Week Thirty-Seven: Theo and Wakako

To commit to doing something once a week will really segment your time. My days off are carefully placed in conjunction with the dinner parties and studio sessions. When we have a great date and the couple offers to have Erica and I over to their place, we're like "...sure! See you next year!" Because we already have plans until 2013! On the flip side, I have gotten to see tons of friends I really like that I don't see often. This week, Erica and I had the pleasure of hosting our friends Theo and Wakako.




Theo went to Roosevelt High School with me, and was part of the Evan (Week 10) and Danny (Week 11) circle of friends. When I moved to Colorado to go to college, Theo actually moved to Japan. He ended up meeting Wakako and dating her for five years, then marrying her and moving back to the United States. If I remember correctly, Wakako introduced Evan to Mariko (Week 10).

Although Theo was at our Wedding, I was on tour and missed their's. However, Erica and I have had to pleasure of hanging out with Theo and Wakako multiple times, including one 4th of July at their old Fremont apartment. I even think we ran into them on our date with Chad and Ellie (Week 18) that ended up at Danny's condo. We have socialized with them enough that Erica and I felt very comfortable about this date. We like their company.

Theo and Wakako pulled a "make whatever you like, we are easy" on us. So I did the unthinkable... I decided to make the most commonly requested meal: TACOS. For whatever reason, I had a bad hankering for fish tacos that night. So, for the first time on taco night, the meat selection came from the sea! I did a simple and effective recipe: Alaskan cod, marinated for an hour before being grilled, with sour cream and peach-pineapple salsa. I also fried up some squash, zucchini, and red onions for some veggies on the side. We had some baked french rolls and white wine to accompany the meal as well.



The fish tacos were delicious, and the key was the marinade. I took a pan and poured in some veggie oil, soy sauce, a chopped onion, two diced fresh jalapenos, some green onions, minced garlic, fresh lemon juice, cilantro and cayenne pepper. When I fried the fish in the skillet, I pulled it out of the mix, but added the non-liquid aspects of the mix into the fry. I heated up the small flour tortillas and then added the fish and fixings. Done deal. No appetizers, no dessert.



There was the home tour, the dinner, and that was it. It was quick and pleasant, but brief before the roommates invaded the scene. Theo and I went from talking about High School, to discussing Toby (Week 21) and I doing comedy, to Griff (Week 28)showing off some Hoarders scenes he had edited.

Aside from adding a Grade C level celebrity persona to the mix (editor of the show Hoarders, c'mon!), Griff has also contributed the most wonderful miracle to our family that Tune Castle has seen (other than Lola): the Relaxation Station. An octagon of inflatable fun for four, the Relaxation Station has floated on Green Lake many a time this summer, providing some of the best memories for our friends in the hour or so before self-deflating because of leakage.

The floats have made me think of the future. Although I often write about the past, about the history of who is visiting, or the present, how I am currently feeling... I now bring you the future! To those wondering what the followup to 52 DD will be, I can tell you now, next summer... will be... THE SUMMER OF 52 FLOATS.



But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Before next year, there is next week. Next week, we welcome one of the Earth's brightest shining stars... the unique spirit the people in Seattle, WA know as "Shada" or, as her ID card says, Michelle. Michelle is tons of fun and finally landed an awesome boyfriend, Mike, so it was time to call them up to the ranks of 52 DD. This will be a must read, trust me.