Party pooper LJ!
Oct. 7th, 2012 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartWell, folks, it seems that LJ has decided to crash our birthday party - the original post is no longer visible. But I still have most of the comments in my inbox, and will re-post the original entry and list the available comments with the simple mentioning of the names, if it's all right with you. If not, tell me, and I'll delete yours.
We won't allow LJ to crash our party!
Original post
Hi folks! *waves*
Time is flying by, isn't it? It's that time of a year again - I'm getting older. In this case, I'm turning 56 on October 9, which means I'd have been retired for a year already, back under the old regime. Women could retire at the age of 55 back then. So I've decided to ignore all that fantastic headway we've supposedly made towards democracy in the last two decades and have considered myself retired for the last year, blithley overlooking the fact that I'll have to work another 6 or 7 or only God knows how many years.
So, let's party! Last years virtual birthday party yielded 943 comments on 7 pages, which won't be easy to top, but we're good, aren't we? WE CAN DO IT! WE CAN BREAK THE 1000-COMMENT-BARRIER! So, let's give it a try! In the recent years, it has always been great fun, so let's have fun again!
You're all cordially invited to help yourself to a slice of virtual cake of your choice. If you want to post your favourite recipe in a comment, be my guest. If not, just drop by and say hello.
Cheers!
Note: The party will be closed on October 9, at midnight, sharp.
Join us and have fun! Feel free to start any thread, any topic you want; we can discuss it, mock the general stupidity of life and laugh at it.
Last count was 1328 comments on 6 pages.
NB: Shoud the original party post mysteriously reappear, I'll delete this one.
We won't allow LJ to crash our party!
Original post
Hi folks! *waves*
Time is flying by, isn't it? It's that time of a year again - I'm getting older. In this case, I'm turning 56 on October 9, which means I'd have been retired for a year already, back under the old regime. Women could retire at the age of 55 back then. So I've decided to ignore all that fantastic headway we've supposedly made towards democracy in the last two decades and have considered myself retired for the last year, blithley overlooking the fact that I'll have to work another 6 or 7 or only God knows how many years.
So, let's party! Last years virtual birthday party yielded 943 comments on 7 pages, which won't be easy to top, but we're good, aren't we? WE CAN DO IT! WE CAN BREAK THE 1000-COMMENT-BARRIER! So, let's give it a try! In the recent years, it has always been great fun, so let's have fun again!
You're all cordially invited to help yourself to a slice of virtual cake of your choice. If you want to post your favourite recipe in a comment, be my guest. If not, just drop by and say hello.
Cheers!
Note: The party will be closed on October 9, at midnight, sharp.
Join us and have fun! Feel free to start any thread, any topic you want; we can discuss it, mock the general stupidity of life and laugh at it.
Last count was 1328 comments on 6 pages.
NB: Shoud the original party post mysteriously reappear, I'll delete this one.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:16 am (UTC)I think we should now be safely at 300!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:37 pm (UTC)Actually, almost 760 by now. This is an amazing party.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:18 am (UTC)But I'm not sure when we'll get to page 3...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:37 pm (UTC)We're already there. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:21 am (UTC)I just ate an ice cream instead of cake, does that count?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:38 pm (UTC)Definitely! My computer's put up a little steaming coffee cup icon, so
I'm off to have an espresso, and I'll be counting that too.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:23 am (UTC)If they stopped adding completely unnecessary features, things would work
a lot better. Now it seems to be doing the same thing to me. Drat, this
is the third time today!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:24 am (UTC)My shiny new bed has come!
A weak earlier than expected - I was standing in the middle of the flat,
still in my nighties (at 10.30 a.m.), thinking about starting to prepare
myself to going to work (had the afternoon shift), when the phone rang
and Nice Guy from the furniture shop told me that my hed has arrived and
thy were bringing it within 30 minutes.
