Merry Free Thread, MeFites ... and a MetaFilter Christmas past
December 25, 2023 12:22 AM Subscribe
(This is a free thread. But it also complements the not-free-thread. So write in either. Or both.) While some enjoy fine dining on the 25th, and do other things (inaccurate list), so others go to mass or surf, or eat domcă or plachie. But what are you doing? And while December 1999 was a quite different place on the blue of MetaFilter, what were you doing (or how was your life back then) on Christmas Day 1999?
butts.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 12:44 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 12:44 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
We're both enjoying a very quiet simple day near the bottom of New Zealand, mostly gardening and reading, (for me Pattern Recognition for the nth time) and eating strawberries. Neither of us have family so a quiet time is more certain.
It's a strange summer (supposed to be a hard El-Nino, but not for us yet, cooler and damp), more like the coastal mid-Devon summer hols of my childhood than 100k inland at 46° South. I hope everyone is having a nice break, and normal weather.
posted by unearthed at 12:49 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
It's a strange summer (supposed to be a hard El-Nino, but not for us yet, cooler and damp), more like the coastal mid-Devon summer hols of my childhood than 100k inland at 46° South. I hope everyone is having a nice break, and normal weather.
posted by unearthed at 12:49 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
Mr & Mrs CF were having our first Christmas together. :)
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:11 AM on December 25, 2023 [17 favorites]
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:11 AM on December 25, 2023 [17 favorites]
Nursing a big black eye from my cataract surgery on the 22nd of December. Doc says not unusual, but always happens on the second eye surgery...Had my first one done two months ago.And my appointment for new drivers license is two days from now, which requires a new photo... Just having a quiet dinner of pizza from a local joint...Most family is departed or moved away.
posted by Czjewel at 2:10 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 2:10 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Just getting over a nasty cold, but we don't celebrate Christmas much so it isn't a big deal. Last weekend I ran the Wolmi Naked Marathon (which is only 7km, and topless, not naked, but I appreciate their hyperbole) and it was -15c and incredibly windy. I wasn't in top condition but still did pretty well. In the past there were only about three hundred participants that were almost all local and were not really runners, which was funnier, but the past couple years there have been more than double the participants and they are coming from all around and wearing funny costumes, which is also fun.
posted by Literaryhero at 2:44 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Literaryhero at 2:44 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Hiding in the bedroom because I'm sick of my family.
posted by prismatic7 at 2:56 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by prismatic7 at 2:56 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
My small family (my kid, the son-in-law, the grandchild) are out of state with the in -laws as they are every other year, and I am at home in my decluttered rowhouse with my black and gray tabby cat, whom I adopted three months ago snd who adores me. Yesterday I put together the Lego wildflower kit my kid gave me when we celebrated before they left. My kid called me last night, homesick, because we like each other and they miss me. My husband died more than a year ago and I seem to have mostly recovered. My mother decided to die on Christmas Day in 2006 (yes, she did; she was an Episcopal priest with Parkinson’s Disease and she deliberately stopped eating and drinking at just the right time to mess up the holiday for everyone) and it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.The fake tree is up and I have the YouTube video of a fireplace on my television.
I have an objectively beautiful life and I am enjoying the heck out of it.
My holiday wish for everyone is that you do what you enjoy, and not what you think other people expect, this season
posted by Peach at 3:59 AM on December 25, 2023 [24 favorites]
I have an objectively beautiful life and I am enjoying the heck out of it.
My holiday wish for everyone is that you do what you enjoy, and not what you think other people expect, this season
posted by Peach at 3:59 AM on December 25, 2023 [24 favorites]
Ugh, on the night of the 23rd I got the 'Rona/Covid - woke up feverish (forgot what a misery that is yet instantly recognised it. In the midst of the delirium wondered if, say some couple hundred years ago people would wake up fever-addled and wonder if they would make it through the day.) My friend/wife/partner had it last week and I thought I had managed to duck it one more time - it's been the first time for both of us. Due to the lag-time question and the fact that most of our family are over 70, we called a big chunk of the festivities off (we were going to split in two, and then join up later in the day.) I swung in and out of fever-world, eventually took ibuprofen and (!)slept through the night.
