over the weekend i went to joshua tree with some of my lovely friends. i've never been out there before, or really in the desert like that. it wasn't that hot, though, so we lucked out. on the drive back, which included a slight detour onto route 66, i realized that it felt weird to be so hot and not be covered up, because the only times i've ever felt so hot and dry, i was in one muslim country or another.

there were many highlights of the trip, which include:

--MMC's impression of a joshua tree
--ms. pac man
--MMC's homemade marshmallows (made with real sugar, so when you toast them over the campfire, they brulee!
--singing around the fire with two (2!) guitars on saturday night (and a bongo). and the applause from our neighbors
--our photos with the joshua tree nearby
--the stars (and the shooting stars)
--the amazing rocks
--getting locked out of the car and looking for a slimjim
--finding a slimjim and getting back into the car
--and of course, no one being able to remember the rules of cribbage thanks to our awful instructions, and the ensuing search for some fellow campers who might be able to help us out. we never really figured anything out, but we did cross paths with some interesting people on the way there.
--the s'mores on sunday were pretty awesome, too
here's a little bit of restaurant news:

--there is THE CUTEST new cucpakery in walnut square (just behind cp, right next to twig and fig). it's called love at first bite, and it's pretty awesome. everyone, GO THERE! and check out my pictures (not the greatest) on flickr.

--finally, some info on delfina's pizza place!

--i heard today about a new gelato place in the city near 22nd and mission, called something like la coppa loca, and it's owned by an italian!
ever since i wrote that i am over cupcakes, my friend AK has been fighting to keep me from giving up on them. she's written me handmade cards and countless emails to keep the love going inside of me. and just the other day she sent an email saying that she's heard of a cupcake place called "love at first sight" (or something like that) opening up soon in north berkeley. does anyone have any news about this yet?

on another note, i've been frequenting a lot of chocolate shops lately. besides the lovely bittersweet on college, there's the so-cute parfait amour chocolaterie, of course fog city news, and even ruby wine shop in potrero hill.

i love presents

one of my favorite parts of doing high school cross country (besides the waist-high ice baths) was having and being a secret pal. i love presents. giving them, getting them, whatever!

i haven't been knitting much lately, but i think i am going to sign up for secret pal five anyway. i read about it today on fig and plum, and i think it might be really fun. i kinda love pen pals, and i LOVE getting stuff in the mail. basically, this seems brilliant to me.

any other of my knitting-blogging buddies interested in going through this with me? HJ? AC? who's up for it?
i've been feeling really crummy lately. i've pretty much had the same headache for four days, and it's just not going away, no matter what i do. it makes doing anything difficult.

bay to breakers is this weekend, and i'm pretty sure i am going to die somewhere in the middle of it, but i might as well try. let's just say my running hasn't been up to snuff lately.

batali comes thursday, and we're all pretty excited. i have to try out the doughnuts once more this week, and these other little fritters filled with hazelnut and chocolate goop. also, we're making a breakfast timballo with eggs and potatoes and sausages. yum.

i made asparagus bread pudding yesterday, and it was pretty awesome. maybe i'll go eat some leftovers now before i have to head back to work.

oh, my aching head.
i don't think i've ever been as tired as i've been the past few days. i've gotten worked each of the last three nights (on saturday night another cook and i were so far behind that when the electricity went out right before we were to open, we started jumping up and down and cheering with delight. the customers at the bar had a nice chuckle at our expense when the power came back on two minutes later) and i'm convinced my hair will never not smell like smoke again. yuk.

i did somehow manage to make it to thai temple yesterday, though. i know it's heresy, but after a side-by-side taste test, i think i like the white sticky rice better than the purple. plus, now they are charging more for the purple anyway.

i checked out MB's new book yesterday, too, and i kind of love it. it is super italian, and i like the way it's set up. the photos are nice, too. we're having a breakfast for him next week at the restaurant and i'm hoping to make some bomboloni for it.

oh yes, the times' spring living issue is pretty good--there's even an article about supper clubs (though, once they make it to the times they aren't really secret or cool anymore, are they?) and david and randal (who are on their way back soon, i hear).
still, no computer at home. i finally have an excuse for being such a terrible email correspondent. i'm at the beautiful berkeley public library today.

so lasassy and i went to see jsf last night. i cannot describe how amazing he is, and how important it is for me to have people like him in the world to look to and learn from. i didn't know if he'd be a good speaker, but he is completely well-spoken, and tells stories (and lots of lovely, apt analogies) in the most animated, relatable ways. he is absolutely a gift.

i've been thinking about things a lot lately (uh, as opposed to what?), and for a while i've wondered if maybe i should return to grad school and get my phd in english and become a professor. i'm lucky to have (or stupid to believe that i have) a great professor who'd help me get back into cal, and i've been considering applying in the fall for 2006. i think i could be a wonderful professor, doing for people what this brilliant teacher has done for me. but i have to say that i'm not quite sure that it's really what i want. i used to say to myself that there was no was i had the attention span to focus on a degree for seven years, but now that i've been flailing in the universe of manual labor and tricky people for four years, i tend to idealize the concept of having one static goal to work toward for such a long time. i don't know anything.
well, my computer is still not working. comcast stinks! so i am over at lasassy's house--we went to the cherry blossom festival in japantown this afternoon, and i am just realizing that we didn't actually see one cherry blossom (except for the lonely partially blooming tree blocks away from the festival which we spotted while we looked for parking).
i'm on the most excellent computer at my gym right now (and i just realized that they have a wireless hotspot, so maybe i'll just move here), and i'm only now beginning to realize the glory of weight training. except that they don't have my favorite weight machine here, the one that helps cure big butts.

ok, i have to go. a stinky berkeley dude is breathing down my neck for the computer.