You can imagine the hectic that broke out. Mum and I tried to get dressed
and threw everything out of my room (which is barely 7 square metres), so
that Delivery Guys #1 & #2 could a: get the old bedroom monstrosity out
of it and b: get the new bed into it.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 03:38 pm (UTC)Congratulations! I do love a comfy bed
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 03:39 pm (UTC)Their reply was:
So do I. In my misspent youth I could sleep on any horizontal surface and on some less horizontal ones, too. But the older I get, the more I value a really comfy sleeping place.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:41 pm (UTC)New bed arrived in pieces, so when I left for work at 11:30 Delivery Guys
were still buildign it together, with Mum circling them like a cocnerned
mother hen. Fortunately, the lady who cleans the floors in our house took
a liking to the bedroom monstrosity and snatched it on the spot, so we're
rid of it for good.
New bed is very nice and comfortable; I think I'll sleep well tonight,
without torn wires in my side and all that. Also, something seems to be
really off with LJ at the moment.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:44 pm (UTC)The new bed sounds overdue. I hope it suits you very well!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:32 pm (UTC)It was. I hated that monstrum from the moment it entered my life ten
years ago (or somewhen like that) and am ecstatic that I've finally got
rid of it.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:16 pm (UTC)I wish you many a restful night, including the coming one.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:56 pm (UTC)Oooh, new bed! What a treat! Hope you have a wonderfully restful night!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:50 pm (UTC)So do I. New vacuum mattress gives an interesting feeling, but I think
I'm gonna like it.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 11:32 am (UTC)For some reason, getting a new bed sounds like the untimate luxury to me!
I like beds way to much!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:57 pm (UTC)> Wow! Glad it got delivered and built successfully!
> Deliveries can be so stressful, so it is good that it is over. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:58 pm (UTC)I'm glad it's here. I just wish I had more forewarning. The shop's
apparently called us yesterday, but we were out, throwing away things and
buying new thigns and stuff, so they delivered out of the blue.
Still, a birthday gift that arrives in time is a nice thing.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:26 pm (UTC)> *nods* Typical - people always call when you are out... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:27 pm (UTC)Especially considering how rare it is that Mum and I go out at the same
time. I see LJ managed to post my own comment to my own thread as an
anonymous one. Great. I find the anonymous icon with the shopping bag
over the head so frigging stupid, too...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:25 am (UTC)We also baked with the kids!
The walnut buns had turned out very well. I'm now dead on my feet, but
supremely content. Or I were if only LJ would stop acting up.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:58 pm (UTC)The walnut buns sound delicious, I'm very fond of nutty things.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 08:24 pm (UTC)Want the recipe? It's really easy to make:
450 gr white flour 6 tablespoons of sugar 25 gr yeast 1/4 l lukewarm milk
50 gr ground walnuts 2 eggyolks some lemon zest 1 pinch of salt 1 egg and
2 tablespoons of milk to paint them before baking
Mix all ingredients and work the dough for 15-20 minutes. Let it go up in
a warm place until it reaches double volume. Make a long roll of it, cut
it to 30-35 pieces, form small buns and set them on a baking tin (covered
with baking paper) tightly next to each other. Paint the whole thing with
the egg mixed with the milk (you can strew some ground walnuts over it if
you want) and let it rest for another 15 minutes. Bake it in a pre-heated
oven at 190°C for 25-30 minutes.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 11:34 am (UTC)Thanks! Copied and saved =)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:01 pm (UTC)> Yay for baking! Good luck trying to get lj to behave!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:01 pm (UTC)It seems an irregular glitch, but a very annoying one.
In any case, I had fun, the kids had fun, the buns were delicious, and
next week I'm going to do the same with the 5th-term-kids... yes, I
am insane, why are you asking? *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:26 am (UTC)Another book thread Because we need more top-level comments and
because I am curious: What is the latest book you read?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:55 pm (UTC)Currently reading: Lord Of The Rings
Before that: Beauty and the Werewolf - Mercedes Lackey (fun, light series of stories in a fairy tale world where a force tries to shape people's lives to tales... and Godmothers and other characters try to control their own lives... ;) - very much comfort light reading...)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:02 pm (UTC)I think I am due a re-read of Lord of the Rings, though I find I don't have nearly enough time to read even the new (to me) books.
