Four things Christmas dinner must include

around here, anyway, speaking solely for myself, and in no particular order:

1. A luxurious cut of beef


2. Rolls with butter


3. Mashed potatoes with butter


4. Banana cream pie

To be sure, Christmas dinner around here typically contains many other items, including salad, green beans, macaroni and cheese, a chocolate dessert, and so on.  I simply consider those four dishes to be the bare minimum essentials.

Having said that, all I personally do is pay for provisions and cook the beef.  Others do all the hard work--and they do it better than I would.  I am grateful to all who provide food, at Christmas and always. 

On the road again: Las Vegas, day 1

Each year around this time, a group of us journeys here to Las Vegas to celebrate Kyle's birthday with him.  Today's trip began after 2.75 hours of sleep, which is just too damn little.  I ended up dozing through most of the first flight, which made it a fine time.

I expected to have to sprint between gates in DFW, but instead we got off the plane, waited half an hour, and got back on it.  Would that every connection were so simple.

The second leg of the trip went as smoothly as the first, with the added bonus that I was able to get and stay current with work thanks to the plane's bandwidth.  After getting luggage and checking into the hotel, I passed most of the daylight hours in work.

The evening, though, brought one of my all-time favorite Cirque du Soleil shows, Love.  Marrying Cirque's trademark magic with the songs of the greatest band of all time, The Beatles, Love is an amazing, uplifting, wonderful ninety minutes.  I spent much of it smiling without even meaning to.

Afterward, we headed to the MGM Grand's Emeril's restaurant.  I had a salad and some delicious macaroni and cheese with ham, but the real treat was the banana cream pie, which remains the best I've ever tasted.

Though work filled the day and the hours after this evening interlude, the evening was wonderful indeed.

I wish I could take every person I know to see Love.

On the road again: a long trip, day 10CONtraflow, New Orleans, day 2

Today passed in a gumbo of con and work. After a morning work session, Publisher Toni took us into the French Quarter for a delightful lunch at Emeril's. Before you give a Bourdain-inspired jab at Emeril, note that his food has always been good--and was so today. Crucially, however, his banana cream pie recipe remains the best I've ever had. Getting to savor a piece today was a great treat.

After lunch, I worked out some opening ceremonies logistics with the redoubtable Raymond Boudreau, the con's assistant chair and guest liaison.

More work, then the ceremonies themselves, for much of which I was on the mic introducing guests. I started off terribly by, after a confusing set of conversations that I ended up misunderstanding, introducing the wrong person several times before finally giving control to the con chair, Rebecca Smith. My apologies again to Rebecca.

Dinner was a tasty muffuletta from a nearby small place, and then I hit a panel and visited with folks around the con. Work bracketed the con time, of course.

Tomorrow, I have an easy day followed by a very busy evening that will include an hour of stand-up in the hotel's Rumors lounge (yes, that is the real name). Wish me luck!

On the road again: Las Vegas, day 1

The purpose of this trip is to have fun while belatedly celebrating Kyle's birthday. Today certainly featured many fun events, including lunch and gelato in the Bellagio, dinner at L'Atelier Robuchon, the Cirque show, Ka, and banana cream pie at Emeril's.

Unfortunately, the day also included a 5:30 a.m. wake-up after two hours of sleep, a long, cramped airplane ride, and many, many hours of work. So, a mixed day, but overall, a good one.

I'd go into more details, but I'm exhausted and still must work more, so perhaps additional information tomorrow.

Viva, Las Vegas, day 1

Today was a travel day that culminated in a dinner that ended with the best banana cream pie I've ever tasted. (Can you spot my priorities?) Believe it or not, that wonderful treat comes from the Emeril's Fish House in the MGM Grand. Jennie's BCP is a very close second, but in this one area, Emeril's rules the roost.

I worked a good chunk of the day, then played rat in the maze, airport style. The kids took the travel well, and they didn't even gripe when I lost ten minutes dealing with the TSA agent at RDU who didn't want to believe one person might be carrying two notebooks, a spare battery, and an external DVD drive.

The goal of this winter-break trip is to show Sarah and Scott all four normal (i.e., not R-rated) Cirque du Soleil shows--and in four nights! I've seen them all before, but I'm as excited as always to get to see them again. Cirque comes as close as any organization I've ever known to creating magic night in and night out on stages all over the world. I'd love to collaborate with them on something, though on what I have no clue.

Oh, yeah: remind me sometime soon, and I'll announce two new projects.

Hey, a guy can tease from time to time!