Break time!

Oy vey. What a week. I am in need of a break.

I am taking off today, heading to Phoenix for a few days. Doing some shaman stuff over the weekend and then hanging with friends next week.

Some random thoughts.

Christmas is coming WAY too quickly this year. The fact that it is already November is scary and shocking.

What is up with the time change being really late this year? It is weird how changing something you are used to can get you so tweaked.

My ex-boyfriend from years ago called me last week. It is amazing how after so much time has passed, one can almost immediately begin to irritate the other. Even better news, he is thinking of calling the Bay Area his new home next year. Grrreeeaaaaat.

I love my place in Oakland, but the neighborhood is a bit ghetto. I was perusing apartments on the peninsula and in the city. DAMN. Rents have shot back up in the last couple of years. Who the hell can afford to rent a not so large one bedroom apartment for $2K+ ? Craziness. I am not in the mood to go back to the roommate deal again, so it looks like I might be here for a while.

I was at work last week and saw what I was hoping was a large mouse on the ground floor of our building. No such luck, it was a rat. And where there is one, there are more.

For some reason, my DVR had skipped over Anthony Bourdain's visit to Hong Kong earlier this year on his show No Reservations. I was really bummed because Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities in the world, bar none. The Travel Channel re aired the episode this week. It did not disappoint. I need to get back to Hong Kong soon. The colors, the flavors, and the chaos of the city stir up powerful feelings from deep inside me. I miss Thailand too and I still have so many more boxes to check off. Bali, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam... One day soon.

On a related note, my friend Kellie gave me a copy of Kitchen Confidential for my birthday. I really enjoyed it. When Anthony was doing the talk show circuit promoting the book, it seemed like a restaurant expose type book. Instead, I was pleased to discover an autobiography for a very interesting man. Intertwined amongst his stories were chapters about life in the restaurant biz. As a seasoned veteran of restaurant work, I could relate to a lot of what he expressed. The restaurant turning all at the same time and the kitchen going down, the Mexican banter and ranchero music from morning 'til night, bitchy customers, side work, and the absolutely unique cross section of people the industry draws. The memories of the business I have will last a lifetime, but you could not pay me to go back and do that type of work again. Thanks Kellie!

Ok, I really need to be doing other things right now. Like packing and cleaning my apartment so I do not find rats here when I come home.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Cuidate.