sundries

[rm]

My jet lag always gets worse before it gets better. Oh god.

Am I a bad person because when I see a headline that reads "Romney takes swing at Palin" it takes me a minute to realize that there wasn't actual brawling in the streets?

Isaac Mizrahi has five rules for a good dinner party. Since I suspect most of us have never hired a waiter, what are yours?

Has anyone else been following Disunion on The New York Times? It's a blog on the Civil War period, and it's pretty interesting. I thought their piece on Lincoln and Joshua Speed was particularly good for not introducing anachronistic labellings of sexuality and acknowledging the different physical and emotional lines of the period, while also not doing the "of course the president wasn't gay!" thing either.

Argh, one day I will get to see this production. Why is it that the only opera that does this televised at the movie theater thing is opera I have access to right here? Argh argh argh.

So Sherlock... Thank god I found Torchwood (among other things) between this and Harry Potter, or else I know who I'd be identifying with.

I'm not, thankfully, like Sherlock at all. I'm not that smart (and I'm pretty fucking smart). My propensity for pattern recognition, while extreme, makes me creative, paranoid and really clever, but not so much with the accurate. I don't have (nor want) the type of focus Sherlock demonstrates. I'm not that mean. Or petty. And connecting to other people is a reflex for me, even if sometimes I wish it wasn't.

But....

But, but, but, but....

The way my brain works does make it sometimes more than a tiny bit hard for me to live in the world the way I'm supposed to. I blurt out weird things at weird times, their relevance clear only to me. I get frustrated with others. I can be petulant and childlike. I can demand that people play not just at my speed but in my way. I can be pretty fucking hard to be around, and the diplomacy I do have is a cultivated skill because of just how awful I think I can be.

And I adore Sherlock because even if I am not remotely that guy, it gives us someone who struggles in the world because of the ways in which they are exceptional. Someone who doesn't apologize for it. Someone who is weirdly vulnerable, but isn't interested in that vulnerability, because of it. Someone who is funny-looking, magnetic, joyful, inappropriate, and challenging enough that other people like to try to shove him in boxes that aren't quite right. He is ambiguous and contradictory, with a face that both seems not fully formed and too sharp.

I watch Sherlock and I honestly feel better about the ways I'm not so good at people, the ways people misread me, the brutalities I inflict on myself, and the fact that no matter how smart I am, I'm not nearly as smart as I want to be and that's probably a good thing.

I'm not Sherlock, and Sherlock's not me, but I feel a little realer for this portrayal of him. Most others have been so much colder and so much more assured (this one is certain, but not so assured), so even if people tell me (not infrequently) that I should cosplay one of the older portrayals (because I'm thin and sharp and, I suppose, unsettling), it's this one that I feel like I actually get.

And the coat is amazing. Maybe I have a thing (Snape, Jack, Sherlock... there's a pattern, ne?)

Comments

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

1. Do as much prep beforehand as possible, and have your entree be something that's made in the oven or the slow cooker, not something that has to be sauteed last minute or made to order like steaks. Good prep and mise en place lets you enjoy your own party.

2. Know your guests' dietary habits, health issues and strong likes or dislikes. It won't go over well if you offer your guests something they can't eat because it's too spicy, contains meat and they're veg, or will kill them.

3. Invite people who are diverse yet tolerant, and mix people who know each other and new people. Makes for great conversations.

4. Avoid scented candles, incense or potpourri and don't wear heavy perfume. Your guests should be able to smell the food and wine, as smell is such a huge component of taste.

5. Pay attention to plating. Your food should look as good as it tastes without being a ridiculous nouvelle cuisine architectural construction, and it should never look like it was just dumped on, cafeteria-style. Wipe drips of sauce from the edges of plates with a clean, damp towel. And use simple plates--they should be an attractive backdrop to the food, not distract from it. Solid black works great for most applications.

6. Because I couldn't go with just 5--Even if something didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, *don't* criticize your own cooking when your guests are praising it. My ex used to do this and it took away from our guests' enjoyment of the food. Keep your perfectionism to yourself. Most of them will never know it didn't turn out perfectly unless you mention it.