It’s a stormy day in St Louis and so that brings to mind the tornado from last year, the day before we left for vacation. Oh, wait, that’s today too…here’s hoping no tornados and that our flight gets underway tomorrow morning with no problems.
Things have finally been settling down: I wrapped up teaching for the semester on Thursday, and had my last concert of the spring yesterday. I even had a full day off on Friday, it was GLORIOUS (I got a lot done, but also got out for a lot of nice walks and had time to read), and today is a day off too. Before that I hadn’t had a day off since March 8–there’s something about having nothing to do on the calendar, isn’t there? And it was a particularly busy spring, though perhaps a bit less busy than the fall had been.
In any case, today is packing and errands, folding laundry, and getting ready for Japan! We are headed out to Japan, flying into Tokyo and visiting many other places including Kyoto, Nagoya, Takayama, and Matsumoto. And don’t worry, I’ll tell you about it when we return.
Last night after my concert I met some friends at Sakatanoya Revolving Sushi & Ramen Bar on the Loop. There is a sushi train that goes around and you can choose things from that (different prices based on different plate colors) or you can order from the menu, which is a tablet, and then they bring your food via robot. It was a lot of fun, though a little distracting, haha!
Last weekend my parents visited for a few days and we had a nice brunch with Louie’s parents and then went to the Botanical Gardens. We also went to Noodle Story for dinner with them, and that was nice. Not my favorite noodle place on the Loop (sorry that’s Corner 17) but it was a nice time. You order from a tablet there too, and I recommend ordering dishes less spicy unless you really love spice. Or I’m just getting to be an old white lady who can’t handle spice?
Louie and I tried out Zhanglala Beef Noodles recently as well, and really enjoyed it. I had the pickled beef soup and it was great. We also went to Katie’s Pizza with a mutual college student who had just graduated, and enjoyed some morels there, though the morels portions were super skimpy!
TV wise we’ve been watching together: Ted Lasso (finally started, way behind the curve), Our Friends and Neighbors, Widow’s Bay, and Big Mistakes. I didn’t love Big Mistakes, it was okay but there was a lot of characters just yelling at each other. The other three are recommended, though Widow’s Bay is not all out yet, which we wish we had realized before starting, so now we have to wait!
Reading wise: I got into the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson. I also recently read Kin by Tayari Jones, The Keeper by Tana French, and A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst. While none of these are must reads, I enjoyed all of them. Looking back more, since I don’t think I said, in March I read Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, and Butter by Asako Yuzuki, and then in February read Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, Breast and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, and The Black Wolf by Louise Penny.
I really enjoyed the Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache is a great series) and the rest: nothing super sticks out though Butter was probably the most unique of the books. I was trying to read books by Japanese authors and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. If you don’t read Tana French, start with In the Woods which is so good and then you’ll keep trying to get that magic back, but her other works are worth reading.
I have some books loaded onto my kindle for the plane as well as podcasts and such. It will be the longest flight I’ve ever taken! Follow me on Instagram for pictures along the way, or watch this space.