Home cities old and new

What a phenomenal day! Many, many people were at the first day of the farmer's market today, but Susan and I spent the morning out on the porch with our coffee, reading the paper, catching up on e-mail, relaxing as music streamed from the iPod dock through the open windows of the house (David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging," from Lodger, is still in my head). Neighbors came over to join us for a bit.

The winters here are cold for some people, but I am so, so grateful for the beautiful spring and summer here, days when I can be outside and active, comfortably. It was in the mid-70's today, which is more summer-like here. So after our leisurely morning, we set out on our bikes to go a couple of miles down the bike trail to the Earth Day celebration at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. After browsing the tables and getting some leads on earth-friendly building resources, we came back past the house and rode on to the Weary Traveler, a neighborhood bar we hadn't made it to yet, for an early dinner. Like so many of the bars here (no smoking, yea!), they serve not only good beer, but good food; we shared the Thai Tom Ka Tofu soup, I had the Walleye sandwich with rosemary potatoes, and Susan had the vegan chili and cornbread -- all outstanding. Such a wealth of riches we have!

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But enough about my "new" city -- last weekend we returned to DC to visit with friends and family, about a year after our move to Madison. We flew in Thursday morning, and headed to the Eastern Shore to visit Susan's grandmother, Marion. We also got to see Aunt Kate and cousin Sammy! (Check out this picture of Susan and Marion -- some family resemblance, eh?) We also had a chance to stop in at 2 of our favorite spots in Easton: Coffee East, and Legal Spirits (for crab soup -- yep, Susan fell off the veggie wagon for that!). How lucky we were, that upon our return to Northern Virginia, we got to borrow Deb and Courtney's house while awaiting their return from Bonaire. Consummate hostesses, those two -- we were invited to make ourselves at home, and had at our disposal detailed instructions on everything from coffee-making to TV remotes (we made good use of the former, but chose their XMradio player for media instead)!

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On Friday, we had breakfast with my stepfather, Vic. This was a very significant event, as we hadn't seen each other for 15 years; it was great to re-establish that connection.

After breakfast, we went by a couple of Susan's former workplaces, Human Technology (not as scary as it sounds) and the Whitman-Walker Clinic. We also stopped by Susan's former neighborhood in Falls Church, and I literally wept for all of the perfectly good homes that were demolished in favor of new starter castles. It's one of the area trends that made us both want to move, and it only seems to be accelerating.

Food and friends was the theme of the weekend. On Friday night, Kyle & Peter allowed us to sate our long-deprived appetite for yummy food and margaritas at Austin Grill on Old Town Alexandria.

Saturday morning, we had brunch with Richard at Fireflies in Del Ray, then chili at Hard Times with Kris and Christina. Richard is one of the most influential people in my life, and although we aren't the best about regular communication, the connection remains strong. Kris is another of my oldest friends; we met in a traffic jam on the way out of my first (and last, thankfully) concert at Nissan Pavillion in the early 90's, soon after it had opened. This is a theme in my life, connecting with people around music... Susan introduced herself to me at a concert as well!

After lunch we met Kyle at Artomatic . If you're in the area, go; it's not as big as it's been in the past, but a much better space. These were some highlights for me:

• Rose Marie Salinas's birch paintings
• Diane E. Tesler's oil paintings
• Peeps on a train and the other Peeps art
• Aluminum can tab chair
• Christopher Chen photo
• "Walking Home with Pete"

Outside of the Artomatic venue (the old Patent Trademark Office building in Crystal City) before the show, Kyle was good enough to take a few pictures of Susan and I -- here's the one Susan submitted to her Lutheran high school reunion committee. :-)

After Artomatic, we went across the street to Roberto Donna's Bebo Trattoria for dinner with Richard and Michelle. I've never been to Donna's famous Galileo restaurant, but he opened this more casual Italian restaurant in Crystal City while its sister is being renovated. Most of the food was very good, although the service was pretty spotty.

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On Sunday, Eva and daughter Melissa treated us to breakfast in their new house. Eva is a single mom who just recently bought a house in the DC area -- Susan and I are both in awe.

We returned to Deb & Courtney's to relax before our gathering at Whitlow's. I think I spent more time with those busy girls on this weekend than the whole time I knew them in DC, and it made me just that much more appreciative of their hospitality.

