Travel

• Before I left, it was pouring, and I fell, twisting my right ankle and landing on my left shoulder. They are still swollen and bruised, respectively.
• Instead of the usual US67, I drove IL336/US61 to avoid flooding in southern Illinois. All the creeks and rivers I crossed were swollen and moving fast. Later, I found out I missed flash foods and the closing of US61 in Hannibal by less than two hours.
• Just after Jeff and I began our light rail trip from PDX to downtown Portland, a homeless hipster wearing a suit hopped on the train. He discussed drunken escapades and compared shelters with a fellow who got on a few stops later, then handed out cigarettes to a few people. We saw him two more times during the trip–once smoking a gigantic cigar.
• Best travel experience: a cab ride with Radio Cab’s Bobby A., who drove his cab at 99.9% of its limit and punctuated our conversation with a serious of “You guys” and other colorful expressions. My gut hurt from laughing when our trip was finished.
• Our return flight from Denver to St Louis was delayed because of flight crew issues. The Frontier agent herding passengers said to nobody in particular, “This hurts me more than it hurts you–I’m supposed to go home now!” Jeff scowled and fired back, “What? So are we!”
• “We have a full flight. Help us out–we’ll gate check your bag for free,” announced the Frontier agents every time we boarded the plane. Doubly absurd: (1) they want $25 for a bag each way, and are surprised when nearly everyone carries their stuff on; (2) they expect travelers to wrangle bags through security and to the gate–and then check them?
• Going home, I got out of STL at 7.20p. Drove by a few fast food places and decided to skip them all–I bought a quart of milk and drank that instead. Arrived at 10.30pm to a dark house and sleepy girls.

Breaktimes

• On our way to the gardens in Washington Park, we came across the Oregon Holocaust Memorial. Incredible. I thought about it the rest of the day.
• Between pubs Tuesday, Thomas bought a long-sleeve shirt at the American Apparel store, while Jeff and I stood around and looked completely out of place.
• Wednesday morning, we enjoyed R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated and a nice roster of contemporary artwork at the Portland Art Museum. I could have stayed at the museum a lot longer; I particularly liked the photography.
• After a fellow with a oversized hat and neon-green sunglasses walked by us late Tuesday, we begin rating the hipsters we encountered on a 1-10 scale. Portland is thick with ‘em. It would be easy to generate a year’s worth of material for LATFH in a weekend.

Bars and pubs (in order)

Deschutes Brewery Public House: we got there around 7.30p on Tuesday, and it was swamped: line out the front door, and just a few seats at the bar. Excellent beer (cask bitter!) and good food, too–elk meatball appetizer and mussels. Jeff and Thomas got elk burgers.

Henry’s 12th St Tavern: we visited several times since they had a long list and it was close to our hotel, Park Lane Suites. Solid pours, and good service, but very noisy, and too many beers on the list were out. I almost left my laptop there Thursday night; returned to find it hiding under our darkened table. (Whew.)

Laurelwood NW Public House: our first stop Wednesday. We ate on the porch, enjoying a very fine roster of beers which, though they were similar styles, had excellent differentiation. Small samples (3oz), so we got two trays. Thomas particularly liked the red ale; I preferred the Hop Monkey IPA. Very good food; we all opted for the fresh greens with our sandwiches.

New Old Lompoc: our first (and most surprising) disappointment. Nice to see hops growing outside, but the place was very grimy, with people smoking on the patio and sticky menus. Worse, several of the beers had quality issues. We were in and out in less than an hour.

Lucky Labrador Beer Hall: a huge place, almost empty in the early afternoon. I’d been to the original pub on Hawthorne years ago, and remembered that I used to have a Stumptown Porter shirt. Generous samples, almost half-pints. Roots “kolsch” was really a gruit (which is why Thomas and I complained about it). We munched peanuts and enjoyed the “Super Dawg” IPAs.

Living Room Theaters: waiting for Tugboat to open, we stopped here so Thomas could get an espresso, and discovered they had Ninkasi on tap. I had water.

Tugboat Brewing Company: very disappointing. No pale of any kind on tap–in Portland, Oregon?!? Fewer than 10 handles. I liked the cheesy books at the table, and the great slogan: “Small, dependable, hard working”–but no sample pours, and lousy ESB. I left half of my half-pint on the table.

Bailey’s Taproom: across the street and miles ahead of Tugboat, a fairly new place with a very diverse roster of taps (about 20) with one of the few sours we enjoyed on the trip (Cascade The Vine). They offered sample trays, and again we got two, with a super variety of styles: Upright #4 saison, Fourth St Vienna Lager, Cascade Imperial Wheat IPA.

