On the road again: San Francisco, day 2

Morning and into the early afternoon was work, as was most of the evening, but between those two times my friend, fellow writer, and blog comment poster, Griffin, led a private walking tour of parts of San Francisco that he knows very well. Along the way, we got to spend some time visiting with friends Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman of the wonderful Borderlands Books and the equally lovely Borderlands Cafe; I could happily spend all day in those two places.

Lunch was at the Ti Couz Creperie, where I enjoyed an orange drink and a crepe with ham, cheese, and egg (the "complete").

We walked for hours, pausing in the middle for sinfully delicious and old-fashioned milkshakes at the St. Francis Fountain, another place I could happily park for long periods.

Dinner was at celebrity chef Chris Cosentino's place, Incanto. The food there is rich and marvelous. We began with a salumi plate, and then I had a special dish of pork-blood pappardelle--yes, broad noodles made from pork blood--with trotter meat off the bone and foie gras. I couldn't finish it; in fact, I didn't even try. It was just that rich.

Tomorrow night is the SF in SF event at which Amelia Beamer and I are the two guest writers. If you're in the Bay Area, you should definitely come by and say hi.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, San Jose, day 2

My dating of this trip is a bit odd, because the con doesn't start until Thursday, but I arrived Tuesday. Two reasons: I am doing some business meetings while in the Bay area and thus need extra time, and Alan Beatts, of the wonderful Borderlands Books, orchestrated a lovely area tour and group signing for this afternoon. For obvious reasons, I won't discuss the former, but the latter deserves some coverage.

Alan really treated all of the writers wonderfully. A bus picked us up at the con hotel and drove us to San Francisco. Borderlands staff folks met us and led us to our tour guides. My group went with the redoubtable Don Herron, who led us on his Dashiell Hammett walking tour. I'm a big Hammett fan, so I enjoyed myself greatly. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who appreciates Hammett.

The bus then picked us up and took us to the bookstore, where we hung out for a while (some got dinner, but we decided to eat later), and then we did a mass signing at the newly renovated (by Alan) cafe next door. (If you live here, you need to see the cafe, if only for the floors, which Alan restored beautifully.) The signing was a lot of fun, and I even had a fair number of folks come by and ask me to sign books.

Afterward, a group of us, led by new friend and cop, Griffin, walked a few blocks up the street and enjoyed a very nice French meal at Garcon.

All in all, a lovely event that Alan, Jude, and all the good folks at Borderlands should be proud to have held.

Though I'm intentionally dating the posts on the day I'm discussing, it's actually two in the morning and I still have work to do, so to it I go.

A few quick things before I go

I head to the airport in eight hours, and I've yet to write, pack, pay some bills, and do some work. Typical. Starting tomorrow, I'll be reporting from San Francisco for a week.

Until then, I leave you with these brief notes.

You can now see Jain's art balls online at her site. To go right to the gallery of the cool creations, click here. Waiting for Sam, one of the niftier pieces in a collection of great creations, won an art show award at WorldCon and could be yours for a mere $245 (as the online gallery now shows). Someone needs to nab this one before Jain wises up and raises the price. (Okay, yes, I'm pimping Jain's art balls again.)

While I'm in a pimping mood, if you are anywhere near the five U.S. cities where Blue Rodeo will be playing, treat yourself to a great show and catch them in concert. I would if I lived anywhere near them.

If you're in San Francisco, you could do worse on a Sunday afternoon than to come by Borderlands Books, listen to my reading (or pretend to do so while you catch up on your email and text message backlogs), buy some books from the great folks there, and then join us for ice cream afterward. If we get a good crowd, I may offer the double treat of both reading a few pages from Children No More and doing a bit from the Science Magic Sex show. I hope to see some of you there.

People released its best-dressed list

and once again, I'm not on it. If I may be frank, and I believe I may, I'm getting a little tired of them ignoring me year after year after year. I may have to up my fashion game. Perhaps it's time to start my own clothing trend. Maybe I should resurrect a classic. Maybe I could bring back these. Admit it: I'd look awesome in a pair of green lederhosen, perhaps with a matching vest.

In other, unrelated news, a group of us will be heading after this Sunday's 3:00 signing at Borderlands Books to this place for what promises to be some amazing ice cream. Not convinced? Check out these flavors. As Kyle, who refused to fly across the country to join us for the signing and the screamage, observed, you have to love the very idea of ice creams such as pistachio-bacon and government cheese.

Lest my fashion crisis and subsequent resolve scare you, rest easy: I probably won't be wearing lederhosen to the signing and the subsequent road trip.

Probably.

Come see me in San Francisco on Sept. 20

Out on the other coast, in the mystic city of San Francisco, lives a little bookstore that can, Borderlands Books. (Okay, it's not that little, but the sentence worked better that way.) The owner, Alan Beatts, and manager, Jude Feldman, from time to time take pity on writers and invite them to the store to read, sign, and bask in the adoration of the one or two people who show up for such events. Regardless of the audience size, no signing there can be a loss, because you get to visit with Alan, Jude, the rest of the great staff, and, of course, the many, many books.

I'm going to be one of those signing writers come two weeks from Sunday. At 3:00 p.m. on September 20, I'll be reading there, with luck signing some books, and, if we get enough of a crowd to have good energy, doing some of the Science Magic Sex spoken word show.

So, if you're in the SF area and not doing anything that day, please drop by and say hi, buy a few books, and perhaps learn what happened to the hamsters.

I hope to see you there.

On the road again: IDF, day 1

I did some business and picked up my conference materials today, but that's about all I can say about work. For those of you who wonder why I don't talk more about PT business, the reason is simple: All of our work remains confidential unless a client directs us to take it public. So, I can't talk about it. 'Nuff said.

On the fun front, after a low-cal, room-service dinner last night, today I treated myself to that patty melt I mentioned in yesterday's second entry. It was as good as ever. You can't go wrong with grilled meat and cheese on grilled bread.

Dinner this evening was a delightful time with Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman, as I mentioned the other day was in the plans. We talked about all manner of topics related to science fiction and some entirely unrelated, and I enjoyed the conversation and the company a great deal. I hope to see more of them--and finally get to their bookstore--when I'm next out here.

It's late, and I still have writing to do, so to the novel I go.

Heading out

Tomorrow morning, I head to San Francisco. I'm hoping to get to spend a little time with Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman of Borderlands Books. The main purpose of my trip, however, is to take in the Intel Developers' Forum (IDF). I will only get to attend the first full day of the show (Tuesday), but that day alone is worth the trip.

Over the coming months, I'll be traveling a lot. I always find travel interesting, but I also miss being home. I particularly miss getting to spend time with Sarah and Scott; I'm acutely aware of how rapidly they're changing and growing. I also have a great deal of trouble managing my weight while I'm traveling, and I need to lose a significant number of pounds. I know I can do it, but stress eating and travel go hand in hand with me. Challenges, challenges.

In any case, when I next write I should be in San Francisco.