1. A friend shared this and then I learned about Haroumi Hosono, which is definitely worth your time.

Surprisingly, the comments on the page are also pretty worthwhile. (“This is like waking up at 3am because you are hungry. So you head to the kitchen, and find out a giant insect already sticking some marmalade between two slices of bread. The insect offers the sandwich to you, as a sign of respect. You take a bite out of it, and start crying tears of joy. It’s a beautiful sandwich, and the winter is coming to an end”)

2. For your flashback moment, here’s a description of Pizza Hut back in the 80s. I remember all of it–the salad bar, the red glass votives, the single arcade game, the dimness–but I think it was Godfather’s pizza in our area? I do remember that, like the author, a meal there was “special.” (If you read enough books, a teacher took you to lunch there with the other bookworms.)