Future Home

This picture, taken by the beautiful Sonia, is of the view from the roof of her current home and my future home. Her apartment is in Northbeach, two blocks from Lombard St. and about ten minutes from Fisherman's Wharf "by walking" (as my students would say).

I can hardly wait to start the new adventure. I shipped off a big box of stuff today, which was less expensive than I had imagined. Granted, it won't get there for about a month, but I'm in no hurry. Two more boxes to ship in the next few weeks. 26 days until I'm on that plane--only 16 working days--not that I'm counting.

I've decided that despite my financial situation I need to make one final trip to Shizuoka to say goodbye to the friends. I hope to catch the shinkansen after work on the 11th and stay for a few days. I gotta get in one last crazy night of karaoke, you know?

Ato de, finished Persig and am now back to Orwell.

Ainz comes for a short visit this weekend, so I'm heading back to Osaka castle to say goodbye. We're also going to try and fit in both takoyaki (those octopus balls again) and okonomiyaki while she's here--a task I think we're both up to. Osaka is famous for these dishes, and I think I'm really going to miss them. On the other hand, there's so much food and beverage that I've been fiending for these past few weeks, my stomach is telling me that it's definitely time for some American cuisine.

As a bit of an afterthought, and particularly for any Japanese readers, although American cuisine is indeed hard to define, it does consist of a lot more than hamburgers and fast food. Don't judge us by your imports like we do you.