Text 16138, 132 rader
Skriven 2014-08-23 04:52:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: odd places & names 832
==============================
 ML> Isolation isn't necessarily nasty, especially if it's a
 ML> relative thing. If I were to do such, I'd be indoors with
 ML> friends visiting as they could.
 NB> I suppose a compromise might be being out in the fresh air, but not
 NB> right in the public view... isn't that the purpose of the sanitarium
 NB> grounds, after all...?   ;)   I'd probably waffle between wanting to
 NB> be indoors or out, but friends visiting is a good thing...  :)

In the last decade or so mortality has been in the back of
my mind for obvious reasons. The question of where to die
recurs (when, one doesn't have so much control over, though
there are situations when suicide, assisted or otherwise,
seems to be a viable solution). I used to think that having
a party and surrounding oneself with friends might be fun,
at least for me - hard to tell about how the friends would
feel; now I wonder whether practical solitude (in a hotel
room or on a plane) would make sense, or even more to the
point, actual solitude, say out in the wilderness somewhere,
where nobody would have to deal with an ugly corpse until
it had been nicely picked over and not so messy any more.

My friend Dave's wife has been given only a month, brain
cancer. At one time a doctor's prediction was given more
weight but was less accurate; these days, otherwise, and
further, she, like Billy, has cheated the numbers for a good
long time, couple years at least. She's sleeping most of the
time now - her daughter is providing what is essentially
in home hospice care, and I'm arranging to interrupt my
wild schedule to come by for a last visit. But she's going
to go with friends and family about, one hopes in minimal
discomfort (she hasn't experienced too much), gradually
slipping into unconsciousness. That doesn't sound like such
a bad way to go.

==

 NB>> Causing more of a need to make notes as things happen
 ML> I'm altogether too aware of that, but I like my wine and beer
 ML> far too much for this to be an effective solution. What happens
 ML> is that my notes start off being like this and end up beimeiw
 ML> lkk ers. Which looks like Dutch, only I don't read Dutch.
 NB> So I guess you need more of us to also realize our need to make the
 NB> notes on the spot..  (G)  Especially those of us less likely to imbibe
 NB> as much...?  ;)

I used to hold my liquor well ... .

 ML> I used to have pretty inerrant memories of what I'd eaten and
 ML> where I'd been, but now I have to have a camera. Sometimes
 ML> even that doesn't work, as I forget to bring the camera.
 NB> Yup, hard to use something not at hand... ;)  Guess the days are all
 NB> attacking at once now, and it's hard to sort them all out afterwards.
 NB> ;) 

As you often say, quite.

==

 ML> Not sure. It was outside Palmer, Alaska, between the
 ML> Chugach and I think the Talkeetna ranges. A beautiful
 ML> place, but beware the wildlife.
 NB> That does make a case for unseasonably warm... and possibly
 NB> uncharacteristic wildlife activity...  ;)

It is pointed out that humans too behave much worse in
temperature extremes, especially at the higher end of the
scale. Maybe this bee thought it an injustice that she had
to go about earning a living in (relative) stifling heat
while her spouse either lazed about or more likely had
abandoned her, so she took out her hard feelings on the
nearest available male of whatever species. Or do I
anthropomorphize.

 NB>> And will have to be replenished/refurbished before your foray
 NB>> into the Southern Hemisphere...? 
 ML> I was referring to the pocketbook in the metonymic sense.
 ML> One of the things we're doing is treating Ian and Jacquie
 ML> to a fancy meal, and I am looking to spend at least E50 a
 ML> head and possibly considerably more counting wine. This
 ML> isn't being a cheap trip.
 NB> That was the reference I was pretty sure you meant... ;)  Some things,
 NB> while well worth it, just aren't inexpensive...  :) 

Maybe I'm doing this frantic journeying as a response to
the concerns noted above. Turns out we ended up dropping
E45 for the meal, with Ian graciously taking care of the
wine at E25-odd per person. He claimed it a Michelin star
quality meal; I was pleased but not quite so impressed
and would give it a couple of those crossed fork and knife
thingys. More later.

-
 ML> There was a campaign to get people to apply for passports;
 ML> it must have worked.
 NB> I still see posters in the post office and other public buildings...
 NB> after all, it is a revenue source... ;)

One that is an actual service that - if one doesn't go
anywhere - doesn't cost the government anything.

Champagne-cured salmon
Categories: hotel, fish, main, cured, raw
Serves: 4 to 6 (probably more like 20 as a starter or 10 as a main)

5 lb salmon filet (wow!)
2 lemons
6 oz Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne
2 oz Stoli Vanil vodka
2 c kosher salt
3 c granulated sugar
4 sprigs fresh mint
1 shallot, peeled

Juice the lemons and set aside. Mix the salt and sugar
together. Thinly slice the shallots and then cut the
salmon filet in half horizontally. In a four-sided
baking dish, pour the vodka, lemon juice and champagne
over the flesh of the salmon. Let soak for 12 min.
Cover the flesh side with salt and sugar mix. Place
shallots and mint on top and sandwich the two halves
together. Roll tightly in cheesecloth and place on a
wire rack inside a baking dish so the juices can drip
away. Place another pan on top of the salmon and weigh
it down with at least 10 lb of pressure. Let sit in
the refrigerator for two days. Remove salmon, wash all
salt mix away. Slice thinly and serve.

Michael Cairns, Arizona Biltmore

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