Bay Area trip

See oyceter's hilarious report on alien mpreg and microwaves for more details.

Yoon and I drove up, relieved that there was surprisingly little traffic. For over 100 miles worth of flat yellow land and the occasional cow (I-5) the only sign of human habitation were these bright yellow signs reading: CONGRESS CAUSE DUST BOWL." No url, no explanation, no call to action. Hundreds of them, scattered over a huge area. They seemed to have replaced the former nutty sign UN = SATUN.

Upon arriving, I was thrilled to introduce Oyce to the egg cream, which contains neither eggs nor cream but is a sort of chocolate soda. We also had burgers with an excellent mustard-heavy potato salad, and a hot fudge sundae. The diner offered Green River soda, a florescent lime green substance I had previously only encountered in books, but did not try.

We then began an Andy Lau movie I had Netflixed because it contains Andy Lau, Armageddon. There was soon a scene with instant noodles. Oyce began to crave instant noodles. Then there was a scene at a noodle shop. Loving close-ups of Hong Kong noodles. Oyce and I got so hungry that we raided the pantry, and due to lack of noodles, devoured beef jerky, salami, and apples.

Bay Area trip

See oyceter's hilarious report on alien mpreg and microwaves for more details.

Yoon and I drove up, relieved that there was surprisingly little traffic. For over 100 miles worth of flat yellow land and the occasional cow (I-5) the only sign of human habitation were these bright yellow signs reading: CONGRESS CAUSE DUST BOWL." No url, no explanation, no call to action. Hundreds of them, scattered over a huge area. They seemed to have replaced the former nutty sign UN = SATUN.

Upon arriving, I was thrilled to introduce Oyce to the egg cream, which contains neither eggs nor cream but is a sort of chocolate soda. We also had burgers with an excellent mustard-heavy potato salad, and a hot fudge sundae. The diner offered Green River soda, a florescent lime green substance I had previously only encountered in books, but did not try.

We then began an Andy Lau movie I had Netflixed because it contains Andy Lau, Armageddon. There was soon a scene with instant noodles. Oyce began to crave instant noodles. Then there was a scene at a noodle shop. Loving close-ups of Hong Kong noodles. Oyce and I got so hungry that we raided the pantry, and due to lack of noodles, devoured beef jerky, salami, and apples.

The Mansion of Penetralia

The bookshop had a Gothic section! Complete with a series with titles like Alice, the Desperate and Ilene, the Superstitious. There was a complete list on the inside cover, but sadly the shop did not have Rachel, the Possessed.

Every single Gothic had a cover with a girl and a house. Some variations included a nurse, a doctor, and a house; a girl, a zombie Abraham Lincoln-esque figure, and a house; and, in the exoticized ethnicity category, a girl and the Taj Mahal, and a girl and a casa (according to the back cover.)

I now own...

The Satan Stone, by Louise Osborne. The great isolated mansion of Penetralia loomed bizarre and forbidding...

(There's no way that isn't deliberate, right? Right?)

Return to Darkness, by Willo David Roberts, author of many charming children's books including the seminal psychic kids novel The Girl With The Silver Eyes. Her Gothic heroine is a private duty nurse.

The Veil of Night by Lydia Joyce. Recced by Oyce as a sweet revisionist Gothic. Some desires flourish only in darkness...

Seimaden # 1 by Higuri You. What becomes of a man who spends his life in the underworld for a love that lasts beyond the grave?? This sounds Gothic, but it's actually manga, and very '80s-looking manga at that.

Two children's books, The Battle for Castle Cockatrice by Gerald Durrell and The Tiger's Apprentice by Laurence Yep.

Anyone ever read any of these?