Random Acts of Whimsy

Around 4:00 today, it was absolutely down-pouring. Thunder and lightening off in the distance, close enough to make an impact; absolute summer thunderstorm, the kind I loved watching from the porch as a kid. I was at the office, not-working. I'd been working earlier, of course, but had hit that afternoon slump where your brain doesn't really feel like functioning anymore, so you either need to do something mindlessly productive, get coffee, or give up. I looked out the window, and watched the rain for a while, laughed with officemates about this and that, and idly wondered how bad it really was outside.

I work on the 13th floor on a 14 floor building. The astronomy and physics building. We have a dome on the roof and multiple telescopes - all the grad students know where the keys are for the roof, and are free to get them at anytime in case they fancy a bout of star-gazing. So I thought... I could check this out. I could just stick my head out, see what it's like out there. So I got up, went upstairs, and grabbed the keys. Went to the roof. Took off my sandals, rolled up my jean legs a bit, and walked outside. It was POURING. I could tell immediately if I stood outside too long, I'd be absolutely drenched, and I'd be dripping over the office. Or....

I rushed back to my office, packed up my things, and ran home through the pouring rain to drop off my computer, my bag, and everything except my keys.

Two blocks away from where I live is Morningside Park - a lovely place for a run, full of pathways through and around big boulders, trees, and stretches of grass and plants. And there I went, tromping through the rain, laughing and yelling out at the thunder and counting the seconds between lightning and thunder. No one was around - the rain was hard enough that anyone who wasn't already out was staying in, I think. As the rain died down and the storm moved further away, I climbed onto one of the large granite boulders which are scattered around the park, and just sat there/lay on my back for a while. I got some strange looks when people did start walking through the park again, when the rain had stopped, but I was quite content on my boulder - I've always loved mucking about with rocks. I used to have a rock collection, even. Technically, I still do, since it's still sitting in my bedroom in my parents house in Baltimore - I never got rid of it, packrat that I am.

Sitting in the rain is something I haven't done in ages. Not counting 'getting caught in the rain' here - though even including that its been a while for that type of downpour. The last time I specifically remember deliberately going out in the pouring rain... might actually be on my gap year, five years ago. I'm sure - I hope - I've done it since then, just no specific instances springing to mind at this moment, as I write. When I graduated from undergrad, I knew (had known since high school, in fact) I was taking a full year off to travel, to work, to volunteer, and, most importantly, to HIKE. I spent three months hiking on the Appalachian Trail (a 2000+ mile trail spanning Georgia to Maine) - I hiked from Georgia to the half-way point in Pennsylvania, stopping there in preparation for my trip to Japan in July. It was a wonderful trip, and a wonderful year in general, and I'll have to expand on it in another blog entry at some point. But it was an extremely RAINY spring the year I went - when I went through later, I figured out that I saw rain approximately one third of the days I was hiking. Some of those days, just a sprinkle, of course. But other days I was absolutely drenched. Hopefully usually only ME - I kept my gear drier than I was, generally, and my REAL criteria for being drenched was getting my socks soaked through - which only happened three times (yes I counted) throughout those three months. 

The worst rain I remember hit one afternoon in... early June? Late May? I'd have to look it up, I kept a journal almost obsessively on a day to day basis. Late afternoon. I was hiking with Hellbender (a friend on the trail, everyone had trail names) that day, and it just CAME DOWN, a three mile hike from the shelter we'd been intending to stay. After a while I stopped, told him to go on to the shelter, I was just going to camp where I was and catch up tomorrow, since it was getting late. I'd camped on my own before, that wasn't a worry. But it Just. Kept. Raining. And the place I had chosen didn't exactly have a camp site available, and despite the numerous vegetation, was actually a lot more rocky than it appeared. I couldn't get my tent up. My tarp was doing nothing against the rain, my tent stakes wouldn't stay in the ground (my tent wasn't entirely freestanding, for all that it was light and for all that I loved it). And I was getting more and more wet by the minute, until I finally gave up, threw everything back together and buckled it to the outside of my pack (too wet to go back inside without getting the REST of my gear wet) and grimly set back onto the trail towards the shelter. It was dark by the time I got there, the shelter itself was packed, and most people were in their bags, sleeping. But Hellbender had saved me a spot and waited up for me, as he realized that the rain was not letting up. I met a lot of good people that year, and made good friends. When I got off the trail after three months, most other people kept hiking on to do a complete thru-hike. So the last time I remember deliberately going out in the pouring rain was about a month after I got off trail - I went outside and stood there for a while and missed the trail and my 'fellowship.' I should do things like that more often.. randomly going outside in the rain, or dancing around my apartment singing to my favorite album, or even just going downtown someplace and trying a new restaurant on my own, for fun. Life is better with a bit of whimsy.

