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| In honor, a quote to ponder from Naomi Wolf's
Promiscuities: "At nineteen I had my first abortion," another woman who spoke to me remembered. "The feminist party line was that it was just a medical procedure. I had very mixed emotions about it. But I will say that I am absolutely one thousand percent grateful abortions were available. A society that practically requires young women to be sexual had damned well better have that available." Briefly: I am enjoying the hell out of this book. I'm afraid I'm stuffed full of salmon sushi. I went to Ichi's Japanese Restaurant on 17th St. in downtown Oakland. I've been there not quite a handful of times, spread out over the past 7 months, and Ichi (the sushi chef) remembered me (did not remember my name, but knew I'd been there and who I usually come with - David). Tonight, I ate alone at the bar, so I could chat with Ichi, who is very friendly and gregarious. Midway through my meal two guys in their early twenties came in and sat down a few seats down the bar. They obviously come visit Ichi often, and they had a third glass brought for Ichi when they ordered a large Sappo(?) beer. I was pretty full on my first order: Sake (fresh Salmon) Nigiri, West Coast Roll (salmon, crab and avocado) and an extra order of "the belly of the" Salmon, rolled up maki style. Ichi does that when he recognizes you at the bar, he sometimes tosses one of your favorite morsels your way. I decided that I could eat one more order of Sake (2 pieces of Salmon-pressed-on-rice). Salmon sushi at Ichi's seems always to be fresh and buttery and I love leaving with the taste of it still in my mouth. Ichi, the dear, tossed me two extra pieces. Oh, yes, I'm full but I'll make room! But wait! These were Sashimi cut - twice as thick with stripes of white running down them. Oh, yum. I had almost ordered shashimi, but didn't think I could eat it all - he gave me the best of both worlds! When I looked up after noticing the special cut of fish, he looked very pleased that I'd recognized the quailty, and winked at me in a friendly way. I was very slow as I savored my last fish, and when I left I was full and happy. I love that sushi rush - it's probably just protein, but it's got that smooth salmon aftertaste I go nuts for these days. Yummmmm. I tipped him well. I've felt like such a homebody lately, but the cool thing is I'm almost ok with that. I still feel like I"m wasting time at home, but I've also increased my satisfaction over the amount of stuff that gets done. I've experienced the joy of giving a whole evening over to nothing more than eating dinner then lying in bed the rest of the night, reading a book. The fact that I've been reading nonfiction makes it feel more virtuous. I guess I'm practicing for my upcoming Unix class, because I also got completely caught up installing my new modem, new games with their accompanying voicemail/fax/demo software. Ok, well, I've also been playing "Warcraft II" and "Myst" far too much in the past 28 hours! I should get off the computer now. My roommates and their dinner guests in the next room have finished eating and are singing chanties and other folksy songs in three-part harmony as they clean up. It's rather pleasant, to tell you the truth; I imagine them as wandering minstrels, stopping in for a night and filling the house with song. It's also much better than the electric guitars. Quieter, you know. Later: I forgot to mention that I came home on Friday to find that my contributor's copies of Skin Deep: Real Life Lesbian Sex Stories waiting for me. My first story in a real print anthology! And, while I'm very excited, don't get me wrong, I can't help but wish it was a different story. It's just honestly not my best writing, but what're ya gonna do? I wrote this story specifically for their call, so it's good to know that I can still fill an assignment and score a 98%. I just wonder when I'm gonna get my check... Oooh, writing that last gave me a little shiver of excitement: I'm waiting to get paid for a book I'm already holding in my hands! I'm an honest-to-goodness suffering writer! | ||
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