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weekend fun
May 03, 2016
Despite the weather sucking dreadfully, my Saturday was warm and cheerful--at the 2016 Chicago Pen Show!!! Seriously, I had a blast. We got up early on Saturday, stopped for coffee and then headed out to the western burbs. Maxfield's Pancake House for a yummy breakfast, then on out to Hoffman Estates to the show. WHICH. WAS. AMAZING. I had a LOT of interaction, with some great people--including quite a few from SE Iowa, which was very cool. One couple who specialized in old Sheaffer items were from Burlington, and we even turned out to know people in common. Tried out pens, inks, and papers, had lots of pen talk, and used up all my available spoons in about 90 minutes. And then kept going for another half-hour!
I only spent about $75, even though it was the "3rd paycheck", and I had extra funds. BUT--on account of having to replace the pool filter, I had to be mindful of how much I spent.
I ended up with three new pens: Lamy Safari Dark Lilac, fine nib (my first Lamy!) and a converter for it for $30, a semi-vintage Sheaffer Javelin in cranberry, medium nib, which I paid too much ($35) for but I don't care, I wanted it and it's in perfect condition. And I stopped at the Anderson pens booth to chat with Brian and Lisa, and walked away with a $10 Pilot Parallel, 6.0 mm. I also scored an old Sheaffer Skrip botthe with the inkwell and the metal cap for nothing (the lady from Burlington threw it in when I bought the Javelin), a free copy ($6.95 cover price) of Pen World, and souvenir tote bag that came with the $5 admission fee.
After I'd had my fill at the pen show, Spouse (who was perfectly happy waiting in the lobby, because he had a TV and remote) we headed back through the suburbs, doing our usual Costco & Meijer shopping along the way in Schaumburg and Arlington Heights. Once we got home and got everything put away, I crashed hard and took a long nap, then got up and made breaded pork chops, baked potatoes and scalloped corn for dinner. And let me tell you, that long nap didn't stand in the way of me going to bed early and sawing logs like a champion lmberjeck, either!
On Sunday, we got up and made a nice breakfast, then cleaned up and did a little housework. I started in on the laundry and phoned Dad for a nice chat--he's in good health, he's started working out, and he's coming "home" at the end of the month. "Home", in this case, being his girlfriend's place in central Illinois. It's actually a good spot for coordinating visits to his kids, grandkids, brothers, and friends, so hopefully it'll work out okay.
After we'd pulled ourselves together, we went to the pool store and picked up the new filter, then ran to Meijer for a bunch of things we'd forgotten the previous day. And once we got home, I made Rice Krispy Treats for him, and experimented with pressure cooker rice pudding for me. The verdict? VERY good--but next time, I'll cut waaaay back on the sugar. I used arborio rice, and flavored it with vanilla and my sweet spice blend. Which, incidentally, is a knock off of Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus (can it be a knock-off if it's better quality?) made from Penzey's cake spice and a little of their dried orange peel. Apart from being way too sweet, I thought the flavor profile was excellent. I don't usually do an egg custard in my rice pudding, but that's what this recipe called for, and I think it really added a nice level of richness. Then I advanced the wash and went and took another nice nap.
Spouse made dinner; a sort of Asian-esque combination of beef short ribs with Korean-style BBQ sauce, veggie mix, and steamed rice. Very tasty, and extremely satisfying. I hadn't thought about his menu plans when I made rice-based desserts, though!
I realized I didn't really say much about my dentist visit the other day; so here's a recap: I got my first panoramic x-ray in about 20 years, and I got the best--and messiest--cleaning of my life. The hygienist used an ultrasonic water scaler, and then blasted them with baking soda to remove stains. So it was like a combination of pressure-washing and sand-blasting. The blasting left me covered in baking soda, with wasn't very pleasant--it was all over my face, in my clothes, and even in my hair! But damn, the results were fantastic. My checkup results were good, but the dentist has all kinds of grand and spendy ideas for making over my mouth. He wants to replace all my oldest fillings (again with the mercury amalgam BS!), cap my worn front teeth, fill in all my gaps with implants (or failing that, do some bridgework), and bleach them white. UmmmNO. For one thing, I don't have that kind of insurance--or money. And for another, I'm not sure I care for the cavalier way he looked at my mouth as prime real estate, ripe for development. In fact, I'm not sure I like that her never actually looked in my mouth AT ALL. He just stuck a camera in there and checked it out on the FIFTY-TWO INCH monitor! Weird office. All this high-tech stuff, but still has spit-sinks. Honestly, I haven't seen one of those since high school. But, whatever. They are going to run up estimates on some of the work he wants to do, and send in some pre-auths to the insurance, and we'll go from there. I will say that the visit went pretty briskly--no real down time once things got rolling.
Reading: "The Girls" (1921), by Edna Ferber and "The Mystics" (1907), by Katherine Cecil Thurston
Listening: Soundgarden, The Traveling Wilburys, The Revivalists, Vampire Weekend
Inked Up: WAY too many! Pilot Metro/R&K Solferino, Monteverde Artista/R&K Blu Mare, Conklin Duragraph/Pelikan Brilliant Brown, Skilcraft Executive/Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, and Levenger Splendor Encore/Iroshizuku Yama-Budo--which is at least ONE too many, right there...
PLUS, I couldn't resist inking up two of my new ones--Lamy Safari Dark Lilac, fine nib/Waterman Tender Purple and Sheaffer Javelin Cranberry, medium nib/Sheaffer Skrip blue-black. Because I couldn't get the Lamy Dark Lilac ink, and because hell, I have the Sheaffer cartridges, so I might as well use them. Sometimes you need a pen loaded with boring ink. I haven't yet had the guts to break out the 6.0 mm Pilot Parallel, though!
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