I get the butchering of names. To this day, I still have Norwegian friends who can't get the pronunciation of my first name right. The way they say it sounds like they're calling me Tommy. I have no scruples what-so-ever just coming right out and asking people what the proper pronunciation is.
There's always room for a chocolate-covered McVitie's digestive!
Cary, why doesn't that surprise me?
Matt, it was actually pretty funny. The two of us were standing there facing each other and yelling and it was like Moses parting the Red Sea the way people were avoiding us. And I'm sure people were delightfully scandalized.
Yeah, Matt, get on that that, would you :P
Travelling in Europe is a lot cheaper when you're under the age of 26, too. Granted this was a long time ago, but I was paying about $4 a night to stay in some youth hostels.
People always ask me (or tell me they would be)if I get bored in the winter. No, I don't. I have too many hobbies to ever be bored.
Be my guest. I stole it from Gabe ;)
Charles de Lint uses a lot of mythology in his writing, which may be what drew me to it in the first place, and I quite liked the combination of celtic mythology in an urban setting. He's branched out into other cultures, but they're almost all set in modern urban areas. His early books were usually set in Ottawa, Canada, which is where he lives, and his newer books are set in a fictional anywhere town called Newford.
Never made it to Spain. After barely remembering France, I decided to slow down and just relax. I ended up spending four days in France, five weeks in the UK, six weeks in Ireland, three weeks in Norway, and a couple of days in Luxembourg. Which is a pretty awesome little country, by the way.
You've never had Indian food?! I'm so sorry! Naan bread is the best, especially when dipped in tamarind sauce or mango chutney. And then there's biryani, which is rice flavored with saffron and other spices, with vegetables and usually either chicken or lamb. And pakora, which are little vegetable fritters. Now I'm drooling, dammit!
I'd recommend Jack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon. The two books go together. Moonheart is also excellent, as is Greenmantle, and any of his short story compilations are really good, too.
My friend Shawn makes a pasta dish with anduille sausage and peas in a garlic alfredo sauce that is to die for.
Digestive biscuits are British. Kind of like a round wholemeal graham cracker. They go good with anything - peanut butter, cheese, chocolate, by themselves, they're just really, really good. There are a couple of different brands, but McVitie's are my favorite.
As for tonight, I made a wicked good pot of chili using a kit from Carroll Shelby's. It's Texas style, but I tossed in a chopped onion, a couple of chopped green peppers, a can of kidney beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of corn. i forget to grab a box of corn braed mix at the grocery store, that would have made it perfect.
