Italian Wine dinner with the Burns'

One of the joys of our life in Atlanta is the friends we have made here. Among our favorite occasions are the wine dinners we have with our friends Tom and Carol Burns. Tom and Alan both enjoy collecting wine and Carol and I both enjoy cooking -- perfect combination!

Tonight featured some Italian wines that Alan would have to tell you about. Carol made a lovely antipasto with prosciutto and melon, plus marinated shrimp and dinner was veal scallopine, asparagus, a potato pancake kind of thing (similar to rosti but with egg), and I brought a tomato salad (of course). Dessert was the pictured ice cream balls. Great all around. This is Tom and Carol's last semester in Atlanta -- they are retiring to their condo overlooking Lake Superior. We will definitely miss them but hope to do another dinner before they go.

Slow weekend musings

After last weekend and a busy, busy first week of classes, we are taking it easy....which for me involves spending some time checking out new technologies and reflecting on my changing technology habits.  I have become a convert to flock for my web browsing, using flock 2 which is in beta.  It brings together my technology worlds in ways that seem more organic than netvibes or igoogle. I still prefer netvibes to igoogle but haven't been using either lately.

I also took a look at the schools application for facebook, which is in private beta.  The video linked here explains it very well and it looks pretty cool.  But, it still doesn't equal LearnLink, Emory's installation of the First Class product, in my opinion.  For one thing, I still can't get beyond the fact that I think it's better to have a locally hosted system, rather than a presence in a commercial social network like FB.  On the other hand, I suppose you could argue that because students are more likely to be on their personal network for their entire lives that it makes better strategic sense for a school to have a presence in these large commercial networks.  But, then, does that approach encourage the development of a school community that occurs with a closed system like LL.  When we did the usability study two years ago, the researchers made a big deal of the fact that students really liked being in the "Emory bubble."  However, what FB does well and LL doesn't currently is to provide information about individuals.  There's the resume function but no one ever uses it and it's not prominent enough.  Also, there are no status updates.

I have found it very interesting to see who among my friends takes to FB in a big way.  The mobile apps for phones does seem to make for more frequent status updates.


Here are some shots from a meeting this week on the Chemistry addition.  We are at the exciting point of actually working on the architecture of this challenging project.  It is very cool to see the design evolve and I think the architects are doing a great job and melding the Emory vernacular with the existing Atwood Hall, which I think is very beautiful but I am in the minority on that one.

One of the things I love about web 2.0 technologies is how they let me stay in contact with those at a distance.  Like Rohit S, who was the project manager from HOK on the Psychology Building.  Rohit has moved back to India to head up HOK's first office there.  Fortunately, they are progressive enough to chronicle and share via this blog, so I'm getting to keep track of his adventures.  Very cool projects -- I am a little jealous!

Back to school

Summer is over....unimaginable as that might be. This past weekend we joined the 70+ IT staff and the innumerable other university staff to help move the first year class into their residence halls (don't say "dorm" or you'll be reprimanded :-). We have two new residence halls -- Few and Evans -- that are quite lovely. This first picture is a view from the top floor. Our buildings are getting taller all the time.

Our tomatoes have started producing and we are eating prodigious salads every night. It is amazing how different they all are in texture and flavor. The Celebrity's are delicious as are the Mr Stripey's. And the upside down cherry tomatoes are producing still, while the rest are shutting down. Yum.

Last day in Sun Valley

On our last day we took a great trip east from Ketchum up Sun Valley Road, crossing through the Sawtooth and Challis national forests on our way to Wildhorse Rd and a lovely walk up to a waterfall. We had grabbed sandwiches for the road and picnicked at the falls. Unusually, this trail is handicapped accessible -- smooth and easy the whole way -- and a lovely deck at the end. We spoke with some locals at the end and they talked about how challenging it had been to get the trail level and told some stories about folks who had used the trail that they new about. It's the most remote, wildest, accessible trail we had ever seen -- and very cool.

Back in town, we dropped Suzy off for a massage and the rest of us toured about Ketchum, wrapping up dinner shoppings. We had agreed to give Suz the night off -- and our menu was cedar planked salmon, sauteed squash, tomato basil salad (with tomatoes from our garden!), and rice, plus gingerbread (courtesy of Suzy).

Tomorrow we head back to Atlanta and back to school weekend -- one week away. Talk about a juxtaposition.

Hike to Fourth of July Lake

Yesterday we headed north for about 50 miles to the Sawtooth Mountains and did a great hike up to the Fourth of July lake. Last year's fires scoured this area and driving the ten miles from the highway we traveled through burnt stands of pine and aspen. The aspen are regenerating madly (some plants more than 5' tall) and the wildflowers are intense. Great stands of purple flowers scattered through the tall skeletons of trees.

The hike itself mostly went through unburned territory but evidence of that fire and previous ones was omnipresent. The lake itself was beautiful and there were fish jumping enthusiastically at the hatch of caddis and grasshoppers. Too bad we had no rod although many of the hikers we met were carrying their's in. It looks like a popular backpacking area. Probably the last trips of the year, though. One backpacker mentioned being chased off the mountain last year on Sept 1 by snow and indeed, there were remnants of last year's snowfall still populating the higher peaks. It gets cold here at night -- 44 this am when Alan, Suz, and Rick got up to wish Jim off.

On our way back, we lunched at Galena where Jim was crushed to discover no River Bend lager -- they were reserving their last keg for a wedding that night. We consoled ourselves with other beverage selections and the usual tasty food, including the favorites french fries. At our table outside, the hummingbirds buzzed overhead -- not very far overhead! -- and battled for dominance at the feeder. A big green one appeared to be the boss.

Last night's dinner featured delicious lamb chops and a special bottle of wine Alan procured in honor of Jim's last night -- a magnum of Elderton Command Shiraz, which tasted a berry pie with a hint of mint. Yum. "It went awfully quickly," Alan said ruefully just now.

More flickr photos.

Arriving in Sun Valley

Yesterday we got up early for the flight to Sun Valley. Left the house at 7am and arrived here at 12:45pm--it's amazing that you can cross the country in about the same amount of time (or less) that it takes to get to Vermont. Suzy and Jimmy have the same great house and we settled into "our" bedroom with great enthusiasm.

It's unusually wet here (seems like it's that way everywhere but Atlanta), so there are wildflowers even in August, which is very unusual. There is a lot of damage from last year's fires and there is also a beetle infestation that is killing large swathes of trees.

Took a short hike yesterday and Alan is off fishing this morning at Silver Creek. Unfortunately, we discovered on packing for this trip that a whole bunch of reels and rods had been stolen from our fishing bag on our trip back from Vermont -- likely in Burlington when we had the delay. Really a bummer as the equipment isn't replaceable.

Tomatoes

Came home to our first crop of tomatoes.  So, far five of the plants are producing -- three prolifically -- while two died or were pulled and two haven't fruited.  One of the producers is wilting badly, however -- I may have to pull it, at least away from its neighbor which is the best producer.

Day at Sea Ranch

After a great night's sleep, we got up this morning for coffee and email overlooking the ocean. A fawn and doe wandered by as our brains gradually accustomed themselves to the prospect of another day (luckily, Jenn wakes up as slow as I do). After a bit, we went down to Jenn's aunt and uncle's house for another cup of coffee and general catching up.

The day was misty, with fog covering the houses at Sea Ranch, when we set out on our coastal walk. We headed north past the seals, who were doing their usual reclining on the rocks (Jenn remarked that humans really hadn't figured out the best approach to life), and continued on for a good bit before turning around. Total walking time was about an hour and a half. Good thing Jenn's aunt gave us sunscreen as we both got sun, directly and through the clouds.



After our walk, we headed north to Mendocino -- a curvy drive along US 1. Jenn's been a trouper doing all the driving. I enjoyed the views and examining the towns passed along the way. It gets pretty remote up there and there was ample evidence of the recent fires, with signs thanking fire fighters along the road. Once in Mendocino, we got lunch at a nice restaurant (shrimp with artichokes and pasta for Jenn, fish tacos for me) and then walked around touring art galleries and shops. I got a scarf and a small something for Alan (not to be disclosed here!).

Stopping on our way back for basil and mozzarella to go with tomatoes from Jenn's aunt, I found my favorite chardonnay. Sorry, Alan, TSA won't let me bring any home!

flickr

On the road again....to California

For once, I was the one leaving Alan behind in Atlanta, heading off to California to visit my friend Jenn who had a week off from work and needed a playmate. We are currently up at Sea Ranch at Jenn's Mom's house, which is beautiful. It's a lovely area, right now under its customary morning fog. We hope to have a bit of a hike along the coast in a bit. For now, coffee beckons.


On our way up, we stopped in San Franciso to see the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young. It was a kind of retrospective of his work over the last 25 years. I particularly liked some pieces that were inspired by Indian baskets. Those didn't photograph that well, though.


Jenn's daughter is currently in Beijing playing with her high school band as part of the festivities. Sounds like the Chinese are being rather restrictive with their activities, including not allowing them any audiences for their performances at Tianamen Square and the Great Wall. Not surprisingly, when allowed out for the women's soccer match between China and Sweden, they rooted for Sweden. :-) Unfortunately, China won.

These are some shots from last night's sunset.

Georgia on our mind

We are coming -- sadly -- to the end of our camp stay, but have enjoyed the time here and with family and friends. As Laura and her family took their leave Thursday morning, we prepared for the arrival of Thomas, as friend from Atlanta, who was enjoying a northern car journey. First time for Georgia plates at Camp! Thomas had the chance to enjoy a sampling of camp joys -- swimming, boating, kayaking, puzzling, and, of course, eating, particularly at Quimby's Friday night lobster cookout. Our tablemanaged to put away four lobsters, thank you very much, plus steak, amazing bean salad, and the usual wonderful clam chowder. Ah, and Thomas was introduced to the joys of Quimby's spice cake. After dinner, we sojourned down to Big Rock for an amazing sunset; it is so wet here that there was a small stream flowing beside the road to Big Rock. So, so wet. Hiking is just not fun or advisable given the damage to the trails.

Come morning, we all got up early and decided to head over to Coaticook for some coffee and a glimpse of the bridge across the gorge, the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world, according to the sign. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the farms in Quebec are just so gorgeous -- we enjoyed the drive.

Back at camp, Thomas took his leave and we headed over to Colebrook for lunch at Howard's (lamenting the loss of Bessie's Diner all the way). Afterwards, we wandered through Stewartstown Day and visited Hans at the arts fair. We hope to hook up with he and Inge in September when our visits will overlap.


The final highlight of the day was finishing the balloon puzzle that Beverly had started. She did the ballons...leaving us the green trees. Thanks, Bev. :-) It was truly one of the harder puzzles I have ever done.

Last night dinner was succulent -- Jacques' beer can chicken prepared by Alan. Yum!