Glasgow Cathedral

Another brief post, a bit of a photo dump.  I am back from a morning walk up past the University of Strathclyde

and to the cathedral.  

A handsome urban campus, and a fine medieval (with additions and updates) building, the two of them.  I wandered through the cathedral and took some photos.

 Then a good stroll back through the central city to the hotel.  I meet Allison soon - our first time seeing each other in five years!  Then on to the festival, and to judge by the scantily clad kids I saw in bunches heading east to the Green, I will be the oldest geezer at the event! 😂

ah, this girl!

A reminder again, this time while I am in Scotland, that this girl stole my heart about four years ago.  I am wrapped around her paw.

This will post after my arrival in Scotland, but I'm writing it before leaving.  Conrad and Van are road tripping it up all week, and for two days between their departure and my own, I get Olive to myself.  Which is just lovely, even if all 33 pounds of her seem to take up more of the bed than XXX pounds me!

Come on, though:  so sweet, so pretty, right?

dinner with Rachel and David

At long last, and hey, only 8 days after the actual event, the final post from my week in Chicago.  A week wherein I mostly mixed and mingled with the association folks and seldom left the conference center complex or my own hotel.  A week capped with dinner with a librarian (and The Editor), but not in relation to the conference.  And a very nice dinner it was.

I've known Rachel for what, twenty years now?  She's part of the regular online drinks gang, and we were there last fall for her 50th (just as she was with us for Conrad's 65th).  I was so glad that I got to see her while I was in town, and to have David free to join us as well.  Making it even better was having a meal at a familiar place.

Wood opened not too long before Conrad and I left Chicago.  We went a few times, and I liked it.  But I also didn't remember it well.  It has been ten years, after all, and when we would venture to Boystown on visits to Chicago, we would head to Yoshi's and not much beyond that.  So it was nice to rediscover Wood, and it was jarring to see just how much had changed in the neighbourhood on my walk to the restaurant from the Belmont station.

Post-Pride in the neighbourhood, things were quiet.  We had excellent, attentive service, and we had good drinks and food.  I tried a cocktail that was called The Last Sunset on Earth,

and, having relished it greatly, I ordered a second when the first was done.  David wasn't eating, and Rachel was eating sparingly, but each of them tried a little of my grilled cucumber starter. 

For my meal, I stayed vegetarian and opted for pasta:  the ramp spaghetti with ramp pesto. 

No dessert for us, and that was fine.  It was just the right amount of food to go along with just the most welcome company.

Then back to the hotel.  An evening of packing and some television before bed.  The next morning was an early start, getting me back to Pasadena and in the door not long after lunch.  Another visit to Chicago done, at least one more to come this year.

I made it!

Two flights and a bus ride later, and I am here.  Here being Glasgow.  

I have strolled a bit, I have fortified myself with a decaf latte.

 I need a shower.  I will crash hard and early.  Perfect start to a short vacation!

observing Canada Day

Yes, I know, it's USA Day today.  But last Saturday was Canada Day, and that's a big deal.  So let's celebrate my homeland even if I have set foot it in only once since before the pandemic started, and that was over a year ago (but soon to be rectified).

Oh, I kid somewhat.  Canada Day is great and all, but I'm not really all about nationalistic displays.  For sure, I would have liked to have made up a grand meal featuring Canadian products and recipes, but no.  No butter tarts or Nanaimo bars.  I had to settle for a bottle of a lovely BC wine from Joie at dinner.

No worries, that's fine.  The three of us sat out on the deck and had a fine evening. 

I made us bacon cheeseburgers, and that is why this particular Canadian is fat!

But it really was tasty....

all the people you see

I won't use this blog to summarize the conference.  In truth, I am still so enmeshed in the governance of the association, I don't get to see much of the conference outside of particular types of meetings.  One day...

I did get to see a few speakers, at the opening and closing sessions as well as at the ALA President's program.  Judy Blume drew a huge crowd late on the Friday afternoon, and she was terrific. 

Such terrific, warm wit.  Amanda Gorman and Christian Robinson in interview at the Tuesday closing session were charming together, and the fact that they had collaborated but not in person until that Tuesday was surprising given their brother-sister rapport.  I especially liked Hineleimoana Wong-Kalu as interviewed by ALA President (now past-president) Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada. 

One day, I told Lessa, I would love to have conversation over dinner with her about Hawaiian sovereignty.  I felt like I learned a lot from that program.

And that's conference.  Resolutions, financial reports, blah blah blah.  Interesting to me, not so much to others, I know.  So let me post photos of me with others, mostly at one reception or another.  Because, truly, conference is so very valuable for how we can nurture and extend our professional networks and for how the people in those networks become more than just colleagues and associates but friends.

So then...

Christina

Steven and John

Oscar

Sara

John

Peter

Sherry

Loida

Ann

I actually didn't take a lot of photos, just enjoyed catching up with folks.  All the people you see at conference - that's what I appreciate so much.

lunch alone

Conrad and Van headed off on a road trip for a week yesterday, leaving me (and Olive) all alone.  So, since I hadn't been into Maestro in far too long, I wandered on over for lunch alone at the bar.

This is an uncomplicated entry, just simple food appreciation.  Marco, the bartender, recommended the enfrijoladas, and because I hadn't had breakfast, I had an egg atop it. 

Paired with a margarita, it was just right!

a small delight

One of the things I loved about summer in Chicago is when the linden trees on and near the campus bloomed.  The scent was one of those small delights that lift a day at least momentarily.

I typically associated linden flowers with a point later in summer, but perhaps I misremembered, or perhaps they were early this year.  In any case, on my first morning out on foot, I caught scent of them.  That was a good start to my morning, I have to say.  I wandered over to the trees to photograph the flowers.

And I did one other thing.  I'd always been told they were linden, and that's not incorrect, per se, but my plant identifying app on my phone called them American basswood.  Which, it turns out, is more or less the only native North American species from the linden family.

Fragrant AND educational!

The Duck Inn

Okey dokey, folks, let get caught up.  I am heading out of the country tomorrow for a handful of days, and I won't be taking the laptop along, so I should get some blog entries queued up for while I am gone.  Join me, then, as we go back in time to Chicago...

Conrad and I didn't get a dinner to ourselves at the conference, but we did get to dine out a couple of times with friends who were also in attendance at the event.  Friday night we enjoyed The Gage with Janice and William.  Saturday we headed out of our usual way, down to the Bridgeport neighbourhood, to meet up with Ed at The Duck Inn.

Cute name, right?  I can't recall ever having gone to a restaurant or bar or shop in that neighbourhood in all my years in Chicago, but I'm glad Ed found the place and recommended it.  I still don't get the knife in Conrad's cocktail, but I otherwise rather liked the place.  A nice patio set up out back for a fine summer evening (and before the smoke overtook Chicago).  A clear vibe of locals and regulars.

Conrad and I arrived early, so we enjoyed a cocktail each (mine was the In Bloom: Dandelion - yum!),

and then joined Ed at a table.  We shared duck wings,

a burrata dish, and the duck and octopus sausage. 

Then we each had a Chicago dog. 

It felt silly and right.  Did we have dessert?  I can't recall, but I think we skipped it.

My verdict:  heck yes, I'd go back.  I love it when I look at a menu and think, I would happily order anything from this.  Great options, a nice setting.  Worth a return for sure!

she's a cutie!

I'm back from Chicago!  Well, as of a couple of days ago.  And I will be posting more in days ahead.  But to close out June:  Olive!  Need I say more?