Tomb of the Unknown Librarian » restaurants

Uneventful Journey to ALA in Washington D.C.

/paul — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:53:15 +0000

When I arrived at the airport today at 6:15 this morning there was a long line at the United check-in area, but no one seemed to be using the self-check kiosks or check baggage line. I wasn’t sure if it was just not working or a perfect example of herd mentality. Since I was already checked in, I went right up to the “Self Check-in Check Baggage” area and was helped right away. About five other people jumped the line and were hustling in behind me. Group Think, Die!

Security seemed like the traditional event where you take off your shoes, belt and other metal objects, take out your laptop, and place them in plastic totes on the X- Ray conveyor belt. I usually take off my jacket too and send it through. Something was wrong and they had to readjust my totes but the TSA folks seemed pleasant.

I met up with the library director and we had a nice chat while we waited to board. Once on board, I wound up sitting in the center seat, next to a man who smelled like Brie, as in stinky cheese. Mr. Eau-de-Fromage proceeded to make a cell call and speak loudly about how he was now on the plane and about how he didn’t like the security officials attitude. Blah blah blah. Earplugs and noise canceling headphones did the trick for the rest of the flight. However the odor was persistent and troublesome. I’m sorry stinky cheese man, but you need to take a bath before a five hour flight.

Once we landed, I started to see a lot more librarians, and library administrators especially at baggage claim. Karen and her husband Michael from Mountain View and a number of others that I didn’t say hi to. My bag was waiting for me. Melinda and I split a cab and talked about the future of libraries and about the conference in general.

I met up with a bunch of other folks from my library system for dinner. Todd, Nichole and her mother, Melinda and I went to Famous Luigi’s on 19th St NW. The food was good but the service was famously slow.

Reinventing Reference 3 first thing in the morning.

Bad Play, Good Dinner

/paul — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 09:36:58 +0000

I have to admit that I have never seen a bad musical… until today. I saw Lestat in its pre-Broadway run in SF. The music was pretty insipid, the plot condensed all of Rice’s Chronicles of the Vampire books into five acts and was practically all exposition, the characters lacked serious development. Overall, just plain bad. I wish there was at least one highlight, but I can’t think of even one. A few people even walked out, we were certainly tempted.

On the other hand, dinner at Coco500 was great. Coriander seared Ahi, celery soup, gnocci entree, a ribeye steak with wine reduction and arugula, and dessert of bread pudding and CocoBanana (individual slices of banana dipped in Venezuelan chocolate – a far cry from MagicShell) were all outstanding. It was our waitress Tara’s first night on the floor and despite being visably nervous, she did great and the waiter Joge(?) who was coaching her was knowledgable, friendly, and quick to help in out. Great service from both of them. The decor was simple but hip, wood and white walls, with soft accent and pendants lights over individual tables. When the restaurant was crowded everyone had to raise their voices to be heard. Overall an excellent dinner though. Not far from the train station and SBC Park.

Week 2

/paul — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 06:40:34 +0000

So my second week has been pretty fun and pretty interesting. I expected things to get pretty intimidating but it’s all good. Yesterday, the wacky Mr. Science demonstrated physics to a very excited group of kids and parents. It had a great turnout!

Tonight was my first night. I got to work with Emily and Jean. Of course, right at 6pm the problems with our time management system. Things never fully resolved themselves but patrons were able to get onto the internet after the server was reset.

I tried a new restaurant today. Tour Eifel. For Vietnamese, it was overpriced, the curry was runny, and service a bit gruff. The Fresh Salad rolls with Peanut sauce were pretty good. The Jasmine tea was a tea bag.

AJAX, California Cafe, and Coffee Beer

/paul — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 07:15:03 +0000

Two stories via Slashdot…
AJAX again sneaks into mainstream media in a WSJ article about how AJAX is attracting a venture capital and creating buzz. I do believe that it does show a shift from software to webware. Hopefully the 400 lb gorillas don’t rinse it down the drain before it cleans house.

Coffee Beer… did we hear someone patent a “fermented coffee beverage?” Sounds more like a gimmick.. I’ll still try it though.

The PLS department treated me to lunch at the California Cafe in Los Gatos today. I didn’t know they had a Bento Box for lunch. It was a very eclectic mix: Vegetarian fried gyoza, asian chicken salad, half an open face crab melt, and beef fajitas… Not bad but an interesting mix. A big thanks to all my PLS coworkers, I’ll miss you.

Information Poor and the Libeerians

/paul — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 04:27:29 +0000

Last night, I got a chance to see the Jessamyn West speak on “The Information Poor & The Information Don’t Care: Small Libraries and the Digital Divide” Jessamyn really illustrated how many people just don’t care about the internet and why access is so important. Standard disparities apply: poor, minority, and seniors. The other funny thing was how libraries in small towns in Vermont (probably all over rural America) deal with Computers, with a capital C, and the Internet.

Afterwards, Jessamyn joined cohorts Angie, Mana & Charlie, Alan, Kaye, Carla, Suzanne, Lara, David, and me in the traditional pilgrimage to Gordon Biersch for some Marzen, Blonde Bock, Ahi Tuna & Cucumber Salad, Garlic Fries, and bawdy librarian ribaldry.

Currently Watching: Tivo/ Daily Show with Jon Stewart: October 26, 2005 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals : The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln