Teaser Tuesday~Looking good enough to eat!

So, I'm all into 'Rivalry: A Geisha's Tale' by Nagai Kafu, my first venture into the world of Japanese literature. And I'm serious-- looking for themes, taking notes for my discussion group, absorbing the eloquently written words that effectively portray Komayo's dilemma of being torn between her life as a geisha and her blossoming love for an actor. I came across these two teaser lines:

The sea monster was silent, his eyes, dim with sake, passing back and forth between the enticing scene of the bed and the melancholy figure of the woman seated with her back to the lamp. Like a gourmet before an array of delicacies, he seemed unsure where to begin; but he was in no hurry, choosing instead to study the prospects, carefully, determined, when the time came to, lick the carcass down to the marrow, according to some private design of his own.

As soon as I finished reading, I burst out laughing! My vision of the 'sea monster' was broken by an image of Arsenio Hall as Reverend Brown in Coming to America (1988) saying "Girl, you look so good, someone ought to put you on a plate and sop you up with a biscuit!" Do you all remember that line? Have you ever met a guy who looked at you like you were prime rib? More importantly, what do you think happens next with this melancholy woman and this 'hungry' man who is determined to put her on his plate?


On another note, speaking of things looking good enough to eat, I learned a hard lesson about turtles and fish. They don't mix.

Over the summer, I bought my daughters two turtles from Canal St. in NY while on a bus trip, not knowing that they were illegal to purchase in NJ. Squirtle dies a few days later, so Angel is left all alone in the tank, and I am unable to purchase a replacement companion. Months have passed and I'm feeling sorry for lonely ole Angel, plus, I would like some help keeping the tank clean so I purchase 2 algae eaters. I saw that my cousin had two fish in the tank with his turtle, so I wanted to give it a try.

My uncle tried to warn me, but what does he know, right?

I get up the next morning, hoping to see a fairly clean tank (put those fishies to work), but there's no trace of them. Not even a fin. My five year old looks at me and says, "Why did Angel eat his friends?" My surly uncle interjects, "Because they look like FOOD that's why, he was hungry and he's going to eat you next...then proceeds to make Cookie Monster noises and scares the kid away, lol. Darn turtle!