There are many ways we mark the milestones of our lives. Birthdays and anniversaries mark the passage of time for which we celebrate nothing more than simply surviving yet another day, week, month, or year. There are those milestones that mark achievements – graduations, promotions – things for which we celebrate hard work, a job well done, or reaching some certain goal, whether it was your own, or projected onto you by your parents who wanted you to be a doctor, that we set back when we started. And of course, there are other milestones that just happen as life rumbles, stumbles, and lurches forward – weddings, giving birth to aliens, even funerals – they are all times when we celebrate, or at least reflect on the stepping stones that have gotten us to this point.
Many food blogs “celebrate” their birthday based on time – it’s a food blog, so baking a birthday cake and stabbing it with one, two, maybe three (but not usually more than three, since the majority of food blogs out there are fairly “young”). It is a celebration of blogging for a given period of time.
That is nice. I didn’t do that. There’s nothing wrong with that; I just didn’t do it. The Delicious Life’s “birthday” was back in January. But just like my own birthday that was always eclipsed first by Father’s Day, the end of the school year, and the start of summer vacation when all my little “friends” bussed off to camp or vacation so that my birthday parties were me, my dorky baby sisters, and my parents when I was younger, and now by Father’s Day and other such summer events like weddings, my little blog birthday was hidden in the shadow of Champagne and disco balls. (Did I say “Father’s Day” twice? I’m not bitter. Really, I’m not. I love you, Dad!) Besides, in real life, birthdays don’t mean much after you turn 21, and in the warp speed blogging world, well, by the time your blog turns 1, there’s a fresher, hotter, sexier new blog in the facebook.
Birthdays, anniversaries, and other momentous occasions aside, still, I will make mention. This is my 500th post. But for some reason, it didn’t feel much like a milestone I wanted to celebrate. Sure, it marks a passage of time, 500 posts after the first post I posted some time last year. But there was no achievement associated with the 500th post. There is no "Job well done!" I haven’t accomplished much after 500 posts. It’s just 500 posts of bits and bytes of photographic bits of my dining bites all over LA and in my kitchen. Pointless, wothless, blathersome ether that somehow manages to arrange themselves on a webpage.
I sound depressed. I am. You'd think I'd have something to show by now for the 500 posts I’ve made.
I don’t.
I have no job. My (f)unemployment checks have run out. Blogging doesn't pay, and yet it sucks up all my time and energy. There is no future promise of fame or fortune. No glamorously glossy writing gig for a flashy food and travel mega-magazine. No contract for a book with a bazillion dollar advance.
wer-com to frying feesh!
500 posts have made me fat, flabby, lazy, bitter, pale, and 500 posts older.
Worst of all, my 500th post is about...Frying Fish. Oh God, I've lost my edge.
A long time ago, I went to Frying Fish on a post-college semi-date – the kind that you’re unsure whether it is a date, but it must be a date because we’re not in college anymore and guys and girls actually date, not just “hang out,” but you are a dating rookie and you’re too embarrassed to ask outright “Is this a date?” It was awkward,the conversation was painfully absent at times, and overall, it was a stressful experience. Needless to say, aside from noting that it had a very bad name, I did not pay any attention to Frying Fish at all.
But I did remember that Frying Fish was one of those sushi places. It is one of those sushi places where small plates of sushi are pitched onto a motorized conveyor belt that clicks slowly around the bar in the open, germ-infested air for every diner to eye and assess before the blue-is-$4 plate is snatched off the belt like a Samsonite packed with contraband by some greedy, greasy germ-infested diner’s hands. Based on that fact, its name, and a not-so-hot previous experience, I would never have picked Frying Fish.
Scratch that. Even if my "date" turned out to be the beginning of a fairy-tale romance, I would never have picked Frying Fish.
It was chosen by a friend who is new to both sushi and LA, and I had to go because it was my duty. It was my duty, as prescribed in the unwritten Code of Ex-ethics. I won’t give any details about the situation, but...I will. It had something to do with an ex-boyfriend who was in town with his new exotic erotic girlfriend and had the cajones to call up the ex-girlfriend to have dinner, all together. The ex-boyfriend, his new girlfriend, and the ex-girlfriend. I went as wing-man to assess the new girlfriend and perform any catty, bitchy girl-like maneuvers that the ex-girlfriend obviously couldn’t do lest it make her look bad/jealous/omglikeshecares in front of the ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. Yes, I took one for the team. Being catty and bitchy is not “taking one for the team.” Eating at Frying Fish is.
Suffice it to say that the sushi is edible, in the sense that it didn’t make me sick like some other places have, and I have to give credit to Frying Fish’s staff. They stayed open long past their closing time just so we could finish our dinner (which also mean that at that point, we werent getting our sushi off the conveyor belt). The novelty of mobile sushi is, well, a novelty, especially since we live in this oh-so-mobile world. However, for the trek through traffic that it takes to get to Little Tokyo, Frying Fish isn’t worth it, and I’m sure that there are plenty of other sushi bars that are. In the end, I can’t seem to get it out of my head that Frying Fish is basically a mobile buffet, and I’m very opinionated about buffets.
