Dangerous Laughter

Finished this one before our trip to San Francisco. I had never heard of Milhauser before, but the blurb on the cover about being by the same author as "Eisenheim the Illusionist" allowed me to talk dad into buying it, he having enjoyed the film The Illusionist so much. The book sat on a shelf for a while until I finally started it after having read the final story from the compilation "The Wizard of West Orange" in Best American Short Stories 2008 and "The Invasion from Outer Space" on The New Yorker website.

So - yes, I loved this book. I want more - I'm so hungry!

Because I am lazy, I'm going to quote and revise the facebook review I wrote about the book:

Millhauser is a master at taking oft to overused genre material and re-instilling it with wonder and philosophical relevance. Reading Millhauser is like taking a long vacation in the twilight zone and never fully returning to reality.

Birthday Cake chez R&J's

Saturday July 31st (evening):

I think the picture says it all this time around - srsly.

Blissful Cuisine at Plum Tree Inn

Tuesday August 3rd (Lunch [with the parents - from here-on-out: the prants - in Chinatown]): I have been falling behind on my blogging, so forgive me as I do my best to play catch-up and recall exactly how these past meals had me feeling once they found their way inside me. Stopping off in LA Chinatown on the way home from San Francisco, we had lunch at this sweet restaurant we'd eaten at twice before called Plum Tree Inn. The food is well-worth the waiter's insistence on calling you "boy", as in: "and what would the boy like to drink?". To be fair, we didn't have that waiter again this time, but I could see him serving other tables and I looked quickly away whenever he passed by. So we ordered the corn soup, "Shrimp with Honey Walnut", lemon chicken and snow peas with water chestnuts. Everything was delicious. I feel it's important to point out that the walnut shrip is different from other walnut shrimp dishes because it is simply glazed in honey instead of being drenched in a sweet mayonaise sauce. Not that this makes it superior - any walnut shrimp qualifies as my favorite Chinese dish, but this one is simply unique. Everything else is pretty much what you'd expect from a Chinese restaurant however, and this is a good thing.

Ice Cream Swan on The Lido Deck

Wednesday June 24th (lunchish [my birthday]): Of all the amazing things to eat on a Carnival Cruise, the ice cream swan may be among the most deceptive. Despite looking like an oversized cream puff drizzled with strawberry syrup, the truth of the matter is that the ice cream swan is plain old vanilla ice cream with tough pastry bread-stuff tacked on. Do yourself a favor and eat the ice cream swan with your eyes only, and then go get another soft serve cone.

Huevos Rancheros at The Good Egg

Friday July 17th (breakfast [with Mom and Dad]): I ordered the Huevos Rancheros (per usual) with spicy chorizo at The Good Egg. I was almost tempted to order the Cinnamon Apple Crunch Crepes, but I gave up and got what I always do. I first ordered Huevos Rancheros at TGE because of the reference to it in Rob's poem "A Fine Mist" - a fistful of huevos rancheros. I didn't necessarily expect to like it so much. I always order the eggs scrambled and then make my little tortillas into an enchillada shaped thingy before stuffing it in my mouth. Then I just eat the leftovers by themselves. Today, the chorizo seemed much spicier than it has been past times I've ordered this.

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said

I finished this book earlier this week: a 1974 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said is about a genetically enhanced pop singer and television star who loses his identity overnight. The story is set in a futuristic dystopia, where America has become a police state after a Second Civil War. The novel was awarded first prize in the John W. Campbell Awards for the best science fiction novel of the year in 1975. It was also nominated for a Nebula Award in 1974 and a Hugo Award in 1975. (Wikipedia).

The drug-induced alternate-reality explanation for Jason Taverner's identity loss was, for me, convoluted and unsatisfactory. However, the novel is quite poignant in its meditation on love through the experiences of Police General Buckman. Dick also does a nice job of creating a unique dystopia, as always, but Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Man In the High Castle do it better.

Ham and Brie Panini in Sedona

Wednesday July 15th (lunch [with Jamie]): I ordered the Ham and Brie Panini with french fries, but I don't remember the name of the restaurant. The sandwich also had apples on it. I'm not sure the apples and the brie tasted that great together, but I suppose the chef knows best. The place wasn't really that fancy - you order at the register, and wait to pick up your food at the counter then go sit down - but there was a fantastic view, and the food itself was quality-looking fare (this is Sedona we're talking about), so it was around $10 per plate. The french fries were scrumdiddliumptious tho! They were like Arby's curly fries, but they weren't curly and didn't quite have that slight kick Arby's fries have.

Nutella Crepes at IHOP

Tuesday July 14th (evening [with Mom and Dad]): I ordered the International Crepe meal with the Nutella Crepes at IHOP. There were three crepes, filled with chocolate-hazelnut Nutella brand spread, and topped with strawberries in syrup. On a separate dish were two eggs (over-easy), two bacon strips, and hash browns substituted for the two sausage links. I actually had the exact same thing only a couple days earlier at IHOP for breakfast when Aunt Becky was treating, but I couldn't help getting them a second time.