fajrdrako | (no subject) (Reply)

Another busy week. Good things happening.

Dinner with maaseru at Sushi 88. I love that place. Once again I had the unagi rice, and my intent was to have nothing else, but how could I resist a dish called "squiddy tempura"? So I had that too. Loved the chewy "squiddy".

Great mail: Christmas cards, many from the Piffle crowd, and a wonderful, wonderful present: The Return of the King Extended Edition DVD from gem225. I am just so happy to get this. What a great gift.

Started reading a biography of Alexander the Great by Ulrich Wilcken. It was written in 1931, so it isn't the latest word, but I'm enjoying the way it presents the different approaches to Alexander's life and reign, and makes me somewhat familiar with the orignal sources. I want to read more recent books too, but they're still on request at the library. Why are so many of the books about Alexander which the library holds, written for children?

I'm also reading Greek Homosexuality by K.J. Dover, which is fascinating, but not answering the questions I had in mind. I note that most (or all) of his written sources are Athenian writings or Athenian law. Athens was not all of Greece. Am I to conclude that the Athenian customs and attitudes were indicative of the rest of Greek culture? No, clearly not, since the point is made over and over that the law was different for Athenians and non-Athenians, and that standards were different. Anyway, it's interesting reading just for a look at the time and place. Once again I am impressed by the scarcity of evidence and the way a small body of information has been made to provide a bigger picture - whether that picture is accurate or not.

A run to the stores at South Keys, where I got Christmas candy moulds and chocolate, and some gifts at Chapter's, and cat-design rubber stamps for Margot (aged 9) at Michael's.

Christmas baking: I made ginger cookies in Christmas shapes. Haven't done that for years. The recipe I was using turned out not to be the one I thought it was - I wonder where I put the old one? It was good anyway, but now I'm in search of ginger cookie recipes.

A visit to blackbyrde with maaseru, maaboroshi and lmondegreen to watch The Return of the King Extended Edition and eat delicious snacks. We liked everything but Shelob, especially the Faramir bits.

I made candy in the candy moulds, and a grasshopper pie. Went to Pat and Sandi's place for a Christmas dinner with them and other friends: turkey with all the trimmings (I brought the cranberry sauce), mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, homemade wine (extraordinarily good), and for dessert my grasshopper pie. Complete with jokes about catching and mashing the grasshoppers.

maaboroshi sent me the URLs for some good sites about Josh Holloway - Sawyer in Lost, the bad boy with dimples. I then wasted - I mean, spent - several hours browsing them and looking for good Lost pictures, especially wallpaper and icons.