overt.org

On Sunday. It was beautiful. If only it were possible to time my visits back to Texas such that I could be sure to catch a thunderstorm. I miss them most of all.

I dropped a class–too much time spent on problem sets. I really have grown lazy in my old age. Still, I’m hoping to pick up another independent research project before too long to fill in the gap. For now, I’ve got plenty to keep me entertained with my one real class, my one real research project, and my seminar. I found the main library stacks today. They’re amazing. The bookshelves are on tracks, and you have to slide them around to squeeze into the actual shelf you’re interested in. So many books. Still need to investigate DVDs.

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Comments

em — 2004-09-21 22:34:08

OK, I’m really having a hard time picturing how these sliding bookshelves work. Help!

bryan — 2004-09-23 19:07:57

hmm… i couldn’t find a picture. So I’ll try to describe. Think of the stacks like at the PCL. Two-sided shelves for books interspersed with walkways. The shelves are really long, and form hallways. Now imagine pushing all the rows of shelves together so that the walkways went away. All the books are still there, you just can’t get to them because you can’t fit between the shelves. So you leave enough room for one walkway, and put all the shelves on rails. at the end of the shelf, there’s a wheel you can turn to slide it one way or another. To get between two shelves, you slide over shelf after shelf until the one you want is accessible. Make sense?

em — 2004-09-24 20:56:47

I can picture it now, thanks to your comment. So, if two people want books that are on distant shelves, they have to take turns, since there can only be one walkway at once! Saves space, at the price of convenient access. I could see it working… for rarely used books, anyway.

bryan — 2004-09-29 18:20:05

When you’ve got the 2nd biggest university library in the country (second only to harvard), you have to imagine that most of the books will almost never get checked out. how crowded did you ever see it in the stacks at UT?

yes.

1515 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley, CA 94709 510.883.0222

Monday was a triple feature, and the finale was César, a tapas bar on Shattuck next to Chez Panisse. Very nice atmosphere for a bar; the music was not too loud and as always in cali, no smokers! We went with the intent of getting some strawberries and cream, but I guess they are already out of season, so we had to settle for some chocolate pudding which was so think and rich it was almost like fudge. But somehow, it managed not to be heavy. It was covered on top with fresh whipped cream. I had a sour cherry soda to drink which was absolutely delicious. Definitely a nice place to chill out after some other activity. I’m not a big fan of tapas for meals because it would cost me about $100 to get full. But in this case, it was the perfect fit.

1984 Shattuck St. Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 540-9997

Another winner here. I had dinner there on Monday with Stefani–it wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time that I rememered in time to write a fair impression. The interior of the place is pretty plain, with maybe 20 tables and a few booths. It does have an open kitchen, which I always find encouraging. It was pretty empty when we went in around 9, so the service was fast. The staff is very helpful and attentive (I’m no expert at this kind of food). We started with some “arabic tea with mint” that was delicious. I’m not sure what kind of tea it was but it came with several fresh mint leaves floating in it that I let infuse until I was done drinking it–very soothing. I had sabanekh (lamb and spinach stew) with saffroned rice on the side, and Stef had roasted chicken. Previously I’ve had roasted lamb, falafels, dolmas, hummus, baba, tabouleh, cucumber salad, and kanafeh for dessert, which is sort of a spin on baklavah.

It’s all been very tasty. Fresh, hot, and convincing enough to fool a neophyte like me into believing it’s “truly” mediterranean. I’ve already been back to this place twice, and I can see the pattern continuing. Cheap, fast, filling, friendly.

1700 Shattuck Ave Berkeley, CA 94709 (510) 849-4983

Jackpot! Monday lunch was had with Jen, a third-year Berkeley undergrad who knows plenty of good places. We were going to go to Cheesboard Pizza, which she claims is her favorite place in town, but they’re closed on Mondays, so we decided on Kurry Klub instead on the way back to campus. It’s a little Indian place, as you’ve guessed, and it has very nice interior of carved wood with all-wood tables and carved chairs. The have a $7 lunch buffet, and it is incredible! I spent most of my time putting korma over basmati rice, but I also tried some chicken curry and paneer. It was all wonderful, served with naan and accompanied by a very attentive staff who kept our glasses full of water. The korma was my favorite–creamy but not too heavy. The curry was also great: spicy but manageable (I mellowed it out with some yogurt). For those of you from Austin, I would compare the quality of this buffet to the Clay Pit–it’s that good. I’ll definitely be frequenting this place.

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Comments

Justin Robertson — 2004-12-05 23:54:28

Ya !! I think the same as u do. It is just incredible….. ya….

Ram Shiva Katwal — 2004-12-05 23:56:25

Ya !! I have tried their recipe. I wonder why they cook so well. I was so suprised by their new dish so called “MOMO”

U guys should try it.

Regards

Ram K :D