It was good. And I want to write you all a fabulous, wonderful synopsis with all the gory details but I'm just not really feeling up to it. I had hoped I would have come home feeling better, but that's just not the case. I'm really not sure what's up with this. Maybe it's a lack of light, in which case I should take a walk. But I suspect it's really a lot of things.

But the highlights included: Introducing Winter to steak in a restaurant (um... really good steak, like high caliber stuff, which is cool if you're a carnivore, and he is), sushi, tempura, and olive tapenade, and good chocolate.

There was also the radio stations, seeing about 25 copies of The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots in one place, and seeing a bunch of imported England albums in one spot (but we were at the Virgin store; and here I thought they only sold virgins). I used a Barnes and Noble gift card I was given for Christmas to buy some very cool books, like Magic for Beginners. We didn't make it to any indy music or book stores this time. Lots of reasons for this, sadly.

We ate some fine sushi and tempura, and Häagen-Dazs with our friend Craig and his adorable little boy, Flynn. Flynn digs his ice cream, though I suspect it helped that he had just dug into his father's wasabi. Ouch. We also ate some fine pasta. I had some browned butter and mezithra pasta, and some of the previously mentioned olive tapenade. Heaven for the tastebuds, definitely. Rice got his gluten-free pasta, which is one of the biggest reasons to go.

And we also saw Children of Men. I tell you now it is fabulously wonderful. It's a great movie. Great sci-fi. If you get an opportunity to see it, one way or another, I encourage you to do so. I'm a credits person -- I love watching them. The inclusion of Jarvis Cocker's "Running the World" at the end of the credits gave Winter and I a chuckle. (I can't argue with Mr. Cocker, but I will warn you that, particularly if you are American, it's very possible the lyrics may offend you (even though he's staying true to Strunk and White's advice to say what you have to say using the fewest words possible). Don't say I didn't warn you if you view. Also, it seems the video and sound is off. I have no idea why, and can't get it to run in sync...) Anyway. There was a lot of layered stuff within the story, and some allusions that I just loved. But I won't spoil any of this for you.

It's always interesting finding things to entertain a semi-diverse group like Rice, Winter, and I, but I think we made it work. There were more things I wanted to go and see, but Winter isn't so much into the sight seeing thing, so it was a pretty mellow trip. But it always is with Rice. He's a pretty mellow guy. I can honestly say I have never gotten into much trouble when Rice is around. It's with all my other friends :).

We considered staying through Sunday, but we had so much to get done at home, so we left about eight and headed home. And then the storm hit. Rice was, once again, impressed with my mad winter driving skillz. It did, however, take us an extra 1 to 1 1/2 hours to get home. But we did make it in one piece, and all was well.

And now I'm home and feeling strangely like I did when I left. What do I need? More protein? Fish? Gingko? Light? Purpose? An extrovert intermediary to fill in for Rice? A new place where people are not afraid to be themselves for fear I may see that they're not perfect? Because, you know, I am so perfect.

People have often discussed how this town will suck a person's soul. And there are pieces of this town I love. I love the hills and the mountains and how the light plays off of them. I love bits of downtown. I love the library. But I honestly think that I am surrounded by a ... a culture of ... I'm not sure how to elaborate on this yet, and I won't make you all suffer through being my sounding board.

So yes. I had a fine time. Thanks for all your lovely wishes. It was fun. I enjoyed myself. I just had to come back.