stevengharms.com

Lauren and I will be volunteering at Urban Gardens this weekend from 0930 - 1200. If you’re interested in coming along ( plus seeing me in a giant genuine Honduran straw hat ), let me know.

“een vrijwilliger?”

Such were the immortal words of my Dutch teacher when prompting us to hazard, more often than not, a guess at what the answer to some question was. The translation would be “a free-will-er”, or a volunteer. My work recently sent out an email letting us know about a volunteer opportunity that I thought was pretty interesting:

Urban Roots, a program of Youth Launch, has a one acre garden in Austin that is worked by 15 middle and high school students in the Austin area. The food that is grown in the garden is donated to five Austin area hunger relief agencies. Left over produce is sold at a farm stand in East Austin, which is operated by the students. The mission of Urban Roots is:

• Making fresh food available to East Austin residents
• Learning the importance of eating locally
• Learning the importance of sustainable agriculture

Three volunteers from Cisco helped out at the Hands of the Earth farm on Saturday morning (May 10). Fortunately, the clouds gave us a much needed break from the hot sun. Upon arrival we were given nametags and then we all formed a circle and did a few team building exercises to break the ice and wake up. Then we divided into four different groups, each with two interns as team leads. We harvested beets, onions, and collards; washed produce at the washing stations; laid onions out in tent to await washing/distribution (lots and lots of onions!); used a hula-hoe (great piece of gear!) to weed in between plant rows; covered rows of squash with material to keep out the squash bugs; hand-weeded; and planted seeds for various new crops. It was work, but the time flew by!

Wow, talk about the nexus of so many Obamanian virtues: team-building, waking-up, sustainable farming, urban development through economic stimulation ( actually, a Reaganite virtue ), thinking of the children, eating locally, local produce, multiplier effect of money in local economies, East Austin, getting outside, etc.

So, my lady and I are going to be out there on June 14th at oh-nine-thirty in the morning.

Weird to think that I think of a certain presidential candidate as representing a set of virtues versus being, himself, and icon of vice. The O-Koolaid is good.

the raging post-midnight thunderstorm.

By John Curtis

The rain in the bay is a weak ænemic nutritive water that falls from the sky.

Give to me Texas’ raging thunderstorm whose lightning lights your bedroom in a flickering flash of white like a stark flashbulb before yielding to the growl of a bear that shakes your windowpanes, roof, and door before leaving you in awe, aurally drowning in the sound of rushing water.

Give me double-flash strikes of electrical fury you hear - for a split second as it mutes the electrical humming apparatus of your home.

…and the fajitas.

Today I took my Latin II final which represents a substantial weight off of my shoulders. It’s weird not to have the nagging sense that somewhere, somehow, i should really be reciting conjugational or declensional paradigms.

My efficient professor offered to grade it there on the spot and I walked out knowing that I got 97 points on it. Not too shabby. That locked me an “A” in the class.

I celebrated with a pho meal and trip to Target with my beautiful girlfriend.

Brian Blessed, scenery not being chewed

Last night instead of cramming, we watched the 1976 mini-series “I, Claudius” — it was at least in the Latin vein. Major cool part: Vultan from “Flash Gordon”, Brian Blessed, playing a (to my mind, rather portly) Augustus. Primus inter pares needs to be primus intering the gym.

I say, upholding the customs of the elders is paramount!

Tonight I hope to relax a bit and head to bed early.

Or maybe enjoying a tender family moment with Ming:

“with a mighty flash” indeed…

Friday afternoon I made a visit to my alma mater to participate in a symposium in concert with the School of Business on the status of their MIS curriculum.

First, let me say that I was very impressed with my graduating program’s status. While most MIS programs in this nation are flat to down, UT’s is sharply up. It’s definitely thanks to some hard work by the faculty and administration there. It’s also an effect of the hard work of research staff who now are gladly working with incoming business school students to establish the passion for seeing IT as a business value proposition, versus a mere cost center.

After said event, my girl came to meet me downtown and I thought that it would be a great night to have a proper “date calibre” dinner out. We headed over to Vespaio on South Congress. Vespaio is the grand dame on the S. Congress strip with respect to “fine dining” and we had, as yet, not eaten there since we visited.

The food was quite good: I had a cioppino while my shellfish-allergic girlfriend had a creamy pasta with chicken. This plus two glasses of wine and I would say that the meal was a success. I don’t think it would be too improper to say that the meal for two was over 100 dollars but less than 150, all told.

