So, I'll bore you with something else. My computer is still on the lam, so I won't have any pretty updates (that means with pictures) for at least a week and a half. I have some great pics from Marc's wedding and Jess's bachelorette party to share.

In the meantime, I'm going to run a blog experiement and see if anyone catches on to it (Burnie - you can't participate). Just to give you a hint - this is the first one. I think I'll do it for the month of July - good luck all.

My travel is slowing down - at least for a few weeks. In the last two months, I've been to Austin, Texas, Southern California (LA area), Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey (all in the same trip, of course, but it sounds a lot cooler to say all three states than the mid-Atlantic) and Portland, Oregon. Next up: Wisconsin and then back to the love of my life, Portland, Oregon. It's a full summer ya'll.

For your reading enjoyment - Nate has returned to the blogging world - http://www.bumpersmash.blogspot.com/  His blog is sure to be full of some very entertaining crap. Much more entertaining than my crap. For instance, he has a conversation going about mustachioed baseball players as you're wasting time reading this. Very hip. Get over there.

Speaking of entertaining - we (at work) are doing some work with the Travel Channel and got our hands on a sneak peek video of the 2nd half of Anthony Bourdain's 4th season of No Reservations which premiered last night with an episode in Laos. It's a great video:

Tags: travel, anthony bourdain, summertime

The first couple of chapters in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential made me feel like I had just tied my apron on and was back in the restaurant industry. Thankfully, the book has progressed to some pretty interesting and amusing stories. I just finished the chapter where Bordain talks about things he stays away from when dining - and realized that I have a short list of my own.

For those of you who don't know me, I managed a brewpub in Portland, OR for 5 years. I actually really enjoyed the restaurant industry, there are a lot of positive aspects about it. First off, the money is great, it's a very social atmosphere, and you have your days off. I spent a good amount of time hiking in the gorge, going to the coast and snowboarding on Mt. Hood. However, you have to endure really long hours, physically demanding work and you constantly smell like onions. I did take away some lifelong lessons, and in the spirit of Bordain, I thought I'd share a few 'restaurant don'ts.'
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Tags: anthony bourdain, kitchen confidential, restaurant tips, book reviews