Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 180

On the road again: Austin, day 5

I'm home.  I enjoyed a Salt Lick barbecue lunch at the Austin airport.  I flew on two planes, worked every second I could, and wished I could afford to sleep.  I stayed up late working, in part because I wanted to fully unpack so I could enjoy this whole week at home.

I am very pleased to be home.

On the road again: Austin, day 4

Work filled so much of today that dinner was take-out from a nearby Whataburger, a chain of my college days, with late dessert from Amy's.  All bad food all the time tonight.

A conversation with colleagues today turned briefly to bad movies and then to personal favorites and then to one of the movies I love, Grosse Point Blank. The Violent Femmes' song, "Blister in the Sun," was a key part of that soundtrack, so here it is, for your enjoyment.



From the same movie, the greatest few baby moments possibly ever on film.



The looks he and Cusack give each other are amazing. Staring into a baby's eyes can be as alien and yet as enlightening an experience as visiting another country, if you let it. 

On the road again: Austin, day 3

The pace of innovation in the tech industry is wonderful, because it means that new and interesting products and technologies are always appearing.  I learn about a lot of them on these trips, but, alas, I cannot talk about them.

I can say that Austin was absolutely beautiful today, with blue skies and just a bit of chill in the air.

Dinner was as lovely as the weather, a fine meal a group of us enjoyed at Foreign & Domestic.  I'd never been before, but you can bet I will be back again.  Every dish we sampled was both interesting and delicious.  Executive Chef and co-owner Ned Elliott has created a fine menu.

We did not sample the dishes of Pastry Chef and co-owner Jodi Elliott because some of our group had to leave.  The rest of us headed to a nearby Amy's for some always delicious frozen goodness.

If you visit Austin and don't eat well, it's only because you're either broke, choosing to avoid good food, or too lazy to drop by any of the city's many excellent restaurants!

On the road again: Austin, day 2

Work dominated the day, so of course I cannot discuss most of what I did today.

Lunch was a treat:  family style with clients and colleagues at the The Salt Lick Round Rock.  I was too full from dinner to eat much, but the bits I tasted were, as always, excellent, and they kept the ice water coming. 

Dinner was also special:  a meal with friends at Barley Swine, a South Austin restaurant I first learned about in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.  The food was creative and adventurous, and no dish was worse than tasty.  Quite a few of the small plates felt a bit over-thought, but I still enjoyed them.  It wasn't a top-drawer meal, but it was a good one, so I recommend it, though almost as much for its ambition as for its execution.

As luck would have it, in the building to the left of Barley Swine sat Lick, an organic, locally-sourced ice cream shop.  I tried a small with three tiny scoops:  dark chocolate, orange chocolate, and vanilla bean with strawberries.  All the flavors were rich, and the cream was light.  I recommend it to anyone  who loves ice cream. 

Tomorrow, more meetings!

On the road again: Austin, day 1

Another Monday, another city.  This week, work takes me to one of my favorites, Austin.

As usual, the day started too early and ended too late, but along the way it included one first-class upgrade, two late flights, and a delicious small cup of Red Mango vanilla bean frozen yogurt with strawberries and mango.  Yum.

Dinner tonight was my traditional, first-night-in-Austin meal:  the three-meat barbecue combo at The County Line On the Lake.  We started with something new on the menu: deviled eggs with jalapeno bits in the eggs and bits of jalapeno bacon all over them.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

Tasty and spicy, these are treats I recommend as long as you like a little kick in your food.

The main course was Texas health food, a platter with beef ribs, moist brisket, and sausage.


Ignore the sides; they're perfectly fine, but after the meat (which I could not finish), you're unlikely to have any room for them.

If, like me, you're going to head to the nearby Amy's Ice Creams for a small cup of frozen deliciousness, you're definitely not going to be able to eat that whole platter.  I tried dark chocolate on the bottom of the cup and maple walnut on the top; both were delicious.

The rest of the evening went to work, of course, but that was a delightful feast, a worthy Austin tradition.

A few thoughts on the anniversary of Mom's death

Mom died on Saturday, February 11, 2012.  By day, that's a year ago yesterday.  By date, it's a year ago tomorrow.  In future years, I'll almost certainly think of it by the date, but because both feel significant to me now, I'm splitting the difference and writing about it today.

To no one's surprise, I still miss her.  I have to assume--and hope, really--that I always do.  She was my parent, the one constant in my youth.  Whatever else she did wrong, she was always there.

What does surprise me is the way the pangs of loss hit me.  I can now go a few days at a time without thinking about the fact that she is dead; that ability to forget and move on is natural and good.  (I would have guessed a year ago that I'd heal faster.  Shows what I know.)  Most of the time, when the loss washes over me, it is mild, a pain slowly receding.  Every now and then, though, in a conversation or sometimes completely unbidden by anything external, it will hit me like a punch to the stomach, a breath-stealing blow that leaves me stunned. 

I know I no longer have a mother, but like a little kid, sometimes I just really, really, really wish I did.

A line that has run continuously through my head for the last few days and that I used in a small toast at dinner with friends last night, sums up the lesson I am currently trying to take from Mom's death.