Summer Plans Confirmed!

So this is just a quick blog post in which I'm REALLY excited for my summer plans, which just came together over the weekend, in chronologically reversed order. So I wanted to gush about that for a little bit!

Benson is going to two conferences this summer, in July: one in Warsaw, Poland, and the other near Barcelona, Spain. I had originally been planning on flying out to California for his graduation in mid-June, but when he invited me to go around Europe with him for a couple weeks, I decided that Europa took priority over Cali. This weekend, we spent a large chunk of Saturday discussing our plans and booking flights. Since travel within Europe itself is relatively inexpensive, and we knew we wanted to take 2 weeks to travel, the whole continent was pretty much our oyster. Which turned out to be a little problematic, since we both love to travel and want to go EVERYWHERE, eventually.

Our planning went in reverse: We knew we wanted to end in Warsaw, of course, since that is where the first conference is and therefore where I must end my trip. I'm going to actually be there for the first few days of the conference, probably looking around Warsaw on my own while Benson does conference-y things. I've never been to Poland before, and Warsaw should be really interesting. Just prior to the conference, we'll be in Italy: a friend of Benson has family near Rome, and invited us to stay for the week before the conference. I've been to Rome before - when I was in undergrad, my family took a summer and spent 5 weeks in Europe, two of which were traveling around Italy and the other three in France. Rome was one of the stops we went to, so I don't feel the need to do ALL THE THINGS in Rome or nearby... it will be nice to explore smaller towns and take a more relaxed trip, and with people who know the area - not to mentioned home cooked Italian meals!

Prague was the last place we settled on - as I said, since travel is cheap within Europa, we could have gone pretty much anywhere before heading to Italy and then Poland. [An amusing side note: when Benson was describing this trip to his parents, they were apparently under the misapprehension that the conference was in PORTLAND instead of POLAND. A slight difference there...] Anyway, Prague was actually one of the places we had been thinking about before we got the Italy invitation, since it was within reasonable distance to Warsaw by train. So after about an hour discussion of all the awesome places to go in Europe, we kind of defaulted back to Prague on the basis that while there were many we want to go, most of them we'd want to spend more time than available (Istanbul, Greece, and Norway were dismissed for these reasons, for example, since although those are all trips we've been wanting to do for a while, none of them could be done justice in only 5-6 days). My parents have been to Prague, and they highly recommended it: they thought it was fantastic, like a fairy tale city with great music and culture.

So once Europe was worked out, we just had to figure out if we were doing anything prior. In order to see friends, not to mention so that we can take the same trans-continental flight, Benson is going to be in NYC for a few days prior to this vacation. Now, Benson very recently defended his dissertation and received his PhD in Physics at UC Santa Barbara. He'll be going to Cambridge, England, for a three year post doc starting next October. This, of course, is cause for great celebration.

Now, I did get Benson a present for graduating when I was out there over spring break: whiskey! Benson is a big fan of whiskey in general - he has been since undergrad. In fact, he was given a list of quality scotches by one of the professors at Brandeis, which he's been studiously(?) working through, trying all varieties. This is known as "Craig's List", after said professor. Education is a wonderful thing. [Indeed, once during a lab class with said professor, Benson was talking to him about scotch, and I had to interrupt, said I, "with a non-whiskey related question."   "You have to get your priorities straight" responded my professor.] We both like whiskey a lot, is the point, though Benson is more into it than I am - I appreciate it, but don't think I'm a connoisseur or anything. Before my 25th birthday we made a point to go out and drink scotch older than we were (25 year old Bowmore) at Angel's Share in NYC (a most excellent speak-easy, with great cocktails and liquor selection). Since then, we've actually managed to replicate this feat with two additional whiskeys, despite our own aging: my dad has a friend who collects whiskeys, and I've received a couple of very small (as in several ounces) bottles of whiskey since, as presents; so we've also tried 27 year old and 29 year old scotches as well, now. Since I wanted a nice, interesting gift for Benson's PhD, something he'd not gotten before, my dad's friend recommended several bottles of scotch that he thought would be good for such an occasion, from which I chose Aberlour A'Bunadh. Which is very nice indeed.

