Or is it Bistro Tuli? Eh, whatever. It’s tasty. Maybe not as fall-all-over-yourselves-in-a-rush-to-get-there tasty, but tasty.  Full disclosure - it’s taken me a month - er, okay, nearly two months - to get the photos uploaded and get around to writing this. In the restaurant business, that’s like 15 dog years or something. I am walking/driving/cycling by it regularly, though, and still see people there, so this is probably still good information. If not, feel free to advise me in the comments section.

More after the jump.

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You may have read something about the housing market lately. Sellers are up a creek because prices have tanked thanks to myriad factors.  We may have hit bottom though: dozens of news articles are highlighting crazy good deals on foreclosed homes and from otherwise desperate sellers.  Supposedly, once you read that we’ve hit bottom, we’ve already hit it an passed.  Homes seem to be selling more quickly now and - in a twist of logical reasoning - saying it is so might just make it so as things even out.

We’ve been house hunting for quite awhile now. In fact, we may be the only buyers who can’t close a dang deal in this buyers’ market.  We have exacting tastes and we’re good at remaining true to our budget and our wish list.  Accordingly, we’re still enjoying the good life in Midtown in our lovely rental that - thanks to even-in-a-bad-market-insane-California-mortgage-land is still far less than what we’d be paying to own a place. And our landlord fixed busted lightbulbs and windows. Not a bad situation.

A week or so ago we ventured where we swore we’d never go, though . . . . Natomas. Eek! Don’t write me off as an evil suburbanite just yet.  I know all the arugments against Natomas: McMansions, big box stores, irresponsible sprawl, shoddy construction, high-five-ably close neighbors, no character, and, the most important, you better have a driveway that can accomodate an ark because, brother,  it’s only  a matter of time.

But,  you know, East Sac and Midtown - or most desireable locations - won’t be high and dry when the river busts free.  Some parts of Natomas will be extra underwater, true, but does anyone have the REAL scoop on flood protection progress and which neighborhoods are slightly less screwed? Because here’s the deal: for literally $200k LESS we can buy 1400 MORE square feet than you’ll find in East Sac - where most homes in our price range spread over a generous 1000 square feet.  We don’t need 2400 square feet.  Yet.  But maybe we will someday. At what point does it stop making sense to crap all over Natomas’s interpretation of the American Dream come-to-life with granite slap countertops, too much ceramic tile, and enough family, great, and formal living rooms so that you’d never have to spend time with your least favorite family members again?

The temperature here in Sac is supposed to reach triple digits by Thursday. I have a few strategies planned to beat the heat this week. First off, I’ll be bringing shorts to change in to for my bike ride home from work. Second, I’ll be making frequent use of my apartment building’s pool. Finally, on the hottest day I plan on making a stop at the snow cone window at Osaka Ya.

How will you be staying cool?

There’s a brand new building rising at 30th and Q that I mentioned in a previous blog entry. This new building, a Mercy Hospital satellite, sports a dark New Mexico orange tint. Nearly every new building going up lately in and about town is wearing a similar shade of burnt umber / tequila sunrise orange. Why? We’re not New Mexico; this is not the desert. We aren’t trying to color coordinate with red rock formations. Sacramento is a river city, and if anything, shouldn’t new buildings be in a complementary shade?

Or perhaps “they” know something I don’t know? Maybe the water crisis is worse than we think and river city will become dry creek. I hope not. Meanwhile, the backdrop for a bad western is out there, already. Get yer lassos ready, cuz we’re ropin’ some cattle this weekend, y’all.

As I mentioned back on Thursday, my wife and I just had an anniversary. To mark the occasion this weekend we got new tattoos. Specifically we got each other’s initials on our ring fingers.

We got the work done at Serenity Body Art at S and 12th Street. The shop is only a few blocks from our apartments, so we wanted to give it a try. We’re both very glad we did. Jim, the tattoo artist, and his wife Vicky (a piercer) run the shoptogether and are really friendly people. You won’t get any of the “attitude” that sometimes comes with body art, and as you will see from the link, Jim’s art is top notch.

We’d never been in the shop before, and after getting our fingers done, we’ve both got plans to  go back for more work in the coming month.

