Comfort Food

I've been watching Food Network today while doing a bunch of email and phone calling related to our data center move. (Ugh!) On Food Network Star the contestants had to cook a dinner for Wolfgang Puck from whatever they had in their pantry. I decided to do the same thing - and went with my favorite item - Risotto. I was out of canned/pre-prepared broth, but I had some vegetable broth I had made a while back and frozen so I finally got that out. The risotto wasn't made with anything exceptional, but in the end it was absolutely yummy. Risotto is one of those things I feel incredibly comfortable making no matter what.



Lindsay had developed a hematoma in her right ear while she was at the farm last week. The vet was a bit concerned that she might end up developing more ear infections if we didn't fix it so she went in on Thursday for ear surgery and, while she was under, had her teeth cleaned. She's recovering very well, but her right ear may never look quite the same. We go back in about 2 weeks to have her sutures removed. At the moment she seems far more bothered by the spots on her leg where they shaved her to put in the IVs, but we'll see how that goes after a week or so.

Hunting Wabbits...

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

Looked over at the other recliner this evening and saw Dippy stretched out for a nap. Grabbed a pic with the phone before the pooch walked in and disrupted Dippy's nap.

One for you and one for me

It was a busy Monday. That's what happens when you've been out of the office for a week. When I finally got home at 7:00 tonight, someone wanted to play - a lot! I think I got cajoled into a game of ball at least five times tonight. At one point, she had four tennis balls going. I'm truly not sure where she keeps them all because when we got ready to come upstairs just moments ago I could only see two. One or two have probably become victims of the couch monster. My guess is tomorrow night she'll be whining while sitting in front of the couch - calling the balls to her (or mommy to the rescue - I'm never sure which thing she's doing the whining for - the end result is the same). To say she will sleep well tonight should be an understatement as hard as she has played.

May you all sleep well tonight also.

Where did that phrase come from?

Happy Sunday.  I grabbed some gorgeous Ranier cherries on Friday when I stopped at the grocery on my way home from the airport.  They are nowhere near as good as sweet Michigan cherries, but while I wait for those to become ripe, these will do.  I grabbed a bowl full this afternoon while Gayle and I watched the USA v. Japan in the Women's World Cup.  Sadly the US lost to Japan, but if it gives that sorrowful nation hope and joy then it's a good team to lose to. 

Not much happened today other than a mountain of laundry getting conquered as well as a mountain of paperwork getting sorted through.  Some pets got some love and a little more work got reflected on, but not much else.  I guess that's part of what should happen on Sunday.  A busy week ahead with three major meets/events going on and lots of details to finalize for those.  Will be very, very busy.  I hope you have a good week!

The End of an Era

 

Thirteen years ago, my oldest niece Amanda started reading this book series called "Harry Potter".  I knew it was about magic and wizards and had no desire to read it.  However, she loved them and I wanted to be able to talk to the kids about the things they were interested in so I picked up the first book and started reading.  After I finally got through the first five or ten chapters - which was the hardest part for me of these books - I was hooked.  I've read all of them as well as listened to all of them read by the incredible Jim Dale.  And, when the first movie came out, I went to that too. 

Today, the era of Harry Potter - at least as we know it at the moment - came to an end for me. I've read the paper - 4120 pages to be exact , listened to the audiobooks - which is something like 200 hours of audio, and seen the movies. The Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD got me through my doctoral program - serving as a quiet background to hours of typing.   I've watched these characters grow up as I've watched my own nieces and nephews grow up.  And, to turn a phrase from the book a bit, I now find myself more open at the close.  For all the criticism of the books as well as all the hype, what I firmly believe to be true is that J.K. Rowling kept a generation of kids reading - and brought a few adults along for the ride as well.

Gayle is hanging here for the weekend.  She was kind enough to go get Lindsay from the farm on her way here last night - and got stuck on the Interstate behind an accident for the trouble.  They made it here late, but both were glad to be here.  We've spent some time tonight playing outside and seeing our new baby ducks!

It's good to be home with no confirmed airline flights from now until November (at the moment).  Have a great rest of your weekend.

I want this title...

Today was the final day of BbWorld 2011.  I woke at sunrise again - hence the photo.  We have had a busy few days, and while I'm glad it's coming to an end...today held a couple of nice treats.  The chief among those was the closing keynote address by Sir Ken Robinson (photo below from today's talk).

And...it's not his "Sir" title that I want (or its female equivalent)...it was how he was listed in our program..."Author, Creativity Expert, Thinker".  Isn't that an awesome title?

He is the author of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative.  I started reading The Element today (thank you Indianapolis library electronic downloads!) and bought his other book here at the conference.  I took quite a bit of video as well, but the hotel wi-fi isn't uploading it very quickly.  You can watch his famous Ted Talk from 2006 here.

He is INCREDIBLY funny, but also deeply thought provoking which makes him one of the best speakers I've ever had the pleasure of hearing.  I would still put him behind Jimmy Carter who I had the honor of hearing at another conference about five years ago...but then I've adored Jimmy Carter since I was 3 or 4.

We fly out tomorrow morning with about half of the ten of us plus significant others on the same plane.  Not sure if I will post tomorrow or not, but I'll be back on Saturday if not.  It feels good to write again.