Late Sunday afternoon we had invited friends to join us at Whitlow's on Wilson. We were so very grateful to have a great many friends take us up on the offer. We had a great time catching up, and I don't have words to describe how much it meant to see you all there.

While at Whitlow's, Courtney & Deb were exercising their substantial culinary skills on our behalf -- I know, how ridiculously lucky are we?! We enjoyed a fabulous meal featuring a salad with excellent homemade vinaigrette, roasted pepper soup with fried polenta croutons, and a main course of fettuccine with asparagus, shrimp, feta, lemon, basil... wow! I must admit, it was better than the meal at Bebo Trattoria - very impressive. (I made the sidecars!)

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You can find more pictures of our trip here, and I'll let you know when all of Susan's pictures are up.

Bicycles and Buffleheads

Susan is on retreat in Kohler, WI, celebrating 20+ years of friendship with Scottie, and I have been asked to tell you about our crazy bicycle ride in a hail storm.

(Ok -- it wasn't a hail storm.)

Last weekend, we were determined not to go to the gym. How determined? Well, temperatures had plummeted since the record-setting highs we enjoyed during Shelley and Natalie's visit, but when we awoke last Saturday morning we found ourselves basking in fabulous sunlight. Yes! In spite of seemingly unending forecasts of clouds and rain, we had sun! It was still only 30-some degrees, but we had sun! We could ride our bikes today instead of using the dreaded cardio machines at the gym.

So, we had our coffee. Ate breakfast. Read the paper. Put on our gear.

Um hmm. By the time we were ready, it was cloudy. But just cloudy. Neither of us fear rain, so off we went. We rode toward Tenney Park, excited to see that the Yahara River Parkway path, which will go all the way from Lake Monona to Lake Mendota with underpasses at major roads, has almost been completed. Amazing to think that we had not yet made it to Tenney Park, just on the other side of the isthmus from our home! (I'm telling you, it is amazing how much there is to do here!)


Of course, as we made our way out to the lock, it started to rain. As we proceeded out to the lake, and got excited about all of the water fowl near the shore (more buffleheads*!), it began to pour, and the wind was gusting, I dunno, maybe 30 or 40 mph.

Now, here's where I'm supposed tell you how we proceeded on our ride without hesitation. Except we didn't. I biked myself to shelter, Susan good enough to follow, though of course she had to take a few photos on the way. That's my girl!

So, out of the wind for a minute or two, a bit warmer, we shoved off, on our way, determined to get to State St. for shopping (gifts, yea!) and Chipotle (a shared guilty pleasure in this land of few chain stores).


Perhaps it was the promise of Chipotle that inspired us. But we rode back across the isthmus, short-cutted up Monona Terrace (again, a minute in the bicycle-friendly elevator to warm up...), out toward the capitol. Down the other side, toward State St. Still pouring, harder wind!

But yes! We made it. Bought our gifts. Ate our burritos in warmth, and rode back home, with a story to tell.

* bufflehead ducks are cool... they dive completely under water, and pop up several feet away!

An eventful week

I told you about our busy weekend last week, and it followed through to the week. Monday was my birthday, and Susan baked me a cake (she says the picture had to be bad because the cake was... but you can't fault her for trying the organic cake and icing, right?). She made a fantastic Senegalese peanut soup for my birthday dinner, though!

The beautiful flowers and locally-made card to the right were from our neighbors across the street.

This weekend was equally eventful, but in a different way... my first Wisconsin blizzard. We had about 7 inches of snow on Friday, another 7-9 yesterday, another 1-2 inches today, and another 1-2 inches tomorrow... wherever will we put it all?! We can only know that Susan will capture lots of it in pictures. (I really loved pictures of the DC snow by friends Deb and Greg - check them out!)

The best part of the weekend was the reinforcement of everything I love about our neighborhood... Neighbors helped us clear the walk and the driveway... had us over for breakfast after shoveling... welcomed us for veggie chili and home-brewed beer... for hot cocoa and cookies. Yes, yes, this is my place.

(Just for the record: Susan's chocolate chip blizzard cookies more than made up for the less successful birthday cake.)