"fun, light series of stories in a fairy tale world where a force tries to shape people's lives to tales"
That sounds like an intriguing concept; I will have to add it to my ever growing to-be-read list!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:03 pm (UTC)The first one in the series is The Fairy Godmother, but it is a fairly loose series (some characters show up multiple times but the focus characters are different in each book)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:56 pm (UTC)Haven't had a lot of time to read lately - I reread a mystery novel The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry, but for a new read it was TITANIC: Float Me Through The Deep by Frank Diaz de Leon - not what I generally read, but I'm related to the author, so it was kind of mandatory.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:57 pm (UTC)One of the "Mission Gamma" series, I don't remember which one. This is an excellent series of DS9 novels - basically an 8th season, just in written form.
I don't really like the OCs - IMO the really interesting ones were killed off right at the beginning - but Ro Laren as the new security chief of DS9 is wonderfully done, and so is Nog as the new chief engineer, and poor Kira has to run the station while excommunicated by her own clergy... very interesting.
The only OC I like is the Andorian science officer. What the series writes about the Andorians doesn't really fit "Enterprise", but that series was one big canon rape, so I happily accept the book version of the blue guys. Just as I did with Diane Duane's version of Romulan culture versus that horrible "Nemesis" movie.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 11:33 am (UTC)This sounds intriguing, I shall add it to my mental to-be-read list.
Sadly that list seems to grow much faster than I have time to read
books...
And yes, Enterprise was annoying in its inability to stick with
canon. I don't mind prequels, but if you want to set a new series in an
established universe you have to stick with what has already been
established about that universe. If they wanted free rein to invent new
things and not be tied down by the known history, they should have made
another sequel. Don't get me started on the latest 'Star Trek' film,
which I feel is Star Trek in name only and that just to draw in the ready
made audience of trekkers.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:12 pm (UTC)We are in total agreement about the film. The only good thing was how
Chris Potter managed to copy Shatner's hysterical mannerism - I was
rolling on the floor! Zachary Quinto wasn't a bad Spock, if only they had
given him a better chance to shine.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:13 pm (UTC)Ah yes, I was indeed quite impressed that they had found someone to play
Kirk who managed to be annoying in the same way as Shatner! Quinto could
indeed have been a good Spock, if they weren't so busy re-writing what
Vulcans are like. I really, truly hated the romance between him and
Uhura!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:24 pm (UTC)Gah, don't even remind me! The Uhura actress was terrible. And Karl Urban
really wasn't McCoy.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:25 pm (UTC)and what on Earth (or any other planet!) were the doing with Scotty?
Here, quick, have some chocolate to forget it all!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 04:36 pm (UTC)They all acted as if Classic!Trek would have been a parody. Well, it
wasn't - if one ignored Shatner's godawful acting, that is. But the other
actors were great. I even liked Chekov, although poor Walter Koenig
didn't really got anything substantial to do, upt to the films.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:59 pm (UTC)Set in Stone by Robert Goddard. I was looking for a new (to me) crime writer while rained out in the Lakes, and thought someone had recommended Goddard. I hope I was mistaken, because I hated it. It's a mix of supernatural with cold war spy thriller, both handled very clumsily, & the two themes didn't mix. The narrator is talking to his deceased wife, which wasted a lot of words in boring nothings.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:17 pm (UTC)Do you like Dorothy Sayers? If so I can recommend Ngaio Marsh. The
books of hers that I have read are similar, though not quite as literary
as the Lord Peter Wimsey ones.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:24 pm (UTC)I'm very fond of Sayers, yes. I've tried one by Ngaio Marsh, and wasn't
impressed (can't recall which) -- is there one you particularly
recommend?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:33 pm (UTC)I have only read two, but was happy enough with both of them. The one I
liked best was Surfeit of Lampreys.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:28 pm (UTC)I will look out for it. (Actually I might already have a copy, as I've
inherited my father's books, and he was a crime novel fan, though I can't
recall him reading Marsh.)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:00 pm (UTC)And I will answer my own question: Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon, Brett Mathews and Will Conrad, which is a paperback compilation of a three issue comic book series set between the end of Firefly and the beginning of Serenity if we count graphic novels. If we are sticking with words only the latest book I read is Eldest by Christopher Paolini, which is the second book in a fantasy series with dragons and dragon-riders. It and the first and third book of the series were birthday presents from my sister. They are good, especially for being written by such a young person. I believe Paolini was 15 when he wrote the first book and 19 when he finished the second. The books are a little derivate, with a lot of elements borrowed from other science fiction, but the world that Paolini has built is quite complex and holds together very well. The thing I like the least is the juvenile romance subplot, but I can forgive it given the author's age and that the hero involved is also of a similar age.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:01 pm (UTC)I haven't finished a book for a while - the last one I started turned out to be really boring so I gave up halway through. Currently reading The Whisperers by John Connolly, one of his Charlie Parker private investigator books. They tend to edge into supernatural territory and I always enjoy them. This one is well up to his usual standards.
