David Seruyange's Radio Weblog

Friday, November 29, 2002

Wasabi as a Phallic Symbol

I went out to lunch with Grace and Fred on Tuesday. Fred's approach to sushi:

1. Obtain chunk of wasabi the size of a golf ball
2. Mix in a wee bit of soy sauce
3. Dip the sushi like chips in salsa

If you haven't seen this, you are missing out. But forget the act itself, the reaction thereto diminishes the act to distraction. Our female waitress had to confirm that Fred had intended as much and upon doing so made extra passes, probably hoping to glimpse him actually eating it. Our male waiter, unfortunately a rather slow bloke, had to ask a few times if Fred meant to do it. After realizing upon his fifth inquiry that he had indeed, he lingered, looking at Fred the way freshmen basketball scrubs look at the varsity starters. Adoration. Grace and I joked that he showed more interest in Fred than the female waitress.

Fred is too cool to actually seem pleased or interested but I know he is revelling in it...

posted in [home], [prattle]

12:23:55 AM comment []

Travelling South East Asia with an Irish Lass

Even though I saw no one in person, I didn't spend Thanksgiving alone. Instead I stumbled on Dervala Hanley's weblog. I put together only snippets but apparently Dervala is an Irish lass who is currently travelling South East Asia. Before that she was a New Yorker yuppie working high tech.

I started off reading her account of travel in Asia. She comments on buses from Laos to Burma to Vietnam:

"On the way to Paxse in Southern Laos, I sat opposite a woman who bought two large skewers of grilled grasshoppers. She crunched, and spat the legs on the floor of the bus. Then she smacked her lips over a duck fetus that had been cooked in its shell. She ate it whole, rubbery beak, feet, and all. Finally, she bought three wild honeycombs for the bee larvae, another delicacy."

A few more interesting entries and I'm hooked. I find myself looking at her archive of posts, especially the early posts about life in New York. So many things resonate, especially comments about books:

"...my bookshelves are a physical map of mental furniture..."

Delicious.

And of course, something I habitually do - almost as though I had asked her to write it for me:

"I ran my fingers across my shelves when I got home last night, reacquainting with my old friends and enemies... "

Thanks Dervala

posted in [home], [prattle]

12:11:16 AM comment []