I've been away for a

I've been away for a few days, spending time with family and friends down in LA.

Some updates:
- I was just interviewed in the latest pixelview, which seemed to go well.

- The night before I left, I got to enjoy a meal at the French Laundry, and like Meg and Jason, I would agree it was the finest meal I've ever eaten. It's hard to describe really, to hear that it cost almost $200 per person to eat, and we ate a 12 course meal would be to miss the point entirely. It would be akin to saying how outrageous it is that a Picasso work cost millions "for just a bunch of paint on some canvas." For a few short hours we got to share in one artist's vision of what food could be. Every single thing about it was magnificent; the presentation was incredible, the tastes wonderful, and there wasn't a hint of pretention in such a decadent evening. Easily the best experience I've ever had at a restaurant.

- Dockweiler State Beach is directly west of the launch paths at LAX. There is something tremendously unnerving about having large jets buzz a beach party every 2 minutes. They were so low we could read identification numbers on the wings, and so loud conversations would have to stop until they had gotten well past. With our eternal state of heightened security alerts, I couldn't help but tense up every time one passed overhead.

- I went to school in the shadow of the Mission Inn for over four years without ever getting the chance to stay there. This weekend when I needed a place to stay I finally got a chance to check it out, and it was amazing. Highly recommended.

- Tomorrow I'm going to launch a little giveaway at MetaFilter. The publisher of my new book agreed to give me a few extra copies to give away, which I'll be doing this week. If you're interested in the design of community spaces, or wonder how MetaFilter came to be, look for the giveaway signup on Monday.