There comes a time for everybody when true love comes your way. There comes a time for everybody

[hazelchaz]

Interlude. What happened between the convention at the beginning of November and the other one at the end?

There was this cosplay picnic in Santa Monica. By now you know I'm always a booster for the cosplay picnics -- I'm a great believer in the power of self-organizing social structures such as potluck parties and fan-run conventions. In this case, Cessie, whose nickname is "Kyuubi," wanted to have a birthday party at the beach. There were about 15 or 20 of us (depending on whether you count the parents and grownups) that came out for this picnic/party. (right) She asked if I'd bring the pink lemonade.

Her mom squawked at the idea of trying to make a birthday cake big enough for everyone. No problem -- a number of us on Cosplay.com pitched in, each making a cake with a different letter of her (nick)name. There was a bit of dropout, but we still had four cakes (K-U-B-I)! (left) There was a yellow or white cake, a cinnamon coffee cake, a big chocolate cake, and I made a Meyer Lemon cake. I had a mix from Trader Joe's, and I whipped up some lemon buttercream frosting for it.

Buttercream frosting is so easy -- a little butter, a little milk, powdered sugar, and a bit of flavoring (vanilla if you're not planning to make it any particular flavor). I used some lemon zest that I grated off of a lemon with my handy microplane grater. I say it's so easy because if it's runny, you add more powdered sugar; if you're having trouble stirring it, add a little more milk; and adjust to taste. Even I can handle it. I haven't seen the cake mix in Trader Joe's lately, but Fresh & Easy has something that looks like it's the same thing. I'll try it out sometime soon and report back.

I mentioned in my 2008-11-15 post the weekend of all the fires that we weren't sleeping at home? Well, it was that Saturday. The smoke from Palos Verdes Peninsula, the smoke from the fires above Malibu -- lots of smoke in the air at the beach at Santa Monica. (right)

We spent Saturday night at the LAX Marriott, our convention hotel. When we got up Sunday morning, there was a lot of smoke in the air, bits of ash in the pool deck area and so forth.

I took an exterior shot of the hotel -- the usual "establishing shot" -- because I wanted to try to capture the hazy quality of the light that morning. (left) And I've taken pictures of that tower before when it didn't seem nearly so yellow. (right)

We had to be at the hotel anyway, for our animelosangeles meetings. This was the second of our two Animé Los Angeles meeting dates that the hotel provided space for. Due to a combination of factors, we hadn't had that many effective sit-down meetings during the year, so this one was especially important; it was also the last big meeting before the holidays and the convention, so I really wanted us to get as many loose ends tied up as we could.

We started late. We ran late. I'm going to ask ala_mokita to set the agenda for our future meetings (the first one is in June, the second in September) -- I didn't realize that Exec the really, really needed to go over the hotel resumé draft in detail before the main meeting. And what I want to have in the future is for each Division Head to have rehearsed what they're going to present in the main meeting, so the general meeting goes more smoothly.

Oh, it was a good day of meetings, it was just a very long one. I think the system of "cover part of the agenda, take a break, reconvene" works well, because one of the most important things that happens at these meetings is the different departments talk to each other. The other two are we have the opportunity for new people to get involved, and everyone attending the meeting gets a feeling for everything that's going to happen at the convention. It's paying off -- remind me to tell you what "Steve Racer" said about the con.

I don't know the best way to get to the goal of having the Div. Heads rehearsed and practiced. I think what I need to do is take Christian's advice and talk to each Division Head once a week (once a month for now, then ramp up to weekly in the spring) and in the two weeks before the June meeting, we go over what they're going to present.

Year 6 is going to be easier to organize, as far as the use of the hotel itself goes -- almost everyone on next year's team was at this year's convention, and we all have a feel for how the hotel works. More on that later, when I catch up to January.

Then the next day I got on a plane for Indianapolis again. Did you know that MSP has mailboxes in the terminal (right)? So does Denver. At Indy's old airport (the one I flew into last time) they have them in the baggage claim area. I forgot to look when I got to Indy this time, so I don't have a report on their mailbox situation, but I continue to be annoyed that neither SNA or LAX airports have mail drop boxes. Clearly it's not because of a TSA edict!

While we were in Indy, we had dinner one night at a German restaurant called The Rathskeller. One thing I thought was very civilized was the basket of warm bread they brought: it included big soft pretzels (left). Very nice.

