Start-of-the-semester nervousness, a tidbit of Temeraire news, and ASOIAF: The Musical (yes, again)

[lunasariel]

I'm fairly well settled-in at Cal, now; at least enough to start re-familiarizing myself with the local cuisine. There's a cluster of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. restaurants unofficially called the Asian Ghetto, and there's one Chinese place there, Mandarin House (I'm pretty sure; I always just think of it as "the Chinese place" XD) that isn't exactly gourmet, but is perfect student food: decent-if-not-spectacular quality, big portions, cheap, and filling. Sometimes I just really, really want Chinese food, and this place gets it done. Of course, there's the "World Flavors" section of Crossroads, the dining commons, but sometimes I get a little fed up (pun not intended) with glorified cafeteria food, although it usually isn't all that bad, and like to go somewhere else.

I've also been on a quest to find a cheap, tasty Mexican place within walking distance of my dorm, and have come up with two answers: Chipotle and La Burrito. Chipotle was kind of a staple of my diet while I lived in London. There was only one in the whole city (that we could find, anyway), and when it was 35° and sleeting, it was nice to go there in a pack and be reminded that, somewhere, there is California, and presumably that's where the sun got to. The Chipotle here isn't anything spectacular; I guess I like it mostly for the nostalgia factor. The other place, which my brother (who took two summer classes here last year) clued me in to, La Burrita is better. It isn't as good as Ochoa's back in Sebastopol, which I was really looking for a replacement for, but it's good, solid, Mexican food. Also, the service is really fast and the whole place has a nice, homey atmosphere that I enjoy, although I usually get takeout.

Finally, I've been frequenting Crepes A-Go-Go, which has become my go-to "treat" place. I have a huge sweet tooth, but good treat places have proven sadly few and far between around here. There's a donut place about midway between the Chinese place and La Burrita, but everything there tastes...chemical-y, I think is the right word. Artificial. There's also C.R.E.A.M., the ice cream sandwich place, but A) it'll be a bit cold for ice cream for a few months yet, and B) I haven't yet gotten the hang of eating there without dribbling all over myself. So crepes it is, and these ones are fantastic. It's become kind of a tradition that, whenever something important happens, I go get a crepe. The first day I moved back in: crepe. Yesterday (last day of vacation): crepe. I'm not even entirely ruling out another visit today, my first day of classes! I always get the strawberry-and-chocolate variety, but I'm thinking of branching out a bit next time; I've heard that their savory crepes and paninis are also very good.


Speaking of classes: UGH. Last semester, I was lucky that all my classes were on the south side of campus, nothing more than 10 minutes from my dorm. But now I have one class in literally every corner of the campus, including one in the direct opposite corner to me. It's in literally the furthest building that can still be considered as being on the campus proper...and guess where I'll be going every Monday and Wednesday morning from now until May? My other classes are a bit closer, one is even in Dwinelle Hall, where I had my Intro to Gender & Women's Studies class last semester.

The one good thing that comes with having to tramp across up to a mile and a half every day, literally over hill and dale, is that I've been discovering a lot of neat little nooks and crannies that I didn't know Berkeley had. For example, one of my classes, it turns out, is being held in what appears to be a Chemistry building, and while I was wandering around looking for the particular room in the big, deserted building, I found an empty break room that opens onto a tiny, hidden courtyard with some sort of willow-looking tree, mysterious bushes, and a bench or two. Similarly, I was trekking to Barker Hall (the super-duper far away one), and I stopped for a break on a bench cut out of a huge redwood log, hidden from the nearby path by a screen of smaller redwoods, and looking over an ivy- and tree-lined, and very noisy, branch of Strawberry Creek, which was bridged by some broken stonework and an obviously well-trodden log. I'm finding that the Creek is one of my favorite things about Berkeley. Having lived way the hell out in the country nearly all my life, I really appreciate having flowing water and green and freely growing things that I can see every day without going out of my way to do so. There are a lot of bridges set up to cross it, both official and unofficial, and the unofficial ones are some of my favorite. There's one in particular I used to use frequently after my Celtic Mythology class got out at noon to avoid the zoo that Sather Gate/Sproul Plaza becomes in the middle of the day. Also, there's this one little almost-hidden-but-not-quite...area behind the Pelican Building (IDK what it's actually called, but there's a big statue of a pelican out front for some reason), which borders on the Creek. Like the redwood bench, it's screened by trees, but this time it's a long wooden bench that runs along the foundation of some building and looks out over the creek. It's fantastically cool, shady, and even bug-free, but like a lot of these places, I think I'll enjoy them more in warmer weather, especially because the trees will actually have leaves by then.