Harborside Pilsner Room: nightcap for Tuesday. We arrived fairly late, after our trip to Salty’s and back (see below), shortly before the place was closing. Terrific location right on the Willamette River. They offered a variety of Full Sail beers and a few guests on tap, which was fine, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Horse Brass Pub: the first place we visited Wednesday, after a long wait for the eastbound bus after leaving the museum. We had half-pints and a plate of outstanding fries–hand-cut, skin-on, nicely seasoned–then returned after lunch at ¿Porqué No? to find several beers on tap not there when we first arrived. Nice conversation with our server. I particularly liked the Beer Valley Pigskin Pale (cask) and the Double Mountain kolsch–very close to style.

Belmont Station: beer nerds’ heaven. A small bar connected to a store jammed with amazing beer. To support the Oregon Craft Beer festival, all their taps but two were Oregon beers. Amazing stuff. We each had three different half-pints. Heater Allen Isarweizen: wow.

Hopworks Urban Brewery: got here at the wrong time; the place was jammed and our palettes tired after Belmont. We had a half-pint and headed out for dinner.

Food

Portland Bagel Company: flavorful, light bagels and pastries. Thomas and Jeff split a bear claw, and raved about it. But whatever they were using to mop the floor just wasn’t cutting it. Sticky: ew.

Salty’s: recommended by our waiter at Laurelwood, right on the Columbia River near PDX. After a $30 cab ride there, we guessed the place has been riding on reputation for years. Menu, decor, and food right out of 1978. Way overpriced. The waiter was overbooked and the service slow: as Thomas said, you could tell he had just given up. Thankfully, the wine list was good and the sommelier helpful.

Kornblatt’s Deli: unlike PBC, traditional bagels, doughy, chewy, and more my style. Excellent service at this “breakfast all day” deli I’d visit regularly if I lived in the neighborhood.

¿Por Qué No?: amazing tacos. We got there just after 1:00 and there was a line–and there was still a line when we left. Not a minute after we’d been in the place, a server put pints of Hopworks Red Ale into our hands. Sooooo fresh and delicious: guac, chips, fish tacos, pork tacos. And very reasonably priced.

Ten-01: Thomas picked this restaurant. Outstanding service and very good food. I had halibut, and it was perfect: buttery, crisp on the outside, flaky, tender and juicy. Excellent desert wines, too.

Next time:

• Amnesia Brewing
• Country Cat
• Green Dragon
• Hair of the Dog
• Hop & Vine
• Malay Satay Hut
• McMenamins Edgefield
• Produce Row Café
• Saravesa
• Traveling with my girls

(Pictures belong to Jeff. Check out his posts, too.)

• Good sessions. I didn’t skip a single time slot. I enjoyed Bump Halbritter’s talk, which used Donald Murray to talk about what it means to be innovative (rather than just saying, hey, what I’m doing is innovative). The research project Shirley Rose, Barbara L’Eplattenier, and Lisa Mastrangelo, are starting looks fascinating–updating surveys about WPAs from the 1980s. Several interesting discussion sessions focusing on dual enrollment. And I was very interested in the MA in Teaching Writing Michelle Sidler and Elizabeth Woodsworth are developing at Auburn and Auburn Montgomery.
• On the other hand: I went to (part of a) session which began with the presenter complaining about the hotel, apologizing for the poor quality of the talk, and distributing a handout which approached something completely different than the program. I suppose I should be used to this by now, but it still irks me. I left and found something better.
• My panel, with Jeff and Joe Bizup, went well, and I had good follow-up conversations with John Brereton and Jim McDonald. More on that soon; I’ve got more ideas about the slow numbers we’re seeing at Western–given that many others are dealing with similar issues.
• Time well spent with Susanmarie Harrington, Duane Roen, Chuck Paine, Charlie Lowe, and many others. I also met Dylan Dryer and Carra Lee Hood, both recently published in Composition Forum.
• No running–I’m still resting my feet and hoping I don’t have a serious case of plantar fascitis. Until today, I’ve had no symptoms, but this morning my right foot is bugging me for no apparent reason. I rode a stat bike once, and I’m getting home early enough today to ride as well.
• As usual, traveling with Jeff suits me. We both get up early, and we both like to eat. Thursday we headed to Monk’s Cafe right after we hit Philly. Mussels, belgians, sour ales, yum. We split veal sausage and duck sandwiches. Walking back to the hotel, I spotted a Russian River handle at Tria. It turned out to be Russian River Registration. Jeff nearly leapt over the bar. “We’ll take two!” Delicious.
• Given that I seem to have survived eating red meat, I may have to try some more soon. It’s been a while.
• Friday, the WPA organizers wisely skip hosting a meal, so everyone gets to enjoy the city. I went to Eulogy and Triumph with Jeff and Michael Day. Russian River Consecration at the former, and IPX, a good double IPA, at the latter.
• We left the hotel this morning at 9.10am. Thirty minutes later, we were at the airport and through security. Wow.

