WotD: lewd

1. lüstern
2. ontuchtig, wulps
3. lascivo
4. lasciu
5. lascif
6. anllad
7. drúisiúil
8. 음란하다 (淫亂하다), 호색의 (好色의)
9. 淫蕩 yíndàng, 好色 hàosè

The party is saved!

Despite the somewhat unsettled state of things right now, we decided to have a few people over for a first viewing of the new digs. Since we don't yet have a proper dining room set (and won't until I can get mine delivered), the plan was to have only cocktails and desert at the house and in between to jaunt up the street to Sabor Peruano for dinner. One of our guests respectfully suggested that we might want to call ahead for reservations just in case, which was a better idea than anticipated because it turned out that they were closed for their annual anniversary cruise.

Fortunately, this same guest eats out even more than I do, so he had plenty of other suggestions. The one that caught the most people's fancy was Masouleh, a newish Persian place about four blocks from here. Once I discovered that the eponymous town was in Gilan Province, I suddenly realised I knew the place. Not firsthand, of course, but through the restaurant reviews of the Reader, which had praised its emphasis on the hearty stews of northwestern Iran.

I loved everything about the place. A particularly charming moment was when one of the owners came by with something we hadn't asked for. "I noticed that you ordered all the other appetisers except this one," she explained as she set down a dish of mirza ghasemi. "This is from the house." "Oh, and we could use more pita" pointed out Nuphy--mere seconds before the server replaced our empty breadbasket with one full of soft warm bread.

To give you an idea how good that eggplant dish was, even I liked it--and I hate eggplant. So you can only imagine how much I enjoyed the things I already like, like the mast-o-khiar or the fessenjan. Particularly outstanding was the lentil soup, made more interesting by the addition of perfectly-cooked beans. But what really bowled me over were the little touches, like sprigs of lemon basil on the plates of fresh herbs, radish, and feta. Or the small pieces of tah dig (crispy rice) thoughtfully included with each platter of Gilani rice.

The most amazing thing of all? Even with tax, tip, and desert, we didn't crack $20 a person. I was kind of wondering what our fallback "nice" restaurant would be in this neighbourhood--we've been treating Uncommon Ground that way, even though it's much more of a monthly splurge joint. I think we've just found it. I may have liked the skate wing I had last Friday at UG, but not twice as much as I did the much more filling portion of lamb shank at Masouleh.

(If you go, be sure to make room for the homemade rosewater-saffron-orange zest ice cream with crushed pistachios. It's like a little taste of Bombay Ice Creamery back home!)

WotD: sprinkler system

1. die Sprinkleranlage
2. die sprinklerinstallatie
3. el sistema de rociadores
4. el sistema automàtic d'extinció d'incendis
5. l'installation d'extincteurs automatiques à eau
6. y system taenellwyr
7. an córas aisréadóra
8. 자동소화장치 (自動消火裝置)
9. 自動灑水系統 zìdòngsǎshuǐxìtǒng