now picnic

Howdy, Now Pinicians. I haven't forgotten about this whole thing - just lots of crazy sickness/tiredness/moving/working etc. Some parts are quite exciting, actually, but a bit draining.

I spent most of last week in Pittsburgh, sleeping, eating tasty food, buying and building IKEA bookshelves, etc. It was nice to be there for the Thursday night drinking of beers in the local pub. Yay for D's! Hopefully I will make it there tomorrow night - two weeks in a row!

I flew to Chicago ... Monday? Where I promptly dropped my laptop on the ground and busted it up, skinned my knee falling down walking up stairs (how 11 years-old of me!) and stayed up far, far, far too late working on a talk for this morning. (sigh)

A few links before I forget:

Blonde Venus. Saw it on Sunday with Spoons in Pittsburgh. It's a racy-for-1932 movie with Marlene Dietrich, from a time before the Hollywood Production Code was enforced. So, it opens with a bunch of nekkid chicks swimming in a pool -- nothing too salacious, but a lot of bare skin for 1932! There's also a 28 year-old tuxedo-wearing Cary Grant, if you like that sort of thing, and a bizarre pre-King Kong cabaret scene with dancing "African Natives," a chained monkey and a beautiful blonde. It was a fun movie to see in the theater, but I wouldn't rush out and rent it or anything.

Socca. Went there last night for dinner! Yay, tasty food! The Braised Lamb Socca was especially good: Chickpea flour crepe, braised lamb, marinated chickpeas, roasted red pepper and baby arugula salad -- the lamb was very tender and the sauce was amazing. The restaurant is named for the chickpea crepe/pancake in the dish, a southern French food.

So, I'm in Chicago right now (at the lab) but tomorrow I'll be flying back to Pittsburgh, then back to Fermilab next Wednesday or so. Southwest airlines and I are becoming bestest buddies.

// posted by kc @  10:15 PM   2 comments