Dorothy Parker would be entertaining if she were sober. She and I share a birthday, which is probably why I have a malicious wit. Capote declined sharply in his later years so I'm not sure whether he'd be good company. Scott Fitzgerald by all accounts was rather dull in person, especially in later life. I'm a little surprised that the only writers you folks seem to know are relatively recent and Americans. There's centuries and a world of writers out there, guys!
Lol, D'artagnan...nope, not since then, perhaps just forgot he passed on. P.S., love your foie gras products
www.dartagnan.com
I think Chaucer would have been a fun guy to hang with, good sense of humour it seems...probably smelled though, like most of them medieval types.
Ah, I had asked to meet with Marcus Aurelius.
Indeed you did Ossobuco. I always thought of you as a man of rare taste--as your name indicates, since ossobuco is one of my favorite Italian dishes.
I understand osso is a dish in more ways than one! LOL c.i.
CI is telling you that I am actually a woman, despite the apparent maleness of my nom de plume. Why I ever picked that name, long ago...was about the sound of the word, and from sentiment about being in Modena, Italy when I had that dish. My choice had to do with my picking italian words for passwords, etc. and less to do with being a mad ossobuco (braised veal dish from no. italy, as you know) maven. I have now had the dish three times. Once, perfetto, in Modena. Once in Santa Monica at chic restaurant, and once at someone's home in Napa, using lamb. I loved the first and the third.
But I am a not quite vegetarian, who prefers to eat whatever meat I do eat from wisely, humanely run ranches. This, plus the clear male ending to the word, must have people all over a2k misapprehending me. Ah, well, so it goes.
In any case, I have had the name so long and used it to post so many times, the name is me and I am it, as it were.
I read a biography of Dorothy Parker a number of years ago. It wasn't a book of laughter, and I agree that meeting her would best be arranged at some prime time, for her and myself. I wouldn't want to just stand there, quipless. I suppose I would like the meeting to be in the comfort of the Algonquin of old, and I might have a virtual Manhattan cocktail myself. Gee, if that was then, I could even smoke. I used to smoke menthol cigarettes, which I would guess they didn't have in her day, but I insist. Of course I would be wearing my glasses.
FYI, "cicerone" is also a Italian word.
c.i.
c.i., is that from the Italian side of the family :wink:
ah, I looked it up, it means a guide. Didn't Hell have a cicerone? (Long time since I have been there....)
Ossobuco, Dante had the poet Virgil for a guide to his Inferno. Otherwise so far as I know the damned are on their own when they hit Hell.
True, Larry. Perhaps I remember the word from an excerpt in Italian. That is fairly likely, as I took seven quarters of italian about a decade ago.
I looked up the word "cicerone" in my OED and it seems the etymology is from the Italian, which in turn takes the word from Cicero, the Roman statesman. The word means a guide to antiquities, but I suppose it could be extended to any sort of guide.
For sheer witty entertainment, I'd like to meet Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Mark Twain, and Evelyn Waugh. What a dinner table they would all make!
cavfancier considers changing name to vincotto balsimico, or perhaps chiccharon...
Cavfancier, you should let us know when you change your name, not before.
Lewis Carroll - not only are Through the Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland my favorites, but any man that can think those stories up has to be interesting.
