Have you ever heard

a song playing, just part of the background noise, and had it hit your heart, burrow into it, and take up residence there for a few days?  That's what happened to me Wednesday night, at dinner at Castagna, and the song is still inside me, not there all the time, but peeking its head up now and then, soothing me and reminding me that it's not ready to leave yet.

Fortunately, it's a good song, one that evokes lovely moments.

Enjoy.

On the road again: Portland, day 5

Nothing starts a day better than a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call, a rushed shower, and a drive on slick streets through the dark to an airport.

Actually, pretty much anything starts a day better than that, but that's how my day began.  Lots of flying, lots of work on planes, and fitful dozing when I couldn't work filled all of the daylight hours.

I'm home now, though, and very glad to be here.

Soon, I'll resume writing more interesting posts. 

But not tonight.

On the road again: Portland, day 4

Today the weather said, "You will work from your hotel room."  It backed up its decree with freezing rain, rain, snow flurries, and ice.  So, I worked from my hotel room, as we lost all our client meetings.  Nonetheless, the day was busy from very early until quite late.

The one break was a delicious dinner at Le Pigeon, where Chef Gabriel Rucker and his team always create incredibly tasty dishes.  I hope to do a full review of this meal later, but trust me when I say that if you are eating in Portland, you need to eat at Le Pigeon.

Tomorrow morning, I must get up way in advance of the sun to head to the airport, so I am outta here.

On the road again: Portland, day 3

I feel bad about writing all of these short entries, but at the end of these incredibly long work days, they're all I have the energy to do.  Today was entirely work except for a lovely dinner at Castagna, one of the best restaurants in Portland.  Executive Chef Justin Woodward creates exciting, modernist dishes that evoke the area and rely heavily on local ingredients.  If you live here or are visiting here, do not miss the chance to eat a world-class meal from Woodward and his team. 

I hope to do a longer review of the meal later, but now I must finish work and finally crash.

On the road again: Portland, day 2

Wow, was today busy.  Work comprised interesting meetings, which of course I can't discuss, and a giant backlog of email.  So it goes.

Dinner was an excellent (as always) meal with colleagues and friends (same people; it's nice to be friends with your colleagues) at Ava Genes, an Italian restaurant I definitely recommend.  I've never had a bad dish there.  On a cold, windy fall night, it was lovely to be in a friendly, warm restaurant enjoying a bowl of warm pasta.

Now, finally, to crash.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Washington, D.C., day 5 /Portland, day 1

The bandwidth in the DCA Admirals Club at 6:50 in the morning was quite a treat.  By 8:00, though, it was merely tolerable.  I accomplished a lot in the 70 good minutes.

Flights took me from DCA to DFW and then to PDX.  No complaints from me, because I was lucky to receive upgrades on both flights. 

Work filled most of the latter part of the day, but I did walk around for a bit in downtown Portland, which was a nice break. 

Dinner was at Murata, where I consumed some of the best sushi I've tasted anywhere and definitely the best sushi I've had in Portland.  I very much recommend this place to sushi lovers. 

Dessert was at Salt & Straw, where I sampled two of the odder-sounding seasonal flavors:  spiced chevre pumpkin pie, and salted caramel Thanksgiving turkey.  Both were delicious. 

Now, to crash after a very long day indeed. 

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Washington, D.C., day 4

Today the convention held its annual banquet and announcement of the winners of this year's World Fantasy Awards.  I enjoyed the ceremony, which is one of the more important yearly gatherings of the SF&F clan.  The food was even decent, which is both a bonus and a surprise at a banquet.

I worked for a time, chatted with some friends, worked some more, and then a small group of us headed off to see Interstellar.  I'll write a full review of it later--I now owe you two long entries--but the bottom line is that I very much enjoyed it.

I have to get up at six a.m., so I'm heading offline now. 

When I next write, I'll be in Portland, OR!