Arty Farty

I bought a new camera. A real camera. It's an entry-level digital SLR.

Get ready for arty pictures of my cats.

Spoon

Sometime around late 2001, maybe early 2002, I posted something in an online forum I was involved with about being music bored. I was living in Madison, Wisconsin, a big-time college town with a big-time music scene. But I had just moved there after spending three years in a town of 1100 in the middle of nowhere. I was music starved, and I had no clue where to start.

This message bored was for REM fans. I had been a huge REM fan and still was, but I had been part of this online community since it was formed in 1999 and my involvement with it had evolved past just REM fandom (I actually began ignoring the REM aspect of it; it was, honestly, early social networking). When I lived in the middle of nowhere, this community helped keep me sane. This online community of REM fans were music fans in general. A post about wanting new music? A CD chain was started. At least three people began regularly sending me CD mixes of their favorite music in addition to music they thought I'd like based on what they knew about me. (And these people knew me fairly well. They were--and some of them still are--friends "in real life.")

One person, K, the one who I was probably closest to and who is still a part of my life (and whose wedding I attended a year ago), sent me a mic of Austin-based bands. There were several things that really struck me, but the one that really got me? Spoon's Everything Hit at Once. I loved this song because of the opening lines: "Don't say a word / cause the last one's still stinging." In a few words a mood is set and you know exactly what is happening.



When I hear it now, I may as well be sitting on the bus in Madison, headphones on, eyes closed, just listening.

Shortly after this, K sent me a mix of just Spoon songs. And in no time I had bought their back catalog.

I was hooked.

Spoon is a band that you can hear their progression as musicians. You can hear them getting better, tighter. They play rock-and-roll and they do it well. Girls Can Tell is their best albums. Hands down. It starts with Everything Hits at Once. It also includes Fitted Shirt and Chicago at Night. It's fucking great.



Their next album, Kill the Moonlight is just as good. And the next (Gimme Fiction), also good. Many didn't like their earlier recordings (Telephono and Series of Sneaks). Don't listen to them. They're rough but good. Also, they have a new album coming out next week (They Want My Soul) that I preordered months ago. From the singles I've heard so far, it will be fucking great.

But this post isn't about Spoon and their discography or how fucking great they are. If you're interested in more, see Dan Kois' great Where to Start with Spoon? over at Slate. Or his feature on the band in the New York Times Magazine.

But this isn't a post about my love of Spoon or that fact that I would totally stalk Brit Daniel. Seriously. I adore him.

This is a post about how after all these years of loving them, I finally saw them live. Finally. In the front row (because that's how I roll). In Vegas. It was dumb luck that they were there the same time as I was. They were playing three shows and I would be there for two. I went to one and almost went back for the third (but went to dinner with friends instead). I went by myself which isn't something I like to do, but goddammit, I wanted to see them. And if I missed them knowing they were a block from my hotel, I'd never forgive myself.

It was so fucking worth it. I wish I had a setlist. Actually, I did, but I left it in my hotel room. But they did Fitted Shirt, but they didn't do Everything Hits at Once. Brit Daniel was lovely in all his big-earedness. There was a group women from Texas right behind me (I suspect they were librarians) who kept screaming.

Spoon! Brit Daniel!

And as I was standing there, waiting for the show to start, all I could think about was being in library school, living in an awesome town, my friend K and our growing friendship... and, well, being at a point in my life where I was starting over again. Spoon, and a few other bands, will always be the soundtrack to that part of my life. And what an awesome soundtrack it is.

The quality isn't great because I took it on my phone and I was moving. 

Vegas.

Oh, Vegas.

The first time I went to Vegas was probably 1982. It was shortly after the then-new (now old) MGM Grand was built. It was shaped like a lion and was built when the other one caught on fire (it didn't burn to the ground and still exists as a hotel; it was attached to my hotel, actually). What do I remember: Casinos and boredom. As a 12 year old I couldn't do much of anything so my brother and I watched TV in our hotel room. We didn't stay at the MGM, we stayed at the Sands.

Vegas has evolved into an over-the-top adult playground. It's an odd place.

