Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

Are you Sushi Experienced?

posted at 12:01 pm
on Sep. 30, 2000

Comments: 0 so far

Permalink

 

Previous entry:
Goodbye Mr. Teeth

Next entry:
GadgetMan Attends a Wedding

From the moment I entered the restaurant, my head started shaking left to right and back again, the mantra “No way, unreal, get out, bi-zarre, no way, unreal, get out, bi-zarre,...” chanted involuntarily under my breath.  I didn’t want to look like I was being negative.  I wasn’t being negative.  It’s just that I finally understood what the word “unimaginable” meant—a place so different, so out of the realm of normal possibility that the mind couldn’t even consider the possibility that such a restaurant might exist.

The restaurant is Tokyo Delve’s Sushi bar in Marina del Rey.  For those of you who haven’t been there, it’s the closest thing to Tijuana I’ve seen in Los Angeles.  Black rug, chairs and tables, keep the evidence of spills to a minimum, while loud music, old and new, blares out of huge speakers.  The occasion was a birthday for Jeff Wong, a friend of mine from back at USC.  Jeff was enjoying the local fire water with me, Susie and about 20 more of his friends.

Despite the list I saw on the menu, a glance around the restaurant reveals that there are only two drinks at Delve’s: Sapporo beer and sake.  Well, three drinks, because you’re encourage to make a “sake bomb” by dropping a glass of sake into a mug of beer and downing it. Optimists would say it’s a good way to make sake easier to drink, while pessimists will soon be swept away by crowds of drunk optimists dancing to Lou Bega’s Mambo Number 5.

By the end of the evening, we’d been chastised by the waiters for dancing “too much” on the table tops, I’d seen the birthday boy spanked in a way you usually have to pay money to see, I’d gotten horse from trying to shout over the noise from nearby tables of 20- and 30- something revelers, and I spent 15 minutes trying to find someone who looked sober enough to remember that I’d paid for my share of the dinner when the check came.

Don’t get me wrong—I didn’t have a bad time at the party at all. Far from it—nothing was spilled, no one insulted me, everyone was friendly, food was good, service was surprisingly prompt (better than in many restaurants where you can hear the waiter). It was fun meeting Jeff’s extended friend circle, especially the selection of blonde women from around the globe that he’s cultivated.

It’s just that, as I explained to Susie on the drive home, if I made a list of all the things I’d like to do if I had a free evening, and I did them all in order, one a night, I might arrive at Tokyo Delve’s in February 2085.  It belongs to a group of people as different from me as the Flat Earth Society.



 
 

 

Previous entry:
Goodbye Mr. Teeth

Next entry:
GadgetMan Attends a Wedding

Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

Comments

 

 

There are no comments for this entry ... yet. So leave one already! Go on!

Add a Comment

 

 

Name:


Email: (optional)


URL: (optional)


Submit the word you see below:


 

 

 

Your comment:


Remember my personal info


Email me about follow-ups


 

Syndication Links


Click here for the main
XML feed for this blog.



Column only



Side links only



Quotes only

 

MetaBlogs

AboutBlogs

Clients

Humor

Journalism

Los Angeles

Mac

News

Personal 1

Personal 2

Photos

Politics

Other A-F

Other G-Q

Other R-Z

SocialNetworking

Tech 1

Tech 2

Travel

Vancouver 1

Vancouver 2

Vancouver 3

Vancouver 4

BizBlogs

Back to Main

 

Powered by
Expression Engine

 

Copyright 1995 - 2024 Mar 29

 

 

Want Column?

Enter your email address:


It will NEVER be shared.
Unsubscribe

You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)