Mekala's Thai Cuisine in Eugene, Oregon

When in Eugene recently, I chose to try something new and hit Mekala's instead of Ring of Fire, which I'd been to AND LOVED.

My bad; such is the price one pays now and then for trying new things. They can't all be winners; and if they are, you must have very low standards!

It wasn't a disaster, by far, don't get me wrong. But when a Massaman Curry is thin, weak and without the slightest touch of heat... something is wrong. The server didn't ask, "How hot?" and I figured they made it "medium" as house style and you asked if you wanted mild or super hot.

Not so. The sauce was thin and watery, and the chicken used was poor quality dark meat chicken, stringy and fatty in parts. Ugh. The Phad See Yew, with chicken, tofu, wide noodles in a black bean sauce was better, but still not great.

We started with Thai Spring Rolls and Golden Fried Tofu, simple appetizers with which you can't go wrong. The spring rolls were large and cut on the diagonal, making them easy to eat, and very pleasant in presentation!

Service was a bit slow to boot, despite it being slow with less than half of the tables full. Our server was very pleasant and discussed some menu options with us, though.

I've had much better Thai for much less $$$. With the many options for Thai available, I probably won't make it back around to Mekala's. The atmosphere wasn't much to speak of, either; a lot of windows in a restaurant are nice if you have something nice to look at. But gazing upon a gawdy pizza joint next door doesn't fit that bill.

The high point? Their plum sauce rocked.

(The photo is of our appetizers, but I took it after we dug in. But you get the idea.)

David Sedaris at the Hult in Eugene

Thursday night I bopped over to my Facebook page before calling it a night, and happened to see an ad in the right margin that, for a change, was actually relevant and helpful. David Sedaris at the Hult in Eugene!? I'm there! Two tickets and a phone call securing a friend's promise to accompany (despite saying, "Who's that?" when initially asked), and I was looking forward to a Friday night not spent at home exhausted and bored.

My husband, when asked if he wanted to join us, had replied, "I'm sorry, I'll be busy here at home hitting myself in the head with a hammer."

As a fan of his books, and a big fan of This American Life and his various deliveries on NPR, I broke my usual refusal of ridiculous ticket prices for such events. $40 for a reading? Yeesh. And don't forget the "convenience fee" AND the extra fee to print the tickets on your own printer versus picking up at will-call. Isn't that backwards? $92 total for two tickets.

I'm glad we went; some girl time with a friend, introduction to a performance space I hadn't sen yet, and exposure to new material were all good things.

But also, lots of negatives. First... a reading needs to be more intimate, but that's just in my opinion and clearly many others disagree. I wouldn't attend a reading in a larger venue again. This venue in particular had awful sound for a single speaker; it was as if there were just two speakers down low near the front. We were in the lower mezzanine and at times could barely hear.

It dawned on me how my consumption of his material was largely through audio, with the ability to control the flow, and how that shaped how I appreciated and preferred to consume his material. The power to be able to replay a section--as often happens as I'm laughing my head off and miss the next bit--was missing, and I felt as if much was missed. Not to mention, the woman sitting next to me who kept making the most disgusting sinus noises left me wishing I were slumped in my favorite chair at home with the show on podcast.

The reading clocked in at around 90 minutes or less; we were back in the car by 9:50, and the last 15 minutes or so had been a commercial for Audible.com, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Why must EVERYTHING be ruined by pandering?

We didn't stay for the book signing; those types of things always make me uncomfortable. If I had a chance to sit down and have a 10 minute chat over coffee? Sure, I'd jump at that chance. But a forced few seconds in line with others waiting behind us? Strikes me as... just odd.