On Saturday night I hosted a dinner for UQ women in Philosophy. We had a whole covern turn up (13)*! It was awesome. There was enough food for forty people! Everyone seemed to have a great time and we're all looking forward to another one in the spring.
Preparing for everyone to show up. I wanted lots of candle-light for ambiance.
I discovered that tea lights look amazing in my grandmother's tea cups. The light shines right through the bone china!
Reading the dictionary by candle-light. It was a great party. I had a very interesting conversation about the rivers of Hades and the actual role of the river Styx (not as important as I'd thought!). This led to reading Robert Graves on the river Lethe and that lead to this post.
* I actually have a theory about why 13 is a good number for a non-sit down party. 12 is divisible by 2,3,4,6, which means lots of opportunities for little groups to form and manage themselves. But, with excellent division comes stability, so adding an extra person ensures more chaotic fracturing of social interactions, helping to move people around like a wooden spoon in a pot of dumplings.