Kudos to Linda Adler-Kassner, Eli Goldblatt, and the other CWPA folks involved; they did a fine job. I don’t remember hearing where next year’s conference is. But I expect to be there.

I’ve been sitting on some odds and ends blogging for a few weeks now. Time to catch up.

We stayed in Macomb for Thanksgiving this year. My parents visited Monday through Friday. They arrived late Monday and left early Friday, which means we only saw them three days. I wish they would stay longer. But we are happy to see them. Madelyn and Amelia got along great with Grammy and Grampy, and didn’t terrorize their dog Scooter too much. Tuesday we hung out; Wednesday we took a daytrip to Galesburg for the childrens museum and lunch at Landmark; Thursday we cooked and ate. The whole time (and all break week) Madelyn resisted naps like crazy, which means my parents got to see her in full-on spaz mode. More than once, my mom looked at me as if to say, “Um, you were a little hyper, but this girl takes the cake.” Yes she does.

What did we eat for Thanksgiving? I cooked a pair of chickens in our (salvaged from the trash) electric smoker. Erin roasted potatoes, onions, and brussels sprouts, and made whole wheat buttermilk rolls–a day after she made a cheese and butternut squash strata. So. much. bread. But I loved it. For dessert, Erin made apple-cranberry pie, pumpkin pie (using pumpkins from our yard, though not the tree pumpkins), and I made vanilla ice cream. Yum, yum. Since then, I’ve been trying to put in some extra miles–and not by making trips to the refrigerator.

After my parents left, I spent Thanksgiving weekend grading (web projects and essays), watching football, and doing laundry, with some break time to take care of the girls.

And speaking of football, it is championship Saturday. Big East (de facto), Conference USA, SEC, and then the Big 12/ACC double bill. Obviously, I’ll be watching the SEC championship attentively. For me, neither Florida nor Alabama have distinguished themselves in the manner they did last year, and the game could go either way. Poo on Carlos Dunlap for getting loaded and kicked out of this one. But last year, Florida beat Alabama without Percy Harvin. They can beat Alabama without Dunlap. And I hope they do.

Winter seems to have arrived, so we probably aren’t going to finish the back porch painting this year. We’re really close, though–just some touchups after the second coat. I’m sure our neighbors are much happier to be looking at the back of our house now. Right now I’ve got a few dilapidated storm windows in the basement for a quick couple coats of paint. Just hoping to get another year out of them.

I am still not brewing. Feh. I’ve had some conversations with some friends about a group brew. Maybe that’ll kick me in the butt and I’ll get something going.

Edit 12/5: Alabama 32, Florida 13. I was wrong about Dunlap not being missed. Alabama played extremely well and Florida played miserably. The Tide were better in all phases of the game.

I stayed at Club Quarters, which worked out well: they don’t nickel and dime on wireless and stuff like a lot of hotels. Though I was sick for much of the conference, and passed on more sessions than usual so I could get some sleep, I was able to get a lot done in my hotel room and on the train. I heard a good panel on standards-based information security, and really liked the poster session, which included a team from Eastern Illinois who are working on software to automate captioning. Their project matches a provided transcript to silence/sound breaks in the audio stream, so synchronizing the two can be partially automated.

On Tuesday night I walked to Brasserie Jo with Jim La Prad. Bad weather, so we decided to stay close to the conference hotel. No disappointment. We ate small plates and appetizers–mussels, sweetbreads, baked Michigan brie (from what part of Michigan, we wondered), a fantastic quiche. And excellent beers: Dogfish Head sixty minute, which I’d never had off draft. Far more floral and complex than in the bottle. A farmhouse ale from Two Brothers and Bells Double Cream Stout were also great. Our last beer was the best: Flossmoor Station Brewer’s Whim IPA, a simply amazing double IPA, complex from start to finish. Hoppy and malty, a little sweet up front then spicy, even a taste reminiscent of rye in the finish. I read that Flossmoor is getting a new brewer; if this beer is representative, Matt Van Wyk will be a hard act to follow.