But…then I realized that meal was a 2 tanks of gas for a great many people.

Bus. Pass.

The M/F/F Room at the Austin Convention Center
Originally uploaded by sgharms

The polyamory room at the Austin Convention Center.

See, I told you this town keeps it weird.

It actually means elevator, apparently.

And now, to the Aerosmith.

Yesterday was a day full of harried activity. Owing to the fact that I wouldn’t be in the office this week, I had a few things to take care at the office before I did le grande log-out before going into SXSW. I couldn’t quite figure out what to d, so my solution was to “sprint”. “Sprinting” is a term that I got from Merlin Mann over at 43Folders as being an incredibly important skill in productivity. The fact is this: some time you have to sit down, strap in, turn the fucking IM off, and work until you’re done.

So I did that, my power hours are definitely in the early morning when it’s oh so very quiet. I got up at 0400 and was at the office by 0430. From 0430 I finished off the commentary that was working on on a business requirement document. By 1000 I was done, I sent it off and then bolted out to the Texas Department of Transportation.

I had to go to TxDOT to get a replacement title. To my great surprise I went in, signed in, and then 5 minutes later I was out with a beautiful official looking copy of title. I’m so proud at how efficiently my state handles the transportation matters. California wasn’t as bad as you would think ( being at the most populous state of the union and all ), but Texas definitely does it mo’ righter.

With that I had to put myself into the Federal government’s hands. I had to get a replacement social security card. I don’t know where it is and, as a man in his third decade, you should damn well known where your card is. So, I headed down to the SS administration and I should have taken the parking lot situation as an ill omen.

It was completely full. I illegally parked in an adjacent lot and went in.

I now know what my ancestors must have thought when they arrived at Ellis Island. The poor, the screaming babies, the distracted parents, it was all there.

So I took my number and proceeded to sit. I was 51 numbers away, number 101, binary 5, I sat to wait. Being a bit of a nerd I actually started timing the average throughput. It was 2 numbers per 5 minutes, on average.

Somewhere around the 90th minute I noted that at 1 o’clock, prime time in the afternoon, there were, in fact, only two desks open.

Only the Feds. And the great hope for all of us is that these people are going to give us all health care. I’m sure the insider grifters are giddy with the prospect of exploiting the deltas.

I finished up around 2 and raced back to meet up with my guest Michael Liskin, who is staying with us during SXSWi. Mike’s in town from LA and I decided that he needed an introduction to something unique and special to the ATX experience: Freebird’s. We jetted over to the Tech Ridge / 35 location and had a some great burrito’s and a chance to talk. Mike is a friend of my girlfriend’s from way back and our time to get to talk to one another was really limited during our last get together in Long Beach thanks to the attentions of a gypsy and more pressing events that day.

Mike then took the next hour to clean up and to head over to the Texas Department of Public safety so that I could get a Texas Driver’s license. I am horribly past the acceptable acquisition date but owing to not having a Social Security card and having misplaced a title. Having bravely faced those sling and arrows, I was able, at last, finally to register to get a card.

I rushed back to meet up with Mike and we both headed downtown to catch up with Lauren. We then went down to the Austin Convention Center and got our badges and schwag bags.

Hungry, we then searched for a place to eat and chose Caramelo’s. Mike and I both ate lightly given our earlier tortilla-wrapped east. After this we rested a bit in the lobby of the beautiful Hilton before heading over to Emo’s to catch the musical act “What Made Milwaukee Famous”

A notable opener was Austin’s own “The Lemurs” whose presence and performance was very solid with a lot of thrumming noise churning in the background.

“Milwaukee” was an excellent set: great stage bresence and they got the traditionally sessile and hipper-than-thou austin crowd moving, it was really a great show.

Interestingly enough, at some point before the act I turned around and ran into a girl from my French class in 1999. I had decided to take that class after getting interested in French while living aux Pays-Bas. It was great to see the girl and see how she’d done in the last couple of years it just goes to show one of the funny things about Austin, given enough time spent downtown you’ll eventually run into all the people you know.

Also at the show I had the chance to make acquaintance with an LA-based friend of Mike and an Austin-based friend whose working on her MBA at my alma mater.

Lauren and I booked out around 2, leaving the show ahead of the rush.

