Gregeration X Newsletter December 23, 2023-Counting Down to 2024!

The countdown to 2024 has begun. Over the next ten days, I hope you can rest, relax, recharge, or do whatever brings you joy.

As of my last newsletter, I was preparing for surgery to remove some nasal polyps from my nasal passage ways and sinuses. I’m happy to report that the surgery went well and recovery has been relatively painless. I have some limitations on physical activity and can’t blow my nose through the end of next week, but I’ve been feeling pretty good. My breathing has improved more than I expected and I occasionally “smell” things now, so that gives me hope that I’ll regain my full sense of smell as my recovery progresses. Now I’m working on getting back to a normal sleeping routine as mine was disrupted by the various medications I was waking and waking up every few hours to rinse my sinuses with a saline solution (since I can’t blow my nose).

Last weekend, since I was already feeling better, my family and I took a trip to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. For us, a successful trip to LA is one where we can get there, do what we want to do, and get back with minimal fuss. It’s about sixty miles away, so can take as little as 45 minutes to get there, but can also take 60-90 minutes depending on traffic. Getting home can take multiple hours. Luckily, the travel gods were with us, as we got there and back in about an hour each way. Definitely a rare occurrence.

While in Little Tokyo we explored multiple shops, went to two different Japanese grocery stores, and of course had some yummy food!

Here are the highlights of foods we tried:

Takoyaki – commonly known in English as Japanese octopus balls – is a quintessential Japanese street food that’s found especially at summer festivals in Japan. Essentially they’re round balls of fluffy dough that are smothered with a special savory takoyaki sauce and have a tasty piece of octopus meat at the center. (Definition from Live Japan)

My son and I tried takoyaki from a food truck at Anime Expo last summer and well, let’s just say our experience was disappointing. Maybe it was the preparation method, maybe it was because it was served at the end of the day, but whatever we ate was “tako-yucky”! This was a serious bummer since characters from some of our favorite animes rave about how much they like takoyaki. We were determined to give it a second try as soon as we could find a “real” restaurant that served it. In Little Tokyo, we found just such a place. I’m happy to report that takoyaki is in fact as delicious as advertised. We only ordered one plate, but we could have easily ordered several more!

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese teppanyaki, savory pancake dish consisting of wheat flour batter and other ingredients cooked on a teppan. Common additions include cabbage, meat, and seafood, and toppings include okonomiyaki sauce, aonori, katsuobushi, Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger. (Wikipedia)

My description is that it’s less a pancake and more of a noodle omelet. In any case, the combination flavors and textures in its eleven layers was really good. I will definitely eat this again when I have the chance.

Mochi is a Japanese confection (Wagashi), found usually in the shape of a small, round rice cake made from glutinous rice which can be eaten with condiments such as Kinako (roasted soy bean flour), manju (sweet red bean paste), soy sauce dip, and seaweed and enjoyed with a cup of tea. Manju is a confection that is steamed or baked with cake flour whereas mochi, or mochigashi, refers to something made with mochi (a rice product such as rice flour, sweet rice flour and/or sweet rice).

(https://www.fugetsu-do.com/mochi.html)

Fugetsu-Do is a 120-year-old family owned Japanese confectionery in Little Tokyo. And, yes, these were as delicious as they look! This was one of the highlights of our trip!

Mechhaven Missives

Last time I said I wouldn’t put any pressure on myself to hit any writing goals during the holidays…and I’m still not going to…BUT…since I was feeling better than I expected, I worked on Mechhaven Book 5 several days last week. Woo-hoo! I’m hoping to get a few more writing days in between now and when I return to work, but no pressure, LOL!

The promotion to get Pax Machina for FREE is over, but there is still a little time to pick up the other three books at a discount. These prices run through 12/24 11:59 PM PST.

Mechs and Machinations (Mechhaven Book 2) $0.99

On Darkhaven Forged (Mechhaven Book 3) $2.99

Rally Point (Mechhaven Book 4) $2.99

Get The Books!

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Mech of the Month

December’s Mech of the Month is “Bullbuster” from the anime of the same name. What I liked about this show was the catchy theme song, the character relationships, and the decidedly low-tech of the mechs. So often anime is over the top, that’s one of the things we like about it, right? Bullbuster takes a different approach and is more like a workplace comedy with some action/adventure and corporate shenanigans thrown in for good measure. The stakes are much lower than so many other shows, but they are still there. The mechs are glorified construction equipment and the characters have to figure out clever way to defeat the “pests” they come up against. They’re also running a business, so they have to figure out how to come in under budget and make a profit!

Featured Authors

This week’s featured authors are Tom Dell’Aringa and Richard Rimington.

Stinger

Tom Dell’Aringa

Quick-paced, primal, and full of suspense…

A thrilling sci-fi short with an “Aliens” feel.

As his warship comes under attack by a devastating alien horror, a drug-addicted recruit stumbles upon a secret super soldier compound. In his hand is the one hope to save the ship. But to do it, he’ll have to face his crippling fear of the alien on the other side of the hatch.