Salsa Verde & Ojos Azules

Gave Franklin his first taste of chips and salsa the other day:

He actually then insisted on eating the salsa straight with a spoon! And, I mean, it was the Herdez Salsa Verde, so can you blame him?

Also enjoyed some black beans that evening. The best part of this video, though, is his new phrase, "uh oh!"—heard here after he drops a bean:

That guy...

Okay, some of this you've probably seen, but I love this series with Wendy. They were holding hands, but when we tried to recreate it, the result was this bit of hilarity:


And I really love how stylish he looks in his new raincoat, seen here at Cal Anderson Park:






We stopped there on our way to the Broadway Farmers Market, where we picked up what I might have to rule is the ultimate spring dinner:

Leg of lamb, asparagus, and potatoes. Franklin, I'm happy to report, ate a few bites of everything. His clear favorite, if you're curious, was the purple potatoes :)

All right, reader, hope you had a lovely long weekend. More soon!

Matters of Taste

I have to say, that West Coast Plato Workshop really hit the spot. Restful, restorative, challenging, and fascinating. Wish I could do that in the middle of every term of teaching!

(Yes, even though it meant coming home to over 200 items in need of grading...)

And the folks at Stanford played no small part in making it such a success. Well done all!

Also enjoyed that my hotel was, by sheer coincidence, north of campus, so I walked through this handsome entrance each day:


All of it was made extra fun when Geoff came up from Oakland for dinner after the Workshop was over.

Hopefully next time won't be quite so many years!

If I have one regret about the trip, it's that I didn't notice Coupa Café sooner. I'd never heard of a marrón before, but apparently it's like a latte but much stronger and, perhaps as a direct result, much better :)

Also loved the breakfast arepa:


Later this week, once I was finally home with Franklin, I had the pleasure of learning that he's a huge fan of the pastries at Than Brothers:

Thanks to Pete for the great photos!



Finally, many of you have probably already seen the awesome video Emily took while I was in California, but I think it's worth at least one more look:

Busy, But, You Know, the Good Kind of Busy

So, first of all, I'm excited for the upcoming West Coast Plato Workshop, which meets this weekend at Stanford.

My handout? Sure, take a look:

WCP Cratylus Handout by Yancy Hughes Dominick

Want to know more? Take a look at the full program. Should be a lot of fun!

I also had the pleasure of delivering an address to this year's cohort of students completing the Faith and the Great Ideas Program at SU. It was perhaps a celebration, but I decided to give a pretty serious talk about Plato (how could I pass up the chance to give another talk about Plato?); in any case, I'm particularly proud of my last line: "most of all, I hope someone comes along very soon and refutes all of your beliefs."

As far as refuting people goes, I don't usually like to give books bad reviews, but by the time I finished reading the book I reviewed recently, I kind of had no choice. Too bad, but what can you do?

Finally, I'm excited to report that I'll be teaching a special section of my Philosophy of the Human Person class this summer for some of the dancers in the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Yes, that Pacific Northwest Ballet :)

It's part of their Second Stage program, which, as I understand it now anyway, helps people prepare for the lives they'll live after their career onstage.

You can read more about the Seattle U part of the program here. I don't know much more than that now, but I can't wait to find out more this summer!

Okay, speaking of summer... Thanks for reading this far without seeing any photos of Franklin! In return, here he is today asking me to read one of his current favorite books:

Mama, Is It Summer Yet? Thanks again, Jen!

And if you just can't get enough, here's a few minutes of raw video footage Emily got the other day:

Quite a guy.

All right reader, see you after I get back from California!

Can't We Just Have Weekends All Week Long?

Great Mothers Day card from Franklin & the crew at the ILC:

Bigger version with bigger text here.

Pretty awesome guy.

This weekend he seemed to enjoy his first visit to Green Lake Park, where we met up with Tyler and his parents.

Checked out some boats:




And Tyler tried his first snow cone:

Franklin meanwhile ate part of my hotdog, but it happened too quick for the camera :)

A little splashing in the water by the ducks, of course:




Back up on the Hill, our walk home from dinner with Pete really picked up steam when Franklin realized he could be the one pushing the stroller:

Only a Northern Weekend

Thank goodness Emily had that conference in Vancouver, BC: loved seeing Franklin's reaction to international travel, university living (we stayed on the UBC campus), and, of course, seeing the ducks at Stanley Park:


Like I said, we stayed on the amazing campus of the University of British Columbia. Seriously, it's amazing what actual funding can do for a university.

Beautiful new buildings, terrific landscaping, and even the Endowment Lands, which include, among other things, Franklin's first clothing-optional beach:

Wreck Beach
(If you're wondering, we opted for Yes on the clothing question :) )

Meanwhile, the main event was the Northwest Archivists meeting. (Full program here.) Emily presented as part of a panel titled "3-D Documents? How to Handle Artifacts in Your Archives":


They even had an activity where the audience tried to do an appraisal of some sample artifacts:

And who's that charming looking archivist there on the left?

But I'm pretty sure those ducks were Franklin's favorite part:


Which got him nice and tired for a peaceful crossing back into the US:

Speaking of, reader, I need to sit back and relax a little myself. Until next time!

Returning to Our Connections in the Northwest

We're packing and about to leave for Franklin's first international trip! Emily is presenting at the Northwest Archivists' meeting at the University of British Columbia this weekend. Looking forward to finally visiting Vancouver.

In the meantime, how about some more fun from this past week. Fun on the slide at Volunteer Park:


Fun visiting with Grandpa Ray and Grandma Rhonda:



Thanks again for the fun weekend!

This one is fun in a different way, and from the previous week, but I just loved this Daily Show segment on Australia's gun laws:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Whoop-de-doo indeed.

There are two more parts to the series, also worth a look.

Finally, Franklin is warming up to the song and dance action at Toddler Story Time:

We've been enjoying the nice weather & walking to the Capitol Hill branch instead of busing it downtown, and I do really like the more chill, neighborhood-ly vibe.

All right, reader. Have a great weekend!