Vacation.

Back from the Bay Area. Some highlights:

~The amazing Chihuly exhibit at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.
~Seeing (and smelling) "Odoardo", a Titan Arum, in full stinking bloom at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden.
~Eating at Vik's (aloo tikka cholle!), La Mediterranee (that freakin' potato salad!), Cancun (pumpkin salsa! cascabel! strawberry! chipotle!), and the Thai Temple (khanum krog, my old friend).
~Riding bikes all around Berkeley, and the marina.
~Hitting up the rose garden (always a sight), Tail of the Yak (antique glass-tipped sewing pins!), Lacis (a silver sparrow brooch!), Brennan's for an irish coffee (for my dad), seeing Iron Man (complete silliness) at The Parkway with an old friend, and The Fall (pretty good) with another.
~Procuring new Love and Rockets comics from Comic Relief, and Air and Ratatat albums from Amoeba.
~Wandering through campus on vicodin.
~Finding a place that had orange-cardamom gelato, the new favorite food of my entire life (get it on an old-fashioned cone).

Why, why, why- do we have to live in San Diego? Back home to the disgusting tap water, the sun-fried idiots, the free-flowing beers, the many many damnable freeways. Sometimes it's hard to remind yourself of the good things in life, such as: health, roof over one's head, food on the table, etc.
i suppose it could always be worse. Good thing we at least have Bad Movie Night to look forward to!

p.s.) i am sad about: penguins washing up dead en masse on the shores of Brazil. i am happy about: Comic-Con tomorrow, and the Olympics soon, so soon! Also, listening to Mazzy Star usually manages to iron out any and all kinks i might be tripping over in the fabric of life.

p.p.s.) on Friday i will take a train to L.A., then a bus to Las Vegas, where i'm helping my mom (hopefully) sell some of her stuff at an arts & crafts trade-show type of deal over the weekend. Should be a hoot. Her page, if you are interested in supporting my awesome mom: yay!