A techgasm and a foodgasm...all in one day

 

Max Brenner's was featured on the Food Network over the July 4th weekend (Their web site is http://www.maxbrenner.com).  The food looked so good I looked it up and found out there was one at the Forum Shops at Caesars...so...my one outing for the brief free moment I get during this conference week was planned!  Oh My Gosh!  What a treat and delight.  I did, as the title implies...have a food-gasm over dessert...but I am getting ahead of myself....

The restaurant was very much what I needed this evening as I've not had a night to recharge my batteries all week - running from sun-up (literally) to the early morning hours of the next day since we arrived has taken its toll.  I am an introvert who plays the role of an extrovert every day, but for my batteries to recharge I require some definite quiet, alone time - usually with either a camera in my hand and/or a journaling tool.  The atmosphere at Max Brenner's was perfect for that.  I had a quiet table in a corner where I could write, chat with the waiter, and enjoy my food. There was music, but it was a nice jazz, relatively quiet, and with no words.  The noise level in Vegas is astronomical nearly everywhere you go and I am having a hard time dealing with that at this point in the week.  The quiet of the restaurant was refreshing.

Dinner was the Kobe Beef "Brenner Burger" with the waffle fries dusted with Cocoa powder and chili powder.  It was delicious.  I will typically get rid of the bun after a couple of bites but the bun was so rich and buttery I ended up eating a good portion of the bun and burger, before deciding if I would have room for any dessert I had to let the bun go.

Dessert was the Crystal Sugar Churros with Chocolate Fondue and Muddled Raspberries!  Goodness!  First of all, I may now ONLY be able to eat cinnamon sugar if I'm using large crystal sugar.  The sensation of that in my mouth was incredible.  Add to that the bitterness of the muddled raspberry sauce with the smooth sweetness of the chocolate...I savored every bite!  It was well past delicious to a whole other level of goodness.

The other "gasm" of the day...my techgasm ... came during the BbWorld company product address today.  I think the actual moment that caught my breath was the date picker in the new course setup wizard (if you've not built a few hundred courses in Blackboard that might not mean anything to you, but trust me on this...it's big for them to finally build this feature).  This is what I sent our online learning group in my daily update from BbWorld tonight...

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I’m a firm believer that is true.  Today’s BbWorld update is, primarily, a pictorial update.  During the Blackboard Product Keynote delivered by Michael Chasen, President & CEO of Blackboard; Ray Henderson, CTO & President of Blackboard Learn; and Kayvon Beykpour, Vice President of Blackboard Mobile there were lots of laughs, a few ewws and ahhs, and quite a few applause as the Bb folks provided a glimpse of what’s most likely to come in 2011-2012 with the Bb products.  (Remember – these are likely product enhancements – not guaranteed ones.) I took a bunch of photos and have captioned them.  You can view the series here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kicki22/sets/72157627191050332/.  They are in reverse order so start with the last photo in the set and move forward from there to view it in the same order we did."

Some cool stuff in the product updates...always a favorite part of every BbWorld show. 

Vegas has been fun...looking forward to getting back home and staying home for a little while.  

And we're back...again...and I'm still not at home

So...I disappeared again.  A lot of stuff has been going on, most of it I didn't feel up to writing about or sharing.  As I told my sister Susie when she asked why no blog updates in a while, I try to keep the blog about all the great things going on in my life and for a few weeks there I was having a bit of a hard time finding all those great things.  I had also put my camera down for a few weeks, not able to find the perspective I needed to be able to shoot anything I felt was even remotely good.  Then I remember...if I don't shoot I can't take anything good.  So, I've picked up the camera again and started shooting...deciding not to care much whether it's good or not and taking pictures for the reason I take pictures which is to capture a memory.

As the title alludes to, I'm not at home again.  Part of the problem of the last few weeks was a travel schedule that had me out of town every few days.  This is, I think, my last trip requiring an airplane flight for a few months.  I think the last time I said that was last December.  I'm in Las Vegas for Blackboard World (or BbWorld for short).  The Connections Summit which is sort of a conference within a conference started yesterday and BbWorld opened tonight with the keynote by Steven Johnson (pictured above during his talk).  Steven wrote "Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation" as well as "Everything Bad is Good for You" and "The Invention of Air".  A great public speaker, and, as I dig into the book which I actually took the time to get autographed, a great writer...Johnson was one of the more interesting keynotes I've heard in a while.  

We're in Vegas the rest of the week and hopefully I'll actually escape the hotel for at least a little while to get outside and get some fresh air.  It's actually cooler here at the moment than it is in Indiana which is bizarre.  This is a great conference but such a busy one.  Today was, by far, my busiest day, but the next couple are also pretty frenzied so hopefully I can find a few minutes to sneak away and relax just a bit one evening.

In other news since I last shared with you, I have a new car.  My former car, a Pontiac Torrent I very lovingly referred to by the name Kate, developed an electrical issue of sorts.  The whole transition process has been a bit difficult for me as I was quite attached to Kate.  I was so attached that I couldn't bring myself to name the new car - and was simply referring to her as "new Kate" which wouldn't do since each car has its own personality.  My friend Chris actually pointed out that if it's new Kate then given my love for NCIS that should make it Ziva.  (If you don't follow NCIS and haven't, like I have, since the day that show first aired as a part of the old JAG series, that will make no sense to you and for that I apologize - and say ... you really should watch NCIS.)  I'm still trying it on, but the new car - a Ford Escape Limited - may actually grow into that name.

I won't promise to post daily but it does feel good to get my camera back in my hand again.  I hope you are all well and I'll at least try to post more regularly and not disappear on you for a month again.