go for launch

I have been back in ye olde Iowa for a couple of days, but I haven't had the desire to blog (mostly because I have been staring at screens for other tings). Saturday's travels were about as smooth as they could be - I made it out of the rental house by 6:10am, and so had plenty of time at the airport to grab breakfast and coffee (and a little early morning free rosé) at the Chase Sapphire lounge before flying out. My connection in Denver was about as tight as I ever allow it to be (58min), but luckily we were early and my gates weren't as far apart as they sometimes are, so I had time to grab a Mediterranean bowl from Garbanzos on my way to boarding. I even had time to eat it in the gate area, so I wasn't a monster and didn't have to take food onto the plane.

The rest of Saturday was also uneventful - my bags came out quickly, my drive home was easy, and I had time to grab Starbucks and get my car washed on the way. Then, [censored] and I picked up takeout from El Vago, which was completely slammed for Valentines Day. And then I went to bed early in an attempt to recover from my mild sleep deficit from the retreat.

Yesterday was supremely low-key - I barely did anything, although I did go out to Mom's and hang out for awhile. I didn't even really do anything that would qualify as cooking, since I just pulled some ham balls and twice baked potatoes from the freezer and reheated them. But that was still a v tasty meal, which we enjoyed while watching some fine Olympics coverage.

Today was better than most Mondays, mostly because I had it off - so I got up and did some journaling / planning this morning, and then I ran into town to get allergy shots. When I got home, I made frozen fish and fries for lunch for me and [censored], since there were no leftovers in the fridge. And then I spent approximately seven of the last ten hours playing with Claude Code - I feel like I need to get more up to speed on the more technical applications of AI, and so I'm doing a little mini project for myself to teach myself some tings. My eyeballs feel like they're about to fall out of my head, but my experimentation today was illuminating, so we shall see what else I come up with.

At some point I took a break to make dinner - [censored] suggested I put leftover queso from Saturday on today's leftover fries, and I realized that I could also add carnitas from the freezer. That sounds kind of sad to combine leftovers from three different meals, but I heated it all up optimally, and the result was amazing. I ate it while watching tonight's Olympics coverage, where I was delighted for the women's bobsled winner (finally got gold at the age of 41, after many other medals!), and was also thrilled that the Japanese pair won the pairs' gold since they were my favorites at Worlds last year. And I kept an eye on the ISU/Houston score, which turned out great. So all in all it was a great night for sports, which may be the only thing humans have left after AI takes over, so I'm glad it all went well.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i can ride my bike with no handlebars

I had a lovely final day of my retreat, although I'm v. sad that it's over. I spent the morning drinking coffee and writing, and then I ordered a poke bowl and ate it while setting up tonight's dinner order. I spent most of the afternoon outside, writing (perhaps dozing) in the sun, and hanging out with Barbara and Grace in our usual spot. Then I treated myself to half an hour sitting in the sand and watching the waves, which was a lovely end to the day.

Eventually, I went upstairs to join the business meeting, and we interrupted it to take a few group photos as the sun set. Dinner arrived shortly thereafter, and the Mexican place I found tonight seemed much better than the one earlier in the week, so I definitely overstuffed myself. Then I hurriedly packed everything so I could drag my suitcase upstairs tonight - I have to leave the house around 6am tomorrow, and I didn't think I would want to drag all my stuff up the equivalent of 2-3 flights of (outdoor, slightly uneven) stairs at that hour.

But I finished packing quickly, so I was able to spend another hour hanging out with the remaining crew in the living room (Barbara, Anne, Rachel, Tina, and Melissa - Melissa was a new addition this year, but we have much in common since she was at Stanford twenty years before me and also went to the Nationals figure skating competition this year like I went to Worlds last year). And now I should probably go to bed in deference to tomorrow's early start.

But before I go to bed, I should tell you - the friend I mentioned earlier last week who was in the Bad Bunny halftime show? It was Adit, my erstwhile former roommate; some people call him the cat. You can read this post if you want to get the details.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

i've been thinking may...maybe you're right

Today I hit a wall, which usually happens around this point in the retreat - I slept somewhat poorly and didn't want to do anything today. It didn't help that I showered early (to take a single 8am meeting before being off for the day), and ran out of hot water just as I had conditioned my hair. I kept telling myself that the cold was invigorating, but it was really just terrible.

