Seattle, briefly

Last week I was in Seattle for the ACRL National Conference. (ACRL is the Association of College and Research Libraries.) It was a fantastic trip and conference for many reasons:

1. I stayed with one of my best friends, Heather, who is a high school teacher in the Seattle area. She and her partner, Peter, were the most fantastic and thoughtful hosts! I had a great time catching up with them.
2. I got to spend time with one of my favorite librarians (and people) in the universe, Wendy.
3. I had a poster presentation that went really well. I took 200 handouts with me and came home with just 15, so I know that at least 185 people were interested in the research I'm doing with other U of I librarians.
4. ACRL is a great conference! Highlights included: a keynote address from Sherman Alexie, who was hilarious; thought-provoking presentations from other academic librarians; and introductions to cool tools (like mobile devices for roving reference).
5. Seattle has great food! I ate tapas at Andaluca, pho at Pho 900, and delicious artisan cheese at Beecher's.
6. Seattle has an awesome public library. I was just there for a minute, but had to stop by to see the interesting architecture, inside and out.

P.S. Mike and I saw a fantastic movie this week, which I'd highly recommend: The Visitor. Richard Jenkins got an Oscar nomination for his role. We also saw Duplicity last night (on a double date with some friends) and were very entertained.

P.P.S. What I'm reading: I finally finished Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and I'm still not sure whether I really liked it (or whether I really got it). It's an interesting idea for a book -- set in the near-future in a hyper-commercial world where years are branded and everyone's addicted to something. But it's a difficult book, not least because of its length (over 1,000 pages). I also just read Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer, an exciting mystery that includes a search for an ancient book, a connection between Superman and Cain & Abel, librarians, Homeland Security, and more. Now I'm reading something totally different, Home by Marilynne Robinson. It's a companion to one of my favorite novels, Gilead, also by Robinson.