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 04:49 pm (UTC)> So, new thread about the most important substance in the universe... I
> mean, of course, the black gold that is coffee. A few questions to
> get us going...
> What's your favourite formulation? How long have you been drinking it?
> What do you have with it? How many coffee icons can we display?
> My favourite's espresso of course. Dark, rich, with just a hint of
> bitter, and a lovely cream on the top is the way I like it. I've been
> drinking coffee since before I can remember, but I'm informed that my
> first coffee tipple was made with milk & instant! I took to drinking
> black filter coffee, with sugar, on holiday in France at around ten, when
> there was no milk offered by the hotel. I lost the sugar gradually as I
> went through my early teens, but continued drinking mainly filter as a
> student. I didn't really take to espresso until after I had my own house.
> Since then there's been the escalation of coffee production tech and the
> search for the perfect bean. I used to drink Santos & Java until
> Whittard's went out of business, and now drink almost entirely a mocha
> blend called Mocha Guatemala. And on the side? Cremini, dark chocolate,
> chocolate cake, mineral water.
> Over to you...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 04:51 pm (UTC)I'm with you on the espresso - and Ianto agrees.
I drink my espresso dark, with one tin piece of non-carb sweets - or with
a drop of milk or cream if the coffee is too strong.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:02 pm (UTC)Yay espresso! I definitely find something sweet but not sickly on the
side goes down well. I'm not sure there is a too strong, but some beans
have unpleasantly sour or bitter side tastes, which I guess milk might
alleviate. Sour coffee I can't abide.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:06 pm (UTC)I have never learnt to drink coffee. A friend of mine at university told
me I wouldn't be able to get through an engineering degree without it,
which just made me determined to prove him wrong. I then went on to get
my Ph.D. without drinking coffee as well... Now I mostly carry on not
drinking coffee out of habit and a little bit to be difficult. I do love
the smell, though! So I guess my favourite coffee is the bit I put in my
family's traditional birthday cake -- chocolate of course!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:11 pm (UTC)If you love the smell, that counts! Decent coffee is a lot like dark
chocolate, without the sweetness, if that tempts you at all :) There is a
lot of not-so-good coffee around, though. Instant, anything out of a
vending machine, stale filter, sour espresso... all to be avoided.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:22 pm (UTC)I do occasionally thing if possibly learning to drink coffee, but I find
it does taste very different to the smell. And I have found that I really
enjoy drinking mint tea, when I feel like a hot beverage so it might not
happen any time soon.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:23 pm (UTC)The smell & the taste are different, so I can understand that. And herb
teas can be really refreshing, which coffee isn't. Feel free to start a
tea thread, in opposition, by the way! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:27 pm (UTC)Thread started below! Feel free to contribute. ;-)
(no subject)
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Date: 2012-10-07 05:24 pm (UTC)When you don't like it then you don't like it - we are different people
with different tastes, and it's good so, IMO. I for my part only drink
any kind of tea when I've got a really really bad cold and can't
taste it anyway.
I drink coffee purely for the taste of it. It doesn't keep me awake or
whatnot. I remember making my first degree, when I tended to dawdle all
day and learn for the exams at night, I was easily capable of falling
aslep over some boring book I was supposed to study in ten minutes after
having had a really big double espresso (black, without sugar) at nine
p.m. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 05:29 pm (UTC)There are a number of things I didn't like the taste of when I first
tried them that I now really love and from what my coffee drinking
friends tell me that can be the case with coffee as well which is the
only reason I keep thinking it would be nice to drink it. I would like to
share in their enjoyment.
(no subject)
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Date: 2012-10-08 11:54 am (UTC)I find I've built up a big caffeine tolerance. I have to have about three
or four double espressos back to back to start feeling buzzy these days,
and that tends to make my stomach rebel.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:16 pm (UTC)> Proving people wrong is fun! ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:17 pm (UTC)Indeed it is! And it makes me awkward as well, which I kind of like.
These are two of the reasons I became a vegetarian a few years back...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:07 pm (UTC)> Coffee! :)
> I mostly drink filter coffee (well, cafatiere), as that is a fair balance
> for me of effort vs results. Black, sugar or sugar syrup - I make my own
> cardamom and/or cinnamon syrup (and sometimes other spice ones). I can't
> deal with a lot of hot milk, so can't drink most of the fancy versions...
> Espresso is nice when I'm in the mood for it...
> When I feel like a treat I can get really nice coffee as there is a
> coffee and tea shot here that sells loads of different kinds of coffee
> which they grind for the different makers. Very nice. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:08 pm (UTC)I drink cafetiere in preference to filter when I can't get espresso,
because it's much easier to make it strong & it does get a good head of
cream. I've never tried syrups (bit of a purist) but cardamom & cinnamon
sound delicious. Perhaps also ginger? Ginger biscuits work well with
coffee.
I've lived in the middle of nowhere for well over a decade, but one thing
I miss from living in a city is a decent coffee (& tea) shop. I'd love to
be able to try lots of different beans/blends, but doing it via mail
order is very expensive. There should be coffee tastings :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:13 pm (UTC)> Ginger syrup could work well - I made a mixed spice one with ginger for
> Christmas (last year? the year before?), but maybe I should experiment
> with it sometime :)
> Coffee tastings would be fun...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:14 pm (UTC)Ginger is another of my great loves; it goes with everything in my
opinion. [And have I said before how much I love that icon of yours?]
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 07:18 pm (UTC)> Ginger is wonderful! I mostly can only make ginger stuff if I am going to
> be the only person to eat it, as nicely gingery to me is apparently far
> too strong for most other people.
> [thank you - it is an amazing icon - I had it for years but didn't make
> it...]
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:31 pm (UTC)I'm all for coffee tastings! We should organise a big get-together in
Vienna, the coffee capital of the world, and indulge in our shared vice.
;)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 11:51 am (UTC)> I'm all for coffee tastings! We should organise a big get-together in
> Vienna, the coffee capital of the world, and indulge in our shared vice.
> ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 11:51 am (UTC)Oh, god yes! That would be superb. I love Vienna.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 01:12 pm (UTC)Vienna is just plain fantastic. Even without the coffee. But, of course,
it is the ultimate centre of Eurpoean coffee culture.
The first time I saw a Starbucks there I nearly cried.
(no subject)
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Date: 2012-10-08 12:23 pm (UTC)Umm... I hesitate to say it, but I'm more of a tea person. If I do drink
coffee, though, it's often of the espresso kind. And the label says it's
Arabica.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-08 12:27 pm (UTC)I will never speak to you again!?! (But actually, as I've admitted in the
tea thread below, even I do drink tea from time to time.)