Misc. comments 10

[redbird]

In response to calanthe_b, who mentioned Terry Pratchett's Carrot in the context of what it does to reading when one dislikes a character the author clearly wants the reader to like:

The thing about Carrot...or, at least, a thing about Carrot, in this context...is that what he has is a combination of in-born charisma and memory, especially memory for people. Those are politician skills: the ability to be liked and trusted automatically, rather than for anything he's done.

In that context, the surprising thing is that Vetinari has let him live. I suspect the Patrician is keeping a sharp eye out for the chance that Carrot decides he doesn't just want to be a police officer. If that dwarf ever learns to lie, he'll be very dangerous.

---

In response to papersky's offer of a fruit-flavored tea blend named "Soleil du Pacifique"

I am a bit skeptical of instructions to brew black tea at 85°, but sure, I'll try it next time I visit, if you have any around. My reactions to fruit-flavored tea have ranged from definite pleasure to "but that's not tea!" and I suspect they vary depending as much on my (medium-to-long-term) state of mind as on the choices of tea leaves and fruits.

I δε am, at this point, very skeptical of commercial vanilla-flavored teas, perhaps because they all seem to contain artificial flavors. Maybe I should buy another vanilla bean and put it in with some plain black tea. ("Another" because I have one living in the sugar canister.)

---

Because I like this phrasing (it's in a dot_cattiness thread):

Saying things specifically to push buttons is called trolling. "I meant it" and "I didn't mean it" are equally irrelevant defenses, once you've admitted that you were trying to provoke rather than communicate.

---

This is how my brain works: ladysisyphus, reacting to the Shrub's charging Greenpeace with "sailor mongering", was observing that she'd always thought that the only things you can monger are war, hate, and fish. This led some of us to providing other things that are mongered, and my response was

Ironmonger. (=Ferreteria=hardware store).

And now cattitude and I are discussing whether, at a Ferreteria, they ladle out iron filings or weasels.

Comments

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

I was extremely amused the first time I saw a "Ferreteria" sign while travelling in Spain.

[sraun]

Regarding Carrot - have you read Men at Arms yet? It rather directly addresses some of the points you've raised.

In one particularly amusing scene, Carrot demonstrates how it is possible to lie one's head off without telling a single untruth. I find him to be simultaneously a very simple and very complex character.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

Might instruction to brew tea at 85 degrees be Celsius? That would be 185 degree F, which would be a little cool for tea, but possible. Though I like to bring water to a full rolling boil, myself. That's what proper teakettles are for.

[redbird]

Yes, degrees C. Sorry, that seemed obvious: but I brew my black teas at as close to 100°C (i.e. boiling) as possible. "Possible" because the water does cool even in the time from being poured out of a just-boiled whistling kettle to the time the tea is ready.

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

Why is there a vanilla bean in your sugar canister?

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

Because vanilla sugar makes really nice cookies and cakes?

[ailbhe]

She was a fishmonger
And sure 'twas no wonder
For so were her mother and father before...

Mongering is very versatile.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

One time in the Bronx I was joking about the Ferreteria on the corner--I think with supergee--and we turned around and standing about six feet away was a woman with a ferret sitting on her shoulder.