Home alone

Mr Spouse has gone out to a pub quiz with his chums, which is rather unusual (normally it's me that's away for work/out at book group/at a Guiding meeting) so I've been relaxing on the sofa (oh, and doing some painting, lest you think I'm totally idle. The endless job that is our understairs loo is nearing its end, but the house is still covered in stuff).

I was watching Death in Paradise which is a bit of light relaxation and scenery, with murder thrown in. Although the flavour of the island is clearly Caribbean instead of African, the food and nature are pretty similar to where I used to live, and the main character, a buttoned-up English detective, complains that the food is "too Caribbean". Too much lobster, crab, and mango. Now, while many people would not consider this a hardship, it struck me (I do have a point, honest) is that there are some kinds of food that you think of as typical of a cuisine, while other foods are "default". I personally consider most types of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, and probably rice, as "just food" and I don't get tired of them (I wouldn't say, oh, we had meat yesterday, let's not have it again today), while pizza, pasta, curry, stiry fry are from a particular cuisine and therefore something to be rotated among the weekly dishes.

I'm not really sure where that particular thought leads me, but clumsily I am trying to link it to what we think of as "default people". Default people have a "default accent" or a "default colour" or a "default number of children". Other people are "special"; it's like the description of a criminal as black, but not usually as white, by white victims, or the child's designation of an adult woman as a mother.


Anyway to get back to my evening, N rang while I was watching this, and sounded more positive, and told me a few things that are going on, nothing major, mainly positive. She is moving apartment and I don't think she has a car, but her new place is opposite a mall, which is going to be much easier for her. I'm not sure she really gets the time difference, but we don't go to bed too early so it's fine.