The first 12-to-24 hours are complete over stimulation. Seriously. Lights, noise, people... it's just too much. I got lost twice in the lobby of my hotel just trying to get from one end of it to the front desk. I was told to go straight through the casino. But once I got into the casino it was like getting lost in a snowstorm. I got disoriented and couldn't tell which way was which because it all looked the same. I got lost trying to get to the monorail because my hotel didn't have any signage indicating where the monorail was (or that there was even a monorail).

After a bit the shock dies down and it becomes a little more tolerable. And then it becomes normal. And then, suddenly, it just becomes tired and you want to leave. Right then. I hit the Leave point about 3.5 days in. I was just done.

Between the time when it becomes normal and the time it becomes too much, the people watching is pretty great. This is what I saw:

• Not one thing on the Vegas strip is real. Nothing. But nothing on the Vegas strip is trying to be real. A friend on Facebook referred to Vegas as being "honestly fake." That's it exactly. 

Mini Elvis. 

• Despite the things on the Vegas strip being fake, the people are very real. It is an adult playground and most people are there to let go. And to a certain extent they are the most honest and real in Vegas than they are anywhere else. They don't have to act a certain way because they're a work or because they're a mom or a son or a father. They can completely let go. And as weird as the Vegas strip is, there is a beauty in being able to be that honest no matter how obnoxious the behavior may be. 
• Vegas serves a purpose. And there are consequences and issues related to it. It's an environmental disaster--a massive disaster. Women and Vegas... well, there are issues, but legalized prostitution puts what happens behind the scenes in most cities right out in the open. And that, again, is a level of honesty one doesn't often see. Vegas's purpose: To provide a space where grown ups can go to do whatever without judgement.

Because why wouldn't you build a giant Eiffel Tower replica in the middle of the desert?

When you embrace Vegas for what it is, it can be fun. But like most things that involve complete overindulgence, it has to be experienced in small doses. I was there for too long. By the time I made it to 3.5 days, I just wanted to be someplace quiet. My last night there a group of us were heading over to Caesars to see some Cleopatra barge or some such thing. Three of us got separated. We contemplated catching up with the others but decided to head back to our hotel where we found an empty sports bar and had a couple of drinks.

We did eventually wander on to the casino floor in the attached hotel (it wasn't quite as obnoxious as our hotel) where I played a Dolly Parton slot machine (it played Jolene when I pulled the handle). I lost six bucks in the machine, laughed a lot, drank some "free" wine, and enjoyed myself. This is when I learned if you spent enough time in the casino someone would bring you a drink... This is also when I asked why no one had told me this earlier.

Dolly Slots. At some point if you got the Respin icon everything would spin and
Dolly would say "Let's make you rich!" I never got rich but it was entertaining. 

The next morning I payed for overpriced coffee to be sent to my room, packed, and ventured down to the lobby to find the airport shuttle (at the door I arrived at). And I got lost. Again. When I asked for directions, I got a typewritten list that was... ridiculous. Seriously, y'all, put up maps.

Is it really too hard to have actual maps? Or signage?

Other Observations:

• You will pay for everything. Everything. A drip coffee will run you $5. Don't expect a coffeemaker in your room. And if you have one, you will have to pay to use it. 
• Hotels are built to be confusing. Keeping you lost is a way to keep you in the hotel. 
• Vegas is Really Fucking Hot. "It's a dry heat" may ass. Hot it hot.
• The monorail breaks a lot. Apparently because it gets too hot. Note: If you build a monorail in a desert city, build one that will sustain heat.

Vegan in Vegas

It's time for my annual ALA conference post. This year ALA was in Vegas. Yes, Vegas. Many people were conflicted. Many didn't go because of where it was located. I had mixed feelings but was looking forward to it because I love kitsch. I'll write more about my other experiences and feelings about Vegas, but this one post is about the food.

I was a little nervous about being a vegan in Vegas but various things I had read made me feel better, like the blog Eating Vegan in Vegas. What made me nervous, though, was that most things I read were about places off the Strip and knowing how busy I would be during the day, going off-Strip would be impossible. Without a car or knowing anyone in Vegas (and this was the first ALA where I didn't actually know anyone in the city it was held), going off-Strip would be difficult.

