Tuna Toast

Dylan of eat, drink & be merry tagged me for this "5 Things About Me" meme. A meme (mēm) is defined as: "noun. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another." So basically, it's the same concept as a chain letter, and D has passed the torch to me. Anyway, make sure you read his hilarious list here- you'll never think of The River Dance in quite the same way again (actually, no one should ever think of The River Dance. Ever. For any reason).

#1: I play(ed) piano for almost 18 years

I'm sure it will pain my parents to read that I hardly ever touch the piano anymore, but it all started when I was around 3 years old, living in Kamakura, Japan. They love to tell the story of how they just bought a piano, placed it in a room and waited to see which one of us would gravitate toward it first. Apparently, I did (Hello? I was three years old so I probably was thinking, What is this big, black thing?), so it was swimming school for my sister and piano lessons for me. The lessons continued after we moved to the U.S and went on forever until I finally put the brakes on it sometime in high school. I occasionally think I should buy a keyboard (it must have weighted keys...I hate the plastic feel of regular keyboards) and keep it around so I can start playing again, but we already have one musician in the family (J) and I have no desire for a Sonny & Cher kind of thing. How weird would that be if you came over and J busted out his basses and I'm at the piano? Um, no thank you Partridge Family. Not that I want to play next to him anyway- he's a brilliant musician and I'm incapable of improvising, thanks to years of classical training during which improvising anything was strictly forbidden.
(Drawing (c) 2001 Dallas Symphony Orchestra)

#2: I lived in Arkansas for three years as a child.

Where does one move from a bustling, metropolitan city like Tokyo when they decide to immigrate to the United States? Well Arkansas, of course. Cherokee Village, Arkansas, to be exact. My paternal grandparents lived there, so naturally we moved there to be somewhere close to family. Being only five years old, I only have great memories of the town and the community extended a warm welcome to us. I remember picking blackberries on the side of the road, seeing deer in the backyard, and listening to the radio to see if we'd get a snow day from school. Although we did enjoy our short stay there, I think the drastic differences between Tokyo and such a small town were too much for my mom to bear so we made our way to Los Angeles after three years of country livin'. I do have fond memories of the place, but I'm a city girl at heart and probably always will be.

#3: I had the celebrity sighting of my life!

Living in Los Angeles and working in the entertainment industry, I see celebrities often enough. I'm not a celeb maniac in the least bit.......quite honestly, unless it was Elvis Costello or Thom Yorke, I don't generally freak out over seeing someone famous. However, I had the celebrity run-in of my life while working at Tower Records in Shibuya years ago. I was casually doing my thing when suddenly, I saw HIM. Now, keep in mind that I don't ever approach a celeb when I see one, but this time I just had to. So I walk up to him and say, "Aren't you Simon LeBon?" [Side note: For those of you who are scratching your heads wondering who this Simon is, I have two words for you: Duran Duran. I can't believe I'm admitting this but I used to write freakin' letters to Simon and John Taylor when I was a kid. I watched their 1983 tour documentary, Sing Blue Silver, over 50 times and cried every time it ended (how embarrassingly dramatic!). I knew every word to every song and had photos of them on my walls. OK- back to the story.] So Simon looks at me, smiles, and then pretends to faint. Like, drops on the floor in the middle of the store and plays dead for what seemed like hours (it was actually about 60 seconds). People started gathering around and staring......and I just stood there. He finally gets up, takes off his sunglasses, flashes that famous smile and says "You caught me!" all while oozing loads of British Rock Star Charm as I tried my damndest not to melt into a little puddle on the floor. He then puts his arm around me and TALKS to me for 10 minutes. I couldn't believe it- he told me about his wife, his recording studio in Tokyo, why he loves Japan, etc. When I offered to give him a discount on his purchases, his business partner looked at me and said "Oh no sweetie, that won't be necessary," to which Simon replied, "WHAT? Are you crazy? Of course we want your discount!" which made me like him even more because a frugal rock star is a good thing, no? Anyway, I processed their purchases and he gave me a kiss on the cheek, thanked me and left. My life was complete. I mean, how great is it that one of my idols from my teen years was almost better in person than I could have ever expected?
(Photo Copyright ©2007 Soylent Communications)

#4 I love the ocean

Nothing is better during the summer than the smell and view of the ocean. I don't what it is, but any bad mood I'm in or stress I may be having are instantly washed away when I see and smell the water. Sunrise, daylight or sunset- it's all good if you're standing in front of the vast sea. I couldn't bear to live in a place where you didn't have easy access to one!
(Photo © Harold Davis )

#5 I don't like anything that tastes like licorice

Since this IS a food blog, I figured I'd better include a food-related fact. I can't take the smell or taste of black licorice, or anything remotely similar in flavor. This knocks out fennel (I can eat it braised, but not raw), star anise and chervil from my cooking repertoire. It's a flavor that doesn't really exist in Japanese culture so, not really having had it growing up, I never grew to like it.
(Photo (C) 2000-2003 Aida Opera Candies)

I'll tag Mikey Hates Everything, Potatomato, Blue Lotus and Kuiadore with a disclaimer that there is no obligation, of course.......