Now, after that somehow lengthy aside on whiskey (not a waste): Although I gave Benson a present for receiving the PhD, we wanted to go to a nice restaurant to celebrate his graduation, as well. I've mentioned before that we're both foodies to a certain extent, and I'm living in New York City. This means we have access to some of the finest restaurants world wide. This is not an exaggeration. Therefore this morning, exactly one month to the day prior to when we wanted our meal (and the first day possible for booking), at 10am sharp (when the booking line opens) I called Per Se. Per Se is a three-Michelin star restaurant. Last year it was number 6 on the worlds Best 100 Restaurants (which was top spot in the USA). You may recall that in February I was able go go to the restaurant on the number 61 spot, in Cape Town. This year Per Se was number 11 (second best in USA, the top being Eleven Madison Park, also in New York, which is the place I plan on going for MY graduation!). It is run by Thomas Keller, who happens to own TWO three-Michelin star restaurants, the other one being The French Laundry, in California. And as regular readers may recall, my most prized cookbooks is The French Laundry, which I have several different recipes chronologued in this blog. Yes, this is Thomas Keller's OTHER three-Michelin star restaurant. Repeat: I called right when the line opened, at 10am sharp, the earliest possible time. I then proceeded to wait on hold for 25 minutes, and, when I got through, there were only three time slots left. So Benson and I are now proudly possess a reservation at what will be the most expensive, exclusive, and hopefully amazing restaurant that we have ever eaten at to date. Benson is literally booking his flight around this restaurant reservation. To say this place is popular is an understatement. To say I'm excited is an understatement. And of course, finally, to say my summer is going to be awesome is hopefully also an understatement!

A Few of my Favorite Things

Being a Baltimore girl, originally, my favorite food is crab - specifically, a nice big pile of Chesapeake-caught Blue Crabs steamed with Old Bay seasoning. This spread is, unfortunately, something that is not only seasonable but area specific. However, you can still get decent crab elsewhere in the country - but when I do so, I generally make sure I'm getting the whole crab, or obvious chunks of crab (legs, for example), rather than something that is 'stuffed with crab' - since I've found that unless you are particularly careful about your source, those sorts of dishes end up with more random filling than crab, or even utilize FAKE crab (which is an abomination of culinary arts.) 

And the one dish I avoid like the plague is "Maryland Style Crab Cakes" (when outside of the Chesapeake Bay area, that is, of course I've gotten decent crab cakes in both PA and VA and at home in Maryland). In Baltimore, the best crab cakes are from G&M's (not counting the homemade crab cakes of my Aunt Dot, but those aren't exactly available to everyone!). These crab cakes are the size of your fist, if you happen to have very large hands. They're bigger than my fists, anyway - they're literally half a pound each, and most of that is solid crab. You have huge chunks of backfin falling out of it, they're lovely! There are many other excellent crab cakes in Baltimore, of course, but these are my favorite. My point is, I have high standards for crab cakes. But with only the very rarest of exceptions, I've found crab cakes made elsewhere tend to consist of the barest flakes of crab, held together by massive amounts of something that ISN'T crab. I'm not saying that there aren't any good crab cakes away from home - just that I've gotten tired enough of being disappointed by crab cakes that I've stopped ordering them all together. And when I keep an eye out for other people's crab cakes orders, they generally confirm my impressions. 

You can often tell a crab cake is going to be bad by simply looking at it: if it looks like a firm, smoothish, patty - it's going to be mostly fill and crab flakes; a PROPER crab cake should be mostly crab, with some other stuff that holds it together - hopefully just barely enough other stuff to hold it together - and  the larger chunks of crab meat you can pick out, the better. And I've gone to restaurants, NICE restaurants, which have very good sea food in general and where I really enjoy the food, and seen crab cakes which make me wince just at the sight of them. So I've pretty much given up on LOOKING for decent crab cakes, unless chance favors upon me. I have found, by chance, exactly one place in New York City that has a decent crab cake sandwich - Red 58 has a solid crab cake BLT. I didn't order it the first time I was there, but a friend of mine did. And when I tried a bite I was most pleasantly surprised! I'm not saying its the best crab cake you'll ever have, but it, you know, actually tastes like a crab cake, which means it tastes good. So when we've gone back there for drinks and dinner, I've ordered it ever since. So now, I have one place in New York that I can go for such things. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if there are other places in NYC that have decent crab cakes, and if you know of one, please! Let me know!

