There's a Japanese restaurant in Saint Andrews I used to frequent. Now I only make it there intermittently. Inakaya Watanabe is run by my friend Ryo San and it is a good place to go for authentic Japanese dishes — in addition to Asian fusion and other international specialties as well.

When I go there I typically don a pair of chopsticks and go to town. There was a time when I had less facility with them by and large but that was then and this is now. I can now eat any manner of sushi or sushimi in the best traditions of The Ginza and what's more, it's food I sincerely love and enjoy.

Chopsticks have been in use since about 1200 BC and they are a staple of Asian cusine and utensils I pride myself in being able to use deftly.

If you enjoy Japanese food as much as I there is a place for you at the sushi bar and in Japan sushi means community. I once would never do much speaking while eating but nowadays I jump right in there and participate.

I plan on going back there soon to enjoy those dishes I miss so much.

See Also:

World Sake Day 2023
National Hand Roll Day 2023
World Tuna Day 2023
International Sushi Day 2022
Culinarians Day 2021
 

When I was a young child, Liberace was an American pianist, singer, and actor who had his own television show called 'The Liberace Show' which appeared on the black and white television. It was a fifteen minute thing and I watched many episodes as a bambino.

Władziu Valentino Liberace was born May 16, 1919 in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin and died of pneumonia which was the sequela of acquired immunodeficency syndrome on February 4, 1987.

His career spanned the decades including 1936 through 1986. During the pinacle of his career he was the highest paid entertainer on the planet from his many concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. His friends called him Lee. Oprah called him Lib. His final performance was on her show of December 1986

His lifestyle while performing and at home was flamboyant and the picture of excess. He had a love for ornate pianos and added candelabras as accessories. He wore rhinestone costumes which sparkled and flaunted that wealth which was his yet he was complex far beyond those material posessions which he was so happy to place on display.

Liberace Day is celebrated annually on February 4th in his memory.
 

Many people enjoy going for a cruise. Many engage in 3 to 7 day excursions — sometimes periodically.

Such was my late step father, John Pruett. Johnny loved going out onto the ocean on a cruise ship where he was berthed in a weatherdeck balcony cabin and he would sit and look at the water and the various things encountered there.

He attempted me to join him and mama on a cruise and I respectfully declined, unknowing of just how quickly I was to lose him to the VERY bad decision of his so-called physician ...

Today is Take a Cruise Day. It is a February 3rd occurrence and celebrates that wonder called the cruise ship. Every time I see a Carnival cruise ship I think of Johnny. He always said to be careful of your background when snapping weatherdeck photos. The consequences may make you look like an ogre.

So I hope you'll take John Pruett's advice and take a cruise if you are of the inclination and budget. I agree that there is not really a comparison between it and the Navy, but as I told Johnny, when my hitched ended I was through with ships.

In retrospect I wish I had traveled with him at least once. I miss Johnny Pruett very much.
 

I appear to have suffered a relapse of the crud which I thought I had totally shaken.

I fear that some of my cleaning efforts involved chemicals which likely contributed to this and I have made adjustments on that end.

Anyway I've been down for yet another week and remain at less than 100%. Suffice it to say convalescence has been a protracted and difficult matter.

I hope to get back to the blog today but we'll just have to see how it goes.
 

My daddy passed this earth on December 4, 2001. He died as the result of his lifestyle, being a heavy smoker all his life.

He was a Navy man and a proponent of 'the Navy way' and anything they allowed he figured was okay.

When the smoking lamp was lit aboard ship he likely was puffing away. This habit followed him through retirement.

He underwent severe surgery in an attempt to repair bronchopleural fistula. They missed the empyema thoracis and this poisoned his kidneys.

It was then we knew he had reached the end of the road. He was given a morphine sulfate protocol and allowed to die. All I could do was cry.

We have missed him terribly over the years.
 

The commode.

The great big porcelain appliance into which we either insert, pour, or eject various things from our existence into ...

It was not invented — but perfected — by a plumber, one Thomas Crapper and every year on the anniversary of his death we celebrate that mechanism of elimination he bestowed upon humanity.

His brainchild was slow to catch on having been adopted by and large by the late 19th century.

He held patents and routinely manufactured sanitary appliances such as pipe joints, drain improvements, manhole covers, and water closet improvements like the floating ballcock.

Mr Crapper established The Crapper & Co which even was equipped with a showroom in London.

Thomas Crapper became a legend in elimination.

His is the inviting kind of invention that beckons you step up to the bowl and make it a double.

Happy Thomas Crapper Day.

Now go take one — er ... LEAVE one.

See Also:

World Toilet Day 2023
National Toilet Paper Day 2023
Global Handwashing Day 2019