greetings from venice beach.

our mini film crew arrived at lax yesterday as scheduled and we are now having a grand old time in venice beach at former chickfactor contributor edna’s adorable little cottage. here is what we have been eating:

1. last night I consumed some crazy attempt at a raw vegan burrito at leaf in culver city. they put some mung beans and avocado and stuff inside some giant green leaves and I munched down on it like a rabbit. kerthy had the “pad thai” which was overwhelmingly vinegary and kind of too much of one thing. ashley had the “pizza,” which was again a little too rabbit foody. I’m already like the healthiest eater I know, but the leaf experience was mighty intense. my veggie combo juice was like drinking the blood of christ, but could have been improved with a shot of hot sauce, absolut pepper or medium ginger.
2. back in sf, we had some stunning rice vermicelli with five spice tofu at the golden era restaurant downtown, alongside some divine summer rolls and veggie bun.
3. lemongrass encrusted tofu steak was absolutely gorgeous at tao restaurant (guerrero and 22nd). there were lots of groovy snacks for my nonvegan college mates with whom I shared a meal.
4. mark and I had some coconut curry with udon noodles at herbivore, while kevin had the satan wrap. we also loved the middle eastern zataar spread on toast and the vegan german chocolate cake and of course the girlie lambic that I love. after so many days of salty noodle and soy sauce, my fingers are puffed up like balloons.
5. met up with mr and ms slumberland records for lunch at maya on 2nd street in sf, where I didn’t eat anything too spectacular but the guac was rocking and I was in fine company. slumberland is really kicking things back up a notch — mike handed me two new split seven-inch singles in the label’s new series. I was like, dude. what year is this again?
6. zipped through the mall in japan-town with stephin, shirley, daniel, etc. and ate various japanese treats, such as corn chocolate and fake banana.

apart from the culinary delights, san francisco was lovely in almost every way (though of course the stereotypes about sf-folk are always reinforced by the locals, the emily the strange girls and homeless superhero men with zz top beards; yes, many of its inhabitants are absolutely cuckoo). the magnetic fields shows were ace. I can hardly believe how much I now adore the songs on the new album — highlights in the live show are “threeway,” “courtesans” and “too drunk to dream.” actually they have all grown on me a ton! the sf shows featured local megastar daniel handler on accordion and another highlight was the man singing “scream and run away” with audience participation. sf audiences also got to hear “zebra”, the fab end tune on 69 love songs. looking forward to the l.a. and seattle shows. more soon…