I usually read SF or Fantasy, but it's good to have a change occasionally.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:04 pm (UTC)I read Eragon and Eldest but wasn't very fond of them. Eragon I liked in places (rare and far in-between places) because it was what a young boy would write. Eldest I found a rather tenous (sp?) read. I never brought up the effort to even start Brisingr.
But some of my students like them, and hey, if they bring the new generation to reading, then I'm all for it.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:05 pm (UTC)I think I would definitely have liked them more when I was younger. I
would especially have loved the fact that they were so long, giving me
lots of reading ahead. These days I have trouble starting thick books,
because I have so little time to read in that I generally won't be able
to finish it in a reasonable time.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:05 pm (UTC)Yesterday I started reading a Danish thriller titled 'øjesten' (with a capital ø which I don't know how to make).
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:26 am (UTC)Four hundred replies! Does a little dance :) We're not doing so well on
the pages though.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:27 am (UTC)At
your favourite tea? Do you drink it with or without milk, sugar, lemon
etc?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 03:55 pm (UTC)Blackberry tea, with a little sugar or if I need caffeine a specific brand of Earl Grey with sugar and lemon.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 03:57 pm (UTC)reply was:
Is that blackberry flavoured tea, or actual blackberries somehow converted so as to be possible to make tea from? The latter sounds delicious; blackberries are my favourite berry. I used to be very sceptical of fruit teas, because my Mother used to drink this blackcurrant tea that smelled superbly like backcurrant, but did not taste anything like it. It was actually made from the black currant leaves.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 03:59 pm (UTC)It's a black tea with dried blackberries in it - I love blackberries, so when I ran across this one I had to try it, I get it from a specialty tea place - I couldn't tell you a brand, I think they mix it themselves. I also drink a blueberry tea, that is also a black tea with dried blueberries.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:02 pm (UTC)I generally don't like fruit flavoured black tea, so I shall not have to be too jealous then.
P.S. Can I just say that you user name is fabulous? Dragons and cats -- two of my favourite animals! :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:03 pm (UTC)Yeah, I generally drink black teas, and those are the only 2 fruit teas I drink. The only non-black tea I love to drink is cinnamon tea.
P.S. my user name is a play on my pets names
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:05 pm (UTC)Cinnamon tea? That sounds amazing!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:06 pm (UTC)It smells amazing when brewing.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:04 pm (UTC)Ooh, my mother made blackcurrant leaf ice, which was delicious!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:25 pm (UTC)My favourite tea varies between mint tea, where I prefer to make it with
fresh mint leaves and Heath & Heather's Wild Blackcurrant. The
latter is quite a lot like drinking hot blackcurrant cordial, but without
the sweetness.
When drinking 'normal' tea I take it with milk but without sugar.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:53 pm (UTC)I can't drink normal tea because I dislike milk, but I do enjoy a lot of speciality teas that are drinkable black... I particularly like green teas, jasmine, lapsang souchong & rose pouchong, but I tend to end up drinking Earl Grey, because it's easiest to get in restaurants. In fruit teas, I like wild strawberry (my favourite), raspberry & cranberry, and some blackcurrant blends that aren't too acidic. (I used to drink orange zinger, but my stomach has rebelled.) I'm an occasional drinker of a few herb teas, too: fennel, ginger, occasionally St John's wort.