I’ve been seeing these yellow Fargo for Mayor signs all over the neighborhood around my office. Today on my lunch I saw this cluster (and there’s even more outside the frame on the left!) and was moved to post

At present, I don’t have a dog in this race, but I have to admit that these signs bug the hell out of me. They’re ugly for one, but… “Progress!” Is that really an advisable slogan for someone aiming at a third term in office? My vote for that would be a No.

One of my favorite places to spend time and take photos is the City Cemetery on Broadway by Riverside. It’s absolutely gorgeous this time of year, and there’s always something unexpected to see there. The photo above was taken there, and there’s a few more after the bump.

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I did a quick search of the blog, and I can’t believe no one has mentioned Beers Books before. They’re at 915 S Street, right between 9th & 10th. This puts them across the street from tasty Chinese food at Gam Lei Sig and right by several bars. This was all a big part of me moving into the neighborhood, let me tell you.

In particular I’d like to talk about their “sidewalk sale”. One of the things I love about warmer months is biking past Beers on my way home from work and looking through new $1 hardcovers and 50 cent paperbacks. Just this week I picked up hardcovers, in decent shape, of The Confusion and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell for $1 each.

If you’re in the neighborhood, I recommend checking the place out.

If you’re at home tonight at 6:30 PM and you want to watch the local news…you’ll get a healthy dose of Crystal Darkness instead. All local channels will be broadcasting with focus on our area and the “Meth Epidemic.” While I am cynical as to whether it is “just now” an epidemic, or if it has been an ongoing problem, I guess it is just a question of semantics.

Meth is here in Sacramento and the outlying cities, and if you don’t know what it looks like or how to spot the symptoms of someone using it, you might be caught unawares. Meth is involved in a lot of horror stories–and that lady with no teeth outside the Alhambra Safeway? I think she’s taking meth, or was–if she isn’t already dead.

If you live in Lavender Heights (part of Midtown), you should also watch the program…I learned something new today. Evidently meth is a popular choice in the Gay community. I wasn’t aware of that, but if you live in certain areas, your neighbor might be using. Or if you rent, you might want to check out who might have been living in the Victorian walkup before you–they may have left a gift that keeps on giving behind.

Seriously, if you can’t catch the program tonight, TiVo it. Or check out the website. Education, education, education. Education, prevention/treatment, law enforcement.

A poll on the KCRA website shows most people think law enforcement is the best way to handle the meth problem. Look around, people…we’re facing budget cuts and guess who gets hit first? Law enforcement, firefighters, schools.

Besides, if you don’t know what to look for, what it does, how to get help if needed–then when does law enforcement come in? It comes in when things are already out of hand. Law enforcement gets involved when there’s already a serious problem. Law enforcement gets involved when the user is on his/her way to prison or the morgue.

My ringer finger looks like a purple snowman - fat and bulbous between each joint - courtesy of having tripped into my house on Saturday evening.  Taking every opportunity to evaluate aspects of our fair city for you, dear reader, I decided, given the fingers deepening hue and increasing size, to go for x-rays on Sunday afternoon (Happy Easter!).

 I took some reading material with me, expecting a wait, though was pleasantly surprised to wait a comparatively short time (the nurse said always come in after lunch) at Mercy’s urgent care center on Folsom, just east of Alhambra.  I did read this article about the importance of aesthetics in medical facilities: prettier, quieter places speed healing it seems.

Urgent care here fit the ugh-profile well: old furniture, peeling wood veneer, ugly, 80s wallpaper. Though I’m sure it was still clean, the antiquated look felt dirty too, especially where the aged showed in dings, peeling stickers, and tattered posters.

A nicer setting would be amazing and I believe it would make seeking medical help more pleasant and less scary, but I only want facilities to worry about it if it doesn’t increase costs. I don’t want more medi-cal patients going without healthcare because a doctor has to pay for the water feature in the waiting room, instead of covering what the state won’t reimburse.

But the care was speedy and the nurse was nice - I had my x-rays, found out there was no fracture and was sent home to do what I had been doing: ice, advil, and elevation.

By the way, if you’ve never thought about key-strokes per finger, you do, in fact, use your left ring-finger more than you might think in the average blog post. Time for more ice.