okay.

so i went away there for a bit, eh? once the guilt of not writing wore off, i thought it was the end of this little blog. now that i sit down though, i really enjoy the feeling of writing here again. but, we should talk about some things. when i first started this blog, i was pretty clueless. i had no concept of the community of bloggers that already existed here in los angeles, i didn't really have a direction, i couldn't really take a decent photograph. i just knew i had some things on my brain that i needed to unload on, well, whoever might listen. things like the glory of maple syrup and chinese tea mug technology, the etymology of various sausage words, or the cozy wine bar down the street. and oddly enough, people started to listen.

but then a few things happened. first, facebook happened. anything i've ever wanted to express could now be broadcast to 500 people at the click of a button. additionally, i discovered eater. their thorough, informed reporting of the minutiae of the los angeles restaurant scene made my sporadic musings about random local haunts seem irrelevant and well, kind of pointless. (of course, this is before they let go of lesley. these days, eater's just another tinny voice, but now we have grub street and squid ink to fill the gap.)

at the same time, my own perspective changed. sharing the fun events that i am lucky enough to be a part of was initially really exciting, but now, spouting details of my humble weeknight meals seems a little too my-what-a-good-boy-am-i (thought i gotta say -- the gruyere biscuits with mushroom gravy that i made for dinner the other night were pretty damn blog-worthy).

and then at some point, people started looking to me as an authority on restaurants. i enjoy dining out now and then, but i really try to eat at home as much as possible (i'm really into eating at home -- mine or yours -- right now). and i'd like fancy restaurants to stay a special thing. and the prospect of saying something bad about a restaurant in a public forum seems like too much for me -- in most cases, i don't think i'm qualified to potentially help make or break a local business. also, i hate taking pictures in restaurants! it's weird, and ruins the moment, and they usually end up coming out bad anyway.

so, where does this leave me? well, i don't think all kinds of yum is over. i still find inspiration all the time -- though lately it's been found poring through websites like apartmenttherapy and designsponge (and particularly, style-files. all those raw woods and white walls and stark spaces! too good.) more than any food blog! and amazing things -- foodish and otherwise -- continue to abound. i've yet to post about an awesome vacuum coffee maker demo with a soon-to-be household name in my now-former kitchen, nor the modern desert dreamland that is the ace hotel in palm springs, nor a recent tamalepalooza with a real mexican abuelita (and her mother!) and our own adorable little baby girl mascot -- amalita the tamalita, or the award i was nominated for (what?!) in honor of my bake sale prowess (i'm not kidding about the last one, and yes, this is amazing).

right now, though, these are lofty ambitions. i just moved, and mostly i'm spending my time doing things like letting bon iver waft through my airy living room while i just stand in the middle of the as-yet-furnitureless space, breathing slow and taking it all in. so, i have to just go with the flow on this one. i'll see you around here soon enough, and in the meantime, let's have dinner. your place or mine?