Losing One's Baggage

[steepholm]

The press is suddenly full of people who hate Marie Kondo. In the last few days alone, articles have appeared in my FB friends feed blaming her for encouraging mindless consumerism, being unnecessarily minimalist, and having a scunner against books. What's clear from the articles (especially ironically in the last case) is that the authors haven't actually read Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying - certainly not with any attention. That would seem to be a minimum requirement for writing an article about her philosophy for a national periodical, surely? After all, it's easy to obtain and quick to read. It's also very good, in my opinion. My two penn'orth from 2016 are here.

On a related note, two days ago I bought the ugliest suitcase in the world, simply because I thought it would be easy to spot on the carousel, and easy to describe if lost. These, to my mind, are two important functions of luggage. My daughter is appalled, but in me it sparks a kind of joy, albeit perverse.



My cheese diet took a knock recently when I ordered a coronation chicken panini in a sandwich shop, only to find once I'd got some way through it that cheese was a major ingredient. Would you consider cheese a component of coronation chicken?

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

Would you consider cheese a component of coronation chicken?

No, but on the other hand it tends to be a major ingredient of paninis....

[steepholm]

Does it? Oh, I thought panini was just a kind of bread!

[redbird]

I think panini=toasted sandwich as well as a certain kind of bread (grilled cheese on rye wouldn't qualify, I don't think), and cheese does seem like a common if not universal ingredient.

[steepholm]

Oh well, live and learn. (Cheese and coronation chicken don't go well together, by the way, in my opinion.)

[tree_and_leaf]

No, that strikes me as a dreadful combination, but the makes of panninis all seem to assume that, as they're designed to be toasted, you must want to have cheese in them!

[green_knight]

(Will talk more about Marie Kondo in my own space).

But I like your suitcase - it's bright and colourful and made me smile. Please don't call it ugly. It's quirky, and if I used suitcases that's exactly the kind of case I'd want.

[steepholm]

Now I'm curious what you use instead of suitcases. Do you always travel light enough for a backpack?

[(Anonymous)]

I have a full size backpack with full packing straps; you can get _a lot_ of things into it, though it becomes a little unwieldy over 20kg. Ever since I've discovered backpacks, I've been a fan – I find them much easier to handle than suitcases. I suppose that it helps to mostly not have formal wear and to stick to two pairs of shoes.

[cmcmck]

Um no, but as mayonnaise is a major one and I can't eat eggs, what would I know? :o)

[calimac]

I have no idea what makes chicken "coronation chicken" except that I'd hope that means that eating it won't knock the crowns out of your teeth.

Panini means "toasted sandwich" to me. A type of bread is implied, but it's the sandwich. If I were thinking about it, I'd expect one to include cheese, because otherwise what would melt and hold the ingredients together? But I probably wouldn't be thinking about it, even if I'd gone cheeseless. I rarely eat sandwiches of any kind, so I don't consider paninis often, though I've sometimes had one when it was the least unappetizing thing on offer.

[steepholm]

Fun fact - coronation chicken is so-called because it was made for the coronation in 1953. It's basically a mixture of chicken, mayonnaise, sultanas/raisins and mild curry powder. It's quite a nice sandwich filling - although not with cheese, as I discovered.

[calimac]

You're right, that does not sound like a mixture to which one would add cheese. I can easily see it in a sandwich, more so than not in a sandwich, but not toasted. That does add a wrinkle.

[sovay]

It's basically a mixture of chicken, mayonnaise, sultanas/raisins and mild curry powder.

Chiming in with everyone else to say I would not put cheese on that.

[sovay]

On a related note, two days ago I bought the ugliest suitcase in the world, simply because I thought it would be easy to spot on the carousel, and easy to describe if lost.

I think that's magnificent, actually. You definitely shouldn't be able to mislay it casually.

[steepholm]

I'm secretly rather pleased to have it. Sadly, my previous suitcase developed a broken wheel and had to be put down.



My Previous Suitcase In Happier Times

[sovay]

My Previous Suitcase In Happier Times

That is a very sweet photo!

[steepholm]

It's from when we were reunited in Tokyo in 2015, after KLM mislaid it for 24 hours. Happy days!

[lamentables]

Congratulations on the excellent suitcase choice. Having spent too many hours of my life watching other people’s luggage gliding past on airport carousels I am baffled by the uniformity of suitcases. Because they are best suited to the travelling we do, we use squashy bags rather than suitcases, which makes them stand out from the crowd, and their mid-blue is accidentally a less common colour.

[intertext]

I think "sparks perverse joy" should be a catchphrase. And no. Cheese and coronation chicken do not mix.

[nixwilliams]

I kind of like your suitcase! Better than a navy blue one.