DON QUIXOTE

"He spent four days thinking about the name he would give it; for--as he told himself--it was not seemly that the horse of so famous a knight, and a steed so intrinsically excellent, should not have a worthy name; he was looking for the precise name that would declare what the horse had been before its master became a knight errant and what it was now; for he was determined that if the master was changing his condition, the horse too would change its name to one that would win the fame and recognition its new position and profession deserved; and so, after many names that he shaped and discarded, subtracted from and added to, unmade and remade in his memory and imagination, he finally decided to call the horse Rocinante, a name, in his opinion, that was noble, sonorous, and reflective of what it had been when it was a nag, before it was what it was now, which was the foremost nag in all the world"--Don Quixote

I've started reading Cervantes' Don Quixote for my Book Club. (I'm just getting to the chapter about the book-burning, clearly a commentary on the Inquisition.) They say Edith Grossman's new translation is great, and what I've read so far is pretty good.

Over a dozen people came to the History Meetup Wednesday, but the Book Club Meetup Sunday was only Debi and me.  Oh well, I greatly enjoyed The Way of All Flesh.

Friday I had lunch with Sergei and Maria at the new Thai restaurant around the corner from my house.  The last time we'd met I'd promised to take care of Maria's orchid while the two of them were visiting Odessa, but I'd lost it on the way home! (I had a big headache and wasn't thinking straight.) I was worried about how Maria would take it, but she was surprisingly understanding!  They gave me a cup from Odessa showing Ukrainian place names in the Cyrillic alphabet, and they were surprised that I could read most of it.

I did get Maria a new orchid. Tuesday I went to a place on Roncesvalles Avenue, but they only had them in white instead of purple like the original.  On Wednesday I went to a place near King and Parliament, but they didn't have any orchids.  So Thursday I went back to the first place and got a white one after all.

Dinner today was fettucine alfredo, but we tried a different recipe using brie cheese and bacon pieces.  I think I like smelling bacon more than eating it!