Thirteen Things about MissMeliss
13 Things That Begin with E
- Earl Grey: I was drinking this tea long before I ever saw Captain Picard make his trademark replicator order of “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” I like that you can smell the bergamot in it as the leaves first begin to steep, and I like that it’s strong, and distinctive, and still more refined than say, Lipton’s Orange Pekoe. I take mine with milk and sugar.
- Easter Eggs: As a very small girl, one of my favorite things to do was color Easter Eggs with my mother. I have such vivid memories of watching the tablets from the Paas kits fizzing away in their vinegar water, of dye-stained fingertips, and of the magic you can do with a white crayon and a little bit of patience. I didn’t color eggs this year, because it felt silly to do it just for me, and I really wish I had. But I like Easter Eggs of another sort as well – the surprises that you find on a DVD if you play with the menus enough. While these are often just credits, sometimes they’re pretty cool little digital trinkets.
- Echoes: Acoustic magic. Enough said.
- Ectoplasm: This comes up because I’m dabbling in a story about a romance between a human and a ghost (well, poltergeist) but it’s always been an intriguing word to me. It rolls of the tongue so readily, carrying with it an air of mystery and a spark of something sinister.
- Education: Formal or not, education is crucial. I don’t believe that all answers are found sitting in a college classroom. Personally, I felt stifled in school, even among the “gifted” kids. It’s not an environment in which I ever thrived, or could thrive. But I read constantly, I try to stretch myself (improv, writing, exploring places), and I have no patience for stupid people. Ignorance, after all, is curable. Stupidity is not. It’s more than just knowledge though. Education extends to cultural awareness. I think it’s the height of arrogance, for example, to visit another country and not at least attempt to learn and use the local language – I’ve seen so many of my parents’ ex-pat friends who refuse to learn Spanish, and it frustrates me.
- Eggplant: I think you have to be Italian to truly appreciate the eggplant. Oval, and delightfully purple outside, cool green and pale ecru inside, the eggplant is a fleshy vegetable that offers a distinctive flavor. Breaded and fried for parmegianni, or chopped up and stewed into ratatouille or caponata, it’s a taste I grew up with, and one of those things that just equals “home” to me. Also, love the color. Eggplant purple always makes me smile.
- Elderberry Wine: Robert, this one’s for you: “Well, dear, for a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide.” — Aunt Martha, in Arsenic and Old Lace.
- Electronics:Give me my Zen, my laptop, my cell phone, or knock me unconscious. Electronic toys are my second most favorite playthings. (The absolute favorite is words.)
- Elements: In the weather sense of the word. I like weather, for the most part, when it is wild – wind, rain, that sort of thing, but there’s something to be appreciated in a hot sunny day, as well. In the more traditional sense – earth, water, air, fire – it’s all about balance. I could use more of that.
- Email: Nothing – NOTHING – is better than an actual snailmail letter, but email is fabulous in its own right. I love the immediacy of it. I love that it costs next to nothing. And I love that it doesn’t waste paper.
- English Muffins:Technically, I suppose, there’s nothing English about them, but these wonderful breakfast breads, toasted to crunchy perfection and slathered with butter and maybe a little marmalade, are one of my edible guilty pleasures. I love the sourdough version, but the raisin kind, with sharp cheddar cheese melted on them, are great for an afternoon snack on a rainy day. Also, they go great with Earl Grey tea.
- Entertaining: Whether it’s hosting a dinner party or playing on stage, I get a kick out of entertaining. It doesn’t have to be “funny” either – a story can still entertain when it’s dark, after all.
- Erasure: Erasure’s music was an integral part of my college experience. Truly. To this day, they’re tunes are scattered among the files on my Zen, and on my hard drive, and I have a couple cd’s of theirs as well. Kicky electro-pop with a ‘tude is always welcome on my playlist.
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re: #5 – I ran into that OFTEN in Japan. Some folks just wouldn’t venture off base, or they’d make fun of the Japanese because they couldn’t understand or speak English well. OMG…used to drive me insane[r].
also, #6 – funny you say this…I don’t have an Italian bone in my body. I made eggplant for Dad last Sunday and I kept thinking…if only I was Italian, it would’ve come out better (it was fine LOL).
English muffins are great, esp the sourdough ones, Melissa. But hold the raisins, please.
Great idea for a TT! I loved how you expounded on each entry.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Happy Thursday!
Amen to your Education item. Ignorance – especially cultural ignorance – drives me batty!
Education is my favorite from your list. Just learning about different things effects a person’s outlook on everything.
Education in itself is not the be all and end all but one thing I’ve learnt from life is that thinking you don’t need to learn how to do something is a quick way to make mistakes that a little bit of learning could have saved you. I sometimes wonder how many small businesses could be saved if banks wouldn’t lend them money to start up when they don’t have a clue on how to run a business.
Great list. An education is crucial in this world – and I agree about being in a foreign (to you) country and not attempting to learn enough of the language to get around. I saw this all too often in Germany when I lived there (with the Army).