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alienalf
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Country: United States
State: California
Birthday: 8/17/1984
Gender: Female
Interests: politics, journalism, theater, shoes, Tetris, traveling, trying new restaurants
Expertise: editing, editorial writing, strategic shopping, making insensitive remarks
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
AIM:  therealalienalf
Member Since:
9/4/2002
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| My final semester is under way, and I'm enjoying a four-day weekend. I've taken this opportunity to get some solid class reading done and also catch up on people's xanga entries. Wow, does xanga stink now — nothing in the site navigation is functional anymore — and a couple of you just posted that you're leaving xanga altogether, but moving to various other sites instead of one successful competitor. (Does anyone tech-savvy know if there's a service that will give you a page of everyone's online journal entries from the dozen or so journal sites out there?). Logging back in here has reminded me of how much I hate the Internet.
Well, enough about the cursed Internet — I've also taken this opportunity to have some good meals. On Friday night, I went to COCO5OO for the first time. To start, I had the fried green beans, which apparently must be in style these days, since Laura and I recently ordered something similar at The House. For the main course, I had the braised lamb shank, which was very good and virtually identical to the lamb shank at Kokkari. For dessert, I had the chocolate ecstacy cake, which was aptly named.
Also, Helen came over on Saturday, I went to Sonoma on Sunday and had a pleasant lunch at Deuce (which has a nice-enough menu, but is unpolished because of a remodel that was inexplicably left unfinished), and I stayed in the house all day Monday and read.
Speaking of Kokkari, I went there for lunch today with Nuala. To start, she had the spanakotiropita (traditional filo pies of spinach, feta, leeks & dill) and I had the baked winter squash. For the main course, she had the artichoke souvlaki (grilled artichokes & eggplant skewers with Greek yogurt & housemade pita) and I had the salmon (which probably also had some complicated Greek name). For dessert, we both opted for the waiter's recommendation, a filo-wrapped custard with vanilla ice cream and candied lemon.
Oh, and here's my Fall 2007 schedule if anyone (Lauren? Lorraine?) would like to do lunch (or dinner, or crepes, or gelato):
Monday: History 106B (1:00-2:00), UGBA 102B (2:00-3:00)
Wednesday: History 106B (1:00-2:00), UGBA 102B (2:00-3:00), Political Science 179 (4:00-5:00)
Thursday: UGBA 137 (4:00-6:00)
Friday: History 106B (1:00-2:00), UGBA 102B Dis. (2:00-4:00) | | |
| In addition to the Lowell gathering (preceded by dinner at Fringale and followed by drinks at XYZ), Festivus, Christmas, and New Year's, the break so far has once again been a source of much-needed sleep.
Also, we had the sixth annual holiday party on December 27. We missed Yvonne W. and Michelle this year. We also missed Connie, who was busy travelling Europe. The evening once again ended with Yvonne L. and me having a nerdy dance party to the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever.
On Saturday night, I went to Le P'tit Laurent for dinner. I had the frisee salad with bacon and poached egg, the rack of lamb, and the chocolate pot de creme.
On Sunday night, Laura and I tried The House for the first time. For the first course, we tried the blue lake bean tempura with pickled ginger soy (recommended by this weird guy at the table next to us who also tried to get us to order the deep-fried salmon roll) and the Ahi tuna tartare with roasted nori chips. For the main course, we both ordered the sesame soy glazed salmon in a bonito sake broth. For dessert, we split the mango tapioca pudding. My only complaint is with the service, which was extremely rushed.
On Wednesday, I had dinner at Buckeye in Marin, which started with a plate of the onion strings for the table. Against my better judgment, I ordered another starter because everyone else did -- the special, parsnip soup. It was delicious, and topped with chives and some unnecessary grated cheese. For my main course, I had the salmon with polenta. For dessert, I had the chocolate bread pudding. Because I ordered too many courses, leftovers from those last two resulted in the next day's lunch and breakfast, respectively. | | |
| This semester has been insanely busy. I've gone to the state GOP convention in Indian Wells (I got to carry two proxies -- and, at one of the dinners, they had the guy who plays George W. Bush on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno playing Bill Clinton, along with a Hillary impersonator!), gone to the CN Editors Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, been to a few restaurants, and seen a few of you, but I haven't had any time to log into xanga. This weekend, I finally caught up on reading all of your posts from the last few months. I realize that I never posted it at the beginning of the semester, so here's my Fall 2007 schedule if anyone would like to get together during its final 2+ weeks of existence:
Monday: UGBA 102A (10:00-11:00), UGBA 105 (12:30-2:00)
Tuesday: UGBA 117 (11:00-12:30), Political Science 3 (12:30-2:00), Political Science 3 Dis. (2:00-3:30)
Wednesday: UGBA 102A (10:00-11:00), UGBA 105 Dis. (12:30-2:00)
Thursday: UGBA 117 (11:00-12:30), Political Science 3 (12:30-2:00)
Friday: UGBA 102A Dis. (12:00-2:00) | | |
| Just a couple of notable days in the past week:
On Tuesday, I had dinner at Scott Howard with Ben C. We both opted for the prix fixe menu, which allowed us to save some money. There was chocolate cake involved. 
Yesterday, on Bastille Day, eating at a French restaurant was imperative. I tried a new one, Le P'tit Laurent, which was just opened on the same block as Chenery Park by former Clementine owner Laurent Legendre. I had the soup du jour, leek and oyster mushroom, which was to die for. I also had the frisée salad with poached egg and bacon.
Last night, I saw a play with Yvonne L. It was generally good, but it would have been a lot more enjoyable without all of the drug references and assorted other offensive remarks -- but, hey, it was free, so what can I really complain about? | | |
| Here's what I've been up to over the past week:
Last Saturday, I ate dinner at Perbacco, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. For my appetizer, I had the ciccioli, which is that rich shredded pork pate that I love. The salumi at the restaurant, in general, are top-notch -- last time I was there, I had the salumi misti (which you simply must order at least once to taste the full selection, although the dish is of course quite filling for an appetizer). Anyway, for my main course, I had the lamb shank, which had perfect accompaniments. For dessert, I had the chocolate torta.
On Sunday, I saw a bunch of the old YFATers and assorted other folks. There was karaoke involved.
On Monday, after my first afternoon of summer school, I saw La Vie En Rose with Lauren. We thought the film was a bit confusing because it kept jumping around in time.
Wednesday was Independence Day, and I was able to see the actual fireworks, not just colored fog.
For lunch on Friday, I tried a new restaurant, Farina Focaccia & Cucina Italiana. It was, in a word, awful. They weren't even able to make the food item they named the restaurant after -- focaccia is supposed to have some crispness and taste of olive oil, but this stuff was soggy and tasted of what I believe to be cheese. My mother believes they used cake flour instead of regular flour, a likely explanation for the sogginess. The most unfortunate part was that they position themselves as a Genovese restaurant. Well, I go to Genoa (I was there just last month), and I have never found awful food there. It embarrasses me if Americans believe that this is the way my people cook. It also appears as if the place had a good start -- one zagat.com user wrote, "the focaccia was to die for" -- and must have lost its chef abruptly, leaving the rest of the kitchen staff completely clueless.
Yesterday, Laura and I had dinner at Sociale. Unlike the day before, this was a good first-time experience at a restaurant. Here are my initial recommendations . . . appetizer: summer squash sformato; main course: chicken with salsa verde; side: polenta fries; dessert: hazelnut ice cream sandwich -- and the house-made fresh doughnuts with the espresso milkshake also looked delicious, so I'll have to try that next time I go. Also, Laura had English pea ravioli that involved mint, which she said were very good. | | |
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