2002-12-08 - 5:40 p.m. over the bay and through the 'burbs... I almost never leave the City without the intention of stepping onto an airplane. I made an exception yesterday. After a lovely brunch of pulled pork benedict with BBQ hollandaise sauce with Maira-Rose at Fog City Diner, I schlepped across the Bay on the Larkspur Ferry. I was on a mission to Marin. A former colleague had asked me to come up and help her setup her new computer system and hang out for the day. After picking me up at the Ferry, we headed to Whole Foods for provisions. Since my love of food and need to eat about every four hours to avoid low-blood sugar type crabbiness is well-known, she insisted we pick up a good selection of treats for tea and dinner. We left with devonshire cream, two kinds of Sconehenge scones, St. Andre and Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk cheese wedges, 2 demi baguettes, a St. Clement Sauvignon Blanc and a Byron Chardonnay, two kinds of salmon roasts, and organic green beans. Any cute boy who would take me on such a lovely, unexpected spree would be rewarded with my devotion and many baked treats. A highlight of the evening was when, after careful consideration, she noted that the St. Andre tasted like a certain bodily fluid. After enjoying a good laugh, I told her you could probably say that about *many* of the really good french creamy cheeses. It makes me happy to encourage people to cough up these types of observations when evaluating new foods/wines... culinary exploration doesn't have to be so serious... The other highlight was when I fixed her cable modem connection...by plugging the modem back in! Heh heh. Of course, I had checked every other possible cause before I climbed under the desk to check out the modem... The wheels are turning regarding what I most want to do on my next trip out of the states... the NYTimes did several articles on London's newly trendy East End. My only experience with that 'hood last time around was a quick stop to pick up my hostess' husband's friend in a wreck of an apartment in Shoreditch. The only London Fields reference I have is courtesy of Martin Amis. I don't reckon I'll venture out there too much, though if it's still up, I'd like to see the Mies van der Rohe show that opens at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The tapas menu at Eyre Brothers, 70 Leonard Street, sounds awfully tempting though, as does the duck confit at South, 128 Curtain Road. Perhaps I'll hit one of them w/my hostess if she's up for culinary treats while I'm in London. AND I want to see the Interpol gig that's part of the NME tour thing on Feb 9th. Anyone know how to go about purchasing tickets to that? The Mean Fiddler Web site didn't have a link for those tickets last time I checked... Rome is the other city I plan to visit this Winter. I never got to roam around in Villa Borghese, and want to take another hundred or so photos of ruins and palazzos and to create my own memories in this lovely city. Perhaps I'll be able to find quick/easy transportation to the Alban Hills too... unless I spend 3-4 hours one day trekking to Florence to buy a few pounds of those amazing dried porcini mushrooms, which would consume an entire day and not allow for much else outside of Rome. Guess it's time to pull out the travel notes, guidebooks, and ephemera...of course, I still haven't planned my SF holiday vacation either... any comments? (0 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09