At home, I have a very large glass mug. A novelty item, it was purchased at Disneyland and it has "Sport Goofy" etched on the side. (It's actually the second one I've owned, because I had a similar one years earlier when I was living with my folks.) At least, I've always assumed it was a novelty item -- it holds a very large quantity of milk, almost half a gallon I think, which is how I usually used it.

It turns out that some people consider it barware, and with a perfectly straight face will fill it full of beer and serve it. (right) Well, you weren't going to catch me drinking that much alcohol in one night, not on purpose anyway. That strikes me as being something like putting two beers in the same glass, so you can get drunk twice as fast. I promise, honey, I'll only have one glass of beer.

I ordered something I thought would be much more sensible: a Belgian ale called "Piraat." (left) Clearly that's Belgish for Pirate, judging by the art on the bottle. Their beer menu describes it thusly: A golden colored ale with full aromas of honey. Full bodied with a crisp, clean finish. It comes in a modest 11.2-oz. bottle. And... they serve it in a brandy snifter?

For those who don't drink, the point to the snifter's tapered-inward sides is to catch the vapors -- the fumes, if you will -- so you can enjoy them to the fullest with your nose, as you gently sip your brandy. A strong, aromatic drink. Why would they serve this... wait a minute...

I looked at the other side of the label. It says Alc. 10.5% by Vol. Friends, that's a warning -- it's the equivalent of having a skull-and-crossbones symbol, or at least a drawing of car/keys with a red "NO" circle/slash over them.

I have some Josephs Brau Oktoberfest Lager in the fridge here at the house, which you would imagine is a hearty let's all get drunk together in the Oktoberfest manner beer. That one only clocks in at 5.3%. The other two kinds of beer I have -- and let me tell you, it's rare for me to have three bottles of bheer in the house, let alone three different kinds -- they don't have the alc./vol. listed on the label. Perhaps because they're not as likely to knock you on your teakettle. (The beerdrinkers are wondering what else is in my fridge: Negra Modelo and Stockyard Oatmeal Stout. No, wait, there's one bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale -- no alc. percentage listed there either -- and a Mike's Hard Lime, which promises 5% alc./vol.)

I also have some champagne in the fridge. Which is also served in moderate quantities -- skinny flute glasses, usually -- and it boasts its alc./vol. percentage is 11%.

So my "Piraat Ale" wasn't so much a beer, as it was a hoppy champagne that didn't have enough bubbles in it. Or maybe it'sh like two bheers in the same glash sho you can get drunk twice as fash. You know, I kind of wish I'd figured that out before I ordered the beer. I didn't drink all of it, actually -- any more than I'm likely to knock off a bottle of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum at one sitting. I guess naming it after pirates was the brewer's way of saying "look, it's the next best thing to drinking Yoo-Hoo and a Bottle of Rum, so let's put a pirate on the label."

Why was I back in Indianapolis? Oh, you know, the usual. To hang out with some other engineers. Real engineers, actually -- Ellen Taylor's an Electrical Engineer, for example. (She's getting married in the spring. Don't tell her what I'm getting her as a wedding present, okay?) You can see that Ellen has something in common with colleency -- keeping a "Razor" scooter at the office so she can scoot down the halls (right), just as Colleen did when she worked with me.

And no traveling story would be complete without me finding a place for a chorizo burrito, would it? Mary Jo and I flew in and out of the new Indianapolis airport. The new terminal is laid out with a big mall-like zone up front, before you get through the security checkpoints. And I found tortillas and chorizo and so forth at Qdoba. (left)

Next: Loscon!

Comments

[xkokuux.livejournal.com]

When you're in San Diego for the cosplay picnic in April, I need to take you to Stone Brewery here in Escondido. They have deliciously hoppy (though slightly alcoholic, since their beers range from 5.4% to 11.3%) beers, though if you're concerned about driving, I believe you can get little 4oz tasters. Their food is fantastic as well! They have a fantastic bitter beer and chedder cheese soup, which is to die for!

Stone

[hazelchaz]

Oh yes, home of the Arrogant Bastard Ale.

I met Tina Patricio and Jason Rosenfeld from Stone a few years back, at a charity thing...

I'd love to check it out. My plan is to rent a room Friday night, perhaps we can meet up then?