A Queer Mobile

Settling in back at home

I got back last night from my monthly trip west on business. While I was too busy to write much I had a marvelous weekend with my dear friend Diane Kaye, who arranged a photo shoot. One of her good friends, Mark Toal, is a professional portrait photographer. He showed us a number of his tricks while we camped out at Allied Arts in Menlo Park, CA. Here's a shot of the crew at work; for more shots, please check out the lot in this photo gallery.

I did tons of work on this trip, including working on a project plan for our development team for the next year or so. I'll probably head out again in about two weeks so I can confer with my assistant, who'll be returning from maternity leave.

Ray and Lori come for a visit

Our good friends Ray and Lori Janevicius and their kids Shelly and Marshall just took off. Ray's my best friend from college days; he's a hand surgeon living and working just west of Chicago. Marshall is heading off to a sports camp for a week in Dubuque, Iowa, so Ray and Lori decided to come visit - and I'm so glad they did!

We had a surprise for them on Friday night. Our local Japanese grill, Kaji, had a special visitor: one of the sous-chefs from Nobu, the renowned Japanese restaurant in California. He wanted to prepare a special prix fixe tasting menu, so John and I took everyone for a seven course experience. The result was awesome: stacks of poached lobster slices on grilled sea bass; Masuzaka beef and foie gras; duck confit ravioli with quail; a stack of raspberries, white chocolate mousse, and mint glass paired with yuzu sorbet (one of John and my absolute favorites!); and a deconstructed chocolate cake.

Yesterday we headed for the Indian Creek nature trail where we found two snakes, tons of butterflies, and about two hours of fun outdoors. Last night everyone pitched in to fix grilled shrimp over saffron-and-tomato risotto and fresh strawberry shortcake with locally grown berries. (The berries are orgasmic!)

We did a quick brunch today. Lest you think it was all about food, we talked into the evening, hung out in the garden, and Lori and I traded gardening lore.

Another update on Ki

We did a repeat blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test on Ki last week. Our excellent vet, Terry Moore, DVM, called me to say that the low protein diet seems to be working; Ki's readings are close to normal. He still has somewhat elevated liver enzymes, but Dr. Moore didn't feel that was terribly significant. I've got our tiny terrorist on his new grub - which he sort of hates - but then, he's never wild about any food for very long.

Heading to Newton

I'm so late in writing. As I wrote over a week ago John was part of the Iowa Sculptural Festival in Newton, Iowa last weekend. We set up shop on Friday 9 June, and the festival ran through the following Sunday, 11 June.

The folks running the Festival are incredibly helpful, organized, and nice. We set up in record time and took off for the afternoon. The highlight of the trip for me was an unscheduled visit to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Area. It's in Jasper County, Iowa, where Newton's located. After a half-hour drive through several small towns we reached the Refuge's border. From there we drove another twenty minutes or so through restored prairie that stretched on for miles. The interpretive center and laboratories were wonderful: they presented a walk-through exhibit about the various parts of a prairie ecosystem and detailed how the workers are continuing to restore the original ecosystem - including bison! (We didn't see any.) John and I were so impressed that we're planning to take a day sometime this summer to hang out there. The Refuge has extensive walking and driving trails which take you close to the bison and through unbelievable varieties of prairie wildflowers. I was surprised at the number of wildflowers that we have growing in our own garden - Echinacea of various sorts, for example.

Unfortunately the best weather was on Friday. Most of the weekend was fairly cold and clammy. I bundled up in the large exhibit tents and did some computing while John talked to a stream of visitors. As with most of these shows the proof of the show's success will come later if John picks up some commissions from folks who took his card.

I was a bit disturbed at the impact that we saw from Maytag's closing in Newton. Maytag was founded many years ago in Newton and it's been the heart and soul of the community. With Whirlpool buying Maytag the facilities in Newton are slated to close in 2007. There is a forest of for sale signs on houses through town. I'll be curious to see what the place looks like next year.

Mostly Lilies: The Garden in June

June has been a magnificent growing time. I've been out watering at times but we've had a great mix of warmth, sun, and rain - sometimes torrential!

John has the garden planted so that one burst of color follows another. Our lilies are just now beginning to open. Check out this new gallery to see. (We even spotted a Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar on the parsley. We decided he can eat whatever he wants...)

At the Iowa Sculptural Festival

John and I headed to Newton, Iowa, yesterday to set up his exhibit at the Fourth Annual Iowa Sculptural Festival. Festival patrons got an advance showing last night, and the show opened to the public today. It runs through tomorrow - I'll give an update once we get home tomorrow night.

Update on Ki

Ki and I visited our family vet, Terry Moore, last week. Terry's been John's vet for more than twenty years, and my vet for a decade. He did a detailed exam and looked over the lab results. Based on the neurological tests Terry thinks that Ki probably had a puppy stroke that left him with slightly impaired neurological function. He also put Ki on a low protein diet that should be a bit easier on his aging kidneys. Ki hates the food, of course: he's always a pill to feed. I'll head back in with Ki next week for a follow-up kidney test.

The Good Humor Man

I was in an absolutely foul mood last week. It was hot and sticky and none of my software was behaving. John came by in the middle of the afternoon to chat just a bit. I told him this wasn't a good time and went back to work. A few minutes later he came back in and handed me a popsicle, saying "I'm the Good Humor Man today." That moment made my day: I perked right back up.

Lesson: play the Good Humor Man for someone today. It may take an instant to turn around someone's day.