I'm intrigued as to how exactly you make tea with fresh mint leaves -- that sounds pleasantly refreshing.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:54 pm (UTC)"I'm intrigued as to how exactly you make tea with fresh mint leaves -- that sounds pleasantly refreshing. "
It is actually the simplest thing ever: You take a sprig of fresh mint (or just the leaves if you have the already pulled off the stem) and pour hot water over it! A number of restaurants actually serve this, usually labelled as 'fresh mint tea' in the hot drinks section of the menu. It is very refreshing and makes a lovely minty drink.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:55 pm (UTC)I shall have to try that, as we have lots of mint plants in pots on the patio & I love the taste of mint. I've drunk something called mint tea & not enjoyed it, but I think that was black tea with mint.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:56 pm (UTC)You have to be careful with mint tea; often you may get green tea with mint. This may be a perfectly good drink, but if you had your heart set of something very minty it will leave you disappointed.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:57 pm (UTC)Green tea would be ok, but I think what I had was black tea. It was very odd. There are lots of French tea brands which mix herbs/fruit with black tea, which are (in my experience) invariably awful.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:59 pm (UTC)Ah yes, you get a lot of 'fruit teas' in Sweden that are black tea with some fruit flavouring. I do not like them at all! I don't mind black tea, without the fruit flavouring, but I like it with milk. That doesn't quite work with the fruit thrown in...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:00 pm (UTC)To the current day, the mere idea of tea with milk baffles the living highlight out of me. I don't know why. Perhaps because when I was a child, milk striclty belonged into the coffee... Well, into the strange product that was sold to us as coffee and never saw a single coffee bean in its sorry existence.
We only had black tea back then, and we drank it with honey because a: we didn't have lemons, either and b: because it mostly went as cold medicine.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:03 pm (UTC)We used to get honey-and-lemon water to soothe sore throats when we had colds. To this day I dislike the taste of honey, but this remedy is very good! I get around the problem by adding lots and lots of lemon juice to the point of almost completely masking the honey.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:10 pm (UTC)My Mother who was actually born English doesn't drink 'normal' tea at all and her father always drank it weak and without milk.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:11 pm (UTC)I can't speak for all the English, obviously, but I think that would be quite unusual. I have relatives by blood or marriage from a lot of different regions of the country, and a fair spread of classes, and all of them (except me) drink Typhoo or English Breakfast type tea, with milk, by the bucketful.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:52 pm (UTC)Tea! Tea is wonderful! I mostly drink a variety of flavoured black teas (with sugar but no milk) - at the moment I have mango, vanilla and a variant on earl grey. All delicious! I general have several types as there is a wonderful tea (and coffee) shop near here... so have lots of experiment on. :)
Apart from that I like rooibos or mint tea for caffeine free hot drinks :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:32 pm (UTC)Rooibos?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 06:58 pm (UTC)Chai, at the moment. Russian earl grey is another favourite. And orange pecoe. I take a little milk sometimes, but no sugar or lemon. Green cranberry tea (no milk) is good, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:28 am (UTC)In honour of
thread What is your favourite piece of furniture? This can be
something you own, something you have seen elsewhere and would like, or
indeed just something that exists in your mind.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:14 pm (UTC)This is my favourite piece of furniture: an Art Deco bureau with a bookcase with glass doors. When I moved to my current flat there wasn't room for a desk so a friend of mine suggested I look for a bureau instead. I was going to find out about second hand furniture shops in my area on the internet, which lead me to finding this one for sale of eBay. I feel in love with it straight away and when it arrived it was every bit as lovely as I thought it would be from the photos. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:15 pm (UTC)That is lovely!
That is gorgeous
That's very handsome & functional. [Is envious.]
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:19 pm (UTC)Very beautiful indeed. My favourite is our 200-and-some-year-old cabinet with glasses, made of walnut wood, inherited from my great-great-grandmother. It's got drawers, it's got an upper section with glass doors and side sections to display the china and even two small tabletops that you can pull out from over the side drawers and put things onto it while serving snacks or drinks or coffee to your guests.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:58 pm (UTC)That sounds lovely, and with the family history it must be extra precious. My flat is mostly furnished with things from Ikea which are good and some of them even great, but I like a mix of things and this applies to furniture as well! I do love the few pieces of old furniture that I do have.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:59 pm (UTC)Old furniture - especially with family history - gives your living space a unique character. It makes it home.
