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ventaWhen I moved to London, I had this vague and woolly idea that I had lots of friends in London, and that visiting them would be easy. It turns out, it isn't. I knew bits of London could be quite a long way from other bits of London, but hadn't quite appreciated the extent to which this is true.
There's also the problem of working it out. Some bits are unpredictably far away. Closeish in distance, but an awkward tube ride. Some bits are unpredictably close. Bloody miles in distance, but an unexpectedly convenient bus just happens to link them. Sometimes public transport is a pig, but it's a dead easy drive for those with cars.
There's also the difference of what various people consider "too far". Some people think an hour's travel is fair game for London. Some think that's a ridiculous distance on a school night.
This has caused the following problem: I'd like to invite people round for dinner more often, but I always worry that journeying to my house might be too much of a chore. If I could be confident that people would say "God, no, you live in the Styx[*]" that would be fine. But people can be fettered by too much politeness. Accordingly, I have a survey to see whether you'd like to be invited for dinner.
I am not a fabulous cook. I think I'm an all right cook, but then I read posts on here where people write about how they were so knackered when they got home from work they just couldn't be bothered to do more than whip up a roast peacock mousse with carrot ganache and candied walnut shavings. Occasionally people post photos, and I think good heavens, I am a culinary Neanderthal. But I've not killed anyone yet.
So... if I'm having a cooking frenzy, would you consider an invitation to dinner a good thing? I now live in Ealing, about ten minutes walk from Ealing Broadway. It's just off the A40, so not actually too hideous from somewhere like Oxford if you have a car. My cooking frenzies are unpredictable, so this is a general question rather than a party I'm planning next week.
[Poll #1619415]
[*] I've never written that phrase down before. Is it Styx like the river? Or is it actually Sticks?
There's also the problem of working it out. Some bits are unpredictably far away. Closeish in distance, but an awkward tube ride. Some bits are unpredictably close. Bloody miles in distance, but an unexpectedly convenient bus just happens to link them. Sometimes public transport is a pig, but it's a dead easy drive for those with cars.
There's also the difference of what various people consider "too far". Some people think an hour's travel is fair game for London. Some think that's a ridiculous distance on a school night.
This has caused the following problem: I'd like to invite people round for dinner more often, but I always worry that journeying to my house might be too much of a chore. If I could be confident that people would say "God, no, you live in the Styx[*]" that would be fine. But people can be fettered by too much politeness. Accordingly, I have a survey to see whether you'd like to be invited for dinner.
I am not a fabulous cook. I think I'm an all right cook, but then I read posts on here where people write about how they were so knackered when they got home from work they just couldn't be bothered to do more than whip up a roast peacock mousse with carrot ganache and candied walnut shavings. Occasionally people post photos, and I think good heavens, I am a culinary Neanderthal. But I've not killed anyone yet.
So... if I'm having a cooking frenzy, would you consider an invitation to dinner a good thing? I now live in Ealing, about ten minutes walk from Ealing Broadway. It's just off the A40, so not actually too hideous from somewhere like Oxford if you have a car. My cooking frenzies are unpredictable, so this is a general question rather than a party I'm planning next week.
[Poll #1619415]
[*] I've never written that phrase down before. Is it Styx like the river? Or is it actually Sticks?
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Re: maybe we should get to know eachother first?
Date: 2010-09-16 01:02 pm (UTC)I've also noticed increasingly recently that there are some people I knew in the past that I now only interact with on LJ. If I think of "them" I now think of their online personae (or, at least, the way I regard them online) rather than their real-life selves. Which I find quite odd.
Hello, anyway. How d'ye do?
Re: maybe we should get to know eachother first?
Date: 2010-09-16 01:07 pm (UTC)The largest problem with LJ is that I find I sometimes have friends from LJ, that are converted to LJ friends also. However, the real problem is that sometimes when your -do- meet AFK, you have fewer things to talk about than before, because you "already read it on their LJ".
There's some info on my LJ profile about who I am (and in my interests). I wonder who is our 'closest' link (LJ friend that we share that we both know relatively well).
Re: maybe we should get to know eachother first?
Date: 2010-09-16 02:08 pm (UTC)It looks like most of our acquaintances in common are people whom I also just follow and don't know very well.
I've never been entirely convinced that Utrecht is a real place. Is it?
Re: maybe we should get to know eachother first?
Date: 2010-09-16 02:30 pm (UTC)Re: Utrecht? It is! A real place, that is! Google Earth Street View appears to also think so.
The city centre is really nice, there's a little river flowing through it that looks like the canals in Amsterdam with a platform about 3-4 metres wide from the river at water level, while the water level is about 3 meters below street level. The platform is used by restaurants and clubs. And we have a cathedral (well, the part of it that didn't collapse in 1674)!
And a goth festival every first week of August (www.summerdarkness.nl)!