Samantha Ling

Florida’s The South

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:38:14 GMT

I’ve had it in mind to write a piece of fiction set in Victorian San Francisco. I grew up in that area and in our history classes we had learned about the gold rush. And in some small towns, their whole attraction is that they were once a mining town. They are actually quite proud of it, erecting statues to commemorate those times and even selling you trinkets to allow you to pan for your own gold.

But the thing about setting stories in the Guilded Age of San Francisco is that there are more than a few novels based in that time and place. After all, it was a very exciting time and a much documented time as well. There are plenty of resource materials from books to web sites to the original newspaper articles dating back to the mid-1800’s.

So I thought, since I live in Florida now that I could very well set a story here. My preliminary research was quite shocking, though I don’t know why it would be. Florida is the southernmost state in the lower 48, after all.

There were many items regarding Florida. The most exciting time seemed to be in the 1600’s. There are lost merchant and pirate ships strewn about the southern coastline currently. Ponce de Leon and the fountain of youth and all that. But my interest lay in the 19th century.

What I discovered is that Florida is indeed the south. There is a saying here that you actually have to go north to reach the south, but Florida has it’s roots very much in Southern history.

You see Florida was a plantation culture in the 1800’s. Out of the population of 140,000, nearly half were slaves. During the Civil War not only did Florida secede, but they were also the first to be one of the confederate states.

In the 1900’s there was a series of lynchings. It became so frightening to live in Florida that there was a mass exodus to find a better life elsewhere.

In guidebooks about the south, Florida is never included. But I think that has more to do with the influx of New Englanders. They don’t call it the Fifth Borough for nothing. It’s probably the only thing that keeps Florida from feeling like the south completely. Not that there is anything wrong with the south. I just wasn’t intending on writing a story about plantation life.

It would be a distinctly different story if I set it in Florida. There would be southern belles, land owners, and slaves. That is not the story I wanted to tell. At least not this particular story. There is always a chance that I will set another story here.

So I have decided that the story will remain in San Francisco,. After all, there are railroad barons, bonanza kings, corruption, mayhem, and secret underground tunnels not to mention the rich diversity of people that settled there. And of course, earthquakes!!

Until tomorrow!

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal

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Thai Singha Make me Sing-a

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:01:28 GMT

One of the restaurants that we always go to, but I never talk about is Thai Singha. It’s obviously a Thai restaurant and it’s at Waterford Lakes. It is also attached to a sushi restaurant next door named Kirin Sushi. When you sit at either restaurant, you can order food from either place.

I really like the chicken lemongrass soup with a side of rice(Thom Yum Gai), massaman chicken, and panang curry. They only offer a limited menu at lunch so they can get you out in time for you to get back to work. I see a lot of Lockheed Martin people there. You can tell them apart because they’ve got the tan slacks and polo. Plus, they wear their badge everywhere!

At night, I like spicy bamboo shoots! We don’t normally go for dinner though because I like their Thai iced tea and I can’t have that in the evenings. I won’t be able to sleep.

Theydo have a few dishes that aren’t that great though. They are the dishes that look like they would appeal to people who like bland food and don’t want anything that sounds funny. Anything in a brown sauce is avoided. They’re just noodles drenched in soy sauce!

It’s also the place that I get my miso soup fix! I can’t find miso paste here. Come to think of it, I’ve never noticed any tofu at the grocery store either.

Well anyway, Thai Singha is a good place to eat for a quick lunch! I highly recommend.

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal

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Mellow Mushroom

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:02:35 GMT

I was telling E that she should write a food blog. Not only does she try to visit all sorts of different restaurants, she’s also able to find BOGO deals. (BOGO means “Buy One Get One” free or half off or whatever the current deal was.) And she also studied journalism, so why not, right? And she’s hella funny. People would totally read that.

And as I was talking to her about it, I realized that I need to write in my much neglected bog. How sad it was that I could only write two entries a month lately. And it’s not like I didn’t have anything to write about. I’m just, well, lazy.

So what else should I write about besides food?

Several months ago, Jay Lake had come to Florida to teach a class. We took him to Mellow Mushroom near Winter Park. We had gone because E had recommended it and we couldn’t figure out where else to go. Since that visit, we’d gone to the one on Colonial several times.

The Mellow Mushroom in Winter Park isn’t much different than the Mellow Mushroom on Colonial. They both have outdoor seating areas and the insides are painted in a whimsical hippy feeling way. The only difference is that the the one on Colonial is newer and bigger.

The thing that you absolutely have to have are their ptretzels. It’s made out of their pizza dough and is delicious. But then it could be that it’s because the thing is drenched in butter and salt. It is one of my favorite things there. I usually get a Caesar salad and a meatball sandwich on wheat. It costs us about $17 for all of that and Chris and I share.

I wouldn’t suggest you order fany other sandwich though. I tried their jerk chicken sandwich and got a jerk onion sandwich. There was plenty of sauce, bit little bitty pieces of minced chicken. I think it’s what they throw onto their pizzas. I talked to others that have ordered their sandwiches and they said that they’ve never gotten a good one.

What they’re known for is pizza. I haven’t had them because I think they are a little expensive. But every time that we’ve gone, everyone has always ordered one.

Jay had ordered a calzone and that thing was big. There was more than enough to take home and make a whole other meal.

They also have various assortments of beer. They look like microbrews. I don’t drink beer, so I can’t tell you if they’re good at all. They also have trvia nights on Tuesdays. At least, that’s what the waitress told us.

The last time that we went, they did have lunch specials.

They look like a good deal if you’re not super hungry.

It’s a good restaurant that I is well worth trying. Let me know how you like it!

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal

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