We’re home. In the last three weeks, we’ve taken 12 flights and seen 9 airports; we’ve visited 6 cities in 3 countries and stayed in 5 hotels. I finished all 6 books in the Earthsea cycle. It was amazing. I can hardly wrap my head around the idea of going through the thousands and thousands of pictures we took, but here’s a little taste of what’s coming once we get through the holidays.

Animals of Asia

Kitty emerging from my skirt

Fun Signage

Dustbin Carved in Stone

These are not the desserts you’re looking for

Paradoxical sign

Puns in Thailand

Miscellaneous Food

Airplane Pancakes!

Thai Packed lunch

And it feels really good.




It’s been a wonderful trip (stories and pictures to come soon), but now that I’m settled on board for the first of many flights on the long journey back to Chicago, I’m glad. There’s just something about coming home. We didn’t lack for a single comfort during our travels. I guess there’s just a magic to being in your own bed again.

As my father lives in India and his two sisters live in the US and Australia, it’s not often that the three families are able to get together. My uncle’s 60th birthday (Shasti Abda Poorthi) brought most of us to India, so we used the opportunity spend some time catching up. We booked some rooms outside Chennai, near Mahaballipuram.










It was lots of fun to see everyone and to celebrate life, family, and history.

My grandparents are now too old to travel, and it was important that my husband spend some time with them, so we took a day trip to Mysore. In order that my husband get a richer taste of Karnataka in the short time that we are here in India, we went by train.

Once there, we had lunch with my grandparents then saw the main Mysore palace and Chamundi Hill.

Beer!

First of all, delicious.

Second of all, it’s definitely possibly to get wasted on sixteen glorified sips of beer.

• Sea Legs – Uinta Brewing Co

• MILF – Mother’s Brewing Co
• Barrel Aged God Damn Pigeon Porter – Spiteful Brewing

• Straight Jacket – Revolution Brewing
• Arabian Date Night – MobCraft Beer
• Heavyweight Ticklefight Champion Of The World – Solemn Oath Brewery **I have to admit that I chose this one for the name, but it was absolutely a good decision. Really good.

• Jaggery Tripel – Ten Ninety Brewing Co
• Drunken Hippy – Triptych Brewing

• Demon Sweat – Rock Bottom – Warrenville

• Bourbon Abominable – Fremont Brewing Co
• Wizard Burial Ground – Brewery Vivant
• Petrichor RIS – MobCraft Beer

• Absinthe Barrel Aged Klutzy Buffoon with Cherries – Spiteful Brewing

• Barrel Aged Neapolitan Milk Stout – Saugatuck Brewing Co **This tasted a lot like strawberries, and that was somehow a good thing. Just the right amount of sweetness and creaminess.
• Nuthulu – Goose Island Brewing Co
• The Wrath of PeCaan – Nevin’s Brewing Co

• Vieille Blonde – Lake Effect Brewing Co
• Big Tiddy Assassin – Three Floyds Brewing Co **This was a surprise treasure as it was recommended by a friend who normally enjoys his very hoppy IPAs.
• Persimmon Ship Saison – Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

• Rambutan – Upland Brewing Co
• Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour Apple Ale – DESTIHL Brewery **I saw the name and got really hopeful. I drank the beer and was immensely satisfied. It tastes exactly as it should: sour, acidic, apple. Perfection.
• Chevalier Bertrand Du Guesclin – Three Floyds Brewing Co
• Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour – Excommunie Quatre – DESTIHL Brewery
• Oscar Worthy Coffee – New Belgium Brewing Co **This was spectacular. The best parts of a sour with the best parts of a coffee stout.

• Chapman’s Oaked – Vander Mill Ciders

It was a beautiful, sunny summer day. We met up in the early afternoon and had a very late lunch at The Roost.

Then we began walking. We walked south from Irving Park to Belmont along Southport. We walked east on Belmont to Clark. We stopped in at a comic book store.

I bought comics.

Then we walked farther east on Belmont to Broadway, stopping for tea along the way. And stopped at a record store

.

I bought records.

Then we walked north on Broadway (avoiding a very tempting book store) and west on Roscoe to Southport. Stopped at a bar. We had beer. Then we walked back to my apartment and played Super Mario World.

This post has been a long time coming. But the follow up to this guy is finally here!

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but things did not go exactly according to plan.

First off, we learned a lot. We learned you should pack light clothes that dry quickly. We were there during the rainy season, so there was a lot of rain. And when it wasn’t raining, it was pretty humid. Things took forever to dry. Relatedly, especially if you’re doing the canyoning adventure, we learned you should take along swim shoes or walking sandals. Basically, shoes that can get wet and still stay on your feet, that are good for walking, and will also dry quickly. Also, bring multiple swim suits. You’ll probably end up wearing them more than you’d think and you want to have a dry one while the other is drying. Finally, the sun sets at 5:30 everyday and there’s very little twilight, so it gets totally dark really quickly. This is really important to keep in mind if you’re driving. Make sure to plan around that as the roads are pretty bad in a lot of places and there isn’t a ton of street lighting. The early sunset also means that you’ll probably end up getting tired earlier…and waking up earlier as a result.