We've got a set of ceramic spice containers in the kitchen that are also over 200 years old. They've moved with us at least five or six different times, so they mean home more than any given place whre we've lived.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 01:20 pm (UTC)Wiseheart reminded me of my favourite. I used to have a circular coffee table made up of a central small circle of burr walnut plus six arcs that slotted onto it made from three different traditional English hardwoods, apple & a couple of others I forget. The arc subtables were perfect for putting next to chairs, and it was robust enough you could sit on them too. It was handmade by a craft workshop that also did more normal tables, nad it was a wedding present. Unfortunately, I lost it to divorce. Damn.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:59 pm (UTC)That does indeed sound like a fantastic and very useful piece of furniture. I am keeping my eye out for a nice, and functional set of nesting tables though I don't really have the room for them in my living room. I love nesting tables though.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 08:00 pm (UTC)It was almost worth sticking with first husband for -- which is saying a lot :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:06 pm (UTC)My favourite piece is a phantom: the white cabinet with paneled glass doors big enough for my silver tea tray. I just don't seem to be able to find an affordable one.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:24 pm (UTC)My Mother bought me a lovely blue glass bowl that is too big to fit in any cupboard I have ever had. I just use it as a fruit bowl and leave it standing out at all times.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:26 pm (UTC)That way it´ll draw more attention, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:56 pm (UTC)Sadly all of my furniture is of the cheap and nasty type, but one day I would like to have proper built in bookshelves - all fitted the the sizes books really are :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:29 am (UTC)Since we had repeated Trek-related discussions: what about your favourite
Trek aliens?
My list of favourites: - Vulcans (Duh! Despite what "Enterprise" did to
discredit them); - Andorians; - Deltans; - Romulans; - Bezites (the only
really interesting 24th century aliens);
I like the Bajorans, but they are too human-like for my taste to really
count as aliens, and the Trill were never really explored as a species.
Cardassians are interesting but too creepy, and Ferengi are just
annoying.
Your turn...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:29 am (UTC)Very close to page three now.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:01 pm (UTC)and past 500 comments! Yay!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:30 am (UTC)Just clicked past 500 replies! We're going strong!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:31 am (UTC)oh my - reached 500 before the third page.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:32 am (UTC)If I have counted correctly this should take us onto the third
page...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:06 pm (UTC)Yay, three pages! Go us!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:33 am (UTC)Is that a problem?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:33 am (UTC)This is going too fast for me...
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Date: 2012-10-07 11:34 am (UTC)So, folks, we've done great! So, in agreement with the lovely
half an hour left from the day anyway. Good night drinks and sweets are
served by Mr Jones, also known as the Coffee King of Torchwood (he also
serves tea, though).
Thanks for coming and contributing, we'll no doubt see each other again
in a few hours.
We will, won't we?
(Actually, this year's party is even more fun than the previous one.
Never did we have so many interesting and delightful threads.)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:34 pm (UTC)Fresh mint tea for me please, Mr Jones. And are those baklava I see? I
will have one of those too if you don't mind.
Sweet dreams to you all and see you tomorrow!
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Date: 2012-10-08 04:40 pm (UTC)Mum and I just had Betthupferl eggnogg. From shot glasses made of
dark chocolate. Am really tipsy now. But we had to celebrate the new bed.
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Date: 2012-10-08 04:43 pm (UTC)Shot glasses made of dark chocolate sound fantastic! And I am a firm
believer in celebrating anything I can think of.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 04:44 pm (UTC)Oh, yes, one should celebrate whenever one can. There are few enough
opportunities as it is.
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Date: 2012-10-08 04:50 pm (UTC)There are so many bad things in the world, that one has to celebrate when
things finally go one's way :)
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Date: 2012-10-08 04:51 pm (UTC)Shot glasses made of dark chocolate! That sounds scrummy!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:39 pm (UTC)Oh, yes! Imagine it with eggnogg (or whatever your favourite liquor is).
