New Orleans and #ala11

Well, You can't come to New Orleans and not eat, right? So, after registering at the ALA Convention and checking out the Exhibits Opening Reception, we headed out for what we thought would be a quick dinner before ALAplay 2011. We spent 45 minutes in line outside Coop's Place with some charming young men (who were smart enough to pick up super-size beers before joining the line). Finally we were ushered into the sanctum, where the redfish was definitely worth the wait.


Apologies to Miss the Younger, who serenades me regularly with the song "One Mint Julep", because I promised to drink one for her. Coop's one mint julep was more than I could drink -- I can see how it could be "the cause of it all"!

On My Way... to ALA 2011

I can't wait to leave for ALA 2011 tomorrow - even if it does seem that I don't have half the things done that I need to before I go. It will be my first trip to New Orleans, but I'll be traveling with a fellow teacher-librarian who has spent a lot of time there (and has connections in the local music community), so we're sure to be spending time eating good food and checking out the music scene.

I'm looking forward to so many of the AASL and YALSA sessions, to networking with my Twitter buddies in person, and meeting some of my librarian heroes, but most of all to the chance to meet Paolo Bacigalupi!

THE NATIONAL PARKS: My Parks

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!!!

Yes, according to J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter is 29 today. Hard to believe. To celebrate, I took the Twitter "Which Harry Potter Girl Are You?" quiz. . . Hermione Granger, no surprise.

And what a wonderful day it was in Chicago! To celebrate my last official day of summer vacation, I took the Parkways Foundation's fundraising tour of the control house of Buckingham Fountain, where we each got to turn the seahorses on or off. I visited the main Chicago Public Library's new YOUmedia room for teens to tell them how much I love the "Not What You Think" campaign. I checked out the Chicago Model City at Chicago Architecture Foundation, and I shopped a little, too.

Finished off the day with my first visit to the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute. The art was fascinating, and the galleries showcased it perfectly; the gauzy natural light on the third floor is divine. My only complaint: the northeast corner of the third floor is a perfect vantage point to view Millennium Park's Lurie Garden, but the shades are closed until dark. Kathryn Gustafson and Piet Oudolf designed their "sunny plate" with a tilt toward the southeast sun, so this is the ONLY building with a perfect view of their lovely plantings. Surely just one shade open to the north wouldn't damage the collection? Shouldn't that view be considered a unique display for their Architecture and Design collection? No other museum has it, and they've blocked it.

Photos to come...

Fallingwater

Spent last week in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Talk about a cellular dead zone! I couldn't post or Twitter for days. But it was a wonderful week despite (or perhaps because of) that. I had never seen Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater before, so I finally took a side trip to tour it. A beautiful day to walk around in the Laurel Highlands, and to tour a home that makes the outdoor environment such a feature of the indoor environment.


Then my daughter made me an omelette with fresh eggs we bought from a neighbor that day, and the sorrel we weeded from my grandfather's overgrown garden. For dessert: she made a flaky, buttery pie crust with cherry-rhubarb filling, as fast as I could cut rhubarb from the garden. Food is never as good anywhere, as it is in the mountains!



I took Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan, along to read, but I confess I read a trashy romance novel instead. That's what summer away from school is for, isn't it? I promise to read Loving Frank next week.

I Love Animoto

I just adore Animoto for fast presentations. I recently created a board presentation, a travelogue, and a collection of family photos. It takes a fraction of the time it would to use PowerPoint or Movie Maker to produce a polished presentation with music. Tonight, I'm making another one!