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APE weekend!

No, not that kind of ape. The Alternative Press Expo is this weekend in SF, in a new location. Go and support your favorite indie comics people, zinesters, and other assorted weirdos who still like to put words and/or pictures together. Apparently they moved to a venue with more parking, which is funny to me, since I finally get to take public transportation this year. Whooo!

Also, saturday night is the Cartoon Art Museum's party. Because you can't get enough of this stuff during the day! I don't think I am actually going, but you should go and tell me how it is.

Lonely

I really enjoy having someone special to share things with. I really miss them when they go away, even if the time they are unreachable is supposed to be reasonably short...

Book Review: The Instrumentality of Mankind (Cordwainer Smith)

I have a soft spot for old-school science fiction. It is always interesting to see how people in the past thought about the future, and to think about how our current vision of the future will be similarly distorted. This book is actually a collection of short stories, most of which take place in the same universe, although they span about 13,000 years. The stories definitely have their ups and downs, but I think the author's perspective as a diplomat for the U.S. during the 1950's helps some of the stories have an interesting perspective on how things might turn out. There is also an interesting theme of undescribable feelings and the manipulation of human perception through technology running throughout several of the stories. Overall, I think the collection was interesting, but it only seemed to hint at even greater stories that existed in the author's unique setting, or in his later writing.

Tea Theme Park

And in less important news, next time you are in China you may want to consider the tea theme park for your itinerary.

Weekend

I usually shy away from putting up things here that are too descriptive of my emotional state, but I do keep intending to write something about the bad stuff that happened over my holiday break. Maybe this weekend will be the time to do that as I am heading back to the cheeseland to do my part of the rememberance.

The point of this entry is different, though. Going back there always causes me stress, and I am sure this time will be no exception. However, this time I have the advantage of knowing I have someone else who will be there for me if I need it - maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally. And that makes things easier.

Although, really, having the physical presence would be very nice. It takes a lot of effort to find the words and actions that produce similar effects to a hug, or a gentle touch, or someone taking your hand into theirs...

Paranoid

Should I be more paranoid now that there is a new spy robot in my room? Or should I just be happy someone cared enough to build it and send it here?

Oh well

There goes my chance to update the site every day this year.

Working Weekend

A reminder to myself: If I ever run a company, or am in a position to influence these decisions, don't ever schedule non-essential activities for weekends. Most people need weekends for themselves or their families or the parts of their lives that don't involve work. Making them come in to work for non-essential activities builds a debt that is difficult to repay.

Comix Experience

I finally went to Comix Experience today. It was a nice store! I really liked the collections of back issues for reasonable prices. I'm not sure if I will go back often, though, since it is on the other side of the hill and I would start spending too much money.

Book Review: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (Chabon)

It's the classic tale - boy meets boy, boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy falls in love with boy, wackiness ensues, rich kid turned mobster gets chased by police. All taking place in Pittsburgh, of course. I was surprised by how little Pittsburgh played into the story - sure, I recognized street names and neighborhoods, but what did it matter where this was set? Maybe I was just bugged because I can't remember what factory could be the Cloud Factory they were talking about. The book itself was quite readable, although a little unfocused. It definitely felt like a first novel, although I did read it after an extremely complicated and deliberately crafted novel, so there may be an unfair standard I used for comparison. I thought the discussion of homosexuality in the narrator's thoughts (especially at the end) was too simplistic, but the characterization was well-done. I think the book would have been better off without the mafia subplot, which made the whole thing harder to relate to. Overall, though, you could do worse for a day's worth of airplane reading.

William Gibson

OK, a somewhat more real entry:

William Gibson, one of my favorite authors, has a blog up as part of the media for his new novel. Which comes out Feb 3. Oooooh!

This is a test

This is just a test to see if I can find out what is causing my double post problem. I may also use it as my entry for today.

Whooo, laziness!

Shoes

I am pretty sure I now own too many pairs of shoes. Unless it really is true that my closet is too small.

