show me a garden that's bursting into life (part I)

Sometimes you plan a formal dinner. Sometimes you realize kraken have invaded the menu.

[17:52] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): the urge to have the gala here is very strong.
[17:52] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): if we could get the island looking nice by march 8th
[17:52] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh, i think we should go with march 8th.
[17:53] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Instead of the 7th?

I'd been up on this little balcony above the formal dining room, trying to invent a house banner from the mostly non-workable banner prototypes I had in the full-perm folder.

[18:01] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): emilly emilly emilly!!!!
[18:01] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): come sit!
[18:01] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): come sit!
[18:03] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[18:03] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Banners are being silly anyway

So, I picked a chair mostly at random, and sat. And...

[18:03] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Huh. Says drink, gives no drink.
[18:04] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ah yeah. need to figure out the "giver"
[18:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[18:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): But hey!
[18:04] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): but ... look at the chair a the end of the table!
[18:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I have discovered how to write on the tablecloth!
[18:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) looks
[18:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Kraken under the table?

I don't have a picture of this, but trust me. Long formal dining table, elegantly set, huuuuuuuge tentacle coming from underneath the tablecloth.

[18:04] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): yes, kraken attack!
[18:05] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): now, at the other end of the table ...
[18:05] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): there we go.
[18:05] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins

She tapped the table, and another tentacle emerged, and coiled around the chair at the head of the table.

[18:05] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ha!
[18:05] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh EEP
[18:05] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay, that's hysterical
[18:05] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): THAT is really why i wanted this set.
[18:06] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ok, lemme see if i can give you a drink....
[18:06] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst) frees you from the kraken.

Yay!

[18:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): People. People. That is not a drink.

As I recall, it was something that sounded like a frothy confection of a drink, and it turned out to be fruit and sorbet on a plate.

[18:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): GAH
[18:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Also not a drink
[18:07] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): what?

Another menu item, another hope dashed.

[18:07] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): did i not just hand you a wine glass? what was it?
[18:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): You di----
[18:07] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): .........
[18:08] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Very active, uh....soup

The menu for Entrees featured a soup, and I wanted to see what it was. I touched the plate to request it, and the bowl arrived, and the soup...waved at me with its little tentacles.

[18:08] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): incoming friends. :)
[18:08] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): what?
[18:08] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) pokes at the tentacles
[18:08] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh dear! tentacle soup!
[18:08] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): hi, Cece!
[18:08] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): join us!
[18:08] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): "Kraken Bisque", apparently
[18:08] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): lol!
[18:09] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): If it starts talking it gets thrown across the room
[18:09] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh come now, you can't tell me you're squeamish around tentacles. i know better!
[18:09] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) laughs
[18:09] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Well, I'm not generally eati--
[18:09] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Hmm.
[18:09] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Mrf.
[18:10] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): cece, do you know the duchess emilly shatner-orr?
[18:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Hello there!
[18:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh, gad, more kraken on the main course

Why are there so many cephalopod-heavy dishes in this menu? That's what I want to know.

[18:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Were we mad at the kraken? Is that why it's in soup now?
[18:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) peers at her plate
[18:10] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): where did you get the meal menu?
[18:10] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yup, those are kraken bits

To be fair, that menu option was titled "Kraken Bits".

[18:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Click on the silverware
[18:11] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ah ta.
[18:11] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): Well yes and no, I have seen her at event but she has been very occupied, but I think you introduced us at Saaz's coming out party
[18:11] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ah. well, join us please!
[18:11] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): we're just testing out this dinner set.
[18:11] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I do that. Also highly distractable. And occasionally oblivious.
[18:12] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): this is one massive table

It's a massive dining room.

[18:12] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i think the chairs need to be just a smidge higher.
[18:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Ooh, it has lamb
[18:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And yes
[18:12] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): well, this is a massive house.

It really is. Steamopolis, the ancestral home of the AiNeko line, is based on Ulysses Cabaret's Steampolis steampunk mansion. (By which, I mean, Hiro called it Steamopolis, and so I do, and until this moment I didn't actually know it was 'Steampolis'. But hey. Our house now. We can rename it.)

[18:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Truth
[18:12] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst) calls in reinforcements.
[18:12] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) claps at the English Breakfast offering

Let's be honest, here. I am not English. A true English person would probably be appalled. But to me, just seeing the presence of black pudding on a plate makes me happy.

[18:13] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): let's put this table through its paces. [18:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It has black pudding Yay!
[18:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Wait. What on earth is....huh.
[18:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay.
[18:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I guess.
[18:14] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): what is it?
[18:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Apparently "Rezday Cake" is a giant cupcake with pink frosting and a candle
[18:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) peers.

And that really was it. It didn't explode. It was just a really huge cupcake on a plate.

[18:14] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): there's a rezday cake in the menu?
[18:14] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): that is awesome!
[18:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Under desserts.
[18:14] Tevor Zenovka: Hello, hello
[18:14] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): hi, tevor!
[18:14] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): welcome!
[18:14] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): please, join us.
[18:14] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): "Tea Plate". Erk.
[18:15] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): tevor, do you know the duchess emilly?
[18:15] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): Justine Haggis for you lol
[18:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): All right, tea pastries is better.

I don't know why, but I was truly expecting actual tea on the tea plate? Silly, I suppose.

