Whew, it’s been a few days. I am back safely from Further Confusion 2013, which was completely awesome. The staff really did a bang up job for their GoHs (and I’m not saying that just because they flew me first class, although dude! Did you know you get REAL SILVERWARE?!?) took us to a really fabulous dinner—great people, great chatting, some of the best truffle mac ‘n cheese ever. I had a great time, got to see lots of friends and fans and hang out.
Sadly, I started to develop the plague pretty early on—first class is still in the circulating germ-tube that is a plane cabin—so by Saturday I had completely lost the upper registers in my voice and sounded like I’d been smoking Camel straights since kindergarten. (I felt fine, I just sounded horrible.) Thankfully the con had front-loaded the schedule on Friday, so the only things where I was really excitingly raspy were a late night writing podcast (which Kyell Gold kindly invited me to sit in on.)
Con progressed, plague progressed. I’d do okay in the morning and flag by evening. Carlota swung by and brought me pho to fortify me. Monday I went out birding with Sofawolf and some fellow artists (got Northern Pintail, American Avocet, and enough Ruddy Ducks to wallpaper a battleship.) Birding was awesome, weather was painfully spectacular, I felt great, but that probably doesn’t count because I’d get off my deathbed for Avocets.
Anyway, long story short, fantastic con, have been laid up for several days afterwards with the plague. (Well, you hold it off by force of will, you eventually pay the price. But I was determined that FC was gonna get their money’s worth, because dude! First class! Also, birds!)
A big thanks to everybody who made FC so awesome—staff, art buyers, fans and friends. Fantastic to see you all!
At the moment it is mixed freezing rain and sleet here, the car is glazed with ice like a Krispy Kreme donut, and I’m not going out driving in that again today. I would have a hard time living in San Jose for various reasons—cost of living, price of gardening space, allergies—but man, I could do with some of the weather about now…
Originally published at Tea with the Squash God. You can comment here or there.
2013-01-25 05:43 pm (UTC)
2013-01-25 05:44 pm (UTC)
2013-01-25 06:17 pm (UTC)
I'm really, really glad I noticed movement in the hall outside the luncheon and did not take out your eye with a knitting needle. Objectively I know it was not that close of a call but... eek!
2013-01-25 06:25 pm (UTC)
Completely (or nearly completely) unrelated - what is your policy on people using your art for tattoos? I know you've said it at some point but I can't remember. I'm thinking Happy Cthulhu, possibly. It wouldn't be for a while anyway. But since I was talking about it the other day and you just posted I figured I'd ask!
2013-01-25 07:46 pm (UTC)
2013-01-26 02:25 am (UTC)
2013-01-25 07:55 pm (UTC)
There is a post somewhere from a pilot who "liberated" some of the first class silverware and kept it in his travel kit. Later on, the TSA wouldn't let him take it onto the plane, even though he was the pilot and there was a pile of the exact same silverware already on the plane.
2013-01-26 02:27 am (UTC)
2013-01-26 04:22 pm (UTC)
If you're moving to Michigan now, you'll be here in time for Penguicon! That's the end of April. I'm not sure where it will be, but also in the Detroit area. It started as a Linux con but has expanded to pretty much everything, with an emphasis on DIY and open source. Liquid nitrogen ice cream is always a big feature! There's a lot of overlap in the two cons.
2013-01-25 06:34 pm (UTC)
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2013-01-25 08:00 pm (UTC)
2. View photos.
3. Silently close browser tab.
Ok, that is an impressive looking bird.
2013-01-25 08:42 pm (UTC)
2013-01-25 09:26 pm (UTC)
2013-01-25 09:42 pm (UTC)
* I got several life birds on that trip, all ones that a beginner could identify from a field guide. With some effort. Because beginners are really lost in a bird book, figuring out how it's organized and so on. [I could go on for some time here about how much trouble I had figuring that the big white birds I first saw in Montana were White Pelicans. I thought pelicans lived in Florida.]
