New conceptual meaning to "vileness".

We went shopping today. Various places - including Barnes and Noble, the biggest bookshop I have ever SEEN, where I bought things for Mum, Dad, and Mat, and also Maroon (Barenaked Ladies) for myself; K-Mart, where I got some new track pants, jacket and thermal underwear for when we go to Lake Tahoe (and also I suppose for Terracon, and never any other time...) and I had a buffalo-meat hamburger, too. (Nothing exceptionally special, but decent.)

The vileness?

Twinkies.

I ate about one bite of one, and was overcome with revulsion, faint nausea and a snap headache. Gave the rest to the dog, and the other two from the three-pack ended up in the garbage disposal - though the dog was begging for them. They're impure sugar, and yet, somehow, they taste more sugary than just sugar does. Unspeakably. Vile.

The mountains remain beautiful, but the air is unbelievably hazy.

New conceptual meaning to "vileness".

We went shopping today. Various places - including Barnes and Noble, the biggest bookshop I have ever SEEN, where I bought things for Mum, Dad, and Mat, and also Maroon (Barenaked Ladies) for myself; K-Mart, where I got some new track pants, jacket and thermal underwear for when we go to Lake Tahoe (and also I suppose for Terracon, and never any other time...) and I had a buffalo-meat hamburger, too. (Nothing exceptionally special, but decent.)

The vileness?

Twinkies.

I ate about one bite of one, and was overcome with revulsion, faint nausea and a snap headache. Gave the rest to the dog, and the other two from the three-pack ended up in the garbage disposal - though the dog was begging for them. They're impure sugar, and yet, somehow, they taste more sugary than just sugar does. Unspeakably. Vile.

The mountains remain beautiful, but the air is unbelievably hazy.

A day of tourism!

Martha got off work early today, so on our way to the grocery store (so. much. strange. stuff) we took a scenic route - drove around the mountains, went through Malibu and Malibu Canyon.

Malibu Canyon is stunningly, stunningly beautiful. Marred at one point where someone's painted what looks kinda like an ad hoarding, that says CLASSICS, onto the rocks, and by a place with graffiti further on - couple of names, and a peace sign.

I hadn't taken my camera - have to go back at some point for photos, I think, but they won't do the place justice. There's a highway through the Canyon that would be a nightmare if there were an accident there, too.

Also, I drove today - just on the side-streets. It's kind of disconcerting having everything be the wrong way around. Especially since the wipers are on the right and indicators on the left. And I finally got to try Phish Food.

Oh. My. God. It's wonderful!

From my mother:

On the way out of the city, where those billboards are near the railway line, we passed one which said: "California has issued 6 driving licences to people named Jesus Christ".

I have no idea why this is there, or who is responsible for putting it there. It's just there.

Boggle.

I had to share that.

The adventure continues.

Last night we went to a Mexican cafe for dinner - I sampled the strange dish that is the jalapeno popper - a strange, strange item that's intrinsically wrong in its combination of ingredients, and yet, still delicious. Also went to a rather nifty import store and Best Buy for networking goodies. I'm on my own computer/keyboard now, so I'll finally get around to the journey diary. Do this in parts, mind you, because it's quite long.

Observations from a moving plane: 7/12/02

- At the Perth Domestic Airport I had the strongest granita of my life.

- Planes are much bigger on the inside than they are on the outside.

- My seatmate is a guy named Mike. Seems nice and friendly, but not too chatty.

Lifting off

Qantas domestic flights have a surprising amount of leg room - i.e. enough, even for me, and I'm reasonably tall. The movie, I believe, is One Hour Photo - something I've been vaguely inclined to see. [Post-arrival edit: the version they showed on the Domestic flight was censored. It was different on the international flight, where there were little individual TV screens; probably made more sense that way, there were bits that were incomprehensible. Conclusion is eh.]

I am somewhere over the Nullarbor, and uncomfortable, because I can't fidget as much as I like to.

Sensations: Feeling no sense of airsickness, which is just as well considering I left my pills for that on my desk. But I can see where it would make someone queasy, I guess.

As the plane starts to move away from the gate, the first thing you hear is a whine, and then it rolls. Then you get a rumble that comes up through your shoes. When you finally get to takeoff, the sudden acceleration pushes you back in your seat.

Melbourne airport is huge. I enjoyed walking through it, though - after the flight my legs could use the stretching.

[end part one]

Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me

Yes, I'll type up my trip diary eventually. For now, further observations on the subject of my life in America.

I'm still mildly jetlagged, but nearly over it, I think. Does weird things to the system, but I'm nearly done with it, yay.

Last night we had the intention of getting groceries and making dinner, but got caught up in something before we went, so we ended up stopping off at a place called Topper's Pizza instead. Good pizza, actually - just greasy enough and a great combination of toppings. I had fun people-watching, too, and there was a massive TV screen showing a Monday Night Football game between the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears.

That was hilarious. I still think gridiron places are candyasses, mind you.

Whistle blows. The ball is hiked, I believe they call it, and then dropped, and all the players for no apparent reason just pile on in the middle like a scrum that's collapsed, only more so.

It's still kind of nifty hearing accents from everyone else - last night I realised that I have an Exotic Accent around here, too.

And based on observations so far? Americans are, yes, a little less friendly than Australians, but some people still smile back if you smile at them, and I saw a cute baby, and the unconscious anxiety that has grown from living with a dog who doesn't like me very much has been greatly soothed. We dropped by C and T's house to fetch a chair (don't ask, I didn't) and I met Joseph, a gorgeous tabby who responded very satisfactorily to my instantly-smitten caresses.

Apparently he's usually incredibly skittish around strangers. I think M was just trying to make me feel better about the fact that her dog still varies between growling at me and eyeing me warily as I am permitted to pat her. Joseph was perfectly adorable.

In other news, Happy Birthday To Me. I've had birthday greetings from Madam & Eve and most of my friends, but so far not from my family. I'm trying really, really hard not to mind that.

We drove past a restaurant called Cisco's Mexican Restaurant last night. I'm thinking we should go there at some point - there used to be a Cisco's in Perth that was the best Mexican I've ever tasted. If the American one's as good, I get to gloat at my parents for aaages out of this.

Adventures in America, part one

There is a man in the carpark outside this building driving around in a golf cart.

He is, apparently, using his golf cart to move stuff from his car boot to his building.

His car is about sixty metres from the building.

The stuff does not look that heavy.

There are about eight empty parks outside his building, including the one in which he parks his cart while he's inside.