Dinner party

Okay, this isn't a new idea, but today, I read about em's fantasy dinner party, and thought, "good, I'll have something to write about!"

If I could invite any six people in the world to dinner, living or dead, who would I invite? Added to that is what would I serve?

Jesus - Totally curious about him. What would he think of people today? Would he think we were doing anything related to his teachings in the way he intended? I think he'd be one cool conversationalist. Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that Jesus was a hottie.

Buddha - Gotta keep it real. Can't invite one without the others. There are two places I've felt the presence of something more than this world. Once at Stonehenge in England, and the other in Nara in Japan. I was in a very old temple, with the largest wooden carving of Buddha in the world (so big that a person could fit into his left nostril. But that's neither here nor there), and I just had this overwhelming... sense. There's no word to describe it. Both times I didn't expect it. There's something to be said for any ancient sacred place. I mean, hundreds of years of people's collective thoughts must affect a location. But still...

Mohammad - Again with the fairness. I don't know much about this guy. Want to. Already, with these three, we could have a pretty darn good discussion. I'd love to ask them how they get along, and if they could pass that knowledge on to us.

Antonio Banderas - I don't suspect he's such a sparkling conversationalist, but I'd just like to look at him.

Dorothy Parker - Along with Anne Lammott (whom em has already snagged for her dinner party), one of my two favorite female writers. She had heart, and wit, and sorrow. She tried so hard to be cynical and brash, and yet there's a hope to her writing that still comes through. She also made it in a man's world, doing and saying what she wanted. I've always wanted to meet her. Besides, I think she could definitely hold her own with the big guys.

Midge Sites - Who the heck is that? My maternal grandmother, who died when I was 18. It was too soon. I loved her so much, and she was the epitome of kindness. I never got to know her as an adult, and I don't know if she knew how much she shaped my view of goodness in the world. I know she would like the conversation at this table. And, I would like to hug her one more time.


For dinner, I'd order a couple pasta dishes (chicken, artichoke and walnut penne in rosemary gorganzola sauce and yellow pepper, onion, and sausage fusilli in sun-dried tomato cream sauce), with goat cheese and prosciutto salad from Palazzio, an Italian joint here in town. Oh and their fresh garlic rolls, bathed in butter.

Lots of red wine too. Always a social lubricant. And, if we run out, well, you know Jesus has some mad skills in that area.


Only thing is with this dinner? I'd want all my friends to come too.