Mile-High City, Day 1

Well, after nearly five hours of sleep, my loving husband dropped me off at the DFW airport this morning. This will be a rather brief post because I've got a few moments to myself, and this is--warning, mushy alert--the first time we've not spent the night together in over six years. Call it weird or creepy or just plain sweet, I don't care--he's my best friend and there's really been no need to not be together until now... I had to travel for work on too short of a notice for him to accompany me.

Apart from the frustration of not having my best bud around to share all of this with, it's been great thus far. Flying turns me into a happily hyperactive six-year-old (although I did manage to read a chapter and a half of the book I'm reviewing for the Journal of Web Librarianship), the Denver airport is quite nice, the highlight of the shuttle drive was passing gorgeous Coors Field (again, missing my best friend to share this with!!), I enjoyed the DLC sessions thus far, and I'm having a blast with My New Awesome Boss-To-Be. (She loves movies, particularly action and sci-fi--is that made-to-order, or what?) Plus, I got to briefly catch up with my Former Awesome Boss, who I'm glad to see soooo much happier in her new position.

And now I leave you, because there's a certain charming best-friend-love of mine that I need to call.

Lunch Break Links

• Girl hypnotizes lizards, and her dad takes artsy photos of them. In tiny costumes. With Lego accessories.
• A lot of robot fun.
• Missing some money? Search for it online, courtesy of your state govn't.
  
• Girls and guns aren't a new thing: check it out. (I'm just following in Annie Oakley's footsteps. With a better gun.)
• Portraits of videogamers.
• Ballpark of the future: cool or scary? Hello, Minority Report-like advertising.

DC Backlog: 10.24.06

I met several people over coffee in the morning, attended a session on Metadata, then enjoyed lunch with the GITCO bunch (my boss is the chair, doncha know) at the Thunder Grill, Union Station. Trying to shake the odd feeling that I was in a Texas restaurant in DC, I ordered the portabello fajitas, which were fantastic, and thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

Back at the hotel that afternoon, I met Alex, who grabbed some lunch at the Billy Goat, and then we trotted down the Mall for the next six and a half hours. As we walked toward the Washington Monument, I mentioned that I had only recently learned that it had an interior that you could tour, which was news to Alex. Upon finally arriving at it, we discovered that tickets had to be purchased in advance at an office located elsewhere, and all tickets for that day had already been distributed. And then a gracious tourist with two extra tickets provided them to us. It was a killer view out every window, and Alex went a little mad with the camera.

We saw the Washington Monument from almost every location we visited in DC, until it took on the aspect of a celestial fixture, like the sun. And if you had the desire and time to look through the 400+ photos we took in this single day, you'd see that over half of them feature this distinct architectural landmark, in a variety of lights.


Once past this monument, we were awed by the World War II Memorial, which was gorgeous and huge and breathtaking. The bronze plaque devoted to airmen featured a man in the center that look just like my grandfather did in the 1940's, and when we visited the computer kiosk near the memorial, we looked up his name in the WII registry.

I was freezing by the time we were walking toward the Lincoln Memorial, but the gorgeous fall color everywhere kept me moving. Alex and I got our pre-planned photo of a penny back, and once inside, I geeked out at the amazing ceiling, of which I took an obscene amount of photos. As we left the memorial, we were greeted by a sunset that had enflamed the surface of the mall with brilliance.

We headed hotel-ward by way of the Vienam War Memorial, a stark contrast of beautiful design and tragic significance that left us mute. As we walked back through the Mall, we filled the camera with even more images of the Washington Monument--reflected, lit up, behind tree branches. Our photos begin to exhibit the blurred quality of the tripod-less-shot from here on out, save for a few clear images of the Capitol.

We made it to Union Station by about 8:30, just in time to share some dinner at the Center Cafe and commiserate about our tortured feet. From the second tier of the restaurant, we watched the traffic of Union Station pass by, trying to discern a person's personality or their destination by the amount of luggage they hauled. After another chilly walk back to the hotel, we indulged yet again in a pint of ice cream, and fell asleep in the 7th inning of Game 3 (which I discovered the next day had been won by the Cardinals, to my delight and Alex's dismay). Alex rooted for the Tigers both for their decade-long underdog status (although not applicable this year) and ultimately because they are American League, a loyalty that is legendary in his family. I chose the Cards in the end because I've rooted for them in the past, and because Detroit is the ugliest city on TV and the movies that I have ever seen, and my aesthetic sensibilities have thus prejudiced me against the Tigers, despite my soft spot for underdogs.

And if that's not the least American reason behind watching America's Favorite Pasttime, I don't want to know what is.

DC Backlog: 10.22.06

The morning was my FDLP orientation session, and then Alex and I grabbed some polish sausage from The Billy Goat and wandered down to the Capitol Building for a few hours. Most people in the area were ridiculously bundled in thick coats and scarves, while we supposed light-weight Texans had only thin sweaters over shirts. Were all the other tourists from Florida? We took a bunch of pictures, then returned so that I could attend some afternoon sessions and meet up with Valerie.

