smokehouse, gordos, la familia, zachary's, karin, lanesplitters, bongo burger, in n out, the farmer's market, nabolom, nation's, noah's bagels, jupiter, pyramid, rudy's can't fail, and probably some others i can't remember. mind you, some of these places i ate at more than once. i wish i were still full.
unfortunately i didn't make it to mario's la fiesta or intermezzo. next time those are top of my list.
what was really great was how many people i was able to see, although i didn't see everyone nor certain people for as long as i would've liked.
it's crazy to be home. to see your grown siblings interacting with your mother because they all live in the same house.
my bipolar aunt is still a couch fixture. the dogs have regressed to potty accidents in the house. and my birds, who now live on the front porch, don't always have fresh water. but i can't live there and fix everything. that's not my job currently. figuring out my life is my job currently. isn't it nice i have the luxury of self-determination.
spent way too much money while home. but that is a symptom of having a good time.
one highlight, of which i took no pictures, was walking around the uc botanic garden. dan was gracious enough to go with me. which reminds me, i should ask to see his pictures. looked like he was taking pictures of dew drops and repetitive patterns. it's interesting how a garden can share the same visual qualities as a hong kong market.
what i have a new fondness for are seed pods. or the idea of the extended garden. first saw this book(Seedheads in the Garden, Noël Kingsbury), i think, at the brooklyn botanic garden shop or maybe it was the ny one up in the bronx. anyhow. this was the perfect time of year to see all the seedheads and other sort of extended garden beauty. i want to come back the same time next year and take photographs. if you have a moment, head up to the garden and look around. truly is lovely.
casey lou, at the market, started making bread and butter pickles... of which i have eaten two jars since i've been back (four days). my bags are taking up all the floor space i have in my room and have spilled out into the living room and onto the couch. it's quite convenient that my roommates are gone until new years. that is almost a month of not seeing them. i wonder if we'll re-acclimate to living with one another.
in the knitting world i made no progress with the fingerless gloves i toted along with me for the trip. tonight i finished a baby hat only to realize it's too big and also the baby i had in mind has a mother with a severe allergy to wool. the yarn is 25% wool. maybe i can pick up some nice cotton or alpaca or just use the acrylic i have laying around. although, that has probably touched wool. i wonder if the allergy is that serious.
what i would really like to be knitting, and will as soon as i can budget it-- is:
wouldn't this be lovely in a rust color or some shade of dark teal or purple or brown or whatever color strikes me at the knit shop. (my current favorite is knitty city)
it would also be nice if i could finish all three pairs of fingerless gloves i have on needles as well as the purse i'm making from sari silk remnants, the bolero jacket i started three years ago or the numerous dog sweaters i've promised my mother.
anyhow. it would be nice to finish at least a few projects before starting something new.
beyond knitting:
i have long lists of things to do for work. data ingestion that i have to sit down for. priorities, procedures, maybe some calculating. oh and pamphlets to send to norway. at least there is variety and it looks as though i'll be going on the 3D seismic shakedown cruise this january! exciting business this is. ten days, currently scheduled for the 8th to the 18th, gulf of mexico, on the langseth.
this year's christmas movie has yet to be decided. i roped my friend jon into the chinese food and a movie, since he's actually jewish and i'm only faking it. veronica wants to see the great debaters, while i wouldn't mind seeing a whole list of movies: juno, before the devil knows you're dead, margot at the wedding, atonement, the diving bell and the butterfly, i'm not there, into the wild, the savages, charlie wilson's war, sweeney todd, maybe some others that are no longer in the theater because it's been that long since i've seen a movie in new york.
i went to see enchanted with alice, jacob and heather at the grand lake in oakland. it was showing in the egyptian room. that theater is the greatest.
but what i miss most of all and didn't get to see was the parkway. man, what i wouldn't give (well, i suppose if i had the money to give i'd head back west and just go) to go see movies at that place. why oh why oh why oh why can't new york have a place like the parkway?
but i digress, and what was i even talking about to begin with? currently i'm waiting to head off to the airport to pick up lizah and tyler...... their flight was delayed by four hours. that's right. i'm picking up at 4am. and not sleeping ahead of time. bring on the coffee. shit.
i've posted the pictures i took while home on my picasa page. not the best but not the worst. mom looks good. the cemetery where she runs the dogs is expansive and beautiful. she discovered it after point isabelle was closed because of the oil spill.
ok, now i head off for the airport.
