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

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

Hire a waiter? Someone doesn't remember that most people cannot afford that nonsense.

I cook regularly for big groups - if I don't have extra teenagers at the dinner table, I've gone crazy and invited 25 - 30 people over for the weekend.

1) Start prep at least 5 days in advance. Clean the house, have the carpets cleaned, scrub up the extra tables, wash and press the linens, scrub the bathroom. Start cutting up the veg for crudites and hard-boiling the eggs for deviled eggs 2 days ahead. Prepping in advance means getting to sit down with your guests.

2) If someone offers their help, ACCEPT IT. It makes them feel happy.

3) Have a nice assortment of nibblies beforehand. My nibblies list is consistently cocktail shrimp with an interesting sauce; assorted fine cheeses and salumes, interesting breads and crackers; fancy deviled eggs; fresh veg with a homemade dip; fresh fruit. This gives your guests something to take the edge off, especially if something has gone awry in the kitchen and is holding up dinner.

4) DECANT YOUR DAMNED WINE. Seriously. If you're serving wine with dinner, decant it at least half an hour before you plan to serve dinner. Nice reds need a little time to open up AND you need to be able to taste the wine discreetly beforehand, to check for cork taint. Even the most meticulous wino sometimes gets a bad bottle. And for the love of Pete, when you're pairing wines with dinner, don't use your guests as guinea pigs.

5) Dessert does not have to be extravagant. I will never forget the party where I was at a loss for dessert, and took Younger Monster's suggestion to make Rice Krispie Treats. I used half cocoa krispies and half regular, added a bit of cocoa to the butter/marshmallow mixture, and drizzled the cut squares with a little melted chocolate. They disappeared in seconds, and my friends BEG me to bring them to gatherings. Sometimes, it really IS the little things.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Rice Krispie Treats are my family's never-fail party food. Bring a platter's worth and watch them vanish!

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

I've taken to making a double batch for parties, because if I don't, I won't get one myself! It's the damndest thing, really. There've been a couple times where I've gone out into the yard with a platter of 'em, and have been essentially in the middle of a locust swarm!

Who knew a bunch of middle-aged geeks would be so gaga for something so simple?