It's been over an hour, and I'm still numb. Dr. Heppner, my dentist (I love that man), "contoured" the base of one of my lower molars and put a sealant on it. This was because my gum had receded slightly and part of the root was exposed, causing the gum to become infected. Antibiotics cured the infection, but without the contouring and sealant, it would happen again.
He said the numbness would wear off in "about" an hour. We're well into the "about" period, and I see no sign of it even starting to wear off. Sigh. In the meantime, I would relish a cup of tea (probably 500 Mile Chai or gunpowder, the ones I usually go to in times of stress), but that will have to wait—I don't want to risk dribbling all over my tee shirt, much less burning my mouth. Lunch must also wait. So you have your tea, and I'll just enjoy it vicariously.
Today's quote: "If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you." – Gladstone, 1865
I made Easter dinner yesterday, and I burned the cheesecake. I don't know why it is, but when I do something for myself, where no one else will see it, it always (well, almost) works out perfectly. But when I make or do something that will be seen or used by others, I almost always screw something up. Every time I fix dinner for a holiday, I burn something, or I put something in the refrigerator and forget it until everyone has left. Sigh.
We got a new oven a year ago, and it bakes faster than the old one. I knew this but forgot it (because I had so many things going on – that's my story) and put the cheesecake in for one hour when fifty minutes would have been sufficient. The cheesecake was too brown on the top, and the crust was like sun-baked brick—the forks almost bent trying to dig into it. It tasted fine. Everyone ate it. But it was a little embarrassing, nonetheless. At age sixty-one one would think I could put together a whole meal without such a mishap. But no… I tell people, it's hard being me.
So I'm sitting here, wanting tea and burnt cheesecake, and I turn on the TV to find there are a couple of Sherlock Holmes movies, back to back. The first one, "Hound of the Baskervilles" was half over when I tuned in. The second one is "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Both star Basil Rathbone as the legendary Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. He is intelligent beyond nine-tenths of the population, which makes him insufferably arrogant. Because of his intelligence, the world holds little mystery or interest for him. He uses opium to blunt his constant boredom with the world and people around him—dabbling in those things which society dictates are off-limits gives him an adrenaline rush.
But he is brilliant when he's solving mysteries. His creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, must have been smarter than Sherlock Holmes or he couldn't have written him so well. Of course Holmes' arch-nemesis Moriarty was Holmes' equal in every way. So Doyle had to keep these two brilliant characters going and constantly out-doing each other.
Many actors have portrayed Holmes over the years. Basil Rathbone played the character splendidly. And Robert Downey Jr. was good in the recent movie. But I think my favorite Sherlock Holmes was Benedict Cumberbatch. He played the part (updated to allow modern technology, like wi-fi) in a limited run series by the BBC in 2009/2010. He conveyed Holmes' tinge of insanity that was missing in the other characterizations.
Of course the best thing about Sherlock Holmes is that he, and the cause of good, always triumphs. I know—the same thing can be said about many other fictional characters (Henri Poirot and Jessica Fletcher are just two that popped up in my mind). But there's something about Sherlock Holmes… A certain charisma, a "je ne sais quoi"… Maybe it's just the touch of madness, after all. But he has remained one of fiction's favorite characters since he first appeared in "A Study in Scarlet" in 1887.
Speaking of "A Study in Scarlet", you can read it online for free (it's in the public domain now) here: http://www.publicbookshelf.com/mystery/study-scarlet/mr-sherlock-holmes. There are other books offered to read online free at www.publicbookshelf.com.
Well, after three hours, the numbness has finally worn off, so I'm off to the kitchen. Burnt cheesecake and tea await.
God bless you. Have a happy day.
No comments:
Post a Comment