California Luv...

Well, dear readers, I have been having a lovely time out here in California. The conference in Oakland went very well. I even had a fruitful chat with one of the assistant editors for NYU Press who sounded interested in my dissertation and invited me to submit a book proposal! Big excitement to be sure--I can't wait to tell my director about that. I must admit, however, that I sort of blew off the last day of the conference in order to spend time with my good friend Catherine in San Francisco. This of course reminded me just how much I LOVE the Bay area. While I have grandiose fantasies about potentially getting a job out here, I am realistic enough to know that it would be financially impossible to live in the city. (sigh)

But Catherine currently lives right on the outskirts of Japan Town, so we took time to explore there and eat some delicious food that made us both nostalgic for our respective times in Japan. We had dinner at this fabulous noodle shop where I was able to get "Croquette Mash Curry Udon" for the first time since I left Tokyo. And damn, it was SO good! Basically, this dish consists of a big bowl of the thick udon noodles, rich curry sauce (mmm!), and two lightly breaded and slightly sweet mashed potato patties. I know it might sound a little strange, but it's amazingly tasty.

After dinner, we found a little place that made Japanese crepes and I got one filled with fresh strawberries, whip cream, and chocolate sauce. Needless to say, I was having a little food-gasm for the rest of the night!

Unfortunatley, the Kinokuniya bookstore I wanted to hit up was closed by the time we got there so I had to delay my shopping expedition until the following morning (at which time I was able to pick up quite a few manga that I'd been looking for, yay!).

Anyway, Catherine and I also found a karaoke bar where we were able to rent out a private room and sing for a few hours. Segoi!

The next day I ran out first thing in the morning to check out the bookstore and then I found a great little cafe that makes taiyaki! As many of you know, taiyaki is my FAVORITE Japanese dessert of all time. It's basically their version of a donut (in the shape of a fish) filled with gooey red bean paste. Mmmmm! It was heavenly.

On Saturday we wandered around the city and just had fun hanging out. It was really great to spend time with Catherine because I hadn't seen her in person for nearly 5 years, which is quite a long time even for both us who tend to travel a great deal.

Ass early Sunday morning I made my way back to the airport and flew down to L.A. to stay with Monkey for a little over a week. So far I've been having a great time lazing about, enjoying the gorgeous California weather, and catching up with her and my friend Charlie. Monkey has been feeding me all kinds of delicious food as well. I've had the good fortune to sample the "crack cauliflower" which I am now a total addict for. Damn that shit is good! I've also had delicious dosa (made with crepe batter, so she's calling it "fauxsa") and palak paneer. Last night we went out for sushi and on Saturday we're making plans to go to Little Tokyo to sample the fare at a well reviewed izakaya. In Japan, izakayas are a cross between a bar and a restaurant that tend to serve a Japanese style tapas. Finger foods and alcohol mostly. But this place apparently makes one of my all time favorite Japanese dishes--okonomiyaki! I can't wait for Monkey to try this stuff because I think she's going to love it almost as much as I do.

Tonight I'm going out for dinner with Charlie, but I'm not sure where as yet. No doubt, we will spend much of the evening reminiscing about our high school follies and talking about the comics we're currently reading, movies we want to see, and music we like.

My time here in Cali is flying by and I know, all too soon, I'll have to head back to the armpit of Florida to swelter in it's oppressive humidity. (sigh) But for now, I'm feeling the California luv while I can...and trying to ignore how my credit card is weeping at the thought of our next bill.