Half-demolished Kitchen of the Soul

Elsewhere

Moment of Manliness

Did I pass the test?

After a conference call this morning I re-realized that my career is a lot like being in school. I'm constantly having to learn things I wouldn't choose to know otherwise. Today it's chemical processing. Another day it's how to make plywood or flavored iced coffee.

My advertising instructor was right, though. He said we needed to know a little about a vast array of things. The more things we know, the more resources we have to draw from, the more connections we can make and the better ideas we can have.

So my brain is like the cluttered office of an eccentric professor. Papers stacked everywhere, cabinets crammed with specimens and nicknacks, with me rummaging around for that thing I know is in here somewhere. At least I think it is. Ah, wait, here it is under the, uh, whatever that is. No, that's the autoimmune response... 

Boo

Oh, those crafty Swedes. Make you think you're buying bedding with a fun pattern of squiggly concentric circles while hiding ghosts to haunt your sleep.

Street food

There were so many interesting options at Susan Feniger's Street. Here's what we chose.

FALAFEL, CHOPPED SALAD & WRAPS - homemade marble sized falafel fritters tossed with crispy eggplant, tomato, cucumber, pickled radish and shaved lettuce; served with lavash wraps, tahini hot sauce, baba ganouj, lemon oil and tzatzaiki

BEEF BRISKET REUBEN - topped with caramelized onions, sauerkraut, melted Jarlsberg cheese and homemade thousand island dressing (and some kind of very-different-not-sweet-but-yummy cole slaw and too-salty potato salad)

SAIGON BEEF SALAD - marinated skirt steak, long beans, celery leaf, carrots, cucumber and tomatoes with a chopped peanut, chile and soy lime dressing; MANDOO VEGETABLE DUMBLINGS (I think) - Asian vegetables and sweet potato noodles with roasted honey yam and sesame dipping sauce

SHRIMP, GREEN PAPYA and AVOCADO SPRING ROLLS - Vietnamese rice paper salad rolls filled with thin strips of green and ripe papaya, fresh avocado, chilies, herbs and shrimp in a spicy kaffir lime sauce

KAYA TOAST - a uniquely Singapore experience of toasted bread thick with coconut jam served with a soft fried egg drizzled in dark soy and white pepper (you dip the toast in the egg)

TURKISH DONUTS - small spiced pasteries fried and then simmered in cardamom rose syrup, served with sour cream and rose hip jam

To the butt of the problem

If the trip to China ends up happening, I'll have to do something to enhance my seating comfort. My skinny ass starts to cry in pain after only a couple of hours in standard airliner seats. And my legs go numb. There's not enough muscle and fat between the ischium of my pelvis and the seat.

Since it's highly unlikely the client will spring for the bed-like seats in first class, I'll have to find a pad of some kind. A pillow? A plush foam biscuit? A hemorrhoid donut? And would it count as carry-on luggage?

It makes being shipped like a vampire in a coffin look very appealing. Twenty-four hours horizontal instead of crammed into coach seats? Paradise.

Like 75 degrees and low humidity

Ceebs and I were walking to breakfast. She asked if I was warm. I said it was that perfect temperature where I become completely unaware of the temperature.

At the end of my visit I told her how easy it was now to spend time together. No anxiety, no self-consciousness, no conflict.

"Yeah, she agreed. "Sort of like being unaware of the temperature.

My Motorcycles: Honda Hawk GT 650

As soon as I saw the photo in the magazines, I had to get one. That meant several excruciating months of waiting. I kept checking with the dealer and was there as soon as their shipment arrived with cash in hand and the VT500 Ascot to trade in.

I rode the hell out of it. It was parked in my little San Francisco garage space in such a way that it was always easier to take than the car.

Life and priorities changed after I moved back to Southern California and got married. The bike sat for a few years until gook and corrosion built up in the tank. After replacing the tank I sold it to my financial planner. I seem to have a habit of buying bikes financial guys crave.

The men who stare at walls

I'm back from a fine weekend of galleries, movies and food with my former wife, Ceebs. That's me, Friday morning, studying some photos by David Lynch. His latest very cool paintings were in the other room.

Later we went to the Bergamot Station gallery complex that includes the Santa Monica Museum of Art. At one of the galleries we stumbled upon an exhibit of photos by Jessica Lange. We had dinner at the very popular Cuban restaurant, Versailles. It's an LA institution and a little tradition of ours.

Saturday we collected a couple of Ceebs' friends and, after brunch at Street (photos to come), headed downtown to the Museum of Contemporary Art.

As for movies, we saw Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, Matt Damon in The Informant and The September Issue, about Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. We had talked about seeing It Might Get Loud, but it didn't work out that way. That's why there's DVD.

On the way to the airport we had breakfast at another LA institution, Junior's. At LAX I discovered I'd had the wrong flight time in my head and I missed my plane. At least I was well fed and otherwise totally blissed out.

Music Video Monday: Tom Jones