27/100 Gypsy's Trattoria (restaurant review)

Gypsy's Trattoria
Berkeley, CA (Campus Area, Durant Avenue)
Restaurant review

Basic info:
Italian Cuisine, entree price 6.50 per plate including bread, side salad 1.99.

This is fresh Italian food for sure. You go in, order at the counter and they cook your food while you wait. No chafing dishes here. No food that was cooked hours ago. It is all prepped per order and very fresh. Big plates of food for this price too and really good. My go to meal is the penne gorgonzola with spinach but I have also had the meat lasagna. I have seen their massive calzones which seem really popular with the students. This is good, rib sticking food and truly delicious. Always good and you can get take out.

Website:
http://www.gypsysitaliana.com/

Over all rating:
Excellent! Fresh food!

Recommend:
Definitely. Highly!

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post 27/100 in the 100 things challenge

28/100 The Mockingjay (book review)

Third and final book review in this series.

Mockingjay (Hunger Games book 3)
by Suzanne Collins
Book Review

Set in one possible future when North America has dissolved away to the country of Panem, a realm where the decadent Capitol dominates 12 provinces through the mechanism of exacting tribute through the Hunger Games. The tribute are children, offered up in combat to the death in an arena. Two, a boy and a girl, from each district and only one can triumph. The games are televised, broadcast live for all to see. This system has been in place for seventy four years, ever since the districts revolted and lost the rebellion. Before the revolt, there were 13 districts but one was obliterated by the Capitol in the war.

This book continues just where the second one leaves off at the end of the quarter quell. ( For spoilers... )

This book is more political than the other ones and less about Hunger Games than the situation that the characters are embroiled in. It was predictable to me but I found it to be a satisfactory conclusion to a really good story. It kept some of the elements of the Hunger Game structure in there...the aspects of the game so that is interesting. I poured through all of these books rapidly and lived and breathed them. I am writing this review after some distance on the material. Collins is logical about where she takes the story. It follows a pattern in political theory and the rise and fall of states and empires. So that works. The one thing I like is that we are always with Katniss, always in her head and her thoughts are very real. This is a series well worth staying with and finishing.

Overall rating:
Good!

Recommend:
If you read the other books!

Warnings:
Story is violent and disturbing.

Companion Video: Haymitch's Second Quarter Quell (warning, very violent! strong warning!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mUjssn86h4

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post 28/100 in the 100 things challenge

AiA Update...

I have my elves together and this is just moving right along. I will adjust my word estimate tomorrow as the story is going to be longer than the 3k first anticipated. I got a lot of writing done. I am trying to write 300-500 words a day but I wrote about 2500 words today, woot.

3410 / 3000
(113.67%)

I hope to keep plugging away at it this weekend and really get this done. I like to let stories sit a while and then do revisions. Drafts are drafty and then I really rework it.

Cheers to all! Happy long weekend here in the US and happy weekend everywhere else!