Let us cherish those we love, for we will never have as much of them as we want.

My advice to you, and to myself, on a winter Sunday, on the middle of the two anniversaries of my mother's death. 

the Scared is Scared

Good advice for us all, in a video Sarah turned me on to.

the Scared is scared from Bianca Giaever on Vimeo.


We all too often forget to think of good things, of things and people we love.

My Bullet to the Head experience

I don't know if I'm a weirdness magnet or if I just pay closer attention to my surroundings than most folks, but I sure do manage to run into my share of odd stuff.

Take tonight, for example.  I wanted to de-stress by taking in a dumb action film.  Stallone's new (and tanking) Bullet to the Head fit the bill perfectly.  I didn't decide to go until late in the day, and none of the few people I contacted were interested in accompanying me.  No problem.  I am completely happy to watch movies (in the theater or at home) alone.

Off I went. 

I settled into my seat, my usual small (movie theater small, meaning 32 ounces) Coke Zero in hand.  I was the third person in the theater.  The other two were a guy two-thirds of the way up and a guy in the top row.  I sat in my usual spot: the first raised row, where I could put my feet on the bars in front of me.  As the first trailer was winding down, a man and a woman entered together and sat to my right and in the row immediately behind me.  The man looked happy; the woman looked put-upon.

About two-thirds of the way through the film, too much Coke Zero got the better of me, and I headed to the bathroom.  As I stood, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the couple behind me.  The woman's hand was moving in the man's lap.  She saw me see her, made an odd face, and quickly pulled back her hand.  The man immediately covered his lap.  I averted my gaze and headed for the restroom.

When I returned, her hands were folded primly in her lap.

I resisted the urge to give them a thumbs-up.

As far as I'm concerned, given that she was willing not only to accompany him to this movie (which the look on her face as she entered made clear was a sacrifice), but also give him a hand-job in the second row, she was aces in my book.

I do think, though, that a more isolated row might have been a better choice, as would a jacket on his lap.  Maybe a few tissues. 

Oh, if you're wondering about the movie, it was exactly what you'd expect, including a final fight between 5'8" (he claims 5'10", but I don't buy it), 66-year-old Sylvester Stallone and 6'4", 33-year-old Jason "remake Conan" Momoa, in which both wielded fireman axes.  What's not to like?  Face it, if you're even considering this movie, you already know if you'll have fun attending it.

Though entertainment from the audience can certainly liven up the evening.

On the road again: Silicon Valley, day 6

Early morning wake-ups are my kryptonite.  When I know I have to wake up in the sixes, I sleep poorly, awaken many times throughout the night, and am always tired when I finally have to hit the shower.  The fact that I go to bed late doesn't help, of course, but the fact remains that single-digit wake-up calls ruin sleep for me.  I clearly need to work on this area.

Despite that, and despite the joy of hitting the 101 in the morning, everything went smoothly in my journey from hotel room to checkout to rental car to airport to check-in to gate.  Amazing.  I was so pleased by my steady and uneventful progress that when the woman in front of me in security blocked all passengers for several minutes while she fiddled with her just-screened belongings, I didn't say a word.

No upgrades were available for me today, but I was lucky enough to get an exit-row seat on the first leg, so I could work the whole flight.

After that flight, my connection time was long enough that I was able to stop into a nearby Red Mango and enjoy their delicious berry parfait.  I'm very lucky I don't have one of these franchises anywhere near my house. 

A lot of walking and a ride on the tram later, and I was at my gate.  We boarded only ten minutes late, fastened our seat belts, closed the door...and sat.  And sat.  And sat some more, as the pilot had maintenance investigate a potential problem.  The issue proved to be a flaw in the rudder, which I am quite pleased they found before we took off.  After an hour on the plane, though, we got off, sat around, and eventually headed to another gate where a new plane awaited us.  I was happy to have a new plane, of course, but the long delays were no fun. 

Eventually, though, they told us to board this sold-out plane, a process that had previously taken 40 minutes, and they told us that we had only 17 minutes to do it or the crew would "go illegal" and we'd lose this plane.  I wasn't at all sure we could do it, but we did, with two minutes to spare. 

We landed in RDU more than two hours later than the original schedule, but at least we made it.  I'm happy to be home for a whole three days.

Monday, I head to Austin. 

On the road again: Silicon Valley, day 5

The highlight of an otherwise work-filled day was a superb dinner at Chef David Kinch's Manresa.  As I
Dining at Manresa changed my impression entirely.

The meal was simply world-class.  Every single course was delicious, beautiful, and thoughtfully composed.  Each first bite of a dish brought smiles and moans of pleasure to all at the table, and each last bite left us craving more.  Even the dessert courses, frequently the great weaknesses of otherwise stellar restaurants, were perfect, delicious and complex and beautiful--and thematically in keeping with the emphasis of the rest of the dishes on local products and nature.

We were lucky to get a kitchen tour afterward and to speak briefly with Kincher.  He was gracious, unhappy himself with how that Cayman Cookout meal turned out, and great to talk with.

I cannot recommend Manresa too much.  I already look forward to the next time I have the privilege of eating there.