I'm speaking at Elmhurst Middle School next Thursday and created a bookmark for them.  Should be a fun visit.  I love sixth graders!

Book Nerd

 I'm still learning the various ways to read and synch my readers.  Just downloaded Samuel Johnson's Notes on Shakespeare on ibooks using the pdf attached to my email, then realized I could download a Google app to do the same thing.  I love technology!

Lia Jia Asian Kitchen on Lakeshore Ave & Mandana

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/16/FD9J1LFF52.DTL&ao=all

Last Sunday, Michael Bauer of the Chronicle gave my favorite neighborhood restaurant Lin Jia a glowing review!  I'm so happy for Marcia.  Alice and I stopped by after my racquetball tournament and ordered the dumpling soup, walnut prawns and mongolian beef.  So delicious!  Marcia's restaurant deserves all the praise she's received.  It's delicious food and a comfortable, relaxing place to eat a nice meal.  One of the dishes mentioned in the review is the Lin Jia chicken that needs to be ordered a day in advance.  I need to try this dish sometime.

Alice and I watched all seven episodes of Downton Abbey over the weekend.  Everything about this production is wonderful.  The pacing, the lines, the acting are all superb.  I've added this series to my TV influences tab.  I'd like my series to hook the reader as well as this series hooked me.  I loved every moment of it and can't wait to watch season 2.

Had a wonderful birthday yesterday.  Took the day off and spent all day with Alice.  We went to Arizmendi for my sweet Sallie, Peet's for Golden Dragon Oolong tea, Chinatown in Oakland for dim sum, afterwhich Alice bought me a hot water container just like hers for tea.  We then went to AMC and saw "Moneyball," which had been on my list the past few weeks.

I enjoyed this lowkey film very much.  In many ways it reminded me of All the President's Men.  The emotional range was fairly neutral, except perhaps for the tossing of a gatoraid container.  Alice and I enjoyed it.  After the film, we picked up Austin in San Francisco and went to Barney's for dinner.  Then we went home and watched Gosford Park on Netflix.  A very relaxing, enjoyable birthday indeed!

Quick Weekend

For a lowkey weekend, Alice and I ended up doing quite a bit.  I played in a morning doubles tournament Saturday at San Ramon and ate too many slices of pizza afterward.  That evening, the morning racquetball crew got together with our better halves at Steve B.'s and tore it up all evening long with some truly wonderful conversation and delicious food at Dona Tomas.  What a great group of guys.  Steve has an actual Defender machine in his garage circa 1980.  The sound effects alone make me want one.  He also has a foosball table, so we played two games before calling it a night.

Now onto the week ahead and revisions to our Deja Bride script Chris and I wrote before Julia Milan.  After that, we'll finish up the Julia Milan adaptation, then revisit Retro Therapy.  Lots to keep me busy while waiting for first round submissions.

On Jeni Craswell's Facebook wall, this hit my funny bone:

 

Pinball Madness

Last Sunday, I spent the day with Sophie Young, who is blessed (and cursed) with the same insatiable pinball gene as I. We hit the Pacfic Pinbal Exposition hard, arriving at 10:15 and playing until 5:15, with a one-hour lunch break at Barney's for some burgers, thin fries and a delicious chocolate shake. The 5th Annual Pinball Expo had over 400 pinball machines, including the usual favorites (Paragon, Twilight Zone, Earthshaker, Diamond Jack, Pinball Pool, CSI, the Simpsons, the Addams Family, and Captain Fantastic) plus two new Tron machines. My wrists were sore through Wednesday. I was wiped out by 5, but Sophie could have gone until 8. I see a pinball machine in my future!

Sophie is the future of pinball.  This kid's got wicked skills!

One of my favorite machines of all time is Paragon, a wickedly difficult game with the Beast Liar in the left-hand corner. I played this game with Neal, Steve, and Dan Friday nights at the Wazzu Cub. Those were the days. Unfortunately, this particular machine had upper left flipper issues, so the game was a bit flawed.