The Ultimate Dinner Party - Part 1

While I was browsing blogs over the weekend, I found one (Captain Picard's Journal, http://jlpicard.blogspot.com/) which offered a very thought-provoking post in the form of a question: if you could host a dinner party and invite anyone in the world you wanted - past or present, living or dead - who would you invite, and why?

I thought about this off and on all weekend, and finally decided that I'd need either a very large dining room or a long series of dinner parties, because there are so many interesting people I wish I had the opportunity to meet. I'll fill all the seats at the table over time...for now, here are the first five people I would invite:

Leonardo da Vinci - the ultimate inventor, artist, and thinker; a man hundreds of years ahead of his time. Wouldn't it be marvelous to talk with him and pick his brain for an evening?

Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt - one of our greatest presidents and his wife. He led the country out of the Great Depression and through World War II; she was his partner and advisor, and although they didn't love each other, they made a formidable political team. I think it would be fascinating to watch the interplay between them and learn something of their place in history directly from them.

Dorothy Parker - a marvelously witty journalist, writer, and poet, famous for her biting and satirical wit. She was a founding member of the famous literary society known as the Algonquin Round Table (also known as "The Vicious Circle"), and responsible for such marvelous critical reviews as, "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." I'd love to be able to try my hand at witty repartee with a lady of her stature and skill.

And finally,

Will Rogers - the man whose gentle, folksy humor and honest, intelligent observations about America and its government entertained and earned the respect of the nation. He was famous for such gentle, satirical observations as, "If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?", and, "Everyone is ignorant, only in different subjects." Tragically, he was killed in an airplane crash in 1935. I think it would be marvelous to spend an evening with him and hear his observations on the America of today.

Okay, those are my first five dinner party guests, and my rationale. Who would you invite, and why? Post your comment or e-mail me at bilbo_the_blogger@yahoo.com and let me know. We'll come back to this topic in the future and see who we can entice to our table for an evening of conversation and sharing of knowledge.

I know it'll be fascinating.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo