LA felt familiar.... duh, I'd lived there off and on since 1964! But it didn't necessarily feel like home, since I don't have a home there. Spent 4 days in SF, mostly on business. That was great too. For sheer esthetics, it's hard to find a more beautiful city in the U.S. And so convenient. Then a week in Boston (including 2 day time-out for NJ via NY on Amtrak and NJ Transit bus). There's no doubt about it: while I"ve never lived there, only visited, Boston is my favorite city in the U.S. It's beautiful, it's convenient, it has fabulous people, unparalleled Italian food, fantastic dim sum, and the best bookstores. OK, and Filene's basement, though that wasn't all that much a thrill for me personally. The original Filene's basement, literally in the basement of the no longer extant Filene's, on the way into the Downtown Crossing T-Station, was something to behold, jam packed with all kinds of goods at unbelievable prices. The one on Boylston is very nice, very civilized, (with great restrooms, something I've come to appreciate), but it misses the grittiness of the original basement.
After four weeks, I was actually quite ready to come back to Thailand. Came here to find our stuff that we shipped had finally arrived, and we've been dealing with 70+ pieces (mostly boxes) since we arrived three days ago. The house is shrinking with each box of books I open. Not that I'm complaining.... The second picture is a digitized slide from around 1975 that my friend Steve sent me. At UCLA.
