Home again
Back home at last, to a big pile of mail and packages, a DVR full of goodness (or at least entertainingness), my own large and comfy bed, and some very happy dogs and cats.
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1) Glorious/interesting things I ate and drank in Portland, Oregon:
• Tamarind whiskey sour, yam muu krob, and khao phat puu at pok pok.
• Bravo Manhattan, fried anchovies with fennel and lemon, and radicchio salad with green olive toast and Manchego vinaigrette at Toro Bravo.
• Bubblegum doughnut at Voodoo Doughnut. Much better than it sounds. Really. H had the maple-and-bacon doughnut, which was awesome. My mother thought the Cock-n-Balls was a guitar-shaped doughnut, which she's never going to live down.
• Watermelon wheat beer at some pub whose name I don't remember. Terrible food and service, but that beer made it all worthwhile.
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2) Had so much fun playing Wii Fit golf with H and my mom that I think we need to get one. In related news, I am the worst Wii golfer EVER (+44) Go me! I kicked everyone else's ass at Wii yoga, though.
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3) At Powell's, I restrained myself and purchased only four (used and on my Paperbackswap.com wishlist) books:
The Approaching Storm: One Woman's Story of Germany, 1934-1938 by Nora Waln
The Fleet the Gods Forgot: The U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II by W. G. Winslow
Dönitz and the Wolf Packs by Bernard Edwards
Sacred Vessels: The Cult of the Battleship and the Rise of the U.S. Navy by Robert L. O'Connell
H bought a pile of SF mass market paperbacks. I did end up with a list of other books I want, but I didn't feel like buying them there and dragging them all the way back across the continent in our luggage. Even better, when I got home, the new Star Wars: The Essential Atlas was waiting for me.
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4) So it looks like I'm going to Italy with my mother and one of my sisters sometime in 2010 and to Scotland (again) with H in the summer. By then his shoulder will be rehabbed enough that he'll be able to indulge in the manly pastime of lifting really heavy rocks again. My mother and I haven't been to Italy before, but my backpacking, youth-hostel-type sister has. I don't do backpacks or youth hostels. My idea of roughing it is no minibar. I suppose we'll end up staying somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
***
5) Airports stress me the hell out and make me want to say "fuck" a lot. Also, the airlines need to crack down hard on people trying to drag their entire wardrobes into the cabin in huge alleged carryons, which are causing chaos as people try to avoid the new checked baggage fees. It makes the boarding process last approximately forever and the flight attendants have to yell at people and it just generally makes the already hellish process worse.
***
1) Glorious/interesting things I ate and drank in Portland, Oregon:
• Tamarind whiskey sour, yam muu krob, and khao phat puu at pok pok.
• Bravo Manhattan, fried anchovies with fennel and lemon, and radicchio salad with green olive toast and Manchego vinaigrette at Toro Bravo.
• Bubblegum doughnut at Voodoo Doughnut. Much better than it sounds. Really. H had the maple-and-bacon doughnut, which was awesome. My mother thought the Cock-n-Balls was a guitar-shaped doughnut, which she's never going to live down.
• Watermelon wheat beer at some pub whose name I don't remember. Terrible food and service, but that beer made it all worthwhile.
***
2) Had so much fun playing Wii Fit golf with H and my mom that I think we need to get one. In related news, I am the worst Wii golfer EVER (+44) Go me! I kicked everyone else's ass at Wii yoga, though.
***
3) At Powell's, I restrained myself and purchased only four (used and on my Paperbackswap.com wishlist) books:
The Approaching Storm: One Woman's Story of Germany, 1934-1938 by Nora Waln
The Fleet the Gods Forgot: The U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II by W. G. Winslow
Dönitz and the Wolf Packs by Bernard Edwards
Sacred Vessels: The Cult of the Battleship and the Rise of the U.S. Navy by Robert L. O'Connell
H bought a pile of SF mass market paperbacks. I did end up with a list of other books I want, but I didn't feel like buying them there and dragging them all the way back across the continent in our luggage. Even better, when I got home, the new Star Wars: The Essential Atlas was waiting for me.
***
4) So it looks like I'm going to Italy with my mother and one of my sisters sometime in 2010 and to Scotland (again) with H in the summer. By then his shoulder will be rehabbed enough that he'll be able to indulge in the manly pastime of lifting really heavy rocks again. My mother and I haven't been to Italy before, but my backpacking, youth-hostel-type sister has. I don't do backpacks or youth hostels. My idea of roughing it is no minibar. I suppose we'll end up staying somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
***
5) Airports stress me the hell out and make me want to say "fuck" a lot. Also, the airlines need to crack down hard on people trying to drag their entire wardrobes into the cabin in huge alleged carryons, which are causing chaos as people try to avoid the new checked baggage fees. It makes the boarding process last approximately forever and the flight attendants have to yell at people and it just generally makes the already hellish process worse.