You enjoy your shot, then lick the rests out of the glass, refill the
glass, do the same, until the chocolate starts becoming softer - and then
eat it! Yum!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:39 pm (UTC)My mouth is watering :)
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Date: 2012-10-07 11:34 am (UTC)The Your Favorurite City thread.
Since I'm at work, having an hour-long break and a computer that isn't as
painfully slow as mine is (it hasn't Norton), I use the opportunity to
start the requested thread.
My favourite city is Vienna. I've seen a great deal of cities, and
Budapest, the one I live in is absolutely gorgeous, but for me, Vienna is
the best city on this planet. It's a lot like my home town, due to the
old Monarchy, but different enough to be exciting, and it has a unique
flair no other city I've ever visited seems to have.
Historic places, fantastic chocolate, amazing coffee and very friendly,
charming inhabitants (well, most of them) - what else could one wish for?
On to you...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:35 am (UTC)The Magic Chocolate thread. This one is for
I've visited this summer the Chocoversum of the chocolate factory
Hachez (sp?) in Hamburg. It was a fantastic experience. They had us taste
every single phase of the cocoa bean processing. Have you ever tasted the
cocoa fruit? It's surprisingly yummy, a bit sour and spongy and all. The
beans are the actual seeds within it.
So, now I'm a devout fan of Hachez chocolate. They only produce from the
highest quality cocoa beans, about the same level as Lindt. Although, I
must admit that I'm very fond of Milka, too - especially the kind where
alpine milk chocolate is filled with dark chocolate mousse.
And don't even let me start on Ferrero: Rocher, Cappuccino, Roundnoir and
the likes.
So, what's your favourite blend?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:20 pm (UTC)Oh this is definitely a thread dear to my heart! I collect fridge magnets and a good proportion of them are about or depicting chocolate. The real thing is obviously better though, and I used to stock emergency chocolate in drawers in the lab at my previous job.
My favourite chocolate is a raspberry dark chocolate truffle from a chocolatier called Anneli K in my former home town of Uppsala. Whenever I go back to visit I always make sure to stop by that shop and pick some of their chocolate pieces up; they generally have a good selection and I vary what I get; the raspberry truffle is always in the mix though. Out of more main stream chocolate my favourite is probably a tie between Green & Black's dark chocolate with currants and hazelnuts and Divine's dark chocolate with raspberries. I also love pretty much everything I have bought from Hotel Chocolat; their chocolate logs for example are a fantastic treat.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:21 pm (UTC)A few years ago, when
Hotel Chocolat are fantastic. I was in their shop in Cambridge, six years ago. *sighs dreamily*
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 02:24 pm (UTC)I definitely remember discussion the chocolate named cardinals with you, but I think it was a case of you telling me about them. I do love the idea of Cardinals Green and Black always appearing together, but I don't think I can take credit for them.
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Date: 2012-10-07 04:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-10-07 07:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 08:26 pm (UTC)A friend from the Tolkien fandom made it for me. Alas, we've lost contact since then.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 08:50 pm (UTC)Sometimes people come and go from our lives, which is sad. On the other hand, we can still enjoy the memories of the fun we had together and it isn't generally worth trying to keep in touch with people you in some cases have developed in different directions from to the point were you no longer really have much to say to each other.
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Date: 2012-10-09 01:25 pm (UTC)They had us taste every single phase of the cocoa bean processing.
Have you ever tasted the cocoa fruit? It's surprisingly yummy, a bit sour
and spongy and all.
Oh, that's really interesting. I'd love to taste cocoa fruit. I'll have
to put Hamburg on my ever-expanding list of places to visit!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:42 pm (UTC)When in Hamburg, go here: http://www.hachez-chocoversum.de/
If you google "chocoversum hamburg hachez", you get a link to a
translated version, or so I hope.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:46 pm (UTC)I can't find an official translation, but there's a review in English
online. Fascinating!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:49 pm (UTC)Sorry. I meant you'll get a link to the official website,a nd then the
Translate this page option.
