Two posts ago, I mentioned how I have reached a state in which my body just seems to have forgotten how to sleep - I go night after night with very little sleep until suddenly I just crash and sleep.
Such a crash happened that very night. I don't know what time I went to bed - somewhere between midnight and 1:00 AM, I believe. I felt so tired that my eyelids seemed to be falling to the floor and I could not think to compose even the simplest email or to return a Facebook message or comment.
So I went to bed and just zoned out. Cats came in and piled on top of me, adding a pleasant warmth to the blankets that covered me. I did wake up a few times, but only briefly and then went right back to sleep.
I did not wake up for good until afternoon.
AFTER NOON!!!
Just by a few minutes, but still afternoon.
And I woke up feeling somewhat pleasant, which felt very odd and not quite right. No. It did not feel right at all and it didn't last but that's how it was for several minutes.
I had a great deal of work ahead of me but I didn't do any of it - except to put up yesterday's blog post on Clark James Mishler, which went up much later than I had intended - not until 4:04 PM.
Immediately afterward, I jumped into the car and headed to Metro Cafe to buy my NPR - All Things Considered listening and driving coffee.
Shoshana greeted me at the window and I told her that I had not taken a single picture all day long and that I had better shoot some frames of her right now because darkness was setting down heavy and if I didn't, I might somehow not take a picture this entire day and that would not be good.
She was game for it, so I shot this series of Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana.
The above image, in case any reader has not already surmised, is Study # 1.
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 2
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 3
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 4
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 5
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 6
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 7
;)
Eight Studies of the Young Writer, Shoshana: Study # 8
It is my hope that one day, far in the future, a researcher of some sort will be delving into all that took place in and concerning Wasilla, Alaska at this time in history and will conclude that while on the national scene Wasilla was a noisy place, what proved to be the most important event to concern this town was that a young writer named Shoshana quietly performed her job at Metro Cafe.
Perhaps The New Yorker will still be around, or there will some other publication of some sort or another that fills the same niche.
That publication will run these pictures and they will state, "Eight images of the noted author, Shoshana of Wasilla, Alaska, photographed by the erstwhile blogger, Bill Hess, when she was young and working at Metro Cafe."
Just before 2010 ended, I received an exceptionally generous donation from a reader who specified that I was to use to to take Margie out to a fine dinner. I figured this was the night to do it.
There is a new restaurant in Wasilla called Sakura Sushi. It took over the spot previously occupied by Wasilla's only Indian restaurant. I was a little dismayed by that, because I like to get Indian food now and then so that I can sit there, breathe in the familiar aromas, eat and remember India.
But I love Sushi, too, and so we decided to give it a try. We entered the door and were greeted by fish.
Beyond the fish, people were gathering.
It was a very long wait, but so what? The company was good. I have never been able to convince Margie that raw fish is good, so when we go to a sushi place, she orders something else - on this night, teriyaki chicken and tempura shrimp and vegetables.
My sushi was served first, but I resisted and waited until she got her meal before I ate mine.
My first bite was of the roll on the upper right hand corner of the dish - dipped in wasabi and soy sauce.
Oooooooohhhh my!
Heaven! Heaven! Heaven!
Heaven...
And every bite that followed was like heaven and this proved true for Margie, too.
It was well worth the wait.
To have a sushi restaurant of such quality, right here in Wasilla, Alaska...
If I were rich, I would eat here 30 times a week.
Or maybe twice.
Perhaps just once, so as not to render the experience commonplace.
But I would want to eat here 30 times a week.
;)
Here is the master chef, O.B. I learned nothing of his history, but he did speak with a strong Japanese accent. I hope he loves Wasilla, because I do not want him to leave.
And here is our host and waitress, as I pay the bill. I did not catch their names.
On the way out, we passed by the fish, who seemed unaware, contented enough.
Thank you, Michael P, for a wonderful dinner out with my wife.
Also let that future researcher also note that on this day, a master chef sliced up some excellent sushi in Wasilla, Alaska, and someone broke down on the side of an icy road, where someone else stopped to help.
As to sleep, now that the crash has come and gone, I am right back to the same place. I went to bed at 4:00 this morning and could not sleep a wink past 7:00 - and I didn't sleep all that great in between.
I did stay home, where I cooked oatmeal and ate it with berries and walnuts.
And this one from India:
A vendor in Ooty as photographed through the open window of our taxicab as our driver drove the newly-weds Soundarya and Anil, Vasanthi, Buddy, Melanie and me through the bustling street, where goats, horses and ox mingled with people driving motor bikes, cars, trucks and auto-rics.