Edited at 2013-01-27 04:20 am (UTC)
2013-01-25 08:42 pm (UTC)
2013-01-25 09:43 pm (UTC)
2013-01-25 09:58 pm (UTC)
2013-01-27 02:01 am (UTC)
2013-01-25 10:21 pm (UTC)
So nice to finally meet you and Kevin face to face!
Glad to hear the con staff treated you so well.
If I hadn't been hamstrung by my bank, I would have bought a couple of Dragonbreatheseseses at least.
I hope you enjoy the cocoa kettle corn.
Get well soon!
Signed: That Giant French Dude
2013-01-25 10:50 pm (UTC)
2013-01-26 12:17 am (UTC)
2013-01-26 01:10 am (UTC)
... and ohGOD TASTY AHI... *drools*
2013-01-26 04:35 pm (UTC)
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2013-01-27 12:39 am (UTC)
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2013-01-27 05:29 am (UTC)
I have tasted, years ago, a pistachio/rosewater chilled confection that a friend insisted was Byzantine. It was good, odd, but very good.
I've been making sekanjabum - medieval gatorade, it's sometimes called. You take vinegar (white, red, cider, and you might add a dash of flavored balsamic) sugar and water, make a syrup, it's usually tart/sweet. Then you add mint/ginger and steep till it cools. If you can find lime mint it's astonishingly delicious! It is important to add this to water to taste when you drink it - I've seen the results of people trying to drink the syrup straight and it's entertaining for bystanders. I've tasted lemon/strawberry too, quite nice. Cold it's great but hot it's also quite nice when the weather's cold.
2013-01-27 06:58 am (UTC)
The lemon and rosewater is actually a cocktail recipe that I found and served at my wedding. Sake, syrup, lemonade, and rosewater. Makes a delightfully refreshing drink on a summer afternoon, although apparently it went down so easily it hit some of my guests a little harder than they had anticipated.
The sekanjabum intrigues me. Do you have a recipe?
...Huh. Suddenly my brain is screaming that I need to make chilled agar jelly and flavor it with rosewater. Possibly with some kind of lavender confection suspended in the middle. I need to remind that part of my brain that I'm doing my annual charity cooking marathon next weekend and really don't need more ideas, considering the vat of crepe batter I've got in the fridge right now.
2013-01-27 07:37 pm (UTC)
Sekanjebum. Well, my recipe (others vary, do try them) is this:
4 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups distilled vinegar
bring to a boil, hard boil for about five minutes to turn into syrup, turn it off
add 2 very generous cups of fresh mint leaf and the small stems. I love my apple mint, (could be a pineapple mint) and if you can find lime mint use it! One large, fresh, thinly sliced ginger and don't bother to peel it. Throw those in, cover and let steep overnight, then strain out the debris and bottle. Doesn't seem to need refrigeration because of the high sugar content but if it gets more water in it I'm told that will shorten the shelf life. Do remember to use this syrup cut with water - it's potent.
I have added a dash of blackberry infused balsamic or a vanilla/blood orange/fig flavored one I found at World Market - both are wonderful. I use the distilled vinegar and sugar because they have the least intrusive flavors and I want my mint/ginger and other additives to give the main flavors. I have tried a honey/lemon/mint which is ok, so is the lemon/strawberry which is better, but I keep coming back to ginger/mint. Chilled it's very refreshing on a hot day, hot it's very pleasing in cold weather and add horehound for a wonderful hot drink to sooth a sore throat and sniffles.
2013-01-27 01:55 am (UTC)
The vast majority were delightful and found many admirers--thank you so much! And I will likely be mentioning them on KUEC! (I liked the Jasmine Tea and Rosy Lemon the best.)
2013-01-27 02:54 am (UTC)
Oh, and I hope you finally did get around to the bread.
2013-01-27 05:19 pm (UTC)
Just remember: VISCACHAS!
2013-01-28 09:56 pm (UTC)
http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2002/07/4834/r
Aircraft air is almost always better "quality" than the air in the average office building as it is refreshed more often and better filtered.
It's more due to being in close quarters with a lot of people and very likely the dry air in the plane.
Too bad to hear you're joining the rest of us plague carriers -- I was down with it at the beginning of the month and it's been taking out all sorts of folks at work.