Ketchup, part two: Peoples is peoples
(That is a Muppets reference)
JAN
We have a
toft in town!
marginaliana and I enjoyed a leisurely brunch with her and her +1, J., before Thursday's snowstorm turned the region into barely navigable marshmallowland. We had only met once before, briefly, at Vividcon in 2010; it was a joy to expand on that.
OCT
While I was in San Francisco for a business trip,
rhoboat came over to hang out for the day. We hadn't properly met until Vividcon two months earlier, and I am glad we finally did, because rho is whip-smart and funny and engaging, employed in a field adjacent to mine, and generally an enjoyable person to spend time with in museums and foodie neighborhoods.
We visited the de Young museum on what happened to be a free admission day. They were hosting a special exhibition on the ancient Mesoamerican city Teotihuacán. Fascinating artifacts from a little-understood culture. I was particularly taken with a series of frescoes from an underground passageway that were painted in deliberate low contrast, according to the curator's card, all in shades of red, the pigments embedded with mineral fragments like mica so they would have taken on an unearthly sparkle as nearby pools reflected what little light was available.
This picture does not do them justice but may help with visualization. Click to embiggen:
Among other highlights, we debated the ethics and veracity of a collection of portraits of Māori leaders by a Czech emigré at the turn of the last century.
And I sympathized perhaps too much with this anxious figurine in a case of artifacts--mostly pottery with adorable animals--by unknown artists of the Mimbres culture, who lived in and around what is now New Mexico 1,000 years ago.
Afterwards,
laurashapiro was able to join for a delicious sashimi dinner and "yup, we're in San Francisco"-style ice cream. (I went for carrot halwa flavor.) Too brief a catch-up, but precious for its scarcity.
DEC PT 1
iggyw came to stay for a night during her own business trip! We secured takeout and chatted while Star Trek reruns played in the background. I continue to adore iggy and am glad when work or play takes one of us to the other's city.
DEC PT 2
When I lived in D.C., I used to visit
deelaundry & family almost every Saturday, so it was nice to fall into old, comfortable patterns when I visited for ~5 days over winter break. Poor Dee caught a cold and I am a bad friend when people are sick because my instinctual reaction is GET AWAY FROM THE GERMS AAAAH but it appears we are still on good terms, heh, whew. Anyway, we started to put their house back together after a renovation, ate a lot of tasty food as Mr.
deelaundry rejoiced in having a kitchen again, saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi and some Netflix movies, and played around with holiday gifts such as Paint by Sticker books.
Dee was scheduled to work the last two days so I hitched a ride into the city to see
cinco and her +1, R. Because they got married after I'd moved away, I mostly know R. through what cinco posts about her. As above, it was great to spend a few hours getting to know her a little more, from culinary expertise to diatribes about education policy. And I always love the chance to have substantive conversations with cinco. We browsed a new-to-us wing of Kramerbooks before embarking on a Thai and chai tour of 17th Street. My only regret is I have but one life to-- missing
alpheratz and the rest of the D.C. crew. Next time.
AUG
Okay, whatever, sometimes I think people are scary, and
hollywoodgrrl and
ohvienna are so cool that I had put them in the "too cool to hang out with" category at Vividcons past, but this time, this time I promised myself I would unload all of that onto them in a hopefully amusing way and then see if they wanted to have lunch. Which they did! The three of us and
corbae went for ramen between panels/vidshows and talked about I don't even remember what, but it was fun. While they are still effortlessly cool, I am pleased to report they are not scary.
In conclusion: fan friends in other cities \o/
Also: fan friends in this city \o/
Originally posted at https://bironic.dreamwidth.org/365287.html, where there are
comments.
JAN
We have a
toft in town!
marginaliana and I enjoyed a leisurely brunch with her and her +1, J., before Thursday's snowstorm turned the region into barely navigable marshmallowland. We had only met once before, briefly, at Vividcon in 2010; it was a joy to expand on that.
OCT
While I was in San Francisco for a business trip,
rhoboat came over to hang out for the day. We hadn't properly met until Vividcon two months earlier, and I am glad we finally did, because rho is whip-smart and funny and engaging, employed in a field adjacent to mine, and generally an enjoyable person to spend time with in museums and foodie neighborhoods.
We visited the de Young museum on what happened to be a free admission day. They were hosting a special exhibition on the ancient Mesoamerican city Teotihuacán. Fascinating artifacts from a little-understood culture. I was particularly taken with a series of frescoes from an underground passageway that were painted in deliberate low contrast, according to the curator's card, all in shades of red, the pigments embedded with mineral fragments like mica so they would have taken on an unearthly sparkle as nearby pools reflected what little light was available.
This picture does not do them justice but may help with visualization. Click to embiggen:
Among other highlights, we debated the ethics and veracity of a collection of portraits of Māori leaders by a Czech emigré at the turn of the last century.
And I sympathized perhaps too much with this anxious figurine in a case of artifacts--mostly pottery with adorable animals--by unknown artists of the Mimbres culture, who lived in and around what is now New Mexico 1,000 years ago.
Afterwards,
laurashapiro was able to join for a delicious sashimi dinner and "yup, we're in San Francisco"-style ice cream. (I went for carrot halwa flavor.) Too brief a catch-up, but precious for its scarcity.
DEC PT 1
iggyw came to stay for a night during her own business trip! We secured takeout and chatted while Star Trek reruns played in the background. I continue to adore iggy and am glad when work or play takes one of us to the other's city.
DEC PT 2
When I lived in D.C., I used to visit
deelaundry & family almost every Saturday, so it was nice to fall into old, comfortable patterns when I visited for ~5 days over winter break. Poor Dee caught a cold and I am a bad friend when people are sick because my instinctual reaction is GET AWAY FROM THE GERMS AAAAH but it appears we are still on good terms, heh, whew. Anyway, we started to put their house back together after a renovation, ate a lot of tasty food as Mr.
deelaundry rejoiced in having a kitchen again, saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi and some Netflix movies, and played around with holiday gifts such as Paint by Sticker books.
Dee was scheduled to work the last two days so I hitched a ride into the city to see
cinco and her +1, R. Because they got married after I'd moved away, I mostly know R. through what cinco posts about her. As above, it was great to spend a few hours getting to know her a little more, from culinary expertise to diatribes about education policy. And I always love the chance to have substantive conversations with cinco. We browsed a new-to-us wing of Kramerbooks before embarking on a Thai and chai tour of 17th Street. My only regret is I have but one life to-- missing
alpheratz and the rest of the D.C. crew. Next time.
AUG
Okay, whatever, sometimes I think people are scary, and
hollywoodgrrl and
ohvienna are so cool that I had put them in the "too cool to hang out with" category at Vividcons past, but this time, this time I promised myself I would unload all of that onto them in a hopefully amusing way and then see if they wanted to have lunch. Which they did! The three of us and
corbae went for ramen between panels/vidshows and talked about I don't even remember what, but it was fun. While they are still effortlessly cool, I am pleased to report they are not scary.
In conclusion: fan friends in other cities \o/
Also: fan friends in this city \o/
Originally posted at https://bironic.dreamwidth.org/365287.html, where there are
comments.