Somewhat Rhetorical Question of the Week

[Werner]

The holidays I personally get into the most are Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, and Valentine's Day. In the U.S., those happen to fall during our late autumn or winter.

[Reggia]

Fourth of July parties are one of the things I miss the very most living here in the desert. No one in their right mind would be outside on that day... but I remember fondly (not to mention wistfully) parades, backyard bbq's on grassy lawns and pool parties to celebrate Independence Day.

In answer to the question, previously I always embraced the summer holidays... Now, well, I try to enjoy any day under 100°. The spring is best for it is the most green, and right now the wildflowers are at their peak. Hoping to take a hike in a couple days to view them...

[Werner]

Yes, I have noticed this. I think eating certain foods only at a particular holiday season serves as a way to enhance the special quality of that holiday for us. It seems to be a very common custom, evidenced among many families of all different backgrounds and in cultures around the world.

[Reggia]

Those foods might be very rich, calorie-laden, seasonal or expensive, so perhaps better left for special days.

[Werner]

Reggia wrote: "Those foods might be very rich, calorie-laden, seasonal or expensive, so perhaps better left for special days."

That's a good point, too, and there are examples I can think of in my own family. Eggnog has far too high a fat content for me to drink it very frequently (I have a cholesterol problem), and it's more expensive than regular milk; but we buy a quart of it during the Christmas season. And the homemade "turkey cookies" that are a family tradition around Thanksgiving would be much too much trouble to make, and too laden with fat and sugar to be very healthy to consume, on a regular, year-around basis.

[Werner]

My family's usual cuisine is typically American, and I didn't grow up with Swedish food. But back in the 90s, I instituted the custom of serving supper on May 18 --the day that commemorates St. Erik, the patron saint of Sweden-- as a smorgasbord (or a sort of approximation of one), with food that's at least somewhat reminiscent of Sweden. That's the only time of the year that we typically have Swedish meatballs and Wasa crisp bread. (Those can usually be bought in the larger food stores around here, but you have to look for them.)

[Yvonne]

My favorite holiday food is a snack. Oystercrackers coated in the contents of a ranch mix packet, olive oil and garlic salt. I used to beg my mom to make it all the time but she'd only make it around Christmas and New Year's. I don't know anyone else who has ever had this. Two other examples would be broccli casserole on thanksgiving and shrimp trays on new years.

As much as i love all of these having them more once a year just seems wrong.

[Janelle]

I would like to meet LM Montgomery. I was given a set of her novels as a child, and have read them more times than I can count. Although they were very formative in my development, it's only recently I've begun to see the darker tones in her writing.
This has prompted me to try get to know her a little more as a person. Here's some of the information I've discovered so far: she lost her mother as an infant and was raised by her grandparents; she had disappointment in love, deciding not to marry a man she loved because he was a farmer, instead marrying a clergyman later in life, a decision she quickly regretted; her marriage was unhappy with both suffering mental illnesses; it was not a happy home for her three sons; she wasn't a particularly good mother; and it's likely she committed suicide.
There are so many contradictions between her real life and her written life, yet it's clear her real life does bleed through into her writing.
I'd very much like to know more about her seeing as her books had such an impact on me.

[Yvonne]

A. A. Milne without a doubt. His characters, Winnie-the-pooh and the lot, had a great impact on my childhood. Meeting him would be so amazing. If he was unavailable for some reason, second and third choice would JRR Tolkien and CS Loise respectively.

[Werner]

There are a lot of authors, living and dead, that I'd greatly enjoy sitting down with and talking to, but it would be impossible to pick just one. I've never met most of the Goodreads authors who are friends of mine in person, and there are several --two in particular, whom I don't think of just as "Goodreads friends," but as very dear friends of long standing-- that I'd love to actually welcome to my home. And I've often thought that I'd like to show Jane Austen the modern world, and get her take on it (which I think would be decidedly mixed). But there are other authors, living and dead, that I'd enjoy talking with as well!

[Reggia]

There are several. George MacDonald of 19th century Scotland; Alexander McCall Smith of present-day Scotland; and perhaps Mark Twain but not too close... he's too smart. I think I would like to witness a conversation between him and Henry James (who terrifies me as I think he would judge me to death and back again for more, lol).

[Matt]

I would like to say Sinclair Lewis and his wife Dorothy Thompson. I would love to discuss political theory and societal fears going on at the time after the Great Depression.

[Yvonne]

Narnia!

[Janelle]

Yeah Narnia sounds good!

[Werner]

I think I'd like to live in Newford, Canada, the setting for all but one of the stories in Charles de Lint's wonderful collection Dreams Underfoot. It would be pretty cool to live in a city that's also home to fairies, mermaids and other magical creatures! But at the same time, it's a modern city, so I could still have modern medicine and the comforts of electricity and central heating, and wouldn't have to give up the Internet (and Goodreads!). And I could probably still be a librarian. :-)

[Reggia]

I think Werner has just sold me on Newford, lol, but only for the nicer months!

[Werner]

Reggia wrote: "I think Werner has just sold me on Newford, lol, but only for the nicer months!"