In Nerd News, I recently read an interview with Temeraire author Naomi Novik that contained three good pieces of information and one very bad piece of information. The good: it still looks like the movie/miniseries is still a definite possibility, the eighth book is most likely going to be called Luck and Palaces (let the wild speculation begin! Which palace? More British royal family shenanigans? Or will they return to China? Or Russia, to shake things up? Or even to France, given that the historical!Napoleonic War should be coming to a close pretty soon? And does the "Luck" refer to Temeraire and Laurence finally catching a break, or something darker/more unexpected?), and one of Naomi's best writing tips is to read material that was popular during the time you're writing about, which is a good solid piece of advice. The bad news, however, is that her other piece of writing advice is, and I quote, "Wikipedia is the most glorious resource any writer could ever dream of."

OW OW OW OW OW OW! I think my poor researcher's brain just had some sort of seizure. Any serious academic will tell you that Wikipedia is great for getting a general overview of a subject, especially if it's one you're totally unfamiliar with, but for specifics, especially the type a writer needs to write a historical fiction novel? Absolutely not. Never, ever. In my experience, research papers that cite Wikipedia are either marked "incomplete" and returned for a re-write with more credible sources if the professor is feeling generous, or just given an F if they aren't. My old poli-sci professor had a story that he loved to tell about a guy who wrote a paper on President Warren G. Harding, and cited Wikipedia for the fact that the G. stands for "Gangsta." So, yeah, I kind of died a little inside reading that an author I love and respect uses one of the least reputable sources out there to do her research. Of course, she could just be trolling, as Certain Other People *cough*Steven Moffat*cough* are known to do. Citing Wikipedia as a sterling source of detailed, publication-worthy historical information just doesn't tally with what else I know of her research methods, which includes travelling to Botswana and doing an in-depth, on-site study of the Tswana for Empire of Ivory, and with the generally high quality of historical accuracy found in all the books.


On another front, the "ASOIAF as a musical" dreams/daydreams I mentioned a few weeks ago (I think?) have continued, albeit in less force. I mentioned them to P, my brother, who's as big a music nerd as I am a lit nerd, and he immediately grilled me on chords and scales and whatnot. Unfortunately, though, I'm as little of a music nerd as he is of a lit nerd, so I couldn't tell him much, expect that the theme for Sunspear and the Martells sounded kind of Middle Eastern/Moroccan/south Spanish, and that Sansa's song is a typical Disney Princess song (at least at first), with lots of flutes and tinkly bells and swelling violins and whatnot. The actual music tends to fade pretty quickly, though, and I remember these only because I remember telling P about them. Otherwise, I seem to remember the choreography/stage directions/lighting best, with my memory for music being almost nonexistent and my memory for lyrics being, sadly, only slightly better. This especially sucks because I remember thinking "wow, that was an awesome song!" when I first woke up, but then not being able to capture it when I sat down to write it out. So, yeah, that's frustrating, but at least the idea is mildly interesting.


TBH, I'm feeling kinda nervous about classes starting, so at this point I'm blogging mostly to relieve stress. I'm taking a pretty full load this semester, and while all of my classes are at least mildly necessary, I really don't want to screw up. Getting into the UCLA IS program promises to be difficult at best, and I'm going to need some kickass grades if I even want a shot. (Also, a contributing factor of my nervousness is that I'm planning on watching "The Reichenbach Fall," the last s2 episode of Sherlock later today, and given the inevitable subject matter and what reactions I've already seen, I'm fully prepared for at least a little bit of blubbering).

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Mandarin House! The name is really familiar, and I'm wondering now if that wasn't the name of our staple Chinese place back in the day, or at least one of them. Where is it (street or relative to campus).

There's a really good burrito take-out place a couple of blocks from us. Sadly, it's not a sit-down place and I'm not sure how late they're open, or I'd suggest it for our next get-together. But if you're ever here for lunch, I'll point it out (it's easy to spot from the perennial lines :)

Mmmm, crepes. I don't know if it's still there, but there was a little bakery place across the street from Etcheverry -- not worth going all the way cross-campus for it, but if you're in the neighborhood, they had really good bread and pastries. And there used to be this place in the Bear's Lair that had excellent cream cheese muffins that were divine, but that one disappeared awhile back.