Then I went out and got coffee, spent the morning journaling / dozing, ate some leftover Indian food, and attempted to write outside during the afternoon with mixed results. Then I took a long nap in my bed (after a short nap outside), and awoke with a sudden flash of clarity about some writing tings, which was good. But I didn't have time to pursue them - I met Anne for some mildly illicit behavior on the beach, and we watched the sun go down while freezing and talking about AI.

Then the group went for dinner, which was a bust for me - the food overall seemed to be good enough, but the service was poor and they forgot my entree entirely, and didn't bring it until everyone else had already been done for 10-20 minutes. They did comp it after I complained enough and said that giving me a free dessert wasn't good enough; and then they brought dessert for the table as an apology, but I couldn't eat the dessert anyway. However, they did ultimately give me my entree, and I boxed it immediately so we could leave, and then I ate it while sitting in the living room, which was almost preferable because we could hear each other. In the end, this wasn't the end of the world - but I suspect Barbara and I will conspire to do our dinner out elsewhere next time.

And now, I need to sleep - I have high hopes for the last day of the retreat tomorrow, and I want to be well rested for it. Goodnight!

harness the light

I had to do my day job yesterday and today, which was not entirely what I wanted to do in Carlsbad - but I feel better knowing that I'm still slightly caught up at work, and so it wasn't as annoying as it could have been. Last night I also dialed into my local city council meeting so that I could help ensure that we had quorum, and tonight I dialed into my library board meeting, so I managed to keep up my Iowa civic engagement despite luxuriating in coastal life.

Today felt slightly less luxurious, mostly because it rained all morning - but rainy oceans are still picturesque. And since I'm sharing a two-bedroom section of our enormous rental with Grace (in which we have our own kitchen and laundry), I was able to chat her up while eating leftovers and doing laundry during my breaks, so that was still a delight.

I wrapped everything up today by 4:30, just in time for our usual business discussion - and I was much more engaged tonight because we were talking about AI, which is my current hot topic obsession. We wrapped up when dinner arrived, and Luna Grill was as tasty as it is every year (as was the wine I got delivered). I spent the post-prandial discussion time chatting with Anne and various other characters, and then I came downstairs and did a bit of work (mostly managing to unsubscribe from Evernote, which has been a long national nightmare that has cost me several hundred dollars from failing to cancel in previous years...but it took me several hours over the past few days to deal with, so it's no surprise I hadn't done it before).

When that was over, Grace happened to be getting in the hot tub, so I joined her, and it was a rare delight to catch up in such pleasant surroundings. And now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

they justify my claims

I had an excellent day in Carlsbad - I wrote early, grabbed brunch nearby, did a quick perusal of the nearby shops to see if anything struck my fancy, and then spent another couple of hours doing various writing related tasks. Then I got a spur of the moment manicure, which felt great. And I spent the rest of the day doing a bit more work, talking shop with the writers, and then catching up with Anne, V, Rachel, Melissa, and Grace.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

debí tirar más fotos

I had an excellent first day of my retreat. I slept better than I ever have on a retreat thanks to getting a room in a quieter part of the rental (and thanks to my own pillow). Then I woke up and went out to grab coffee - sadly the Starbucks closed, but I got a passable cold brew elsewhere.

I did quite a bit of good writing work today while sitting outside - it was gorgeous and sunny here, and I browned up my arms a bit while brainstorming. I mostly hung out with Barbara and Grace, but I had some late afternoon time with Anne and Tina, and then we watched the Super Bowl halftime show. I had no interest in the game, but I like Bad Bunny (he is particularly excellent as an SNL host, although that's obvi not what he's known for). And one of my friends was in the halftime show as one of the trees - I can't say who because I don't know if it's public, but that was pretty exciting (although they could have been lying, since it was impossible to tell the trees apart).

After that, we ordered Mexican food, hung out, and then watched some Olympics coverage. And now I need to sleep so I can have a productive day tomorrow - goodnight!

fate of ophelia

I'm exhausted and going to bed immediately (at ten pm PT, which is unheard of for me at a retreat). But my travels were incredibly smooth today despite being lengthy - I had a three hour layover in Denver, which I put to good use by drinking rosé and eating a Caesar salad and doing some (personal) work.

I got to the retreat house just as checkin began, which was good timing. I drew a pretty bad number in the room drawing process (11/15 - there are 16 people here but Barbara doesn't draw) - but I somehow got one of my top four choices because other people's priorities are v strange. So between the room location + bringing my own pillow I'm hopeful that I'll sleep better than I usually do on these trips, although we'll see.

And now I'm desperate for sleep - goodnight!