Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Don't underestimate yourself, I guess." -- driver Danica Patrick, near the end of her answer to the question, "What kind of statement did you you make today here by running the way you ran at Indy?", after placing fourth in the Indianapolis 500, 2005-05-29.

Over the decades, my attitude toward tofu has slowly changed...

1. "Tofu? I've heard of it. I guess I should try it someday."
2. "Tofu is non-toxic and not foul-tasting, but those two qualities are not enough to make it food. And the evidence I've seen tasted does not support those repeated assertions that it 'picks up the flavours of the other ingredients'. And besides, anything that looks enough like cheese to make me expect to taste cheese and then tastes like nothing should be considered evilly deceptive."
3. "I've discovered what it takes to turn tofu into food: a Thai chef!"
4. "Okay, using Thai food as a 'gateway cuisine' I've come to unerstand that there are other foods in which tofu is non-evil, but I'll continue using the Thai-chef line because it gets laughs from some people and understanding looks from others."
5. "Hmm. anniemal came up with a tasty tofu-based snack food. Maybe it's time for me to start experimenting with the stuff again and see whether I can unlock its secrets. Can I still get away with using the Thai-chef line?"

But is it terribly wrong of me, that nearly every time I taste tofu in a non-Thai dish and find it acceptable, I find myself thinking, "Hmm. Not bad, but it'd be a lot better with a chunk of cheese on top"?

Amazingly enough, I have never seen Bambi (though I do not expect this revelation to be met with the same shock and disappointment that usually results from my confessing that I've never seen Gone With The Wind). Oh, I'm familiar enough with the major elements of the tale, of course, and I've seen the characters in snippets of footage here and there or re-rendered for advertising or parody (including, of couse, Bambi Meets Godzilla), but I've never watched the 1942 movie.

Bambi is being shown this Saturday on ABC. Is it something I really need to set aside a tape for and program the VCR to record, or is this movie one that I'm sufficiently exposed to for a member of my culture just from knowing the story and the role the movie has played in my culture, without actually watching it?

And, for the folks who like to know how I'm doing (or wondering where I'll be or why I wasn't someplace) -- everyone else can safely skip over this paragraph: tonight's plan is to go to anniemal's after 3LF, but I kind of wore myself out just taking care of the things that need to be done before I leave. I'm nearly finished ... if I can get out of here by a little before 20:30, it'll still be worth showing up late to rehearsal (as I write this, I'm already 15 minutes past when I'd have to leave to get there on time). Let's see how long it takes for my head to stop spinning.