For example, one of my classes, it turns out, is being held in what appears to be a Chemistry building

Ooh, which? The hidden courtyard is not ringing a bell, but they did some heavy renovations after I left, earthquake-proofing many of the older buildings, so maybe it wouldn't...

Thanks for the link to the Novik interview -- hadn't seen that one. The research answer is really odd... I mean, Wikipedia is a great starting point / way to learn about random things you never would come across otherwise, but... It's not like she's explicitly recommending it as a sole source, but it's rather weird that it's the only thing called out. Of course, the whole research answer doesn't flow very well, so I wonder if it was heavily edited or something, and over the course of that lost references to more reputable means of research. 'Cos otherwise that's just weird, especially considering that's not at all how she does her own research.

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

Mandarin house is on Durant Ave., between Telegraph and Bowditch, only a couple of blocks away from the southern end of the campus, in a little mini-plaza called the Durant Food Court. It's pretty popular, especiallly among undergrads, and looks like it's been there for a while, so I wouldn't at all be surprised if it's the one you remember.

There's a really good burrito take-out place a couple of blocks from us.
Mmm, burritos! Maybe I can come early next time, if you're not too swamped, and you can point it out to me!

I don't know if it's still there, but there was a little bakery place across the street from Etcheverry
Oooh, another place to check out! I'll actually be on Nortside a fair amount this semester, so I'll see if it's still there.

Ooh, which?
Donner Lab, but I have another in Hildebrand, and yet another in Barker, and both of those seem at least mildly science-y. Ring any bells?

The research answer is really odd... I mean, Wikipedia is a great starting point / way to learn about random things you never would come across otherwise, but...
Exactly! "Odd" is a really good way to describe this answer. I use Wikipedia all the time when I come across an unfamiliar person/place/thing/concept to get a general idea of what I'm talking about, but as research for a historical novel? Naomi is definitely above that.

[hamsterwoman]

Yep, sounds like Mandarin House was one of our two staple places.

And I will be happy to show you the burrito place. It's this one, and looks like they're open till 9 p.m. most days. Not sure the best way to slot it into a meet-up, but definitely open to doing so :)

Donner Lab... I had to look up where it was -- never had classes there myself, or in that whole cluster. But I know Hildebrand very well, since it's part of the College of Chemistry cluster -- the Chem/ChemE library is in there (or at least used to be), and various lab support facilities, so I spent quite a bit of time in that building. Also, Barker, wow. I had a class in Tolman once, and that was such a pain to get to, but Barker is even farther that that. Ouch!

[brit-columbia.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about Wikipedia. It's really wonderful for getting an overview, and I'm very, very grateful that it's out there as a resource, but I always try to cross-reference whatever I read there.

I think a lot of historical novelists don't bother with in-depth research. Ninety-nine point nine of their readers won't know if they make a small mistake. Of course I'm not talking about big details that are easily checked everywhere and are taught in high school. But small details like including a road, a social custom, or a type of food in a story that didn't exist in the time period in which the story is set-- most people aren't going to catch that.

Recently I've been reading a series of humorous novels set in Rome (the Falco series by Lindsey Davis) and I've found several small mistakes that probably hardly anyone noticed. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been doing my own research about Rome for the novel I'm writing.

Lastly, on crepes, I'll go for savory every time, despite my legendary sweet tooth! And if I can have Hollandaise sauce on them, so much the better! I like savory waffles, too. For some reason I don't like those two items to be sweet. I have no idea why.

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

It's really wonderful for getting an overview, and I'm very, very grateful that it's out there as a resource, but I always try to cross-reference whatever I read there.
Exactly! It's great for answering "What the hell is [blank]?" questions, but for specifics, especially the kind a writer would need, the librarian in me needs something a little more authoritative.

I like savory waffles, too. For some reason I don't like those two items to be sweet.
I love both sweet and savory crepes, but like you, I can't stand too-sweet waffles. I'm okay with a bit of honey/syrup/cream/berries, but slathering it in all of the above, as I've seen some people do, makes me a little ill. XD