This months Peace Challenge: Party on Garth – Plan a party that will ripple peace to the world.
This post has been sitting in draft limbo for 20 days here at Breathing Space. Collecting dust and looking forlorn. Because I’m having one super non-peaceful disharmonious time getting it properly started. Sort of like a party that never got past the planning stages. That crucial first sentence is supposed to be the hook that pulls you in and makes you want to read more but Christmas has numbed my brain. Imagine each one of these really bad starts on a separate sheet of crumpled up paper used to practice basketball shots.
1. I hate parties. (That one sat around all by itself for two weeks) (Yes, it did.)
2. I dislike parties very much. Strongly. A lot. Please don’t make me go to your stupid office Christmas Party, I would rather poke myself in the eye with a stick. Make that both eyes with two sticks.
3. I am not a fan of big parties because they seem to consist of crazy noisy drunken crowds, music that’s much too loud with overlapping conversations from six different directions at once so that I get a headache and my ears start to buzz and I just want to go home. There is food sitting around at room temperature for way too long and I don’t want to get food poisoning and people who have had too much to drink always double dip. Gah. I don’t like getting dressed up or dancing (I won’t dance, don’t ask me) and what if there are stupid party games, shenanigans and contests….omg, do people still do that shit? Can I hide in the bathroom?
4. ….party pooper, stick-in-the-mud, wet blanket…. (thank you thesaurus, but where’s my picture?)
5. I am the exact opposite of the life of the party, which must mean I am the death of the party.
6. I can’t remember the last time I got invited to a party. Well. I wonder why.
7. I am not just doing this for the T-shirt you know……
Okay I’m done with the excuses and the procrastinating, as well as with trying to find my inner party animal, because I obviously don’t have one anymore. It took off somewhere around my 30th birthday and hasn’t been heard from since. I guess I don’t hate ALL parties though. Small celebrations and family get-togethers and informal dinner parties are all perfectly fine, as are kids birthday parties and conversations over coffee. This might give you the impression that any party I plan would be EXTREMELY peaceful, because everyone would pass out from boredom. You could be right.
However, think about this for a minute. What if World Peace Talks were combined with generous amounts of wine and cheese? Do you think there would be any more disputes and disagreements after, say, a case or two of Chardonnay each and twelve different kinds of cheese? Worth a try. You can’t fight about something if you don’t remember what it was you were mad about or why you showed up in the first place.
So my peace party will be a wine and cheese tasting extravaganza. I will set up a table of all those exotic cheeses you see in the grocery store deli but are afraid to buy because they’re so expensive and what if they’re gross? Well what you do in that case is bring them out and serve them to your guests, that’s what. Somebody somewhere is bound to like at least one of them. The choices are truly mind-boggling. Pay attention, I’m trying to teach you something here.
Soft Cheese: Blue Castello, Boursin, Brie, Bucheron, buffalo mozzarella, Camembert, feta, goat cheese, Gorgonzola, Limburger, Mascarpone, Muenster, Neufchatel, Pave Affinois, Teleme
Hard Cheese: Asiago, Blue, Derby, Edam, Emmentaler, Grana Padano, Gruyere, Jarlsberg, Manchego, Parmigiano, Pecorino Romano, Raclette, Reggiano, Swiss, Wensleydale, Zamarano
Semi-Soft Cheese: Bel Paese, Baby Swiss, Colby, Fontina, Havarti, Kasseri, Madrigal Baby Swiss, Morbier, Port Salut
Semi-Hard Cheese: Cheddar, Chesire, Cotija, Danish Blue, Double Gloucester, Gouda, Graddost, Panela, Provolone, Roquefort, Sonoma Jack, Stilton
Don’t worry, I’ll make up little signs on toothpicks so you know what the hell you just ate.
Same with the wine. I promise to buy a variety of red and white wines based on the proprietors recommendations and not just on my inclination to try the ones with hysterically funny names.
Soft Cheese Wines: Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Champagne, Cabernet, White Zinfandel, Vidal, Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Chianti, Sancerre
Hard Cheese Wines: Bardolino, Tawny Port, Madeira, Sherry, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre, Côtes du Rhône, Rioja, Cabernet, Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Ribera del Duero, Chardonnay, Chianti Riserva, Beaujolais, Dark Beer, Sangria, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir
Semi-Soft Cheese Wines: Chardonnay, Champagne, Riesling, Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Bordeaux, Rioja, Fleurie, Beaujolais, Chinon, Bourgueil
Semi-Hard Cheese Wines: Chardonnay, Champagne, Riesling, Cabernet, Sancerre, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chianti Riserva, Barolo, Tawny Port
My plan is to choose one cheese from each category and one wine from each complimentary category, pair them together and pretend I actually know what I’m doing.
There will be crackers and olives, nuts, strawberries and peaches, pear slices, walnut bread and strong dark chocolate. Figs, dried apricots, dates and maybe even some champagne. We’ll call that dessert.
Everyone at the party must participate in one action for peace. I will have been sampling wine all afternoon and will be in no condition to determine what exactly that action should be, so please surprise me.
Will this party bring more joy, smiles, love, and peace into the world? Well hopefully, because that would be a lot better result than just a bunch of severe wine hangovers.
On a much more serious note, this is a video on YouTube called The Empathic Civilisation from a lecture by Jeremy Rifkin. Perhaps I will make it compulsory viewing at my party. The Bloggers for Peace idea that Kozo started almost a year ago has generated just this kind of awareness of our sociability, attachment, affection, and companionship with all kinds of people that we might not otherwise have met. In our quest for peace we are certainly not alone. We are all family, and every one of us wishes to celebrate this life we’re so privileged to be living. It’s all about extending empathy until it encompasses everyone on the planet. That my friend would be one big party.
More posts for peace:
Breathing Space 
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