flogging conventions

according to my weather.com, it's 91 degrees with 45% humidity.

it felt every bit that earlier this afternoon when kris and i headed to the boulevard for a work break. (wimps that we are, it was probably not that warm yet.)

we took in the national convention of chevy bel air nomad owners parked on kanawha boulevard that fellow aficionado and mayor danny jones brought to the city.

it's one of those pet projects that he's brought over to demonstrate the pull of our river as a backdrop for visitors to town.

i'll admit while closing off blocks of a city thoroughfare poses an occasional inconvenience, i think he might be on the right track to making this place a more attractive destination for conventioneers.

while we don't have the kind of infrastructure or facilities to host something like a national political party, there's plenty of small to middling groups looking for a gathering place that offers a charming change of pace.

who knows? maybe people like visiting a big city writ small, a walking town in the midst of the woods.

i don't have any desire to see so many tourists here that they become a nuisance, but i would hope we can flirt with a few who might want to wink back.

treasure chest

olive view
Originally uploaded by grumpnet

it was a hard week at the paper pretty much just having to invent news after weeks of good breaks or enterprise pieces that either led to good breaks or were good reads.

we got screwed by sources on two good stories and broke out the "emergency centerpiece story" about the 1973 energy crisis we'd been sitting on for at least a month.

after all that, we got a great break on a health care story that should affect a number of hospitals statewide and we wound up breaking even.

it was tough for me just crapping out what are pretty much three section fronts inside the paper -- the news digest, the celebrity page plus corrections and a hugely annoying ad snafu on the life section front -- all on deadline.

kris and i were ready for beers and bar food right after deadline.

luckily, we were both so wasted after work, we decided waiting until 7 or 8 to eat with friends would have led to bad snacking and a costly night out minus the gratification of getting wasted on pleasure.

we opted instead to swing by our local fish monger, joe's fish market, for some alaskan salmon (pan seared with salt and garlic), and the charleston bread store for their friday specialty, olive bread (served with grated parmesan and olive oil).

at home in the fridge chilled a bottle of chilean chardonnay -- cono sur, a great deal at the capitol market wine shop -- which completed a light, satisfying and absolutely relaxing meal.

cutting the bread was like opening a treasure chest. it had a crisp crust and a soft-textured inside, buttery rich with the oils from the kalamata olives baked inside.

searing the salmon gave the skin a nice crunch before the full, fatty flavor the fish came through. it paired nicely with the wine, which absolutely validated the existence of this particular varietal for me. (my experiences with chardonnay have been more bad than good, but i trusted this label and it was on sale, so ...)

we put away the salad and couscous sides for lunch tomorrow and feasted on our simple spread.

i figure we would've spent much more on much less at any of our fine dining establishments in town. consuming them in the comfort of our own home made the hour priceless.

flickr

this is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

(well, that's one bit of html i won't have to cut and paste to get images into the blog. miracles and wonders.)

party on

joe, becky and matt. that's kelly's back. ashley and charlotte in the background.

the bedtime and morning alka seltzer cocktails i imbibed serve notice that i took one step over the line of indulgence at another weekend gathering.

there was a rumbling a couple of weeks ago as an unusually eventful summer news cycle in a short-staffed newsroom made us long for a quiet evening on a back porch with cold drinks.

a few keystrokes later, the flyers went up with a time, date and place, along with the invitation to byob and significant other.

in the days following, if a deadline was particularly harrowing, copydesk would catch its breath and apply salve by proposing hors d'oeuvre ideas for the event. (we're kind of an eating newsroom that way.)

the gathering at diane's was lovely. she and her husband joe have created a beautiful oasis in the hills of south charleston with bright, eclectic design inside and an inviting garden patio outside.

the two were mostly in perpetual motion, making sure glasses were filled or bottles refreshed.

the pot luck spread was a great mix of finger foods -- barbecued beef, hot wings, antipasto and pasta salads, cheese and fruit, great bread and spreads and salsas -- and then dessert.

i love gatherings like these -- no premise, no presents, no guests of honor -- just people friendly with each other who want to unwind and share anything about anything.

funny thing is, it's usually just as fun on the giving end as receiving.

as guests, i don't suppose there's much more to be asked than to throw away your paper plates and dispose of your containers in the appropriate receptacles if you're recycling. (well, that, and, drunk or sober, try not to be an asshole.)

as hosts, well ... busy busy busy.

it's nonstop movement. at last week's fourth of july weekend, kris and i came in after work to the lakehouse friday, ate dinner with mom and dad and did what food prep we could before turning in for the night.

the second most important task of party preparation.
seriously. i'm not sure what the first is.

saturday, i cleaned the basement den -- and cranked the jams on a zenith (!) hi-fi from the 1970s (complete with 8-track tape deck) -- tuned all the radios in the house to j-104.5 out of bluefield, prepped the beer tub -- miller lites, coronas and heinies -- then, once guests arrived, played both grill master and harbor pilot to take our guests around flat top lake in the pontoon boat.

kris and mom pretty much just cooked. 

kris was our picnic fare specialist, since mom doesn't make too much potato salad or chili. mom had marinated chicken and pork chops for grilling, as well as made chicken and pork adobo (sort of a spanish-asian stew).

kris made brownies and mom made leche flan (an egg custard) and maja blanca (a sweet, creamy corn dessert).

the guests trickled in from around 3 until 7 with desserts and sides. socializing ensued.

 

by about midnight, after the fireworks were over, my belly was a mix of barbecued meat products, casseroles and alcohol. my calves were already tightening from the trips up and down the hill to the dock.

we'd met many babies from childhood friends and commiserated over the heartbreaks of grownups i'd first met as a child and hadn't seen in years. kris and i were still basking in the glow of our honeymoon time and enjoying the congratulatory slaps on the back from our extended family.

it was sweet.

it wasn't too long ago that i took functions like these for granted, as if there were a never-ending surplus of them, just more work for the latest gathering of loud talk and overeating. ho-hum.

kris' mom and dad hit the road.

as i've gotten older, i've come to see these as moments, snapshots of who is there and who is with us, because the realization has come to dawn on me that there really aren't too many moments in our lives where there is a coalescence of love, cheer and repose with those who mean something to you.

all of them count. so i suppose we should make them worth counting. 

it is truly "good time." party on.

a man's worth

was uploading a graphic today reflecting the uptick in the budget of the west virginia university athletics department.

couldn't help but notice among the expenditures the disparities in salary among those time of longtime coach don nehlen, his successor rich rodriguez and new coach bill stewart.

nehlen, the man i'll credit with creating the program we know today, never made much more than $250,000 a year.

in 2001, when we hired rodriguez, the coach who built the program into a national title contender, he started at nearly half a million. he left late last year making almost $2 million.

coach stewart's first year salary is $800,000.

some folks seem to express shock that, in the fraternity of division i football coaches, this guy make so little.

in stewart's case, critics seem to use this as reason to demean his ability to lead a successful program, as if to say "if he were any good, he'd be making at least a million bucks a year."

i dunno. to me, $800,000 is a lot of money.

i think coach stew recognizes that, too. (as, apparently, does penn state coaching legend joe paterno.)

he's chosen instead to spread the wealth with what's likely some of the nation's best coaches at their positions.

i think he's recognized that there are two ways to drive the best car on the road: built it yourself -- as coach rod did -- or buy one and drive it yourself.

seems to me he's bought a nice car. and as he showed back in january's fiesta bowl, he's a very good driver.