World Enough and Time

An icy day. I defied my fear of falling on the ice and went shopping. Mostly in a mall, thank goodness, but I did have to walk the half kilometer to and from the bus stop. Going there: not bad. Coming home: truly scary. It was getting dark and cold, so the ice was more slippery. Luckily I ran into a woman on my street whom I know from French class. Having someone to talk to about mundane things like language courses kept me from worrying. Aside from the icy wind outside the apartment, I got home fine. Exhausted from shopping, but fine.

I think I have bought all the Christmas presents I need to now. I hope so.

I wrapped a bunch of presents, and then random, fairestcat, raynedaze and auriaephiala came over for a fannish dinner and viewing pleasure. I should have bought more food, and in other circumstances would have, but there was no way I was going out again with that ice. So I made vegtetable-bean soup with what was in the fridge and cuboard, and spaghetti con aglio e olio. To my delight, they all like whole wheat spaghetti. It wasn't exactly what the nutritionist had on my list to eat today, but it was delicious - and nutritious.

We saw two episodes of Burn Notice, 1x04 "Old Friends" and 1x05, "Family Business". I enjoy Burn Notice well enough, but don't find I have much to say about it.

Then we watched the Christmas episode of Leverage, 3x14, "The Ho Ho Ho Job". Loved it. It had just the right edge of self-satire - something that's difficult to pull off with dignity. Parker was (as usual) delightful, and both Eliot and Hardison had some really great moments. I liked Sophie more here than have yet to date. Hard to say why. And... delightful plot. It seemed mundane (albeit silly) until the moment ( when... )

maaseru and I got together today for food and chat with Marion and Vicky, and no, it wasn't anyone's birthday, not really. But they hadn't seen maaseru since her birthday in August, and Marion's birthday is coming up, and mine wasn't so long ago, so... It seemed excuse enough for cake and a candle and us singing "Happy Birthday" to each other and ourselves.

The food was delicious: Marion had made a new roast pork recipe that was about as good as it gets.

Then I persuaded them to watch the first episode of Leverage, "The Nigerian Job". It didn't take much arm-twisting, and I thought they'd like it. They did. I was relieved, since I'm not very good at pimping things, but - quality reveals itself and the show didn't need any help to impress. And "The Nigerian Job" isn't even one of the best episodes - though it is typical in terms of style and plot. But we get to know the characters so much better, later. And Parker really hasn't had a chance to shine yet.

What city was "The Nigerian Job" supposed to be set in?