I had a routine: Breakfast was trail mix and Trader Joe's cookies I had brought with me. Lunch was either stopping at the Johnny Rockets in Bally's (they have a vegan burger, but you need to ask them not to butter the bun) on the way to the Monorail or grabbing a salad at Starbucks. Dinner, well that was different.

I did grab dinner at the Brooklyn Bowl my first night. I was waiting to see a band (more on that later) and had a roasted veggie sandwich that was pretty great. And I had dessert before the sandwich when I grabbed a vegan red velvet cupcake at Sprinkles (and I bought their last one on my way home to have for breakfast in the morning).

Vegan Red Velvet in Vegas, from Sprinkles. 

I had one goal: Go to the Wynn Resorts. Steven Wynn, the owner, is a vegan. Because of this all of his restaurants have a significant vegan menu, and all the servers know what it means to be vegan. The buffet has vegan options, room service has vegan options, and when you call the info line about restaurants, the person on the other end of the phone is pretty knowledgeable.

I know Vegas is a food mecca. I know they have celebrity chefs. I wanted one night of good food. I wanted one night of pure food enjoyment. And I knew that would be at the Wynn. My goal was one night. I ended up going two. And despite some of the issues I had with Vegas in general (more on that later), these two night of food were worth it. Seriously. This food was that kind of once-in-a-lifetime kind of food.

Normally when I go to ALA Annual, I set aside a certain amount of money to buy something, usually a pair of shoes or some such thing. This time, every penny of that extra money went to food. And I don't regret any of it. These weren't cheap meals, but I learned that by Vegas standards, these prices were pretty normal.

Night one: Wazuzu. 
I met a former colleague and some of her coworkers for dinner. After lots of back and forth, we settled on Wazuzu in Encore at Wynne Resorts for no reason other than... well, because. I ordered the Vegan Drunken Noodles with crispy tofu because it looked good. Afterwards I found out the chicken drunken noodles was Giada de Laurentiss' Best Thing I ever Ate (with chopsticks). Was it good? Oh My God, Yes. For dessert I had the Vegan Brownie Sundae. I normally don't like chocolate on chocolate because it is too rich. And because vegan chocolate is dark chocolate, it can be a bit much. This wasn't. This was chocolate sorbet on a brownie and it was much lighter than I had suspected. I figured this was my one food indulgence.

Vegan Drunken Noodles at Encore Wynn, Las Vegas. I got three stars spicy.
There was nothing bad about this. It was wonderful

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Sundae

Night Two: Botero
I ended up back at the Wynn Resort the next night. My friend C had won a big fancy award and she wanted to celebrate. She's a vegetarian and pretty much wanted what I had had at Wazuzu. I was all for a second trip to Wynn/Encore. We decided we'd make the rounds of all the restaurants and choose one. I was leaning towards Red 8 or the buffet. I know that may sound odd, but as a vegan, I don't often get the chance to belly up to a buffet and I wanted to experience the whole Vegas buffet indulgence. We had settled on Red 8 but while walking to the restaurant, we wandered past Botero at Encore. Botero is is fine dining (Wazuzu and Red 8 are casual dining) and had a vegan tasting menu. It was a five course meal, and based on what I spent the night before, the price seemed reasonable. Plus, we were celebrating. And... as a vegan (and as a vegetarian before that), I'd never experienced a multi-course, fine-dining meal in a restaurant. Shortly after we sat down the sommelier asked if we had any questions (we decided to stick with mixed drinks and beer). Ramon, our server was awesome. He swapped our utensils after every course (and at least once I asked C which fork I was supposed to use) and cleaned all the crumbs from our table after every course. Other lovely touches: There was vegan bread and vegan butter and everyone knew without me telling them that I was vegan and it was just so goddamn good. (Actually, they accidentally brought regular butter and had non-vegan bread mixed in with the vegan. They took away the non-vegan butter and I told them to leave the bread as C would eat the non-vegan bread. But they asked multiple times if I was okay with having vegan and non-vegan mixed. It was just nice to have people understand all the intricacies.)

This one of of those meals that I will never forget. This wasn't a meal, this was an experience. This was one of the best things I have ever eaten. I will dream about it. I would return to Vegas just to eat it again. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Pink drinks to celebrate. This was a Paris Martini or some such thing.
Cranberry, vodka, and a other stuff. 