[18:15] Tevor Zenovka: waiting for the orange clouds to disperse.
[18:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): We've met!
[18:15] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): and this is my guild sister cecelia.
[18:15] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): cece, tevor and saaz are besties.
[18:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): WHY DOES THE GEEK PIZZA TURN.....Oh.
[18:15] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): but he still hangs out with me sometimes.
[18:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It has gears.
[18:15] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oooookay.
[18:15] Tevor Zenovka: pppffft
[18:16] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh neat!

No! Not neat!

[18:16] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): thought he looked familiar
[18:16] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I do not want to eat gears!

I don't! They get in your teeth, and then your teeth make the crunching sounds, and then you wonder why your mouth is filled with blood. Just no. Rather avoid that, thanks.

[18:16] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): lol.
[18:16] Tevor Zenovka: as if you have more than a moment a week with your jam packed schedule
[18:16] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i don't know what you're talking about.
[18:16] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Also, under "Lunch/Tea" options? Avoid the Redneck Calamari.

It's terrifying.

[18:17] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): now you got me curious
[18:17] Tevor Zenovka: Dignified. Yes, that's the pose for me

The chairs at this table occasionally misbehave.

[18:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): That's a holiday feast? Which holiday?

It just looked like...random meats, a green veg, mash, and a squiggle of something that could either be cranberry sauce or brown gravy. No clue.

[18:18] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst) snerks.
[18:18] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): laughs hotdogs cut to look like squid lol
[18:18] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): It's...depressing
[18:19] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): snickers
[18:19] Tevor Zenovka: I am unclear on how to see the menu
[18:19] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Silverware
[18:19] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) peers in the soup bowl
[18:19] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I hate to tell the caterers, but...that is not turtle.

I know. I have eaten turtle soup before. Of course, it was back before I realized that in many places, the turtles used to make the soup are endangered, but...nevertheless. The chunk of undefined meat in the soup bowl did not look like turtle. If anything, it looked like boiled pork belly.

[18:19] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): i'll have a word.
[18:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) selects Spring Salad
[18:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Please don't have springs, please don't have springs--

It did not have springs. Yay.

[18:20] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Okay, we're good
[18:20] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): that sounds pretty safe
[18:21] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Ooh. They got all fancy with the beet salad.
[18:21] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Regular AND heirloom beets.
[18:21] Tevor Zenovka: I think I'll stay with the wine and catch up
[18:21] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) laughs
[18:21] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I'm just checking out menu options, because....this was what I selected after blindly assuming Lunch/Tea options meant getting tea
[18:22] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And, well...
[18:22] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) points at the twitching

I'd summoned out the Kraken Bisque again.

[18:22] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ha!
[18:22] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): oh, sorry.
[18:22] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): in english, "tea" is a meal. not a beverage.
[18:22] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Ah
[18:22] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): This explains much
[18:22] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): in new zealand, "tea" can be morning or afternoon tea.
[18:23] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): or, it is often used as a synonym for dinner.
[18:23] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) nods
[18:23] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): I live amongst the uncivilized :D
[18:23] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): in the US Tea is well umm Tea

What she said.

[18:23] Tevor Zenovka: the pastry is a bit flat
[18:23] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) snerks

Ha, ha. (For those who may not get the joke without visuals, most--though certainly not all--of the offerings in this table are essentially flat picture prims that rez out on the plate.)

[18:23] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): yeah. well, here in hobbit-land, we eat 7 meals a day.
[18:23] Cecelia Hadrian (haadrian): lol
[18:24] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): welcome, circle!
[18:24] Tevor Zenovka: Hi Circle
[18:24] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): please, join us.
[18:24] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Hello!
[18:24] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): circle, everyone, everyone, circle.
[18:24] Circle2 Claven: Hi Justine, everyone
[18:25] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Just FYI, Justine, dinner "starts" at six, so of course, I think people are still sleeping :D
[18:25] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): But I may be poked off the keys at any time
[18:25] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ah, yeah. ok.
[18:25] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[18:25] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst) declares this an accidental dinner party and starts tossing out invitations willy nilly.
[18:25] Tevor Zenovka gingerly tastes the kraken
[18:25] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Ah, for the lost days of yore, when dinner happened at five....
[18:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) tsks at the beignets. Not proper beignets, either.
[18:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): All right, how wrong can you get cheese?
[18:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Oh!
[18:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Just cheese.
[18:26] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Yay!

It is truly a sad day when a plate of sliced cheese makes you happy...because it doesn't contain gears, tentacles or hot dogs.

[18:27] Tevor Zenovka: may be best to just go right to dessert
[18:27] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): ok, so if you click on your wine glass you can change the contents.
[18:27] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): red wine, white, ice water, orange juice.
[18:28] Circle2 Claven: I guess I should change my own glass
[18:28] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): well, the help has the day off today, so yes.
[18:28] Tevor Zenovka: beignet soup?
[18:28] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): AH, that's why you're training the kraken
[18:29] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst) calls for the wine kraken.

Not entirely sure this will work long-term.

[18:29] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): We need to lay out a place in Carcosa for the castle
[18:29] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): he only serves red, though.
[18:29] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And then put the castle out
[18:29] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): yes.
[18:29] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): And then bring the kraken over here
[18:29] Justine (justinejohndory.amethyst): this table is no copy, sadly. so it's either one or t'other.

And we'll pick up the rest in the second part.