• I picked sessions poorly. I attended one real stinker and a smattering of presentations which were run of the mill. Only a few good ones.
• Some of the “presentation” materials were shockingly bad. At one session, the presenter brought only 15 handouts. More than fifty people showed up. I saw too many transparencies which were clearly never tested, and completely illegible. Ugh. Bring your A game, folks!
• Christian Weisser and Sid Dobrin’s special session on rethinking ecocriticism (and writing studies as a whole, really) was well-done. I’m looking forward to Sid’s book.
• Nice work on web sites and crisis by Jenny Bay. Awful moderator, though, who let the first presenter ramble on–then truncated two talks which were far superior.
• Amy Patrick was a fine travel partner. We drove to and from St Louis to hook a non-stop flight. That was worth getting up at 3:30am Weds and not getting home until midnight Saturday. (Note to self: pay the five bucks for a water bottle once you get past security.) The Adante Hotel was cheap and solid, though the coffee was unusually bad.
• The IP caucus was pretty productive. I had a good talk with Kim Gainer about fair use and public reaction (blogs, messaging) to the Harry Potter Lexicon case, which I see as representative of common misconceptions about fair use.
• The Open Source SIG was even better, because we agreed to end the SIG and work under the IP Caucus umbrella.
• It was good to see Joe Weinberg and hear him deliver a sharp presentation based on his thesis–though I didn’t care for the discussion, which was mostly folks sharing “what I do in my classroom.”
• Good conversations with the Composition Forum crew. We’ve got a nice agenda for the rest of the year. I’ll break that out separately.
• Also enjoyed sitting down for breakfast with John Ronan, running with Bump Halbritter, wandering the city by myself, and chasing good beer at Magnolia, 21st Amendment and Toronado with Jeff. Toronado was simply amazing. Great beers, most four bucks a pint. On a Wednesday night, it was packed. Jeff and I stood for a while, then spied an emptying table the same time as two other guys. We quickly introduced ourselves, invited them to join us, and talked about beer, ridiculous housing costs in the Bay area, etc. Back to the hotel bar, the best was Anchor Steam for seven bucks. Rather than spoil the taste of Pliny the Elder, I went to bed.
• So. Much. Seafood. Every dinner for me. Fish and chips at Magnolia. Lovely ceviche then broiled butterfish at a Mexican place. Fish sandwiches. Shrimp. Didn’t make it to Chinatown for dim sum, though.
• The day I presented, I attended three panels with one or more no-shows. One of my co-presenters didn’t show up–and didn’t contact me. I’m disappointed about this, obviously.
• After my solo session Friday afternoon, I walked to Adaptive Path for Friday afternoon drinks. I met Rebecca and got a tour of the AP’s well-designed offices/studios/collaboratory from Jesse, then had dinner at Tadich Grill for dinner (broiled Pacific snapper: outstanding). Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Last night as I was helping Madelyn get ready for bed, she picked a very bad time to jump, and caught me in the eye socket just as I was bending down to fix a zipper or something. Holey. Moley. Did. That. Hurt. And of course it happened when Erin had ducked out to go to the store. Once I got the bleeding to stop and determined that nothing was broken, I calmed down Madelyn, parked her in front of Dora, and laid down with an ice pack. Amelia slept through it all. I was able to finish getting Madelyn in bed, but had a hard time falling asleep and a killer headache this morning. Coulda been worse, I guess.

Madelyn’s leap kept me from exercising today, but I’m planning a long run Saturday morning. Bumped into Doug at the track the other day–who I haven’t run with very much since my Achilles injury–and he offered to go with. We may be looking at some pretty bad weather, so I’m not sure if we’ll end up outside. A half-marathon at the Y? On their short track, that would be 171 laps. Hrm…

As 2008 winds down I have to start thinking about exercise goals for 2009. First and foremost is not getting hurt. To that end, I’ll definitely continue my more diverse approach to training, swimming and biking in addition to running. Ideally, I’ll find the time to exercise four times a week: swim, bike, speed work, and a long run. But since I didn’t make my goal of exercising three times a week this year, I’m not sure raising the bar is a good idea.

This Saturday is the “daal party” at Shazia and Rizwan’s, a lovely event with much delicious food and drink. Everyone I’ve talked to about it is very excited. I’m bring the Boulevard Saison-Brett which Jeff brought, and some Goose Island Bourbon County as well: big beers for post-daal conversation. I expect a nice end to a busy and enjoyable semester.

More things to write, but they’ll have to wait for now, since I’ve got a nice pile of essays awaiting me in Google Docs.