Jet Lag

Well, I have a few book reviews to get through, but I feel too tired for it. Do I try to fight this or do I live in the future? Why isn't my Good Egg here to curl up with?

So here's a brief todo list:

• Midnight's Children
• Mysteries of Pittsburgh
• Torso
• Himalaya

Home again

Back at home... still doesn't feel like home, even though all my stuff is here.

Must be missing a tour guide or something...

Travel Day

Well, today is another travel day. It is always much more sad in this direction! But I will see her again soon, so it should be ok.

Uh oh, someone is wrestling the keyboard away from me...

I love Dave... :P -- his favorite girl.

Restaurant Review: Silver Thatch Inn

This isn't really a "best of" entry, but I couldn't find any reviews for just the restaurant part of The Silver Thatch Inn. See the service I provide for you readers! Luckily, I had a hot date to bring with, so I didn't have to investigate alone. The Inn is in a residential neighborhood a few miles outside of downtown Charlottesville, so it has a nice, cozy feel. The building itself is nice, with the feel of an old building but nicely taken care of. We got a whole dining room to ourselves (hopefully just a sign of the off season for this place, and not a typical occurance during the warmer months) with a fireplace. The service was really nice, friendly without being intrusive, and the menu had a few options that sounded nice. The appetizers both looked nice, but were only OK. For entrees, the duck turned out very nice (I especially liked the cornbread-pudding thing) and the sweet potato perogies were OK, but not exceptional. The chocolate bread pudding for dessert was pretty good, although they didn't provide as much sauce as you might hope. Overall, a nice experience, and definitely a nice fancier place for a date, although probably not somewhere I would go regularly.

Tea House Review: Twisted Branch

I guess I will continue with my "best of charlottesville" reviews here... Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar is the best place to have tea I have found in Charlottesville. They serve teas from all over the world, and the menu is almost like a tea textbook explaining a lot of the philosophy behind all the different items. The staff seem quite knowledgeable about all things tea, and appear to strive for authentic tea drinking experiences for each tea they serve, including building different parts of their space to resemble different tea drinking environments from around the world. It is all quite cozy and wonderful, although they are not open on Sunday and Monday, so you may want to buy some tea leaves to take home with you just in case. My personal favorite teas so far: Cocoa Rooibos (with a little honey and cream if you desire) and Moroccan Mint (which you should probably sit in the Moroccan Lounge area to drink).

Resolute

Hey, look, I have written an entry every day this year. Should that be my resolution? It could be fun, except for the fact of not being able to get away from a computer for more than 24 hours at a time. I will have to keep thinking, I guess...

Restaurant Review: Marco and Luca's

If you ever find yourself in Charlottesville, VA, you should make sure to check out the tiny dumpling place on 2nd Street, right off the downtown mall. (Sorry, no link besides an article about the owner's

backgrounds - scroll down to the section labled "Bosnia"). Like all good food places, it is tiny, although this may be a bit too tiny since it is only to-go. There is usually a nice crowd waiting around outside, though, waiting for their chinese-style dumplings, noodles (served cold, either sesame or spicy, both pretty tasty), hot-and-sour soup (really good, and I don't usually like that kind of soup that much!), or the steamed buns they've recently started having. The couple that owns it are both really nice, as is the UVA undergrad who also works there. Based on the popularity, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move into a bigger space soon... hopefully they will keep up the high quality of the food. It isn't often I have been to a restaurant where I have eaten everything on the menu and it has all been tasty. Now, if I could only find a place like this in San Fransisco - although if there was one, I bet it would be three times as expensive and not be nearly as friendly...

New Year

Is it 2003 already?

I haven't had time to really reflect or think about resolutions or anything. I'm sure I will get right on that. A lot has happened in the past 12 months, although it still seems like I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.

Anyways, the point of this:

Happy New Year's. Here's hoping 2003 is even better than 2002.