Ok.... NOW it's REALLY cold (LaCrosse, WI trip)

Susan caught this... possibly malfunctioning... temperature reading during our trip north to LaCrosse, Wisconsin. We had gone up to see Peter Mulvey at the Pump House regional arts center. We had seen the Saturday date on the tour schedule and thought, "hmm, that'll make a nice get-away weekend, and we can see more of our new home state!" Of course, it was the coldest weekend of the year. Still, there was not precipitation, so a few extra layers and we were good to go.

We stayed at a terrific B&B in the historic downtown. The proprietor was very nice and her daughter was adorable ("the guests! the guests!" she said as we came downstairs). The room had lots of light and was comfy -- I picked it specifically because it lacked all of the frilly antiques of most B&Bs.

On Saturday we dropped off our things and wandered around town. We found key resources for a good weekend vacation: good music (Deaf Ear Record Exchange), good food (Hackberry's Bistro over the People's Food Co-op), good coffeeshop (Jules' Coffee), good bookstore (Pearl Street Books, next door to Jules', great used and new book selection).

Saturday night was the concert; Peter had a cold but sounded good and exhibited his typical wit. Fellow Wisconsin singer-songwriter Satchell Paige Welch joined him on the trip and on stage. The audience was, I think, mostly patrons of the arts center unfamiliar with Peter, so it was a pretty low-key affair.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast at the B&B, and headed out to enjoy some of the places we'd spotted the day before (coffee, music, coffee, food, coffee, books).

We had a couple of suprise treats on our way out of town. First, we stopped at Grandad Bluff, a LaCrosse landmark that left us grateful that the roads were clear enough for us to drive up and get great shots like this. From the top of the bluff, we could see into neighboring Iowa and Minnesota.

Next, we drove across the Mississippi River and up the Minnesota side from LaCrescent to Winona, as recommended by our neighbor, friend, and pet sitter, Kate. Even though the Mississippi is smaller up here, it is still impressive, and seeing it frozen over is rather amazing. And the bluffs all around, the ice clinging to them, a bald eagle... wonders everywhere.

Finally, on our way home, we accidentally found our way onto the scenic route home, and decided to stick with it - a fortuitous choice, it was a wonderful drive, and we'll likely go that way again next time.

In all, the weekend seemed to last for days -- we crammed a lot into it, but still came away relaxed.

Susan will have all of the pictures on Flickr soon... when she does, I'll post the link here.

Winter has arrived...

Originally uploaded by sfrikken.

Susan and I walked down to Lake Monona with Indy dog on this cold, snowy afternoon.

Lake Monona, winter

Originally uploaded by sfrikken.

Susan was out taking pictures in the first snow since October (!). Love this one of a foggy, snowy backdrop of lake behind the sharp image of the tree... she notes the "line of waterfowl, in the curve of the lake."

Capitol Peek

Capitol Peek
Originally uploaded by sfrikken.

Susan took this one! "Looking SW onto the Capitol Building from the US Bank Building on the Capitol Square."

Christmas, extended

Susan and I both received Amazon.com gift certificates from the family for Christmas, so we decided it would be fun to exchange them and buy each other gifts so we could still have surprises! I got my package yesterday, full of neat stuff.

I am thrilled to finally have the book Inspirability: 40 Top Designers Speak Out About What Inspires, which I believe I first drooled over at the Nat'l Building Museum. I admit, I was drawn in by the furry green hardcover, but the glossy, graphically fascinating interior pages also serve their subject well.

I also got Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises; Pieta Brown's latest CD, "In the Cool"; David Bowie's "Best of Bowie" DVD (can't wait to see the old videos again -- what is it about that guy?!); Stephen King's "Insomnia" (I was never able to keep up with SK, so Susan is helping me negotiate the better releases); and, most altruistically of all, "Blue Velvet" on DVD (I only had it on Laserdisc before... are you old enough to remember those?).

Activist girls

I told you about my appearance in the Wisconsin State Journal; one of Susan's comments was noted by The Capital Times:

One resident said the water killed her plants, while another angrily accused the Water Utility [sic] of not doing its job to provide safe drinking water for children. Still others voiced concerns about how contaminated water might affect people with already-weak immune systems, such as people with liver problems or those infected with HIV.

