Amir ibn al-Kastner

Sorry, I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. If my lj were a kid, I’d be arrested for neglect.

On Thursday, I leave for Florida for my second cousin’s wedding! I’ll get to golf and see family. Yay!

So, here’s a run-down on the Matt visit:

1.) I saw Ben Stein at the Watergate. I wanted to say “hi” or something, but I’m too much of a wuss

2.) I got to play some more Ferrari F355 Challenge at Dave & Buster’s. It’s the coolest racing game ever! It has a clutch and manual shifter!

3.) It was an excuse to finally try some new restaurants.

4.) I finally saw Kill Bill vols. 1 & 2. I bought the first one on DVD the night it opened, and then we saw the midnight showing of vol. 2. Very good movies! (and oh yeah, Uma is hot!)

That’s about it.

So anyway, it’s been a relatively relaxing week. Got to catch up with my local friends (finally saw Matchstick Men - was OK) and ate at a cool place with my parents. It is called the Flat Top Grill and is just across the street. If you’re in Minneapolis, you should eat at Khan’s Mongolian Barbeque - Flat Top is similar, only it tries to be trendy and upscale, whereas Khan’s is good old stir fry (with more buffet options).

I finally have my own internet connection, but I can only use one computer at a time on it, as I have no router set up. I could go home and resurrect The Beast (a crappy old computer from 1995) or I could buy a fancy new Airport Extreme base station. Hmmmm… Actually, I bet a first-generation Airport would be just as good configuration-wise. Hmmmmmmmmm….

Some ‘fads’ around here are Thai food or Pho. A bunch of Thai restaurants have sprung up. You’re not cool unless you’ve had Thai food! I’ll have to try it some time.

Pho (pronounced, “fu”) is, as far as I can tell, some kind of Vietnamese soup with a bunch of stuff in it. I suppose I could look it up….OK, it looks like Pho is basically a step above Ramen.

I have been to The Queen Bee - a Vietnamese restaurant. They had some wicked pork that tasted like beef jerky, yet very tender; amazing orange chicken; and fish that had a sesame chicken-like sauce that was also incredible.

There is a Kirspy Kreme factory not too far away. I’m awfully tempted to go one morning. From what I hear, if you go in the morning while they’re still making the donuts, they will serve you donuts straight off of the donut-making machine’s conveyor belt. They are allegedly very warm, gooey, and delicious.

All this talk about food. You’d think I’m starving, but I guess I really have nothing else to talk about. I guess that happens when all I eat is pita and hummus and soup and the occasional Stouffer’s french bread pizza.