I went to the American Library Association conference in Washington D. C., back in person for the first time in three years. This required doing all kinds of things I’m way out of practice of doing like booking a hotel & airline travel. Despite dire warnings from UW’s travel agent – I got an email … [Read more…]
I feel like I’m forgetting everything I ever knew, and especially how to do all the things I’m supposed to be good at. Getting old and irrelevant, not keeping up. Maybe I’m living in that Billy Collins poem. I know one of the ways I’m feeling not like myself is how little documentation of cooking … [Read more…]
It’s been a hectic couple of weeks. End of semester and grading, conferences, trips to Chicago, extra volunteer work …. and any minute now I am going to hear from my CSA farm that the deliveries are about to start and it’s time to start writing recipes. And there’s still some from last year that … [Read more…]
Last Sunday we took a day trip to Chicago for the opera, a cool staging of Mozart’s Magic flute, that looked very 1930s Deco with singers in silent movie white face makeup. I thought it was a remake of an actual jazz age production, but it’s 21st century, in that style. The production was designed … [Read more…]
On Thursday, I had my last meeting ever of an executive committee that I’ve been on for almost 7 years, shared governance at the University. I’ve hit term limits, so couldn’t stand for re-election in the spring. Since it was my last meeting, at the end we went around the zoom and everyone said something … [Read more…]
This one’s in DC, and while attendance is higher than last summer’s conference held in New Orleans (that I skipped, with the happy result that I got to see the Madison fireworks that are always before July 4, when I’m almost always at conference) it’s down for a DC conference. Normally conferences held in either … [Read more…]
Basically how this week has been. On Monday I got up and started a batch of sourdough bread – I made a new starter and thought I should use it. I chucked my old one a few months ago, in a rash of fridge cleaning out. It was probably 20 years old. I used it … [Read more…]
Kind of a lot of it is my own cooking, but I guess that’s as it should be, since I’m actually living here, not vacationing, touristing, or conferencing – yet. Friday the librarians’ conference begins**, so I should have some additional eating adventures then. Stove top mac & cheese, that I made for one … [Read more…]
… the rounder we get. Not to quote the Grateful Dead or anything. And not that I’ll ever feel caught up. I am listening to my new album by Ace of Cups, San Francisco’s all-girl psychedelic band, who’re all old ladies like me now. Here’s a bunch of randoms: Madison, Minneapolis, and back in Madison. … [Read more…]
I guess. Tuesday was the election and in some respects the good guys won. We got rid of our evil governor here in WI, but as my colleague Meredith said Wednesday, “he’s already sold the farm to Foxconn.” And the map of our state still looks alarmingly red. New York Times WI election results Of … [Read more…]