[Full article]

Arcade games and photo studios

Susan and I went to Michigan last weekend to join in the celebration of our nephews' October birthdays (Colin's 2nd and Braden's 1st!)! There were many great moments, but these pictures capture some of my favorites: Susan playing in an arcade with Colin; one of the photos of the birthday boys that resulted from an amazing amount of coaxing, pleading, tickling, and more from mom Kate, uncle Terry, and aunt Susan to get Colin to cooperate at the photo studio; and tuxedo'd, eyeliner-mustache-sporting Colin racing across the rec center gym at the Halloween celebration, sippy-cup in hand.

Pumpkins

IMG_4976
Originally uploaded by sfrikken.

2 of Susan's Halloween pumpkins. We had about 35 trick-or-treaters (many more than we ever had in Arlington), so it was fun!

Transitions

There has been so much change in my life this year. As you know, the move to Madison was a huge change... chosen, but still, leaving friends behind, and the city I had lived my entire life in, and a job I had dedicated myself to and grown in over 6 years (not to mention my earlier years at DOT in the 90's)...

Also recently, friends and family have diagnosed with cancer, and have demonstrated strength I cannot even imagine.

Our dog FleeWee, at 14 years old, has been going steadily downhill. We have tried a variety of medications to ease his pain and encourage his appetite, but he is still doing poorly. He will no longer eat even the treats that we sneak his pills into, so we will let him go on Monday. If you haven't already, please read our boy's story on Susan's blog.

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As I've indicated here previously, the culture at my current workplace doesn't suit me (very conservative and regimented), nor, I have discovered, does the project management field. I was not so unhappy with the job that I was actively seeking anything, but I thought it would be worthwhile to see what might come to me, so I updated my resume and left it online. There were the usual clueless recruiters who, having happened upon sought-after acronyms in my resume tried to lure into short-term positions in New Jersey, or engage me in work I haven't done for 10 years.

But in the midst of those was an intriguing opportunity to join a small startup company downtown (2 miles away - a short ride down the bike path) which provides managed network security services. It would be risky, for certain, working for a startup. But the work! The work is exactly what I want to do. As the Director of Managed Services, I would be stepping into a position just created for this growing company. I would establish processes (using my knowledge of and interest in ITIL) for better customer service. I would supervise and mentor about 20 engineers, and design training and review systems to help retain them. I would evaluate their technology infrastructure, make recommendations, and implement them. And all in an environment that the founder/CTO calls "aggressively casual" -- I can wear jeans every day, and I won't even have to press them. (Being able to wear jeans to work is no small benefit with the winters here!)

I'm sure you can tell how excited I was about the opportunity. But I'm risk-averse when it comes to my career, so everything had to be perfect for me to take a chance on a startup. But after 3 interviews (founder and CFO, a team of other managers, and finally the CEO) over several weeks, they made me an offer. I negotiated a package that made me feel as comfortable as I could in such a circumstance (including a professional development budget so I can keep my skills current just in case), and I'm taking a flyer on this opportunity.

Thanks to those of you who served as references! I am especially grateful to Susan for being so supportive... with her new job as business manager at Gail Ambrosius chocolates, we will now both be working for new small businesses... yikes! I think Susan's is far more likely to succeed than mine (I expect my new company will. like most IT startups, either fail or be bought out by a larger company), but I am hoping to at least get in a couple of good years of exciting work while continuing to grow my skills and network in Madison.

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So, yeah, lots going on, happy and sad. Thanks for listening, again, via this impersonal medium. I want to hear what's going on in your life too... comment on this blog, email me, give me a call, whatever works for you!

Susan and Fleewee

Susan and I have an older dog, Fleewee, who is struggling quite a lot these days, and we with him. Susan wrote a beautiful blog post about Fleewee that left me sobbing, both about Fleewee's troubles, and Susan's compassion. She's also posted some recent pictures of our boy.

Catching up!

Since our move to Madison, I've found it difficult to share all that I want to share with all of the folks I miss. This blog seemed to be the richest way to capture my thoughts and experiences in Madison. I will, of course, still be in touch in a more personal way, but this will help me share all the little details that I couldn't otherwise share with all!