San Jose – Grano de Oro is DELICIOUS. They didn’t have a ton of vegetarian options, but they did have some, so it’s definitely worth checking out. We didn’t end up going to the Bank Museum or National Theater, but we did go dancing at a place called Mojitos, which was tons of fun: salsa, tango, etc. We weren’t very good, and everyone else was, but we didn’t let that stop us!

 

Arenal – Since we prioritized watching Costa Rica play their round of 16 World Cup match, we didn’t actually see the volcano. But we took a great hike (lots of bugs and plants!), and the Tabacon hot springs are amazing, especially if you go in the evening when it’s less crowded. The canyoning adventure was awesome. It’s a bit more hiking than we expected, so plan on that. And it’s not the easiest on the knees, so keep that in mind if it might be an issue. Really beautiful and thrilling though. Also, if you’ve got time, check out Rio Celeste. It’s this incredibly blue river that’s supposed to be amazing. We tried to go, but ended up with a flat tire and had to skip it.




Monteverde – The Lucky Bug Gallery (which is technically en route to Monteverde) is adorable. Definitely stop by. They were wonderful, and we got some really great gifts for people. Kathryn, the daughter of the owner, was a delight and ended up really helping us out when we got the aforementioned flat. The Monteverde Cloud Reserve is great. Get a guided tour (if you’re lucky, your guide will be Sergio); it’s totally worth it. Stick around to hike more if you’d like since the tour only covers a small portion of the total walkable park. We went back for a night tour as well, which was great because a totally different set of animals come out. In addition, we stopped by the Hummingbird Gallery, which was delightful, and the bat jungle, which was fun as well. Check out Stella’s cafe near the bat jungle. Tasty, simple food. The zip lines at Selvatura were spectacular. And the huge Tarzan swing was a terrifying experience that I’m glad I did. We went for it and did the Superman version of the last one. Totally worth it.




Manuel Antonio – Beautiful beaches. Definitely plan on spending some time in the surf and sand. The water’s powerful but warm. The beaches are sandy and soft. Pretty much everything I want out of a beach. We took a boat tour of the mangroves, which was really cool: lots of trees and interesting information and crabs and a glimpse or two of a croc. (Speaking of crocodiles, if you’re driving, make sure to stop at Tarcoles on the way to or from Manuel Antonio. There’s a bridge you can’t miss (because everyone will be standing there) because it offers a great view of loads and loads of crocodiles.) In the morning, we took a guided tour of Manuel Antonio National Park. Saw lots of animals. If you do this, make sure you wear/pack your swimsuit, as the tour includes a break to go swimming at the beach inside the national park.

Overall, it was a great trip. The locals were warm and welcoming. Since tourism is their biggest business, there were lots of other travelers to form spontaneous bonds with, and things are made very easy for tourists. Everyone speaks English. Most places take dollars. Some ATMs even dispense dollars. There really is something for everyone: beaches, mountains, flora, fauna, adventure tourism, good food, GREAT coffee (everywhere, too). I cannot recommend this trip enough.

Before it happened, I was thinking it might be my last show for a while. I just don’t spend the time I should on my material. I don’t have the stamina for open mics. I don’t have the discipline to make myself write every week like I should. Time and again, I prioritize other things over writing: cooking, working out, reading, watching television. Sleeping. And rather than feel bad about it, I figured I would just put my comedy on the back burner. Maybe come back to it when I felt I had more to say or when I had more time to make myself do things.


But then it happened, and now I don’t know. It’s not that arduous to put a set together twice a year. And it’s such fun. A focal point for an evening with friends. A rare position of just…making people laugh…for the sake of it. I like attention as much as the next guy, but there’s something different about being in the spotlight and seeing rows of faces lit up with laughter. And the energy you get from it lasts for hours afterward. Maybe I will still put comedy down for a while, but it’s turning out to be a harder decision than I would have thought.

After a hectic day at work, I decided to skip yoga and stay at home. The prospect of relaxing on the sofa while my husband played video games was far more appealing. But when it came down to sitting comfortably and checking out for a bit, I couldn’t do it. I got up to tidy.

As I was fine tuning the arrangement of my makeup, it dawned on me…is part of the appeal of makeup organizing it? Am I more spurred to purchase from the videos I watch about how they store their collections than the ones where they talk about which products they love?

When I was little, I used to dream of a perfect life that included having the top left drawer of my desk be full of brand new, freshly and perfectly sharpened No. 2 pencils. Hexagonal, naturally. At some point, I must have let go of that dream. People don’t really use pencils these days. And besides, I switched to pens long ago.

Maybe this is my nesting. Arranging my things with the expectation of not moving them anytime soon. And since I didn’t have pencils, lipsticks would do.