Frying Fish. 500 posts.
Like the slightly more expensive, “special” amber-edged $7 plate on the conveyor belt, I’ll keep going.
120 Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213.680.0567
** a year ago today, my caprese salad looked like an orange creme saver **
tags :: food : and drink : japanese : sushi : restaurants : reviews : los angeles
Professor Salt says
Jesus H Christ - 500? That sounds oddly like a NASCAR race, but I digress...
To think I knew you back when you still had less than 100! Congratulations on a huge milestone, and please remember us little people, superstar! :P
City Muse says
Congratulations on your 500th post.
Sorry about the funemployment checks running out, but since you love to blog and are very good at it, have you thought about making this full time and setting it up to provide an income stream for you?
I mean, c'mon. You're a great writer. And you like to write about food. Or how about sending articles to food magazines? As far as I know that's how Ruth Reichl started and look where she is now.
djjewelz says
If you're interested in a job, my company is hiring.
I haven't been to frying fish in a long time.
Kevin says
That's one of my favorite places to eat!
Ken Sloan says
I'm only aiming for 365 days, but I'm already working my way to being poor and flabby! cheers.
Maure says
well...seriuosly, honestly, no sarcasm or smart-ass comments
involved - i love your blog, your
writing and the excellent photography.
you do brighten alot of peoples days with your quips and off-hand comments about haggis and your family and caviar and your hatred for arby's.
so if you gotta get a job and move on and slow down on the blogging
this boy understands but will be saddened.
now...where's the rest of this gosh
darn post?!?
"fat, flabby, bitter and pale"
hey that's exactly how i described myself in my yahoo personals ad!
i'll have to add "older" to really spark some interest.
jackt says
Was the owner making fun of his own accent when he named the place?
peachiee says
Wow- 500 posts! Congratulations, Sarah! That sounds like a great reason to cause all sorts of trouble. ;)
peachiee says
Oh, and Sarah, you could always move to NYC and work for Food Network. ;)
Anonymous says
what are you going to do???
Anonymous says
Congrats...I'm happy to of been a part of most of them! ;) JP
Neil says
Yeah, you may have no money -- but we love you and your blog! Isn't that enough?
Congrats...
Anonymous says
Thanks for bumming me out...
sarah says
professor: and i knew YOU before i even had ONE!
citymuse: aw, thanks! hm, i have thought about it, but like, you'z gotta have like, reel tallint and stuff to right, you know? ;)
djjewelz: what kind of work is it?!?
kevin: we're going to have to take you somewhere new, dear. :)
ken: good luck! it'll come fast. blogging is sort of like...addictive.
maure: hey. i don't HATE arby's. i just don't love it. omg, that was YOUR profile on yahoo?!? oh, s**t, did i blog that out loud?
jackt: no, no. i think they serve fish and chips.
peach: oh, new york. peach, you have no idea what you are saying...
anonymous: i think...i will eat. that's what i do when i'm depressed.
jp: and to be part of more!
neil: you are so right. who needs money when i have you guys and all your lovey comments?!??!?! i feel like the richest blogger on earth!
anonymous: you're welcome. wait until i get to the post about del taco. then you'll be feeling really good ;)
Catherine says
LOL! OK-OK, first thing's first.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I don't think I've even sent 500 emails. ;) Keep on blogging!
LOL, you know what, i see the gemini in you in this post! too f'ing hillarious, sarah. lol!
Kirk says
Hi Sarah - Congrads on your milestone. It's quite an accomplishment.
Anonymous says
Check out http://www.faqqly.com it's one of the best ways to ask people about food, post information you know food, etc! It beats facebook. This site is about the FAQs!
Deke Babamoto says
Sarah:
I'm incredibly rich and would treat you like a princess.
If a guy with a large hump on his back isn't a real turn-off, gimme a call...
Phil says
Oh, Sweetie!
Why are you still unemployeed?
Somebody give this girl a job. She needs a culinary globe-trotting syndicated column for all her loyal fans to eat up. I wish I could write word pictures as well as you. Happy 500th.
Phil
sarah says
cat: gemini? why? are we that obvious? ;)
kirk: thank you!
anonymous: thanks for the link. i actually know nothing about facebook and only heard about it from some very very young colleagues of mine at a conference. i went to college a looooong time ago.
deke: it's not the size of the hump that matters. how big is your bank account?
phil: i have no idea why i am still unemployed, though i suspect it has something to do with my profile on monster saying something about my working only in offices that have full kitchens and a kitchenaid stand mixer. i don't know why bill gates wouldn't hire me for that.