When I consider non-crab favorite foods, there has always been one dish which springs to the top of my list. This is my favorite dish that is on my regular meal rotation, and has been for some time. Fettuccine Alfredo is both easy and straightforward to make, and absolutely delicious. Now, healthy? Not so much. My family's nickname for the dish is "heart attack on a plate," which is a fairly accurate descriptor: it's all butter and cream and cheese and deliciousness. It's been one of my favorite dishes for as long as I remember, before I ever even tried crabs, and is pretty much my ultimate comfort food.

Fettuccine Alfredo

1/4 c. (4 tbs) butter

1/2 c. heavy cream (or more, if you wish)

1/8 lb parmesan cheese (at a minimum – I tend to add extra)

Salt

Pepper (fresh ground)

1 lb fettuccini noodles

You can make this with pasta that isn't fettuccine as well, and to be honest, the above picture is technically linguini alfredo. But pasta substitutions are relatively minor - you might need a little more or less of everything to coat pasta variations with different amount of surface area, I guess. Additionally, something related to parmesan cheese, like asiago or romano cheese, are also valid substitutions. I like to buy solid blocks of cheese, then grate off the amount that I need - it tends both to be less expensive, and keep better. Cheese graters are handy things to have! 

Anyways, whatever your noodle choice, cook them as directed until they are tender - they should be more on the undercooked than the overcooked side, since you'll continue heating them as you add the additional ingredients, but cook them to your taste. Strain the noodles and put them in a pot on the stove top. Cut the butter into 1 tbs chunks or so, and mix into the noodles until they are well coated with butter and the butter is melted (this should be done over low heat). Add cream, continuing to mix over low heat - you want to keep mixing the noodles so that nothing scorches. Grind in generous amounts of pepper, to taste. My mother doesn't really like ground pepper, so when I'm making this at home, I always have to just put a little on and add the rest later to my own plate, but when I'm cooking in NYC, I can add all the pepper I like - which is quite a lot. I also tend to be a bit heavy handed with the salt. Next, still on low heat, add in the cheese slowly, and mix well - it should get nice and melty.  . Serve immediately. Add salt and any additional pepper to taste -this means grate fresh black pepper generously across your plate, and a nice extra dash of salt, as well!

If everything seems a bit dry, add a bit more heavy cream until it's properly moist. If it's too moist, just add more cheese. I like lots of cheese, so I end up with both a lot of cream AND a lot of cheese - this is not a bad thing. Honestly, I don't really bother to measure out the ingredients anymore since I'm so familiar with this recipe, I just add things in until it looks right. It's a pretty simple recipe, but a delicious one, and definitely one of my favorite things.

Well loved books: The Vorkosigan Saga

As I stated in my last post, for Christmas I received an iPad mini from my Uncle Bob. Actually, in the note he sent with the iPad, he said he sent it to me for "Winterfair" - a reference to my favorite book series, one which he introduced to me to years ago: the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. So naturally, one of the first things I want to do when receiving a bookreader (or something I'll primarily use as a bookreader) is load all my favorite books onto it. So the series of Vorkosigan books were the first ones I loaded onto the iPad. Now, I own hard copies of all of these books (in fact, I own pretty much every book that Bujold has written, either alone or in a compilation). However, due to what I think is pretty good marketing savvy on her - or her publishers - part, I also own all the e-books for this series as well, for the various omnibuses. One of the latest books in the series, Cryoburn, came with a disk which included ALL the Vorksigan e-books. It also included a note that basically boils down to this: "We want you to enjoy these books so that you will buy them. We want you to recommend these to your friends, and lend them to your friends, so that THEY will buy them. Go nuts." So, basically, I can hook up my friends and family with this series extremely easily, and without misgivings; and in exchange maybe I'll hook someone else on the series and they, too, will go out and buy all of her books.

I'm not JUST going to use the iPad mini as a book reader, of course; I've already downloaded a number  useful applications for myself, in addition to the iBook and the Kindle apps. For example, on the astronomy front, I've got the fantastic app Star Walk, which allows you to point your screen in any direction and see exactly what stars, planets, and constellations are up. I've also got a number of travel/map apps, including Exit Strategy, which gives you not only subway and bus maps of NYC, but also tells you WHERE TO STAND and what car to get into for the subway, depending on what stop you get off at. So you can get in the car which will be right by the exit or the transfer point! And of course, plenty of games, like Bastion (AMAZING game, though better on the computer than the iPad, buy the computer game first and the app second), Mahjong (REAL mahjong, not matching mahjong), various puzzles, and so on and so fifth. But I suspect the bulk of time I spend using this device will be reading books.


