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A Couple Days Off
16 years ago
I took two random days off from working on art.
Tuesday Tmber, or
dewclaws, picked me up with the intent of going to the Japanese tea gardens in San Francisco and the museum that I do not know how to spell...the Deyoung? Dee Yon? Don't know. Well, we ended up not going to either places anyway.
I was excited about the visit so I had no sleep the night before. Some of you who stopped by my painting session may remember me mentioning that.
First we stopped at a hole in the wall sushi joint called Kabuto. Timber heaped loads of praise upon the place, and I fully agree with him. The place is wonderful! Normally when I go for sushi i get the same things: caterpillar roll, rainbow roll, spicy tuna roll, and salmon nigiri.
Timber is far more knowledgeable than I am about sushi, so I insisted that he take the reins and order for us. Everything but one fusion item was fantastic. The exception wasn't bad, it was just meh compared to everything else. I regret not writing down everything we had for my own reference. I recall Amberjack, Butterfish, some kind of bluefin tuna, and of course salmon. you can't go wrong with salmon! The last item we had was some sort of salmon concoction the sushi chef came up with for us. Delishus.
After that we hit the zoo. Since it was cold and clouds were moving in, there weren't a whole lot of people there. The San Francisco zoo is small and the exhibits were sparse, but Timber and I had a great time wandering around talking, taking photos, and just watching the animals. I may post some of my pictures, but, as with my writing, I am rather shy of showing my photography publicly. It's just not that good.
Sadly by the time the zoo was closing, the tea gardens and museum we wanted to hit were closed as well. Time for alternate plan powers! I wanted to show Timber Paxton Gates, a store that I adore with fossils, tea, dried and live plants, taxidermy, glass and brass steampunk stuff, and much much more. We fought city traffic and found a parking space. Timber is really good at maneuvering in tight spaces, but I was still tense. I hate being in a car in the city, hate looking for parking. I hate the city in general.
After a brief perusal of the shop we headed to the Castro for a wonderful dinner at Nirvana. Timber told me it was Burmese Fusion. Whatever it was, it as fabulous. We shared Thai Tiger Prawn and spinach noodles and Chicken Noodle Curry something. I think. It was really good and I recommend finding the place if you are ever in the area.
And then we went to watch Coraline in 3D. I had read the book a while back and I wasn't super impressed. I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman yet that story didn't quite pull me in like his other work. So I didn't expect too much with the movie.
Oh it was more than I could have expected. It was visually stunning, funny, creepy, and the story seemed to be better than I remembered. I highly recommend seeing it! I want to see it again. X3
Timber and I had one of those rare perfect days together, so thank you very much dude. I need special times like that right now more than ever. <3 I went to bed around 3 am feeling good and peaceful and so very worn out...
And then at 10 am Kayotae came in to wake me cause OH YEAH! We were going to the Redwoods! He'd been inviting me out for the past week to do stuff and enjoy the Bay Area's Beer Week, but every time I opted to stay in and rest and work. This time I had to go because...well the REDWOODS!
Lunch was beer and burger at Boulder Creek Brewery and ZOOM to Big Basin.
I want to write about the redwoods, but I can never do the experience justice. I love them more than any other place I have been to, even Washington. The trees are friendly, the moss makes me feel at peace, the chaos of the undergrowth around the imposing singularity of a mammoth trunk is inspiring. It rained on us and I could look up at a 300 foot tree and watch the slow glittering decent of a hundred fat raindrops. It rained and then it hailed on us. The sound of the hail surrounded us, drowned out everything else for a brief couple of minutes. And then then sun came out. Was it still raining? How much of the water tapping the brim of my hat was tree water? The sun splashed gold and green light everywhere and the moss lit up, the ferns sparkled in the brightness, the trees reflected light between them and the whole forest glowed.
Like usual it was too soon to leave. But we had an agenda to get to Santa Cruz for some beer tasting!
I'll tell you right now: santa Cruz Brewery beer is terrible. It was the worst beer tasting I have ever had. It was Kayotae's worst beer tasting he's ever had. The taster set included 9 samplers. I started with the wheat and wrote down, "Tastes strange. Green and chemical flavors." The Pale was simply "Nasty". After I tasted the Amber I just gave up trying to make tasting notes.
Doggedly I trudged through each sample, sipping a bit. Maybe this one? No! This one? NO. The IPA nearly made both Kay and I throw up. Every beer had a terrible green, clove, chemical flavor that only go worse. Only one beer was acceptable, their seasonal Ginger Beer. However, even through the ginger flavor I began to taste the bite of whatever the hell it was. :/
After that palate singeing experience the two of us went next door to a bakery. I have a love for buying desserts...and then eating them. An eclair and rum truffle for each of us soothed our poor mouths with deliciousness. :9
A good couple of days off. Now, I am back to work tackling my stack of art that must get done.