Amuse-Bouche. Heirloom tomato with olive oil and micro basil.
So simple and so good. 

Course 1: Gazpacho. I think this had a fancier name.
I don't care because it was yummy. 

Course 2: Salad of heirloom tomatoes, grilled peaches, croutons, greens.
Light, flavorful, wonderful. 

Course 3: Rice pasta with an avocado sauce with roasted vegetables. And micro basil.
I didn't think I would ever like rice pasta, but it was really great and the sauce had a
silkiness to it that I didn't expect. 

Course 4: Crusted tofu loin over ratatouille and broccolini. With micro basil.
I loved this. I mean loved it. Every bite was amazing. The crust on the tofu was just right.
The ratatouille was full of veggies. Just wonderful. It was about this time that I told Ramon
that this was one of the best meals of my life.  

Course 5: Chocolate mouse with a hazelnut crust with whipped cream and raspberry compote
with micro basil. Again, I often find chocolate deserts too rich. This was perfection.
This was the perfect combination of chocolate and salt and crunch and sweet.
I will dream about this desert. I will crave this desert forever and ever. 

By this time C and I were stuffed. We'd each had one mixed drink, at least one beer (I had a Belgian beer served in a cognac glass), and a huge meal. This is when Ramon brought us a sampler of their sorbet, compliments of the chef. I had coconut, C had mango. I'm guessing the chef brought these because I was so excited about the meal in general and I couldn't shut up about how much I loved the food. 

Thing is, I still can't shut up about the food.



**And just to add to the picture, I was wearing an old black tshirt, a skirt I bought at Kohl's on sale for about $5 and a pair of grungy Keane's with frilly socks. C was wearing a wrap dress she'd found on sale at Penny's and Danskos. Basically, we looked like tired librarians at a conference. 

Academic Year Round-up

I'm on vacation. I have been for the last week. And I've gotten to the point of vacation where I have no clue what day it is. So far may days have been a combination of napping, reading, and knitting. And you know what? It's been fucking awesome. I was sick (natch) the first couple of days. Some say this happens when your body realizes you're relaxed and you can afford to be sick. Could be. But considering that two other people I hang out with semi-regularly came down with something similar at the same time, I suspect we just passed around some random grossness.

I haven't been blogging regularly, obviously. It was an intense and busy academic year and by the time I got home the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my computer, so blogging fell by the wayside. Thing is, it's been an eventful academic year for me (and others). I had planned on doing a wrap up, but by the time I sat down to write it (like, right now), I couldn't remember everything I was going to cover. So I thought I would start with the big one: Tenure.

I got tenure. Finally.

I left my previous job 4.5 years into the tenure process. I knew what I was giving up when I left (almost certain awarding of tenure) and I left because I knew it wasn't the place for me. My move was for personal reasons more than professional. When I arrived at my current location I wasn't able to get time towards tenure but I knew I had the option to go up early. I didn't for lots of reasons, but mostly I didn't because I wanted the full length of time to do what I wanted to get done.

So after spending multiple Fridays last summer building my tenure file, I submitted it last fall. What I didn't expect after I submitted it was the relief I felt. Simply put: It was out of my hands. Now, I had never had a bad review. I did everything I was supposed to. I had no reason to think I wouldn't get tenure.... but you still never know. Then I got the letter from my dean and the tenure committee: All signs pointed towards yes. Then it went to the provost. And I waited. And then one day in February I got a letter in my campus mailbox: Tenured.

As I read the letter, I started shaking. I had done it. I pretty much hugged anyone and everyone. I emailed/texted everyone who might care. I posted it on Facebook. I had done it. And then friends and I went out that night (it was a Friday) and drank lots and lots. And the next day felt a little like the day after Christmas. The excitement was over.... now what?

But, you know what? I was tenured. I was an associate professor. And I could breathe.

Do I feel any different? Yes and no. Tenure is about your colleagues reviewing your work, so I feel different in that I have their approval. There is a certain amount of stability that comes with tenure and it does feel a little different. But for the most part, I have a big, huge sense of accomplishment... and relief.