Denver and Stuff

I had all these things rattling around in my head that I was going to say about ALA in Denver. You know, that blog post that you are always writing when you are doing something. But, after a week went by, I forgot it all. So instead, the highlights (with photos):

I had an awesome view of the Cascades and Tetons on the flight to Denver.

I think that is Mt Baker in the distance

Cascades


Tetons

Tetons with Fog

Frenchie and I arrived in Denver within 20 minutes of each other so we shared an overpriced cab from Denver International Airport (also known as Kansas) to our hotel downtown. We went through the ritual of getting our badges and ginormous ALA bag. From there it was on to a couple of alcohol-fueled happy hours, and then Indian food... where I spilled stuff on my sweater. Of course.

ALA Bus + Police Tape = Interesting

Bear at the Denver Convention Center

Woo! Seen while walking from one Happy Hour to the next

The next morning it was off to the ALA meetings. If you've ever been to an ALA meeting then you know what it my conference was like: lots of buzz words, attempts to define the purpose of your committee, and complaining. They are the types of meetings where you spend most of your time thinking about how big of a drink you will have when the meeting is over. Either that or you question why you didn't have a drink before the meeting.

The fire alarm went off in our hotel. I stuck my head out into the hallway (after feeling the door to see if it was warm) and asked the housecleaning lady if I should be worried by the alarm. "No, it's downstairs. No need to worry." And then she got on the elevator. And then the firetrucks pulled up outside. It was a false alarm, of course, but some notification that it was a false alarm would've been nice.

I saw SK, my former boss. Always lots of fun because she seems generally confused by my lifestyle. Don't you want to buy a house? Aren't you tired of being alone/moving/changing jobs/You Name It? If you don't eat meat, fish, dairy, or eggs, what do you eat? To some it may sound tiring, but I find it entertaining.

Later that night I went to dinner with some librarian Sci-fi geeks and had some delicious and strong margaritas. See? ALA=Liquor. Drunk librarians=Entertainment.

I saw several other former colleagues, I ate more good food. Some friends and I ate at Watercourse one night where I had vegan "country-fried" seitan, and deargoditwasdelicious. It has been almost ten years that had that kind of breading and texture to it. All followed by vegan carrot cake. I was beyond excited.

Vegan "country-fried" goodness

More meetings. More self-defining. And realization that I probably won't have to go to Midwinter in Boston. Yay!

It snowed and got cold. Frenchie laughed at me because I was cold. Why? Because it was cold. I may be from the midwest, but that doesn't mean we don't get cold. We do. We just know how to deal with it. And then we complain about it. A lot.

Frenchie and I had an adventure in Denver International where I think we may have walked all the way to Nebraska just to get to our gates. No major plane hiccups, no freaks sitting next to me. Actually, the seat between me and the dude in the aisle seat was empty. Awesome. And I made it back to my home sweet home without any major incidents.

Rockies

The last week has included a lot of catch up, and I had hoped to spend the weekend doing nothing but reading some pointless, trashy novel, but ended up spending more time out and about. Pantsman and Ms. Pantsman were in town from Seattle. We spent a couple of hours having lunch and coffee. It's good to be able to hang out with both of them from time to time.