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As many of you already know, Susan and I have been loving the house and our new neighborhood. Madison is, so far, every bit of what we sought -- a beautiful, small city with plenty to do, but still friendly and neighborly.

Our neighbors are the best! As an example: Susan's dad has been battling liver cancer, and finally got a donor liver 2 weeks ago (he is doing very well -- see the Friends for Terry blog for details). We had to make a hasty departure to get to Michigan for the transplant, and we quickly had several neighbors volunteer to take care of the cats in our absence. Another neighbor went to our favorite (so far!) breakfast place (Lazy Jane's) and brought us back scones for the drive as we were packing.

Our street has quite a mix of people: young, old, single, couples, married, unmarried, families, etc. They all introduce themselves, invite us over, and actually talk to one another (a recent study shows that lack of community is far from a DC-only phenomenon). On one side of us, a retired couple that bought their house for $14,000 many moons ago! On the other side, a wonderful couple with 2 really sweet daughters (here's Hannah with our dog Indy). Across the street, another lesbian couple, both teachers. Throughout the neighborhood, there are children of all ages, and you can see how the families spend time together. Especially great to see lots of dads out with their kids, more than I've ever seen. There are at least 2 stay at home dads just on our block.

The neighbors are not happy because of the condos being built on the street behind us. We laugh because in Arlington, huge buildings were flying up everywhere, and in no time. The disputed condos are 4 stories high and don't look any more done than when we bought the house a few months ago. I think it's smaller than some of the starter castles in Arlington. :-)

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Another thing very different from other places I've lived: people have a lot of joy in their gardens. I mean, every house, from the most modest to the most extravagant, has flowers everywhere. Not manicured, landscaped types -- these are the owners' hard work! We figure that maybe the long winters make people want to see their yards really POP in the springtime! Right now there are daisies, irises peonies, poppies, and lots of wildflowers. One neighbor down the street says when his poppies are done blooming we can take some of his pods for our garden. We have a great lilac bush in the backyard that reaches up to the back balcony and smells great; everything is leafing out in the yard, very lush. We even have raspberry bushes if they survive the dogs! We are also a short walk to Olbrich Park, which features a huge botanical gardens (and boat launch and ball fields).

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I have been doing lots more bicycling -- getting serious, bought bicycle shorts and everything! It's so nice to be able to ride and worry less about cars. It's a bike-friendly town too, with bike lanes on the busier streets.

Good thing I'm getting exercise because I have been enjoying the food here! One of the Wisconsin delicacies is cheese curds . They're awesome! I knew this move would challenge my low-fat diet...! But, the good news is, I've been able to avoid having too much of the frozen custard (which is even worse for you than ice cream), because I am loving the gelato at Java Cat, one of the zillion local coffee shops. They make it fresh on the premises, and it has 1/3 of the fat of ice cream (so you can eat 3 times as much). Lots of great flavors, everything from lemon to chili-chocolate to almond to berries and cream.

We went to the Dane County Farmer's Market (rumored to be the best farmer's market in the country) a few weeks ago -- rode our bikes, of course! We came home with ridiculously cheap, fresh cheese, cheesebread, scones, cookies, wild garlic, asparagus, tomatoes -- can't wait until the really good stuff arrives. It was absurdly busy though - hoards of people moving, ever so slowly, shoulder to shoulder, around the 4 blocks surrounding the capitol. Requires patience! And Susan had to break down and trade in the milk crate on the back of her bike for some proper gear for hauling all that stuff (who, me?!)!

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We've been seeing lots of good concerts; last week, saw Aimee Mann at the Barrymore Theater and Ellis Paul at Cafe Carpe in Ft. Atkinson, WI (see the link to my Flickr photos for some great pics of the tiny little club and its beautiful surroundings on the Rock River). Up next month are Garrison Starr at the High Noon Saloon and Peter Mulvey at Cafe Carpe and at the Folk on State outdoor concerts.

We also went to see the Madison Mallards, an amateur baseball team in the North Woods League which draws about 6000 people per game. They really have a good thing going there, the organization seems great, really puts on a good show. The team, however... we'll see!

When we're not running around too much I try to spend as much time as possible on our wonderful porch; the weather has been phenomenal!

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To the upper right of this post there are still more things that have been keeping me busy...

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