The Tea Room, Mk. IV

[HoopyFrood]

*Wanders in, puts a (quick look around) kettle on the stove and sets the water boiling, and puts out a nice array of mugs*

*Potters around while the water boils and rearranges the cushions, fluffing them, and putting the beanbags into an orderly pile*

*Pours out some water when the kettle is boiled and makes some Orange Pekoe, then rummages in the cupboard for some oat biscuits*

*Slumps into a squishy armchair*

Delightful.

[pyan]

*Trundles in, plucks Hoops from the chair, gives her a BIG hug, whirls her around several times, and gently deposits her back on her cushions*

Hello, Orangeissimus! How are you, this fine Sunday?...

[HoopyFrood]

Um...slightly disorientated...and tea covered *flicks away the little bits of tea that sloshed over her* but other than that, not too bad. And appreciative of such a happy greeting. And you seem decidedly cheerful this fine afternoon? *Gets up and patters over to the kettle to pour out tea for Pyan*

[pyan]

Yep, and I don't know why, either....must be getting enough sleep for a change.

How are you getting on with Mr Spencer, then?

[HoopyFrood]

Inexplicable happiness, eh? The best kind. The Hoopy kind!

*Passes him a mug of tea and holds a plate of biscuits under his nose until he takes one*

And...meh. I built up some momentum as the night progressed, but I've still got some ways to go. Damn you, Spenser!

[Ursa major]

* Ursa wanders in, frankly wondering how difficult dialogue consisting of "Ooh, Betty!" can be to read. And momentum? Is someone trying to reenact the rollerskating scene? Shudders. *


Some Tetley's, Septimus, please. The tea not the ale.

[HoopyFrood]

*Pops up from behind an armchair*

HI URSA!

Let me get that for you. Septimus, take a rest, old chap. *Pours out tea for Ursa*

And alas, if it were that simple. Instead it's Edmund Spenser, with his fondness for pronouns in the thick of action. It's not a bad read, though.

[Ursa major]

Hiya, Hoopy.

Ah, Spenser, the Scrabble-players friend! I should have realised.

I'd say I've never read a word of his, but that wouldn't be true. Phrases and sentences, though: that's another matter.

[HoopyFrood]

If you'd care to read The Faerie Queen and then sum it up in a nice, brief paragraph that tells me everything I need to know about it, that'll be great...

*Hands him his mug of tea and holds a plate of biscuits next to him until he takes one*

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the biscuit, Hoopy. A bourbon, I think.

I think you're on your own with The Faerie Queen (apart from your fellow students, of course). Given that it sounds like a Fantasy of sorts, perhaps a paragraph review here in the Chrons wouldn't go amiss. (The Fantasy pre-Tolkien thread, perhaps.)

[HoopyFrood]

A bourbon? *Wrinkles her nose* Well, each to their own, I guess. Sure you wouldn't also like a nice oat biscuit? *Holds the plate under his nose*

And yes, it is rather fantasy-esque. I only have to read book one and part of book two and three, and already we've got a knight (plus three bad knight brothers) a fair maiden, a dwarf, a giant, the House of Pride, big scary monsters, spirits, many gods and I'm quite sure there's a dragon coming up very soon (I also think said dragon will die, and for this egregious mistake, I will have to take revenge for my fellow kind).

[Ursa major]

I meant a chocolate biscuit, Hoopy, not a member of a royal familiy (such as Spain), so it isn't meat.


But a nice oat biscuit will do fine. (I'm rather partial to flapjacks - it means I can claim to eat oat cuisine on a regular basis! )

[HoopyFrood]

I know what you meant, I don't like bourbons (the chocolate...and probably the other bourbons, as they're royalty )

And oat biscuits are the best, I love 'em. Here, have another *Offers the plate again* Or we have the special kind, with chocolate on top. *Spins the plate to offer him these as well*

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

A bourbon? *Wrinkles her nose* Well, each to their own, I guess. Sure you wouldn't also like a nice oat biscuit? *Holds the plate under his nose*

And yes, it is rather fantasy-esque. I only have to read book one and part of book two and three, and already we've got a knight (plus three bad knight brothers) a fair maiden, a dwarf, a giant, the House of Pride, big scary monsters, spirits, many gods and I'm quite sure there's a dragon coming up very soon (I also think said dragon will die, and for this egregious mistake, I will have to take revenge for my fellow kind).

Let's put it this way: it's a big allegory-cum-fairy-tale, with a lot of motifs "borrowed" from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso.... It's also a great pity we don't have the entire thing that Spenser imagined, as (once you get used to his deliberately archaic -- even for his time -- diction), it really is a great deal of fun....

[Ursa major]

* Ursa takes another oat biscuit. *

I'll do my porridge for even thinking of bourbons.



Hello, JD. I might have guessed your scope would include the very early classics.