Et-Jay Ag-Lay

I am awake at 6:56 am.

The only possible reason for this is jet lag. We got home from Japan on Saturday morning. I didn't get to sleep until 5am Sunday morning and slept until 4:30 in the afternoon. It was one of those sleeps where you close your eyes and open them again thinking it's only been 30 minutes, but actually it's been 12 hours. I was back in bed reading by 6:30pm that same night, but I couldn't even handle reading and fell asleep again until 9:30pm. That's 15 hours of sleep. Crikey. Thus I haven't been able to sleep at all for the rest of last night and I'm up at 7am blogging.

Japan was great. There's too much to tell so I'll just say it with photos.

This Australian is very happy to learn that you can drink beer in train stations and that beer is available in vending machines.


Mr G crusing the Osaka streets, little does he know that we're a block away from the love-hotel district...


My first Japanese meal in Japan. It was sashimi on the 27th floor of some swanky department store in Osaka.


Mr. G getting used to our new living arrangements in back country Japan:


Just a sample of some of the yummy food we had in Japan. Most of the restaurants/Japanese people we came across were surprised that we
a) could use chopsticks
and
b) liked raw fish
We went to a Japanese sushi feast at my brother's in laws house and they had a bunch of fried foods as well as sashimi and nigiri and they were all shocked that we went for the raw fish instead of the fried foods!!!



Here is my sister in law in her kimono. The day before the wedding she had to visit her neighbors to inform them of her impending marriage.




The in-laws took us to see the local sights, including an example of an old house, with these interesting medievel like carved stones:





Ladies and gentlemen, my husband:


.. country road, take me home, country road....


These are photos of the Shizutani Buddhist School up in the hills of Okayama Prefecture... it's a beautiful retreat. It was the site of the first school in Japan meant for the general population and not for the upper class elite.





There were a bunch of school children there for a field trip.


Apparently they thought Mr. G was a rock star:


more photos later...

need to make some coffee.

Oh and be on the lookout, I need to weed out my yarn stash so stay tuned for a destash sale, including some yarns from Rowan, Crystal Palace, Goddess Yarns, and maybe some GGH...

GG

Good Day Sunshine

The Socal weather is finally here. The sun is out and I've had to break out the flip flops.

I took a stroll down Main Street in Santa Monica. It's not Haight Street in SF. My only complaint about LA is that it's at the end of two extremes. Shopping areas are either brand name shopping malls or shopping districts of inconsistent shops spread over many blocks. Main street was the latter, with most shops either hit or miss. It's a whole lot of walking. Perhaps I wasn't in the shopping mood.

The only store that spoke to me was the MOCA shop where I found some nifty cards and some socks. Almost everything in the store made me think of my friends beergeek and Izzy. And it's funny because Izzy once lived in LA and hated it.

I got really hungry and I walked into not 1, but 2 casual cafes and neither of them were too quick about the service so I left. I eventually found a cute little diner and it was worth the extra walking. I had a yummy lunch at Joe's Diner where I encountered Titch, an Australian expat wearing a Boston Red Sock hat. He's been living in the states for the last 20 years and switches his accent back and forth between American and Australian. I had a delicious taco salad, and the service was entertaining and prompt. The dinner menu looks tasty (and half the price of the swankier joints on the street) so I'll probably go back.

In the end I shouldn't be surprised to meet an Aussie in this neck of the woods. Santa Monica reminds me of some of the beach front cities and towns of Australia. The weather is similar, but the beaches are better in Australia (they're pretty hard to beat!)

So today I was a traveller and not a tourist, which you will understand if you've read the yarn harlot's latest book.

GG

A Glimpse At A Past Life

A long time ago in a land far away I was a film geek. I would watch 2 to 3 films a day, upto if not more than 8 films a week. Nothing made me feel more alive than movies. To this day one of my favorite things in the entire universe is to cry at the movies. More often than not, I am crying in pure joy, happy to have experieneced something in film that mirrors my life in such a way that it makes me feel that there's a kindred spirit in the world and that I am not alone.

When I was a film geek, I felt destined to go to LA and try my hand at the film industry. I got a BA in film, had a small portfolio of crappy student films and a few feeble attempts at screenwriting.

But then I met my husband to be when I was least expecting it and I ended up with him and not going to LA. I feel no regrets about this. One of my favorite things about life is how it often takes totally unexpected paths. If I truly wanted to be in LA, I would have ended up in LA.

But tonight I experienced what life might have been like had I chosen that path. One of my best friends celebrated her new job, a position that moves her to the next step of what turns out to be a career.

Instead of retreating to my hotel room after dinner, I felt inspired to go out, maybe it was that tasty cosmopolitan I had with dinner. So I hopped in a cab and met my friends at the Pig and Whistle in Hollywood. It was like a huge film school party, except that I didn't know anyone. I had a pear cider and became nostalgic for college. This is funny because I suddenly have as much freedom as I did when I was in college, not having a job and all. And it made me realize that I am as happy now as I was in the zenith of my years at university.

Anyway, as it is in LA, the main topic of conversation; especially for someone new to the group, is the discussion of what one does. And it was rather liberating to announce that I am writing a knitting book. Of course knitting to these people is about as ambitious as say breeding children or maintaining a house. And the puzzled faces of the group made me long for a group of knitters who would all nod their heads enthusiastically and offer to knit samples for me.

