China patterns

Let me first say this: I poke fun at things. I poke fun at things and people that I like, and don't like. I poke fun at myself, at my family, friends, partner, co-workers, neighbors, people in the news and those who make an impression -- and the things they do or don't do. It's probably accurate to say that the only things that I don't joke about are things that don't make any impression on me at all, don't even register with me. Or things and people that I feel I need to "walk on eggshells" (or glass, or whatever metaphor works here) around. For example, I fight the urge to joke about bombs at airports, and only do so very very quietly, but I have no problem joking about them elsewhere. I joke to deal with stuff, and some people are offended by that. That's too bad. We're humans. We're a funny sort of critter. We sometimes take life and death too seriously. I tend to try to lighten things with jokes about the matters at hand. It means I care. It means I'm thinking about them. It means they're important to me. If I don't joke about you, you either don't mean anything to me, or I'm nervous around you -- both are bad, in my opinion.

With that general disclaimer, let me move on to weightier matters at hand. This morning I was informed that we need to choose our china patterns. Yes, patternS -- formal and informal. I hadn't even known there was such a thing as informal china. China, to me, was the stuff I didn't touch and didn't use because it would break. My ultimate dinnerware? Corelle White -- it's durable enough not to break when dropped gently on most floors; it's dishwasher safe; its whiteness doesn't visually distract from the food's; it stacks nicely and doesn't take up a lot of room; it's not super heavy, like some stoneware; and it's classic -- white has been the choice of restaurants and fine dining for centuries. It's just about as perfect as dinner ware can get. Hands-down, that's my #1 choice for china.

Alas, my partner's complete set of Mikasa dinnerware doesn't count as the other set, so we need to choose another. I will suggest Corelle be the everyday china (the stuff I will feel allowed to use), and help pick out a pattern for formal china. Alternatively, I'm pretty sure I could probably live with any design for the formal china (her mother and grandmother have nice stuff!), so if she has strong feelings about a design, I could smile and nod approvingly -- as long as she lets me eat off my Corelle the other 360 days of the year.