Anyways, my mother also got a book reader for Christmas, a Kindle, and she's very excited by this, since it will make it a lot easier for her to read in general and carry books around with her. She's been vaguely interested in trying the Vorkosigan books for some time, since she knows I love them, but it's been getting difficult for her to hold heavy books and turn pages. So last week, while she and my dad were up in NYC for a day after Christmas, I loaded all of of my Vorkosigan ebooks onto her Kindle, as well! And because I have strong opinions on this series, I wrote up a bit of background and description about it for her, as well as a recommendation of where to start, etc. And then, of course, I decided I wanted to expand on it even further, for a general audience, and thus, this blog post was born.

The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction books, taking place perhaps 1000 years in the future or so. However, the bulk of the stories are more about the people than the technology - or, if technology is an issue, it's more about how those technologies affect people and planets. For example, one futuristic piece of technology is the 'uterine replicator' - basically, allows people to skip the whole "being pregnant" thing, and just directly cook up your kid in the lab. As a bonus, you can therefore also make sure said kid is free of genetic defects, or choose the gender, or whatever. It also makes bio-engineering a lot more feasible. The planet Barrayer (from which Miles, the protagonist, hails) in fact has a bit of a problem with gender statistics, since when gender selecting came about, everyone started having lots of boys. Another of the books (Ethan of Athos) is about a man from a planet which doesn't have any women at all, since they aren't really necessary to the process anymore, except for the preliminary genetic material. The book Cryoburn looks more into cryogenics - freezing people when they're near death in hopes that a cure will come along eventually to extend their live. But again, its more about the people involved than the technology itself, and people remain people no matter what technology is available.

The bulk of these books focus on Miles Vorkosigan, the crippled heir of an extremely politically important aristocratic family on the planet Barrayer. Barrayer is very militarized, and historically has treated those who are physically different horrendously. However, Miles is extremely intelligent (and a bit hyper), and has an extreme need to prove himself. Over the course of the books, he becomes a successful mercenary commander which is in the employ of his government, running secret missions around the Nexus (the various planetary systems which make up the Vorkosigan universe) which the government doesn't want traced back to them. However, this means that the bulk of his achievements are classified. Which means back on Barrayer, he's largely seen as having some token military job because of nepotism. The books follow him throughout is life, from starting out in Military school (Young Miles) to his later life - the last book chronologically occurs when he's in his late 30s (Cryoburn). Some of the books are from other perspectives: Cordelia's Honor is from the perspective of his mother, for example, before Miles is born.

The books have been published both individually and in omnibuses - in general, I have the omnibuses of the books, and that's the way that all the e-books are collected as well. Therefore, in my overview below, I've listed the omnibuses in the order such that the bulk of the stories are in internal chronological order. However, this is not the published order  - Bujold wrote them a bit scattered over the timeline, though they're actually QUITE internally consistant! In general, you don't really NEED to read them chronologically, since the earliest books aren't required for understanding, and each book stands pretty well on its own. I would read the books in each omnibus in the general order presented, however. For the new reader, I'd say that once you've read a couple which sound interesting to you, then to go back and read them chronologically.

Personally, if you want to see if you are interested in the series, I would recommend starting with the short story The Mountains of Morning (in Young Miles). This will give you some perspective on the culture of Barrayar, and why Miles being damaged is such a cultural problem for him. I would also recommend Cetegania (in Miles, Mystery and Meyhem) as a good place to start, it gives an idea of what Miles' personality is like - plus, it's a nice little mystery. This was, in fact, the first book that I read in the Vorkosigan series! The other two books in the omnibus with Cetegania (Miles, Mystery and Meyhem) are also fun and give you a good picture of the Nexus and Mile's mercenaries. From there on, reading in chronological order is generally best, but not strictly required. You SHOULD read each omnibus in the order presented.

BUT.  

This series is basically broken in half - before and after the book Memory. You should read all the Miles books before Memory before you read Memory. You should read all the books AFTER Memory after you read Memory. 

