i guess i'm back.

this feels weird.

this is what my roommate/co-worker does with his spare time.

it feels like time for an update.

i have been attempting to be more active in my daily routine. not workout active, but just less lazy. one step at a time here, people. one step at a time.

this is somewhat a reaction to the wow relapse my house has experienced.
we spent 2 nights lan-partying it up in the living room with our fancy new blood elves. but i can't do this all again. and it's all for nothing... i could be being social, exploring the city, learning something new, collaging or trying out different recipes. i can't take sitting on my ass and pressing 3, 3, 4, arrow key, right click, drink. i just can't do it. it sucks the social right out of you.

my usual coming home would be come home, read/watch a cook's tour on the comp, nap, order food, watch tv, eat food, go to sleep. wow. BORING! and i have found that whether i nap or not, or whether i get 4 hours of sleep vs. 8 hours... i am still equally as tired in the morning. (i think i just hate mornings.) so, this new activity has been good for me. and makes for a much more satisfying life.

on monday, the boy and i went to katana-ya for ramen.

^^ miso with spicy tofu. amazing. and as usual, we were the only non-japanese people in the joint. then a quick romp through borders where i talked myself out of getting elle decor UK. $8.50.. for a magazine. sigh. so i got a cheap mexican cookbook instead.

tuesday night, the boy and i made tortilla pie. it isn't so much a pie as it is a mush of delicious.

i highly recommend giving this a go. it was so easy and quick. and it was fun to make something together without us getting in an argument about it.

and yesterday, i completely reformatted my comp. it wasn't too badly in need of it, but i do like starting out with a clean slate. no more annoying programs that don't do anything. streamlined. though it took all freaking night to get all my past programs up and running again. and reorganizing my bookmarks and all that crap. but it's worth it. my computer is the happiest it's been in years.

and i realize that while this all sounds exciting to me. to you it's boring. now do you see why i am trying to kick start some adventure? yeah... i needed it.


side note: LOVE IT.
gerard richter's stained glass window in cologne cathedral.


in other news, go here and click vote. THANKS! (ps. i didn't take the picture, my superior at work did.)

so i was watching anthony bourdain: no reservations, as i tend to do, and it was the japan episode, where he starts out in osaka, where he tries to commit kuidaore (basically eating & drinking yourself into a stupor).

so he goes into this restaurant that specializes in takoyaki, which is octopus, cheese, batter & extras all fried and roundified, by making them in a... here just watch the video:


at the particular restaurant he goes to, you get to control the balls with your own stick. which you would never see at an american restaurant, it's just asking for a lawsuit.... but it looks so fun and sounds so yummy. i decided i must live vicariously by anthony bourdain's side... so i found the only restaurant in SF that serves takoyaki: tanpopo.

though these ones are deep fried, not made in the cool little grill thing. yum. FUCKING YUM! HOLYSHITBALLSOFCREAMYCHEESYDELICIOUSSOGOODANDIT'SKINDASWEETALMOSTLIKEADESSERTGOOEYGOODNESS YUM!

so i have decided that i am going to invest in one of these takoyaki grills and i am going to go buy one this weekend at soko hardware (the BEST hardware store ever) and i will go there this weekend during the Nihonmachi Street Fair.

awesome.

and in case you missed the words.




my boots are ready to go, my glitter fake eyelashes are ready to go, my spanking new skirt is ready to go. i am ready to go. LET'S DO THIS! (omg omg omg, when is it going to be 8 o'clock. WHENWHEN?)

i have been looking forward to this since 1997. and now, 10 years later... the dream comes true.

EDITED TO ADD: so awesome. SO SO awesome.

travian

i am located at -13,97.

you can be a roman and not pick where you are.
OR you can be a gaul or a teuton and pick the northwest and we could join forces if you dig the game.

alaska trip in a nutshell:

- anchorage is a tiny city.
- alaska had a big earthquake in 1964 (9.2 and CRAZY)
- my dad got married and didn't tell me. (he was wearing a wedding band, which he never did with my mom.)
- went to a bp family picnic.
- there is only a few (like 2-3) hours of nighttime.
- went to seward (small fishing town)
- went on a fishing expedition and caught 6 salmon, and 3 rock fish.
- went to this church:
- went to homer, which i did not like. at all.
- ate halibut ceviche and tacos.
- went clamming, which i was very good at. got about 60 clams in 40 minutes.
- back to anchorage for a moosetooth pizza and a barley wine.

good to be back.

back from alaska. more tomorrow.

the trip to portland was a success.

highlights:

1) i didn't kill pat on the drive. i had gotten my alibi all lined up and i didn't even need it. i think the anthony bourdain audiobooks helped a lot... like a lot a lot. i highly recommend them for long drives... it's good for entertainment but since there isn't really a concrete plot, you can easily strike up a conversation with others in the middle and just ease right back in. that and i love him. there are only two celebrities i would ever approach, and he is one of them. i would ask him for a smoke and a light.... and for his babies.

2) the most awesome velvet painting of the last supper in the new old lompoc.

3) a strip club, that serves food. lots of food. and cheap food.

3.5) erotic photohunt in above strip club. we got high score... by a lot.... since... you know, there are real naked ladies.

4) powell's bookstore. best bookstore ever. i wish it was in my town.

5) GPS system. pat's brother lent us his GPS system so we could get around portland... portland itself makes a ton of sense... it's easy and i got it after the first day... but beaverton makes no sense. at all.

6) the food. great food all weekend long. some fancy, some casual and only one meal was a let down. (and the dessert we had later made up for it.)

7) the rose garden, which was the best hangover cure ever. relaxed under a tree and remarked that this is what people did for fun in the 1800's. and there was a quaker wedding, i guess. all i know is that after an hour in the garden, i could hold food down. high five.

8) DRINK PRICES! so, we are at the new old lompoc... and we have a lot of drinks. i ask for the tab, and i am expecting it to be 60-70 bucks.... and i look... $25. $25!!! omg. i was so overwhelmed by the magical cheapness that i tipped $15.

9)
rogue gin. haven't tried it yet, but i look forward to it.

10) the saturday market, which is also up on sundays. it's like a festival, but every weekend. awesome and adorable.

11) coming home. i missed the kitty and i missed my own bed and i missed the cold (weird, i know) and i missed being home. that is my favorite part of traveling... i almost always want to defect to where i visit, but then i come home and i realize how lucky i am to have a city that is a home. sf is my city, and whenever i think of home i am always going to think of this city. i feel very fortunate to have that feeling. i feel very fortunate to live here. (and i feel very fortunate that i can afford to live here.)