Monday, May 22, 2006
First day back at work after vacation. I missed 8 days of work, and my inbox had 113 items and my junk e-mail folder had 112 items. Lunch: vegetable prawns lunch plate at Eliza's. My fortune: It's a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple. (9 22 3 34 28 19). Spent the day going through e-mail, got the inbox down to about 35 items or so. Tried to do some gift and shoe shopping at 9th and Irving but I left work late and everything had closed. I almost chose to eat dinner at Kiki instead of Ebisu, but I changed my mind at the last second. "Coz I'm worth it," I thought, even if I don't resemble Cybill Shepherd in any way. I'm so glad I ate at Ebisu instead—it was so worth the $27 (after a $4 tip) for a rainbow roll, a California roll, and some hamachi not simply because all the food is great but also because of the evening's company. Shortly after I was seated a man took a seat at the bar on my right and a young man and woman Asian couple took seats on my left. The sushi chef directly in front of me seemed like he had been making sushi for decades—he was extremely fast at building very creative works of art out of fish, eggs, seaweed. I admired the man on my right not only for his handsome looks but also because he did exactly what I read you ought to do when eating sushi—let the chef decide what to serve, ask for what's fresh. "I like everything," he said. I'm not that brave. The couple on my left were celebrating a birthday for the man, in his 20s. The woman claimed jestingly that they were "going to get rowdy" and apologized in advance for disturbing my meal, but I smiled and downplayed the possibility of any derangement. They seemed to know the sushi chefs well, and it seemed drinks appeared for them out of nowhere—beer and sake for both them and some of the chefs. After the woman, Marisa, engaged me in similar jesting, friendly chit chat, she ordered me a glass of sake (I think) which I successfully refused as politely as I could. We talked some more and I realized I enjoyed hearing the sound of her voice because she had an interesting range to it—sounding deep and sexy and serious one minute and then lighter and higher and sans souci the next. I traded business cards with the man, Jason, who had said he was looking for a web coder. I had already told him I was too busy to take on new side work, but perhaps I might know someone who would work out for him. I enjoyed talking to them both, and when I left, although they had already had a fair amount to eat and drink, it appeared they were only getting started. Home. Patrick arrived after I got home, having spent the evening with Wei. I unpacked, uploaded photos, tidied the apartment, did some weight training, took a bath. Bed late.