Sunday.

We've been productive today, both of us. Conrad is in the kitchen (at my usual spot) whiling away on some work he brought home. So far today we've also done all the laundry (including a whole bunch of linens) and I have baked some cookies for him to bring in to work. I've written thank you notes, e-mailed my best friend a newsy note, chatted with another friend, and posted recent photos to Flickr. Plus we got groceries, went for an early morning coffee while laundry was on the go, and made it into downtown.

All this BEFORE going to Yoshi's!

:-)

It's been a perfect Sunday, truly. A full and restful night of sleep. A gloriously sunny (though not totally warm) day out there. Flowers and young leaves in full evidence about the town.



Conrad and I had planned to go down to Nordstrom and shop a little - he wanted some nice slacks to keep up in Vancouver. En route, we got to talking about new restaurants to try and ones to go back to, and that got us to thinking of Terzo Piano at the Art Institute. By the time we got a parking spot on Grand, we changed our minds, drove farther south, and headed for AIC.

We got to the Art Institute and parked with about 15 minutes to spare until our reservation for lunch. Great timing - that left us an easy stroll through the nearby part of Millennium Park and over the Nichols Bridgeway to the Modern Wing. Views and sun and flowers and people. What a great day. We could have lingered more, I think, were we not starting to feel a few pangs.







I didn't photograph lunch, I just enjoyed it. That's fine. It's not always about the food (though it is a fine restaurant). Having eaten, we went down to go through the Matisse exhibit, and then took a slightly roundabout drive home to go through the park a bit and just enjoy the day all that much more.

Yoshi's is ahead, and that will be good, too - food and a drink, friends at the bar, my handsome man


(isn't he adorable in those shots - I'm so glad to be home with him after all the travel we each have had!). If I can finish the night with some chat with my best friend, then truly, I can say it was a perfect day.

equation

A simple mathematical equation:

Best friend


+

This dish


+

Awesome dogs


+

A good conference roomie


=

Best Monday I can remember. A hint of blog posts to come in the week ahead!

holy doodle!

3 weeks? Bad Peter! Bad bad Peter!

Blogging takes dedication, and I have been remiss. Once in a while I actually think to myself that I should ease out of writing this blog, in fact. It was a very good thing for Dad to read, to keep up on how things were going with me here in Chicago, and brighten up his last months some. Once in a while I feel a little purposeless with the blogging, I admit.

Ah well, no down spirits. It's been a perfect spring day, and truly one of the best weeks ever (or, at least, in a mighty long time).

For now, a hello. Postings in the week ahead to catch you 3 or 4 out there up on what I've been doing...