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Date: 2012-10-09 01:30 pm (UTC)I love very dark chocolate, no surprises there! I tend to like 70-80%
cocoa more than the really high cocoa percentages, which I find a bit dry
in the mouth. Green & Black's do a range of bars with different
flavourings, which are interesting. I particularly like the coffee one,
which might be my current favourite chocolate; the tastes really blend
well together. There's ginger too, but our supermarket doesn't stock it
:( I also like Menier cooking chocolate, which is a good cheap dark
chocolate bar. My mother cooked with it when I was a child, which gave me
a taste for it.
My favourite chocolate shop is Cocoa Mountain, on the very northern coast
of Scotland. We visited last year and I'd love to go again. Their
truffles are to die for. The classic French truffle is perhaps the best,
but really the range is the thing! Chilli lemongrass, ginger & cinnamon,
strawberry & black pepper... :) We got some for Christmas by post, but
it's fiendishly expensive like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:36 am (UTC)And this ought to be the magical Comment #600. We're doing very well.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 04:51 pm (UTC)I'm beginning to think we might actually make it to a thousand!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:43 pm (UTC)Oh, yes, definitely. And I don't really mind if we get less pages - I
value our discussions much more than page numbers. We have actually a
great deal less participants than ever before, but I've never enjoyed a
party this much. There's a lot to say about actual friends coming
together rather than casual guests dropping by to say hello.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:48 pm (UTC)I think I might have first met you via Altariel linking to one of your
previous parties, actually. So perhaps casual guests dropping in can
develop into friendship :) But indeed, the atmosphere this time has been
great, with lots of long interesting discussions that don't push the page
count, but do feel like a party.
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Date: 2012-10-09 01:53 pm (UTC)Probably; but that was after you'd already put one of my stories on your
recommendation list - which hardly ever happens to me - so you were a
well-known and highly valued name for me. :))
Not that I'd mind casual visitors. I do love them. As you said, they have
the potential to become friends.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:59 pm (UTC)I recall knowing you were a friend of Altariel's, occasionally seeing you
around Henneth Annun, and admiring your Tolkien stories long before I got
a livejournal. (Btw, Espresso Recs is coming up for 10 years old, shortly
after your birthday, believe it or not!)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 02:01 pm (UTC)I do remember, now I think about it, being surprised that you weren't a
native English speaker when we did the non-native speaker section of the
Mithril Awards.
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Date: 2012-10-07 11:36 am (UTC)This is going really well, isn't it?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-09 01:44 pm (UTC)Oh, yes! We seriously rock!
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Date: 2012-10-07 11:37 am (UTC)Someone start a new content thread -- I'm running out of ideas.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:37 am (UTC)Okay, new thread needed! Ummmm.... Anyone know any good jokes?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 11:38 am (UTC)The Magic of Spices thread
Some of you've already briefly discussed spices. This is your golden
opportunity to go into depth with the topic. What spices do you use for
cooking? Or for healing? Or for simply burning them to relax?
I had two interesting experiences with spices as an atmospheric tool. One
was the fairly godawful Bollywood movie, The Mistress of Spices -
despite of its basic badness plot-wise, the visuals of the Spice Bazaar
and the beautiful woman tending to it were breath-taking. I wished we had
scent television. *g*
The other one was my visit at Spicy's
Gewürzmuseum in Hamburg, this summer. It's basically a small
spice museum, where you can try and smell (and buy) an amazing variety of
spices, drink spiced tea or coffee, see really old spice-processing
machines, and generally have a good time.
It's in one of those old storge houses, surrounded by shops selling
oriental rugs and stuff - a fantastic atmosphere.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:32 pm (UTC)Cooking - I use a lot of different herbs and spices depending on what I'm making, as for baking Vanilla gets used a lot, but ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg are almost always used.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:34 pm (UTC)ooh, yes, vanilla is good as well! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:37 pm (UTC)Oh yes, most of my sweet baking recipes used to call for vanilla sugar. However, I find it is not so easy to get hold of here in the UK as it is in Sweden, so I have taken to going with the generally suggested substitution of lemon juice instead.