iSchools & Philadelphia

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It’s official. I won.

If you haven’t yet heard, I entered a video contest for the iSchools organization. It’s a global consortium of information science and technology schools. They staged a contest for promoting the organization, and selected my entry! I wasn’t able to announce it for a bit, because they wanted to do it first. But I’m allowed to now; I placed second.

On March 20, I’ll have an all-expenses paid trip to exotic Philadelphia and a generous honorarium. I’ve never been to Philly, but I have some friends there that I’m excited to see. If there’s time in between the conference talks, I’ll be sure to check out all the historical landmarks and take as many interesting pictures as possible.

If you’d like to see it, check out the winning video below. I do my best radio announcer voice, and V even makes a cameo!

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(Cape) Disappointment

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Location: Ilwaco, Washington (and various other areas around the Olympic Peninsula)

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Adventures rarely go off without a hitch. Despite countless months of rigorous planning and scheduling and attempts to prepare for any number of scenarios, there are always events outside of our control- unforeseen circumstances. That being said, we’ve never had a disaster quite like the one that occurred two weeks ago.

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Christmas in Chicago

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Location: Chicago, Illinois

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My family is from Chicago. Well, I grew up in the Northwest suburbs, but we spent a lot of time downtown. I’m usually averse to the crowds and tall buildings. I love green and the city is etched in gray. But, for some reason, during the holidays the city becomes beautiful to me. K had never been, and I simply had to introduce him to the city during this time of year.

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From the Recipe Book: Traditional Red Bean Mooncakes

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Mid-autumn Festival (中秋節) or Moon Festival is the harvest festival. It comes once a year on the night of the full moon from September to early October- the 15th day of the 8th month on the Lunar calendar. It has been celebrated in China and Vietnam for centuries and is one of the four most important Chinese festivals. Everyone has the day off to spend with friends and family, eat mooncakes, and sit outside to enjoy the beauty and splendor of the full moon. The holiday has a spiritual quality that comes from the ancient love story a beautiful woman named Lady Chang’e who ascended to the moon and became a celestial being representing fortune and peace.

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But, mooncakes, though.

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It’s Business Time!

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Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Last week, I returned home from my first business trip: Alexandria, VA.

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One of my biggest problems for this trip was that I simultaneously over- and under-packed. As you can see by my suitcase, I brought a suit and some dress shoes. I brought a bunch of dress shirts. And, of course, the attire after the first day reverted to business casual. When it warmed up, people wore shorts and t-shirts. I felt like the lawyer for a startup.

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Outside of that, there was little to complain about. The weather was moderate, maybe even nice. The hotel staff were obsequious and went out of their way to make us comfortable. The rooms were excellent, and I didn’t have to share with anyone else (a first!). Almost every meal was free, and fine cuisine abounded. I should have devoted some of these photos to food photography. Alas.

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Moving Truck Camping Part 2- The Blue Ridge Parkway and Boone

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Location: Blue Ridge Parkway Overlooks and Boone, North Carolina

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Alas, after our hiking adventures we had to press on towards our new home. Of course, we couldn’t resist picking an exciting route. We chose to travel 99% of the way entirely on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Why, you ask? Because it’s “America’s Favorite Drive,” of course! Well, actually, that and we didn’t want to have to drive more than 45 mph in our moving van, we wanted the road mostly to ourselves, and we wanted to make ample stops- preferably scenic ones.

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