My mind, and the places it goes

Do canons with established romantic relationships lend themselves more to AUs because otherwise you don't have the opportunity to write the how-they-met story, the how-they-got-together story? I mean, yeah. Many canons have the how-the-characters-met story in canon. But why, for example, are there a ton of Glee AUs for Kurt and Blaine but not nearly as many in, say, White Collar for Peter and Neal?

(I don't know that I've ever met a fandom as full of AUs as Glee.)

So, as an explanation for why I had to run out and pick up lunch yesterday before the company-sponsored lunch (during a Day of Many Meetings), I said, "I keep kosher." And everyone seemed to perfectly understand what I meant. This is not an uncommon occurrence. It wasn't until today, however, that it occurred to me that it is a phrase that elides a lot of information, uses a word to mean something other than what it traditionally means, and includes a non-English word. Yet my coworkers were not at all confused.

The sentence seems simple. Three words. But only one of them -- "I" -- is straightforward. "Keep" does not usually mean "observe" in American English. "I keep kosher" is not like "I keep birds as pets" or even "I keep time for races" (though I guess it comes somewhat closer to the latter use of "keep").

And "kosher" is a concept that is first of all mostly unfamiliar, I would think, outside the Jewish world. I presume that if I had the same conversation with someone outside of an area that has a decent-sized Jewish community they might not recognize the word. The root means "appropriate"; Judaism 101 suggests "fit, proper, or correct" as definitions. Though "kosher" has made it colloquially outside the Jewish world, the actual details of what kashrut is are not widely familiar.

I'm not sure what specifically caused me to think about this, but there you have it.

-- I'm done with my leave and am now back at work, so expect to see me online at least slightly more often.

-- How is it that Muffin and Squeaker are almost nine weeks old? They're gaining head control and other good things on a daily basis, and they're beginning to notice the other baby in the co-sleeper/pack-and-play.

-- Ridiculous things I've said to my children: "[Muffin/Squeaker], are you crying because you're sad or are you crying because the baby is crying?" "[Muffin/Squeaker], shhh! You'll wake the baby!" "All baby service representatives are currently assisting other babies. Your call is important to us; please be patient and the next available baby service representative will be with you as soon as possible. This call may be monitored for quality assurance."

-- How did it get to be the week before Rosh Hashannah? This happens to me every year, and I never understand how.

-- A question to ponder: what earthly purpose do pockets have on a 0-3 month size onesie? What's she going to carry, her keys and mobile phone? She can't even support her own head yet.

-- People bringing us food was wonderful, but at the same time there is something very nice about getting back to doing my own menu planning and cooking.

-- I missed my coworkers. I did not miss the commute. Thank goodness for understanding management and coworkers who are willing to give me rides.

-- Our home office is at the back of our apartment, and I'm discovering that our portable phone doesn't have the greatest reception back there (the base station is at the front of the apartment in our bedroom, and it's only recently that I'm using the back office regularly, so it hasn't previously been an issue). On the downside, it means that the home line isn't the best to reach me on when I'm working back there. On the upside, though, it means that we won't be as likely to have that phone ringing in the room next door to the kids' room.

-- I've missed everyone while I was in hibernation. I hope all is well by all of you.

Recently, lcmlc asked me how I knew chanaleh, and I had to think a minute to realize that I met her, in fact, through lucretia_borgia about 10 years ago (if not more). And it made me think about some of the other friends that I have that I could've met any number of ways and the friends I have that I originally met because they were friends of friends.

And as my circles have become more and more intertwined, it's hard to remember which was the original source of the friendship (not that it overly matters, but it does aid in me not introducing folks who have already known each other for years).

As my friendships have expanded to the online realm, I find this happening despite geography. Just to take one example, through an odd, up-and-down-the-East-Coast, across-the-US, and international chain of friends, eal (one of my longest-term LJ friends, and one I knew before LJ; in fact, it is because of eal that I have my LJ) is, ultimately, the reason I met eireangus (one of my newer LJ friends). And I can trace that actual line. I also periodically marvel that, more than once, people who live multiple hundreds of miles away from me ended up introducing me to people who live within ten miles of my home.

It is not uncommon for people to remark that I have a large number of friends. I dispute that statment. It's not that I know everyone. It's that everyone I know seems to know everyone else I know. There are tendrils connecting childhood friends with people I've known for less than a year. And I love that.

Is there any functional difference between a commissary and a mess hall?

Why is it that, when I pack everything in zippy bags, nothing overturns or even *threatens* to spill in transit, but when don't use the bags there's a salad dressing apocalypse all over the inside of my bag?

(For the record, today was a zippy bag day, so no dressing disaster.)