My Dinner with Horiz-andre · 3:22am Jul 24th, 2017
(Yes, Ferret, I know I still owe you the Hypatia Transracialism Controversy blogpost.)
So I'm up in central California right now, doing a spot of dog-sitting and dissertation-writing. But I took time away from analyzing the marginalization problem with DIC today to drive up to Sacramento and meet up with one of my pony-friendliest pony-friends: horizon! He demanded that I write a blog post following this meeting, for reasons that will later become clear.
We enjoyed shaved ice in the 100-degree heat[1]. I shared birthday wishes, and we discussed his new story—"Administrative Angel", currently topping the feature box, read it before supplies run out!
We also found an old-fashioned arcade (of the 1980s type, not the 1910s type), which had a 1983 Star Wars cabinet. Horizon threw down some quarters and wowed me—that's one awesome game. Then he gave me more quarters, because friendship is magic, and told me to play. He has a picture of it hidden away somewhere. The upshot is that I had a lot of fun. The downside is that I'm much less impressed with his skill level now that I've played it myself. I haven't decided whether this counts as a friendship problem we don't actually have, or a resolution to a friendship problem we didn't actually need[2].
Additionally, there was a dinner of Indonesian-Fusion food that involved curry spices, too many onions, and a protracted discussion of the Tarot. Also, a trip to the state capitol, and the neighboring botanical park. Also, and this is the part horizon demanded I write about...
Pinkie Pie's Party Cupcakes!
Actually, what he really did was demand that I write a review of the things. So here goes.
Contained in a small, not-very-resealable tin, these tiny pink tabs of sugary goodness will melt (slowly) in your mouth. They taste of warmth, goodness, and friendship—with just a hint of cake frosting. They do not, as early speculation worried, taste of either despair or regret. Though despair or regret may be in your future when you run out and come down from the low-level fluffy pink high these induce—judging from the sad text message I received from horizon after his supply ran out, anyway. He could have bought some of his own, mais non, Quiet Boy was too interested in buying a bucket-load of moon pies[3] (which were, I admit, very reasonably priced) to get his own party cupcakes.
We partook of these most excellent treats as we perambulated the capitol building and environs, and verily I tell you that they magnified our friendship conspicuously. Forsooth, the hours seemed to dissolve away much like these party-pink dream-drops dissolved on our tongues! If, dear reader, thou hast ever found thyself wondering, "Self, what dost thou think would be the taste of the Smile Song, didst thou participate in the condition commonly denoted as 'synesthesia'?" then lo, thine answer is nigh.
Pinkie Pie's Party Cupcakes—available now from Boston America Corp.
I think I'm out of practice with this whole writing thing...
[1] That's about 38C for you Celsius heathens, or 311 for the Disciples of Kelvin.
[2] No letters will be forthcoming to either princess on the subject of today's activities until such a time as this question is resolved.
[3] I believe he mentioned his intention to use them in some sort of eldritch summoning ritual whereby he can manifest the Lunar Princess on this plane. And the banana-flavored one, I think, was just because he likes eating them.
With this as a sample, I think I for one would like to see you make a comeback. By the way, how did you know I needed a chuckle today?
Shaved ice in 100 degree weather always seems like a case of drinking the sugar water out of the bottom as fast as it melts, giving half of a happy experience, and half pure ice, which in that weather ain't bad at all :)
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Our attempt at eating said ice was saved by the fact that we were on a shaded boardwalk the whole time we had it. Stereotypical gold-rush era building fronts, with the big overhangs. It was downright pleasant in the shade, actually, if you ask me—but we did enough walking around sans shade toward the end that I got a good dose of how awful this heat can be.
Poor horizon's the one I feel sorry for, though. He started out the morning getting tested for his search-and-rescue certification. He was out in the sun all day. It's cooler in the mornings, but even so I don't envy him.
On the subject of shaved ice, though, I think it's worth mentioning this tidbit. They had bottles of flavored syrup out and you could flavor your own. Being the boring old SOB that I am, I got an entire serving of grape. Horizon, the more adventurous of our duo, put three flavors on his. The first was something blue, so possibly blue raspberry? The last was vanilla. The middle flavor, though, was the memorable one. The syrup bottle billed itself as "Tiger Blood".
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I really, really do anticipate that there'll be a comeback—but it's probably a number of months out, still, unless writing somehow becomes my main stress relief[1]. I need to get the dissertation monkey off my back. But I'm lurking on Fimfiction constantly, and I love you guys more than I've got words to express. I'm very much in the fandom boat of "on extended vacation", not "moving on to other things".
[1] This seems unlikely since most of what I'm doing work-wise is writing, so I'm not sure I can really kick back with more writing right now.
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Bubble gum! Blue shaved ice being anything but "bubble gum" is one of the classic blunders, right behind "never get into a land war in Asia" and "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line".
Moon pies over cupcakes? Madness! I'm glad you two managed the heat. Were I a shaved ice syrup vendor, I would've called the red one cheetah blood instead… since it's likely to make you (have to) go really fast
Hmm, are you absolutely certain it was the real horizon??
Too many onions? What is this heresy?
Overall, though, sounds like you guys had a good time.
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I acknowledge your point, but I personally still like tiger blood because of its deep roots in modern pop-culture.
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Of course it was the rea...
Wait, now that you mention it... He had a hat for part of our afternoon, but it was the wrong hat.
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One of us is in complete agreement with you. One of us vehemently disagrees.
Well, yeah, I think we both have full agreement on that point.
Ugh, I feel like I'm dying at ~28 degrees Celsius. The mere thought of 38C makes me shudder.
As a total card-carrying member of the horizon cult of personality, I appreciate this blog post as a by-proxy horizon experience.
That said, I distrust those baked goods, and shelf-stable baked goods in general. Are they actually that good, or are you merely practicing your skill at encomium?
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I knew it!
This does sound quite a lot like a genuine horizon experience. It has the Sunnyseal of...approval?
Or 559.67 R for all you Rankine hipsters out there
