I believe that this man is Rupert Robbins. In any case he seemed to be the man in charge at the “Chef Rupert Catering” booth at the Great Ithaca Downtown Chili cookoff. I can’t say for sure whether or not Chef Rupert had the best chili of the day, as I didn’t try his chili. What I can say is that he definitely had the longest line. (Which, I confess, is why I didn’t try his chili.) I can also say, unless I’m mistaken, that last Spring at the Ithaca Festival he was grilling some fine chicken; hopefully he’ll be back this Spring, too.

In case my other two articles on the subject “Yee Haw” and “Artificial Winter” didn’t give it away, I spent an hour or two this afternoon wandering around the Great Ithaca Downtown Chili Cookoff. This is the fourth year of the cookoff, but it was the first time I made it down to taste the Chili. (I had planned to go this year, and then I forgot about it. See “Yee Haw” for an explanation of how I was reminded.)

I’m not sure what to make of the man behind Chef Rupert. I saw him a couple of times wandering around the cookoff. His communist hat and his well-dressed manner say “former KGB Agent,” I guess. Maybe he’s Chef Rupert’s bodyguard?

Mmmmm, good.

I’ve complained more than once in this space about the lack of winter we’ve been having here. Well, as part of the Great Ithaca Downtown Chili Cookoff, the good people of Greek Peak decided to do something about it for us. The brought in their snow making equipment and blasted “Bank Alley.” Pretty cool.

Me: What is all that racket out on the Commons?

Becky: (Peering out window) It doesn’t look like a fight or anything.

Me: No, I think it sounds like a protest. I wonder what they’re protesting. I’ll have to go check it out.

Becky: You go right ahead.

(20 Minutes Later)

Me: They’re even louder now!

Becky: It sounds like they’re breaking up. If you’re going to go, you’d better go soon.

Me: Breaking up? It sounds to me like they’ve moved from peaceful protesters to rioters!

(20 minutes later, I return to the apartment.)

Me: It wasn’t a protest! It was mechanical bull riding!

This is the Cornell Law School from across the gorge. It’s nothing special, really, but I liked the way the blue sky was being reflected by the windows.

I’m taking a quick trip to Orlando on Feb. 17-18. Hopefully I’ll bring back something interesting from there. Until then, I’ll be pretty busy.

(Weblog Navel Gazing: Okay, this is the problem with posting these under the date when the picture was taken instead of the date when the posting is made. In reality, it is now Feb. 16, I’m leaving for Orlando tomorrow, and I know that I’ve been really busy since the day this picture was taken. But I’m not sure whether to use the past tense or the future tense! Obvious solution: post my pictures when I take them. Not sure if it will happen, though.)

Ok. I seem to be beating this theme to death. What can I say? I like it, and I’m pretty good at it. This is actually the same tree as appeared on Jan 2; it was a little earlier in the evening, though. Hopefully I can expand my skill set as time goes on. I think my next goals are buildings, bridges, and water, in no particular order. All are important features of the Ithaca landscape, and I’d like to capture a few before I leave. I’m about to give in and buy a tripod since I keep botching great evening shots…

I taught in a graduate teaching workshop today, so I had to leave the house pretty early. When I got out to the parking deck, the moon was still clearly visible, and the clouds were brightly lit by the morning sun. For the full effect, you need the cold winter air in your nostrels.

Since this is my personal webpage, I’ve decided to try to become a bit more journaly here. I don’t promise anything deep and insightful, just a few random observations on what’s happening in my life. This week was very up-and-down. I didn’t get much accomplished on my dissertation. And a homework assignment that I expected to take two hours on Thursday morning wound up devouring the whole day. When I finally figured out that I was setting up the problem wrong (on Friday), it took me about a half-hour to finish. I suppose that it was a learning exercise, as intended