However I was reminded that there was a time when I used to read scripts and write script notes so I'm going to try that again and maybe do some script reading this week whilst in la la land. Lord knows after those cab fares I could use the cash.

This is all so darned therapuetic.

Que sera sera.

GG

Rebuilding Myself One Day At A Time

Sometimes you just really have to treat yourself. My sister in law is in the beauty business and I went to her salon and had the works, manicure, pedicure, facial and hair. I felt so renewed that I scheduled an appointment for highlights next week.

I feel reborn.

If you find yourself in Santa Monica go to Chu Nin's Beauty Salon on Wilshire in Santa Monica. It's right by the Third Street Promenade. Ask for Erina. She does a phenomenal facial, using all Aveda products, which are so yummy. It was so relaxing that I ended up drooling on the facial table, which was a little embarrassing, but still worth it.

Also noticed something funny about LA. If you're wearing sunglasses, people are more likely to check you out. And there's alwasy the possibility of bumping into a celebrity, so you find yourself checking people out more than usual.

Of course we're pretty jaded about celebrity because where I live we have quite a few and it's rather gauche to gawk at them. I run into the guys from Metallica all the time. James Hetfield is always driving some bomber around and I frequently end up next to him at the stop light, so much so that he might think I'm stalking him. I've seen Lars Ulrich bowling and Kirk Hammett getting angry with a United Airlines desk agent. These Metallica run-ins make me chuckle because when I first discovered that I was moving to Northern California one of my good friends was a Van Halen and Metallica fan and was jealous that I might run into them, which I thought was absurd, but there you go I see them all the time.

So we're now on day 3 of no headaches. But then I haven't really tried doing anything with the knitting book. I'm hoping that these headaches aren't in any way related. I would like to have at least one big apron pattern written before I return home.

I found some new clothes today. Macy's was having a huge sale and for once I've benefitted from being normal sized. All the skinny clothes were gone, leaving my size 8/10 on the sale rack with HUGE mark downs. I got three pair of jeans for the price of 1 really pricey pair. It pays to shop in LA, and there was so much better selection than in my local Macys.

So this evening will be a quiet one. I'm going to put on some new clothes and go downstairs to the lobby for dinner. Then I'm going to knit and watch tv.

Ah the good life.

GG

Welcome To LA

I haven’t had a headache in two days. Let’s keep our fingers crossed shall we? Considering that two days ago, I had to pull off the freeway and throw up because my head hurt so bad, and have my mom come and rescue me, any thing is a vast improvement.

Staying in Santa Monica. It is gorgeous. We have a room with an ocean view and a balcony. I’m feeling relaxed. No wonder the headaches are going away.
See:








I love traveling. I love lounging around hotel rooms. I’ve got some goodies to munch on, a heap of knitting, some magazines, some bath bombs from Lush. This week is all about relaxing.

Job?
Schmob.

Of course that attitude will change the broker I get.

I suppose I could also go to the hotel gym, but let’s not push our luck.

Did I mention that there’s a yarn shop a mere 3 blocks from the hotel?

The only downside is that there isn’t any wifi in the room, I have to go downstairs to the lounge for that, where I will be tempted by fruity cocktails and small plates.

I’ve been reading the new Yarn Harlot book and there’s a lot of talk of traveling. It seems an appropriate read.

OK I kid you not I’m watching the news and there is a high speed chase on tv. Damn I thought that only happened in the movies. Welcome To LA.

Then I went out to dinner with my brother and sister in law. Had some delish sushi rolls. My sister in law is an esthetician and I'm getting my hair and nails done and getting a facial tomorrow. Can't wait. It's all a part of that whole relaxing business.

I think I'm having a l'oreal moment, you know, because I'm worth it.

ha ha ha ha

GG

Just Because You're Not Working Doesn't Mean Things Don't Get Crazy

So last I wrote, our trip to LA had been postponed again.

Friday was largely uneventful. I spent the whole day working on this one knitting pattern and writing another one so my knit nighter friends could knit me some samples.

Just as I finished typing out the pattern I got this horrible headache. Worse than anything I'd ever had before, like tectonic plates moving together in my head. And my arm went dead, totally numb and so did my face and mouth. I was entirely freaked out. Mr. G was still at work and I thought this was just something temporary, and it would go away. I took a shower, but it only got worse. Mr. G called to tell me he was on his way home and I could only cry and explain that my head was killing me.

Mr. G had never seen me in this much pain and insisted on taking me to the emergency room. One there they determined that I showed the symptoms of brain hemmoraging, but that it was probably an atypical migraine.

One cat scan and a spinal tap later: it was an atypical migraine.

So apparently on top of the other annoying problems I have with my body I also get migraine headaches.

We didn't get home from the hospital until 3am. I feel asleep and didn't wake up until 12:30pm. Mr. G had to go back to work again but said I needed to rest and needed to stay in bed. So I slept the whole rest of the day, only stopping for the occasional read and a glass of water. I think yesterday was the first day in a long time that I didn't actually knit.

We've concluded that perhaps I've been stressing myself out about this unemployment business and that I haven't appropriately grieved the old job. I won't argue with that. So I'm going to go hang out with my mom for a few days, get my hair done, do my nails that sort of thing.

guess we'll call it a vacation.

GG