Polishing the glasses and pulling out the cork

[venta]

When 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?

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's 'sticks' rather than 'Styx', and that it somehow implies rural or semi-rural backwater. But I'm not sure why or how.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Is it Styx like the river? Or is it actually Sticks?

It's "sticks" (though I prefer your version!), it's an American idiom and a bit of cursory googling suggests that a) it's something to do with baseball, and b) I can't be bothered to do more than cursory googling because I am lazy. :)

It's just off the A40, so not actually too hideous from somewhere like Oxford if you have a car.

Looks fairly easy from Oxford without a car! Train to Paddington (1hr), tube journey with only 7 stops & one change (~30 min? unless that's a particularly horrible slow bit of tube for reasons that only Londoners would understand...).

Um, I'm not trying to invite myself for dinner here, BTW, just burbling about trains. :-}

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's pretty much how I've always thought of it. But then I realised that I didn't know why or how, and I got cold feet and was scared of the people who might say "Duh, it's spelled Styx, you moron."

[venta.livejournal.com]

Train to Paddington, train to Ealing Broadway (8 minutes, no stops). Very slightly more expensive than the tube, but way quicker. Or, actually, train direct from Oxford to Ealing Broadway, which I guess takes forever (50 minutes Ealing->Reading, and I can't remember how long the stopping train takes Reading->Oxford).

You were implicitly invited to dinner by the entire post :)

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Google Maps says you're half an hour from my workplace and an hour from my home, which is doable but would mean removing myself from your premises fairly early (no bad thing, probably).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I would love to join you for dinner, but sadly not really practical from here.

I am a culinary Neanderthal

As long as you serve mammoth portions…

*fx:rimshot*

[venta.livejournal.com]

As long as you serve mammoth portions…

Y'know, sometimes I might be glad you're not close enough to visit easily ;)

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

As others have pointed out, the usual expression is sticks (a fair description of most Australian bushland), however I'm far more entertained by the notion that people might accuse you of living on the border of the Underworld.

Of course, living at the back of beyond myself I'm hardly in a position to throw stones, so I'll just mix my metaphors instead.

I'm as likely to make a school night as I am Sunday lunch, but sadly it's unlikely to be practicable this year. I'll refrain from calling you an insensitive clod, as (despite my geographic remove) the sentiment is still appreciated.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Ah! I forgot Ealing Broadway had real trains. Oxford->Reading is about 20 minutes. And nationalrail.co.uk reckons you can change at Slough instead, which seems slightly quicker.

I never knew I was so near Ealing. :) I have now officially Learned Something Today so I can go home now.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Finding a free evening,school or otherwise, (or even one that both me and queenortart are both free for is never easy, but Ealing Broadway is distinctly public-transportable.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I realise finding people in travelling distance is only a first step :) But a useful first step, or our nearest walkable neighbours are going to get sick of the sight of us!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well, despite your geographic remove, you've made the effort to come for dinner at least once since we moved in :)

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I think it's standing in the Styx which gives you cold feet ... [grin]

[satyrica.livejournal.com]

I find I make odd assumptions that, whilst I'm generally prepared to travel hours on public transport to see people, I can't imagine they would possibly ever do so for me, especially now I'm tucked away in the depths of SE London . . .

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I feel pretty much the same.

I was staggered a while back that a couple we know were willing to travel from Bermondsey to Ealing for dinner, despite the fact we'd been quite happy to do the reverse journey to their house :)

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

people might accuse you of living on the border of the Underworld
She doesn't. I do.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Nowt wrong with SE London! :p

[dr-bob.livejournal.com]

Visiting from work would be trivial. However, I live south of the River - 45 mins car drive, stoopid by public transport. So there are issues of kid wrangling (and they have school nowadays) if I persuade cuthbertcross to come too, but stoopidly long way home by public transport (1.5-2 hours depending on timing of connections) if not. So t'would be feasible but logistically challenging.

[mejoff.livejournal.com]

Your Flist is wrong, it's styx, it is the edge of the underworld and the most remote of places, a total ball-ache to get to. It certainly didn't originate in America or from baseball.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=out%20in%20the%20styx

[venta.livejournal.com]

I'd be happier with UD if it cited its source for that (not saying it's wrong, just I'd like to see some sort of back-up for user-edited stuff like that). Will check Brewer when I get home.

I certainly think Styx is a better phrase than sticks, so will probably stick with it even if the rest of the world disagrees with me :)

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I'm about an hour from Central London, so Ealing is sometimes twice that - weekends are therefore a better bet, at least if you'd want me to go home at the end [grin].

If you're a culinary Neanderthal, lass, I'm a culinary amoeba, so no worries!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Sshhh! Less of the damneder-than-thou ;)

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

sweetchloepie persists in referring to our hometown as The Hellmouth ...

[venta.livejournal.com]

You have no idea what a hard time I had parsing that username!

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Really?