October 16, 2005

• Honestly, I want to 'blog something interesting, but all I can find to think about to say is how much Houston sucks, and that's something of a foregone conclusion. I'm a little bit stuck here... I could go home at any time, but life here is an endless nostalgic distraction.

  For instance: I went to a camera shop, and ended up in rush hour traffic. And then I would have been stuck behind a train crossing, so I went the other way, and suddenly remembered that I could go to Kubo's for sushi, and lo, I did. But to get there I had to sit through more traffic, more really bad traffic. By the time I got there, I was in a surly mood, and the waitress looked at me as if I were a serial killer or something.

  You see, Houstonians drive like it's a race, and like the other cars aren't being driven by human beings. You'd never cut in line at the movies or at the DMV, but if a Houstonian can get ahead by a single car length on the crowded freeway by cutting you off and causing you to hit your brakes, they'll do it. In fact, hitting your brakes as if it's an emergency is so commonplace around here that there'll be no recourse when the emergency actually comes.

  So driving here has a similar cumulative effect to getting slapped in the face repeatedly for no reason by people you don't know. And yet, I know all the roads, I know all the places, and there's a certain comfort in remembering Kubo's and knowing how to get there.

  Kubo's is really good, by the way. In order to keep it cheap, I ordered appetizers: Wasabi shumai and the salmon sushi sampler, plus a couple saba (mackerel) pieces. Right now they've got Kobe beef on special, including a Kobe carpaccio. Traditional Japanese cuisine...

  • 10:58 am
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