The first night keynote, in the pattern of conference talks which fail to take a position, but just “present issues,” was underwhelming. The plenary session the next morning was better, especially Dan Riordan’s talk. But the sessions were most rewarding; the “five minutes per speaker, no PowerPoint” format delivered. Every panel I attended was followed with a strong conversation, and while there were a few of the typical show-off or didn’t-listen questions, real engagement was the norm. Highlights: Karl Stolley on integrating free and open source into TC programs; Richard Johnson-Sheehan on sustainability; Gretchen Perbix on TC and IT; Jason Swarts on situatedness and software. And very good conversations afterward with Jim Dubinsky, Susan Katz, and other folks. No strong negatives at the conference, but a lot of little problems: very late posting of information on the web site, some unpolished presentations everyone had to sit through, lots of errors on name tags and in the program, a very cramped and loud hallway outside the session rooms.

Given that I had to do the conference on the cheap, I stayed in a hostel ($30) instead of the conference hotel ($130). Thursday on the way there, I drove through a neighborhood filled with Carribean restaurants, and I ate at a Jamaican place. Buffet-style. Lordy, it was good. Lentils, chicken, goat, red beans and rice, steamed vegetables, rice pudding. I plowed through a huge, heaping plate and pretty much didn’t feel hungry until we left Saturday morning.

The hostel was in a typical city neighborhood, a mix of rentals, beatifully groomed two-story houses, places a little run-down, small apartments. New BMWs parked next to listing Pontiacs. Lots of Somali and other African influences and people. A guy at the gas station where I bought coffee was selling sambousas. Beef, or I would have bought a few. I enjoyed the opportunity to get off campus a bit, though I imagine the folks I heard complaining about the shuttle ride from the airport wouldn’t have taken the bus with me. I was in a room with four beds, but had no roomies either night. And my room really did smell like diesel… thankfully, not the whole time.

But the best experience was two trips to Stub and Herb’s, once for lunch with my former student Joe Weinberg and later with Amy for drinks before the dinner session. They’ve changed hands about a year ago, and their Beer Advocate page reflects a lot of problems which I believe are no longer present. Let me put in a vote of confidence: about thirty taps with excellent variety, local flavor, and multiple beers I hadn’t seen. Our waitress was outstanding. When she began explaning something to me, I started to cut her off, then realized: this woman knows her stuff. I apologized and went on to have a great conversation with her. My bill of fare:

• Tyranena Hop Whore (Am Imperial IPA): powerful citrusy hops, nice balance of malt/hops, and bitter/flavor/aroma. Not aggressive up front, and stronger than it seems.
• Lift Bridge Farm Girl (Saison): lovely pale yellow-brown, with a little funk. Excellent.
• Two Brothers Cain & Ebel (rye ale): nicely hopped, with a little astringency from the rye. Lighter than I expected. Amy ordered one of these after trying mine. “I didn’t think I liked beer,” she said. “You need to drink my kind of beer,” I replied.
• Boulder Brewing Cold Hop (English IPA): very true-to-style English, not outlandishly hopped, pretty solid malt, even that touch of metallic flavor I identify with British beer.

Wish I’d gone back for a few more I didnt’ get to try (Surly Cynic, Flat Earth Onvi, St Croix Maple IPA), or made it to Town Hall. Next time.

Yep, that’s hops. I biked to Good Hope Gardens this morning to pick up a few things. On the way I found some hops growing on the side of the road, and clipped a few sprigs. They’ve made a fine centerpiece. I doubt they’d be worth much in beer; more of a plant aroma, and not very bitter.

Erin and Madelyn are in Colorado visiting Aunt Dee with Erin’s mom. So I’m trying to make the most of my solo time. Today, however, is a bit of a day off.

I ran a 5K this morning: 22:10 (7:09/mi) which is a personal best. Flat course, no wind, and decent weather. After I returned home, I mowed the front lawn and weeded (pic at right). Things are looking better. I’ll finish up tomorrow; by noon I was soaked, tired, and ready to quit for the day. But not before I got a little sunburned. I came in, showered, closed the windows and many of the blinds, and turned on the air. Sitting in a dark house, in the air conditioning, feeling the sunburn under my shirt reminds me of being in Florida, at Bits & Eric’s lake house or in the Keys when I lived there.

Our little homebrew club met today, and I shared some of my pale ale. Dennis poured a very nice California Common, and Jeremy and Bob shared a Samiclaus clone. Afterward, I went next door and listened to some country/folk music for about an hour. On my way out of there, I saw David Banash walking across the square. Took off to catch him before getting all my stuff buttoned up. Bad move. I dropped my cooler, which promptly opened and ejected beer bottles all over the place. Oops. At least I didn’t cut myself picking up all the broken glass.

Embarrassment aside, It was nice to catch up with David, since we’ve been in our own little worlds for the most part this summer. Of which, there’s a month left…