I’m heading to the Bay Area for two weeks to relax, write, and attend the San Francisco Asian International Film Festival, where my short Take It Or Leave It? will screen. It’s been more than four years since I’ve been out to that part of the country and I can’t wait. During this first week I’ll be staying with my aunt and her husband in San Jose writing in their guest cottage (sounds fancy, huh? I hope I don’t have to sleep too close to the lawnmower). The following week, I’ll move up to my cousin’s place in SF for the festival week. Ah, the glamorous life of the itinerant deadbeat.

Some random thoughts about travelling as I sit here on the flight:

– If you have to be up at 6:30am for a 9:15am flight, then 2:00am is a bad time to teach yourself DVD Studio Pro so you can dupe ten DVDs to take to the festival.

– If you are taking the A train to JFK and don’t know which car is optimal for getting off at Howard Beach-JFK, look for the one with all the airline workers.

– If you are north of 34 St in Manhattan, it’s faster to take the E to Jamaica and getting the AirTrain there instead of taking the A.

– If you are travelling alone and want to maximize your chances of sitting next to an empty seat, choose an aisle seat in the center section, because the middle seats of the center section are always the last to go.

– For me, the inflight movie is always more interesting a few minutes at a time, with the sound off. I like seeing how the shots work together without the crutches of dialogue and music. On this flight, they’re showing Goal! and The Family Stone. The former looks a lot more interesting.

– In twenty years of semi-regular flying, I have never, ever seen anyone use the back-of-the-seat airphone. Ever.

– It’s not enough to select a seat next to a powerport, you also have to make sure the powerport actually works (mine doesn’t).

(AA Flight 179, JFK-SFO)