Tuesday Tmber, or
dewclaws, picked me up with the intent of going to the Japanese tea gardens in San Francisco and the museum that I do not know how to spell...the Deyoung? Dee Yon? Don't know. Well, we ended up not going to either places anyway.I was excited about the visit so I had no sleep the night before. Some of you who stopped by my painting session may remember me mentioning that.
First we stopped at a hole in the wall sushi joint called Kabuto. Timber heaped loads of praise upon the place, and I fully agree with him. The place is wonderful! Normally when I go for sushi i get the same things: caterpillar roll, rainbow roll, spicy tuna roll, and salmon nigiri.
Timber is far more knowledgeable than I am about sushi, so I insisted that he take the reins and order for us. Everything but one fusion item was fantastic. The exception wasn't bad, it was just meh compared to everything else. I regret not writing down everything we had for my own reference. I recall Amberjack, Butterfish, some kind of bluefin tuna, and of course salmon. you can't go wrong with salmon! The last item we had was some sort of salmon concoction the sushi chef came up with for us. Delishus.
After that we hit the zoo. Since it was cold and clouds were moving in, there weren't a whole lot of people there. The San Francisco zoo is small and the exhibits were sparse, but Timber and I had a great time wandering around talking, taking photos, and just watching the animals. I may post some of my pictures, but, as with my writing, I am rather shy of showing my photography publicly. It's just not that good.
Sadly by the time the zoo was closing, the tea gardens and museum we wanted to hit were closed as well. Time for alternate plan powers! I wanted to show Timber Paxton Gates, a store that I adore with fossils, tea, dried and live plants, taxidermy, glass and brass steampunk stuff, and much much more. We fought city traffic and found a parking space. Timber is really good at maneuvering in tight spaces, but I was still tense. I hate being in a car in the city, hate looking for parking. I hate the city in general.
After a brief perusal of the shop we headed to the Castro for a wonderful dinner at Nirvana. Timber told me it was Burmese Fusion. Whatever it was, it as fabulous. We shared Thai Tiger Prawn and spinach noodles and Chicken Noodle Curry something. I think. It was really good and I recommend finding the place if you are ever in the area.
And then we went to watch Coraline in 3D. I had read the book a while back and I wasn't super impressed. I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman yet that story didn't quite pull me in like his other work. So I didn't expect too much with the movie.
Oh it was more than I could have expected. It was visually stunning, funny, creepy, and the story seemed to be better than I remembered. I highly recommend seeing it! I want to see it again. X3
Timber and I had one of those rare perfect days together, so thank you very much dude. I need special times like that right now more than ever. <3 I went to bed around 3 am feeling good and peaceful and so very worn out...
And then at 10 am Kayotae came in to wake me cause OH YEAH! We were going to the Redwoods! He'd been inviting me out for the past week to do stuff and enjoy the Bay Area's Beer Week, but every time I opted to stay in and rest and work. This time I had to go because...well the REDWOODS!
Lunch was beer and burger at Boulder Creek Brewery and ZOOM to Big Basin.
I want to write about the redwoods, but I can never do the experience justice. I love them more than any other place I have been to, even Washington. The trees are friendly, the moss makes me feel at peace, the chaos of the undergrowth around the imposing singularity of a mammoth trunk is inspiring. It rained on us and I could look up at a 300 foot tree and watch the slow glittering decent of a hundred fat raindrops. It rained and then it hailed on us. The sound of the hail surrounded us, drowned out everything else for a brief couple of minutes. And then then sun came out. Was it still raining? How much of the water tapping the brim of my hat was tree water? The sun splashed gold and green light everywhere and the moss lit up, the ferns sparkled in the brightness, the trees reflected light between them and the whole forest glowed.
Like usual it was too soon to leave. But we had an agenda to get to Santa Cruz for some beer tasting!
I'll tell you right now: santa Cruz Brewery beer is terrible. It was the worst beer tasting I have ever had. It was Kayotae's worst beer tasting he's ever had. The taster set included 9 samplers. I started with the wheat and wrote down, "Tastes strange. Green and chemical flavors." The Pale was simply "Nasty". After I tasted the Amber I just gave up trying to make tasting notes.
Doggedly I trudged through each sample, sipping a bit. Maybe this one? No! This one? NO. The IPA nearly made both Kay and I throw up. Every beer had a terrible green, clove, chemical flavor that only go worse. Only one beer was acceptable, their seasonal Ginger Beer. However, even through the ginger flavor I began to taste the bite of whatever the hell it was. :/
After that palate singeing experience the two of us went next door to a bakery. I have a love for buying desserts...and then eating them. An eclair and rum truffle for each of us soothed our poor mouths with deliciousness. :9
A good couple of days off. Now, I am back to work tackling my stack of art that must get done.
Sounds like a wonderful, peaceful couple days. And if you're in Santa Cruz, skip the brewery and head to Bonnie Doon Vineyards (if you like wine, that is). A little tiny place but with great wine and fantastic people.
Redwood forests are tremendous -- that cathedral-like quality, that sort of intoxication of being so close to vast lifeforms. My first love is still the muddy tidal estuaries of my youth but, mmm, forests in the rain...