That's a point; Canadian winters can be rough --and long! (I was in northern Ontario in April in 1982 for a job interview, and they still had deep snow.)

[Reggia]

Where is Terre D'Ange?

[Reggia]

Umm, yep, but I will let it be as it's now part of what makes me me. LOL, hope that makes sense!

[Matt]

Do I still get to know about specific sports scores and stock quotes, or are we talking more at the philosophical level, Charly? ;-)

[Janelle]

Doctor Who, because he's amazing and there isn't another character like him.
What's my dessert?

[Reggia]

We have a slice of pumpkin cheesecake for you, Janelle! :-)

[Nicole]

I'm going to pick someone not created by the authors I listed previously: Thomas Nightingale of the Rivers of London series (by Ben Aaronovitch), because he's a fascinating character I just haven't seen enough of so far. He'd have amazing stories to tell, both of wizarding and of war.

[Janelle]

Reggia, I have never even heard of pumpkin cheesecake, let alone tasted it!

[Yvonne]

Hank McCoy, AKA Beast from the 90's X-Men animated series. He's such an amazingly awesome, funny and sweet character and I really think I would enjoy talking to him. Plus I could listen to his voice all day.

[Janelle]

Charly, I've never tasted a bad cheesecake, but I'm not sure about a pumpkin one. Not being American, I have no idea how it would taste.

[Reggia]

My cheesecake is in high demand (if I say so myself, lol). I had to take a vote for flavor, and pumpkin won. So popular that a friend of a roommate of my son had him call and plead for a slice to be reserved.

[Janelle]

You've convinced me, Reggia. Pumpkin cheesecake it is.

[Werner]

I've sometimes thought that --assuming that I could be honest about being a time traveler-- I'd like to drop in on Madeleine E. Robins' series character Sarah Tolerance, who's an "agent of inquiry" in (a slightly alternate) Regency London, for some intelligent conversation over tea and biscuits at Tarsio's. (For those who aren't series fans, that's a social club that allows women members.) The pleasure would be strictly platonic, since I'm happily married, and hope that she'll eventually say "yes" to her magistrate friend Sir Walter Mandiff, who'd like to marry her!

Can I have fudge as my dessert? :-)

[Werner]

Thanks, Charly! In that case, I'll take a piece of fudge and a slice of Reggia's pumpkin cheesecake. (It's nice to know that in virtual form, it's calorie/cholesterol free!) :-)

[Reggia]

LOL, congrats, cheesecake coming right up!

[Nicole]

Did I get virtual cheesecake, too?

[Reggia]

But, of course! Hope you like as much as everyone else. 😋

[Janelle]

Lol

[Reggia]

Haha!

[Nicole]

:) Yum! Thanks.

[Yvonne]

I'm gonna have to pop in and grab my peice.

[Yvonne]

cool beans is my favorite.

[Janelle]

Good point, Charly. I've never put gloves in the glove compartment

[Matt]

While spikes aren't used as often in track (and certain tracks certainly still need them), they are often used in cross-country, which often consists of at least 35% of the track team.

March to the beat of a different drummer.

[Reggia]

I'll go to bed earlier, or carry the book downstairs in the morning with the hope I can take a few minutes to sit and read.

[Yvonne]

I'll try to get everything I need to get done in the morning finished early, so i can have the extra time before my brother gets home all to myself.

[Linda]

A page turner - take my book with me to work and read at lunch time or when I have 10 minutes in between visiting with clients, and after prepping dinner I find myself placing the book on kitchen counter and stand while reading.

[Werner]

I'm probably the only person in the group who's not in a position to finagle extra time to read when I'm reading a particularly engrossing book. Between all the things I want to do, and the things other people want or need me to do, I can't stake out any more reading time than I've allotted; and I'm only able to allot that by multitasking.

[Nicole]

Sometimes I stay up later to read a page-turner, sometimes I try to grab a little time before work...and sometimes I put off chores and read instead.

[Reggia]

I can think of two types of days where that has been known to happen: 1) I always think I'll read when at the beach (or any vacation spot), but once there I am way too distracted by sand, surf and sky to do so; and 2) sometimes for a day or two after finishing a very impactful book, I find it difficult to take an interest in reading a new book.

[Werner]

For me, that can happen in only one of two cases: a.) if I'm VERY sick, or physically restricted in my movements, so that I can't conveniently hold a book in bed (and the sickness has to be really severe --even when I had the chicken pox, I read to keep my mind off the itching), and b.) if I have company staying at my house, which would be family members or close friends who don't live here, or if I'm staying as company at one of their homes. In that case, I prefer to spend my time with them.

[Janelle]

Yes, I get those. Usually I'm either reading a book I'm not keen on or I'm not up to reading.

[Nicole]

Yes. Sometimes the book in progress feels like a slog. Sometimes I just don't feel like it physically, whether because of itchy eyes or a headache or some such.

[Werner]

Charly wrote: "This is kind of a simple one. Do you have an author or authors that you will no longer read?"

For me, Stephen R. Donaldson is the one name that immediately comes to mind. There are any number of writers whose work I'm not interested in reading to begin with; but he's the only one whose name I remember that I've actually tried to read and decided never to try again.