Then we wandered to Union Station for dinner--past the accident scene at its entrance, where a taxi had run into some mammoth flower-pots. And promptly discovered that 9pm closing was nothing; on Sundays, everything closes at 6! We managed to snag a great dinner at Au Bon Pain, where I discovered that the dreamiest sandwich on earth involves: smoked turkey, jalapeno guacamole, swiss, crunchy snow peas, tomato, and jalapeno mayo.

Of course, Ben & Jerry's would have cost us $12 for one scoop each--!--so we instead returned to the hotel and purchased a pint of Haagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream instead, which we devoured in Aforementioned Comfy Bed while watching the Discovery Channel and Game 2 of the World Series.

Weddings, Playoffs, and Other Great Events

So not only will I be wearing this in LA next month, but in March I'll be wearing this darling dress for a darling friend! (Hmm, I had Jaime wear her silver Doc Martins in my wedding, since we had silver dresses--I wonder if she'll require me to wear my black Docs with this dress? Wedding-Punk!)

I'd have already been interested in reading another Firefly/Serenity comic, but I'm doubly interested since there's an essay by Geoff Klock in it. Hooray!

Sandra Tayler has some great insights on taking criticism for creative writing; just in time for NaNoWriMo, too (join the UNT group)!

Wow, wow, wow--it's unfortunate that it didn't work out in the end, but Jim Henson Co. was courting Ursula Vernon about a movie option for Digger?! The very thought of how awesome that movie would've been... ah, well.

The Tigers and the A's... the Mets and the Cards... this doesn't bode a very personally-exciting World Series for me in any combination. The last time I had a strong opinion about any of these teams was the Subway Series--in which I rooted for the Mets by default, of course, since they're not the Yankees--and the I-70 Series--in which I rooted for the Cards simply because my parents were rooting for the Royals (and which I will never to my dying day live down, because Alex and his family are also devoted Royals fans).

So I guess depending on which NL team wins, I can either root for the Mets, or I can root against the Cards and try to atone for past sins.

A Shower of Links

Rain: much-appreciated for my cracked yard.
Same Rain: much-un-appreciated when it completely soaked my pants this morning at work (got a hair dryer?).
Still the Same Rain: much-re-appreciated for its beauty on the window panes, once inside and (relatively) dry with a warm bagel and coffee.

I finally read Ender's Game, after many years of noble intentions. (Thanks, Kali, for reminding me!) I found it very, very interesting--and liked it--although it wasn't exactly what I expected. I'm glad I didn't read it in high school, though; I think the violence would have been a bit much for my sheltered self.

• On making up words (a librarian's prerogative, apparently).
• AL Championship Series begins TONIGHT! ARG, why will I be in class??? I think for once, I can't root for the underdog. I'm sorry, I'll normally root for anyone against the Yankees Empire, but it just goes against the nature of the universe for the Tigers to beat the Yankees. It's just... wrong.
• Very interesting take on the season 2 (yes, 2, as in on DVD) opener of "Lost." Those of you who've watched the season 3 opener (Auntie K, I'm looking at you!), read the post and see if the correlation between to two strikes you, as well.
• FaerieChat Session (guess the Shakespearian spoof!).
• Work underway on Clone Wars... Can't say I'm thrilled about the move from 2-D animation to CG, but I'm willing to suspend judgement.
• I [heart] Unshelved.
• What's hard: coming up with meals that are: healthy, convenient, tasty, and cheap. Any pointers?
• I just re-found a poem that I based a painting title on. It makes me feel more than a little silly that, although I remember the painting, I'd forgotten that I got the title from somewhere else. At least I still remember where I got the title for "Tree and Leaf" from.

A Weekend Well-Spent

• two cheaply-purchased panel monitors
• a hearty helping of HGTV
• a cleaned and repaired (cross your fingers) fridge
• an interesting and brief gunshow
• an awesome, awesome ballgame with fantastic seats [Lexus Club Box], which included:
• catering at our seats
• tasty seven-layer dip & chips
• chili dogs
• ice cream in a hat (it's tradition, man)
• incredibly-painful-but-awesome-shoes
• a hilariously fun near-rain-out
• a whomping of the Mariners (well, it was a whomping until the seventh, but we still won)
• a clean (and-soon-to-be painted, floored, and cabineted) laundry room
• a well-laid-out plan for said laundry room (forethought: amazing!)
• a tasty and always-fantastic episode of Feasting on Asphalt
• snuggling funtime
• frozen fruit-bars

...and a happy congrats to my pal Auntie K!

Unrelated Banter:

• Just to continue the theme, here are some jolly Trekkie inspirational posters. ("Expendability"--reminds me of a family joke: Ensign Justin Case.)
• Userfriendly answers the age-old question: What happens when an AOL employee gets fired?
• Nice barcode placement.