20 July 2003

Should anyone wish to commit murder or suicide via udon, I have enough of it here. It can be your butt of malmsey. I expected to get an overpriced bowl, not an underpriced vat. Oof. It's decent udon, don't get me wrong (and really, do you suspect me of being the sort of person who would offer death options with bad udon?). There's just a lot of it.

I also have two pieces of a California roll left, but that's not so notable. We ended up going to Japantown for supper on our way back from the S.J. Art Museum, and they didn't have veggie tempura anywhere on the menu. I couldn't have what I wanted and had to improvise. Ah well. Next time I'm having veggie tempura if I have to go to St. Paul to get it.

(Hee. Poor Mark. I was explaining to him that all I want out of life, or at least out of a Japanese restaurant, is some gyoza made with pork or beef -- not seafood, which is what we had last night -- and a bento box with sashimi and veggie tempura. I sometimes will order other things, but that's all I need. He said that if I found out where to get that, he would gladly go. I said, "Sakura. I think it's around Third Street or so." And he started giving me this exasperated, "Why didn't you say so, so we could go there?" look, so I finished the sentence, "...in St. Paul.")

As for the art museum -- we had a good time going together, and I got several titles out of the deal, but I think free was the right price. I might have paid up to one or two dollars for it. We allotted too much time to it; it's more the sort of place you should stop in if you're already in downtown San Jose and have somewhere between thirty and ninety minutes to kill. And really, in downtown San Jose, there's not a lot in the way of other options, unless you feel like running through the fountain or eating garlic fries. We found the coffeehouse we went to with Corie and Thomas at ConJose and hung out there until the restaurant opened for dinner. Eh. It was fine. As I said, we had a good time being together. But I won't be haranguing any of you who live in the area about the charms of downtown San Jose, I don't think.

(Is it wrong of me that I've had a Barenaked Ladies-esque, "You can be my butt of malmsey" in my head to the tune of their Yoko Ono song? Is that so very wrong? Or would it be, if I could find a decent rhyme for malmsey?)

We picked up potatoes and "Spy Kids," since we're bringing potato salad to Vince's picnic this afternoon and had heard good things about "Spy Kids." I'm not sure about this picnic: it's supposed to start at 2:00. Is it supposed to be lunch? Dinner? Dunch/linner? I don't know when I will be fed. I think I'll do snack/meal/snack and hope that that works. (I could always have some udon, I suppose....)

I was not impressed with "Spy Kids." I mean, it was fine, but I'd heard people praising it for not being treacly, which it totally was in spots, and for being smart. It had a plot hole you could drive a truck through, and while the spy devices were moderately cool, I was not as wowed as some people have been with this movie's smarts. I mean, I was cranky yesterday, but it wasn't that I hated it. I just didn't see what the fuss was about.

I'm not feeling as dismal as I did yesterday, but I'm still looking forward to the return of Timprov and Dr. Bill tomorrow. I think I have a bit more perspective and more of a sense that things will work out okay. And I'm attempting to figure out balance in this week, attempting to counterpoise my natural work and worry tendencies with some deliberately scheduled fun. I know that in some ways, spontaneous fun is better than the deliberately scheduled kind, but that's not always the choice you have.

I have just gotten off the phone with Scott and through the shower, and I'm wearing another of my surprising birthday presents. There will be pictures forthcoming. I think Mom wanted everybody else to be surprised, since I wasn't going to be. Anyway, it's cute and fun and I like it. It's just...surprising, is all.

Well. I'm going to dig up a snack and maybe talk to my folks and see what I can get done before we leave for this picnic. Things don't feel as awful as they did yesterday, and I have hopes that tomorrow will continue to be an improvement, but there's only one way to find out.