When I went to see The Pipettes earlier this year, the opening act was the incomprable Nicole Atkins who channels the best of many things I love in singers.

Reverb: Why I love Neko Case ( and Brandi Carlile ) as well.

Mystery: Why I love Patsy Cline as well.

Girl Groups: Why I love Ronnie Spector / The Pipettes

And some associated words: Robert Johnson, Mississippi, San Francisco, rainswept streets, Nashville water, postcards, coney island baby, lou reed, cassocks and lace, revolvers, The Bible, motel rooms with suspicious stains, serial killers, crossroads, the lights on line-runner trucks.

At the end of it all, allow me to summarize: Nicole Atkins

Posted To austin.food

I have eaten at La Madeline all my life as a Texan: brunches and High School senior days at the Madeline on Champion’s Forest Drive in Houston, at the Lamar location during my University days, and now at the Arboretum location after years of missing their food whilst living in California.

But yesterday, after seeing the thoroughly forgettable “The Other Boleyn” girl, I thought nothing could lift my spirits like one of their pasta dishes with extra bread slices to sop up their tasty sauces. And there, where the tower of carbohydrates once stood was nothing but empty space and condiment bottles. Was the oven down, perhaps the yeast on strike. I admit, the bow-tie pasta was good, but there was something missing when I couldn’t augment my dish with jam and bread as a peasant’s desert.

I confirmed with the cook on duty that the practice had been done away with.

The free bread and excellent French roast was one of the primary means by which Madeline cooked its way into my heart and now some of that nostalgia and warm doughy welcome is gone.

Can anyone tell me if this most inhospitable measure has been undertaken at other locations about town? I may be willing to drive down to Jefferson if this is a store-by-store decision.

I think it bodes ill when a restaurant makes you pay for something that they’ve established in the customer’s mind is a free commodity ( case in point, Curra’s Long Bar on Parmer made one pay for chips and salsa ( anathema! ) — and now it looks like they’re skipping on their rent and are shut down ).

Any thoughts?

Letter to La Madeline corporate commentary ( horrible web site: table based, didn’t render in Safari or Firefox the “submit” button at the end, etc. )

I have loved La Madeline since I was a child in Houston, during my student years here in Austin, and missed it while living in Northern California. Now back in Austin, I had the pleasure of introducing my Californian girlfriend to your restaurant and the finer art of using the complimentary bread slices to soak up delicious sauces. At our preferred location, Arboretum Austin, these slices have now departed. I confirmed with the chef on site that this was so.

Why was this done? Is this a la Madeline-wide change?

If so I find this a very sad development. After the coffee went to pods the coffee suffered and now the complimentary bread is gone? Your site and mission statements reflect a commitment to hospitality, and the home-making power of simple food prepared well. I do not see how this change is compatible with your proclaimed identity.

If this was cost-based, a small surcharge to overall food should have been sufficient to offset your costs.

I’ve not really felt much like writing … mostly because being sick has taken the joy out of it for me.

This last week or so has not seen a marked improvement in my condition. Things were getting better after my visit to the Dr. on February 14th, but things stalled out rather around the following Tuesday ( when my steroid shot wore out ). Worried, I chose to book an appointment for this past Thursday figuring that I should see some improvement within a week. Basically the improvement process plateaued.

On Thursday morning I received a call and found out that my Dr. himself was sick and I would be seeing the nurse practitioner. I was lucky in that my practitioner was very good; or, at the very least, she prescribed me some really good drugs. After taking a breathing test to make sure that I didn’t have something in my lungs, I was was given a steroid inhaler and (another!) steroid injection in my keester. The office was short two doctors owing to illness and it was a right frenetic zoo.

I asked the nurse if it was just me, or did this year seem especially bad. She confirmed and said it was the worst winter illness season she’d seen in 25 years in Austin.

All around, it might have been a good bit of time to avoid the ATX.

On the good news front, SXSW is just around the corner and I’ll be doing the interactive festival. Hopefully I’ll find some of readers there too?

The only down side of the steroid is that 4 days after I get the injection i feel really disconsolate: hard to focus and a bit depressive. It’s weird.

For the mean time, the inhaler is very good. It really opens me up and I’ve not had any more croup cough since last Thursday. The only unpleasant side effect is uh, a more “productive” cough. And that’s gross…but necessary to getting better. It’s just ruined me for social company.

Anyway, that’s where things stand.