Additionally, the 6th omnibus (Miles, Mutants, and Microbes) contains a story (Falling Free) which takes place, chronologically, 200 years before any of the other stories in the book. Read it whenever you like, it's a nice story, but largely irrelevant to the story-at-large. It also contains a repeat story (Labyrinth), which chronologically belongs in the first omnibus in which it's listed (Miles, Mystery and Meyhem). The final story is a new Miles story (Diplomatic Immunity), and belongs in the location it's listed, after Winterfaire Gifts and before Captain Vorpatril's Alliance!

You can find free snippets of Bujolds' various books and stories on her website, here. They used to have the story "Mountains of Mourning" up there for free, but that link currently seems to be broken.
Bujold has two other series, both fantasy instead of Science fiction: the Challion books and the Sharing Knife books. These are both ALSO very good, but Vorkosigan remains the top in my eyes. The Challion books is more action driven, whereas Sharing Knife is more of a romance. But both are fun fantasy books which I would also recommend. Worth taking a look at the snippets, at least!

So, here are the collections of Vorkosigan books and omnibuses, with brief descriptions:

0)  Cordelia's Honor (contains 2 books)

• Shards of Honor: Miles' parents meet and fall in love during a war, on which they're on opposing sides.
• Barrayer: Miles' mother is pregnant (with Miles), during a political upheaval.

1)  Young Miles  (contains 2 books and one short story):  the books here tend to be a bit more military based than some of the later books, with smuggling and internal politics. It is also partly a coming of age type thing as Miles finds a place for himself in his (very militarized) society as someone who is ... damaged.

• The Warrior's Apprentice: The FIRST Miles book: Miles meets the mercenaries
• Mountains of Morning (short): A short murder mystery, taking place in a local district on Barrayer
• The Vor Game: Miles gets his first official mission and promptly gets into trouble.

2)  Miles, Mystery and Meyhem (contains 2 books and one short): these books are more mystery based, trying to figure out what's going on with various mysterious situations. These are the books I started off with, and all three are a LOT of fun.

• Cetegania: Miles is on a diplomatic mission to another planet which has historically been an enemy of Barrayar.
• Ethan of Athos: This book is NOT about Miles, but focuses instead on a doctor who gets mixed up with some business which Mile's mercenaries are also involved with. You won't see Miles, but you will see his second in command, Eli Quinn.
• Labyrinth (short): Back to Miles, a short mission which spawns from the previous book, a rescue.

3)  Miles Errant (contains 2 books and one short): These books are great, but intense.

• Borders of Infinity (Short): Miles infiltrates a POW camp.
• Brother in Arms: Miles and his mercenaries take refuge on Earth after the fall out of the previous mission.
• Mirror Dance: Various fallouts from previous books catches up with Miles and his family. 

4)  Memory (contains 1 book): "Miles hits 30. 30 hits back."

     This book really cuts the series in half. Before this and after this are two very separate stages in Miles life. Therefore, I would HIGHLY recommend reading books before this, before this, and the books after this, after this.

      

5)  Miles in Love  (contains 2 books and one short)

• Komarr: Miles, in his new job, investigates an apparent accident on the planet of Komarr. And meets a woman. (more political/investigative, less romance)
• A Civil Campaign: Miles attempts to court a lady while keeping this a secret from her. In addition, there is political fallout from the previous book's investigation. Romance! And lots of humor! 
• Winterfaire Gifts (short): Miles' wedding (from the perspective of one of Mile's guards).

6*)  Miles, Mutants, and Microbes  (contains 2 shorts and one book)

• Falling Free (short): This story takes place 200 years before the rest, and focuses on a race of bioengeneered people called "Quaddies." However, this is by no means required to understand the rest of the series, it will only really provide understanding to Diplomatic Immunity (also in omnibus 6), so I'd just recommend reading it before that!
• Labyrinth (short): This is the same story as in Miles, Mystery and Meyhem - they just published it in this collection as well, since it also involves a Quaddie.
• Diplomatic Immunity: Miles travels to Quaddie-space in order to sort out a tense situation with the Quaddies. This story chronologically follows "Winterfaire Gifts"

      

7)  Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (contains 1 book): Focusing on Miles' cousin Ivan, this is his romance. Ivan meets a damsel in distress, and partakes to help her. (Quite funny).

8)  Cryoburn (contains 1 book): Miles travels to the planet Kibou-daini, which specializes in cryogenics, and promptly stumbles into a number of tangled conspiracies.