Yesterday a crow showed up on the balcony to eat the peanuts I put out. They looked younger than others I had seen. Circle of life and all that, I wished it a happy new year, took it as a good omen.
posted by From Bklyn at 4:27 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
Today I (an atheist raised Orthodox Jewish) am picking up a (Muslim) friend from her house and we're going hiking, then getting groceries at H Mart. Tis the season.
In 1999, I was in my first year of college, so probably doing laundry at my parents' house and avoiding them. Though that might've been the year I went on a Zionist propaganda trip to Israel (aka the Birthright experience); might be getting it mixed up with the following year.
This week I am hoping to join some of the anti-Zionist protests occurring in DC.
posted by wicked_sassy at 4:40 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
In 1999, I was in my first year of college, so probably doing laundry at my parents' house and avoiding them. Though that might've been the year I went on a Zionist propaganda trip to Israel (aka the Birthright experience); might be getting it mixed up with the following year.
This week I am hoping to join some of the anti-Zionist protests occurring in DC.
posted by wicked_sassy at 4:40 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
Tidbits from Christmas Eve with the family I’m lucky to have:
Tried convincing my four year old niece that the lights flickering did not in fact mean we were running out of electricity. “Uncle Abehammerb, no, believe me about this, I’n smarter than you.”
My two year old niece started talking last week, and went from nothing to pretty darn conversant. Mostly, “Come with me” “more cookies” and “do again!”
Polish Vigilia remains bland and awful. Jewish half of family reminded me that their holiday food is worse much worse.
Taught my sister’s kids that they should wake up early and get mommy and daddy out of bed right away.
Completely wrecked my knees (again!) wrestling with the kiddos. I deserve this for the “wake up early” thing.
Taught children to “sword fight” with empty Pringles cans over their hands.
Pretty good night for a trip to the inlaws. Next week a trip out to the desert to spend time with my folks.
Merry Christmas and much love from the Abehammerb family!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:41 AM on December 25, 2023 [11 favorites]
Tried convincing my four year old niece that the lights flickering did not in fact mean we were running out of electricity. “Uncle Abehammerb, no, believe me about this, I’n smarter than you.”
My two year old niece started talking last week, and went from nothing to pretty darn conversant. Mostly, “Come with me” “more cookies” and “do again!”
Polish Vigilia remains bland and awful. Jewish half of family reminded me that their holiday food is worse much worse.
Taught my sister’s kids that they should wake up early and get mommy and daddy out of bed right away.
Completely wrecked my knees (again!) wrestling with the kiddos. I deserve this for the “wake up early” thing.
Taught children to “sword fight” with empty Pringles cans over their hands.
Pretty good night for a trip to the inlaws. Next week a trip out to the desert to spend time with my folks.
Merry Christmas and much love from the Abehammerb family!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 4:41 AM on December 25, 2023 [11 favorites]
I spent Christmas Day 1999 in Australia, with my ex-girlfriend and her family (we were already exes by that point but on good terms; I was travelling down under), extremely hung over because Christmas Eve was a Big Night Out in her neck of the woods, and slightly weirded out by the experience of a Christmas Day where everyone went to the beach in the afternoon.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:41 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:41 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
My niece tested positive for Covid yesterday morning. Probably got it on the flight home from Arizona. Small blessing that it arrived before the holiday dinner in the afternoon, and so hopefully the rest of the family will be spared this time around. I was assigned delivery duty, bringing leftovers to my sister’s house. I took a GrubHub style picture of the bag at their door to text, and then waited to wave to my sister as she picked it up. My sister isn’t sick yet, but they have a small place and have been together for the last 4 days so her odds aren’t great.
My 1999 Christmas? I was two years out of university, and just entering into the HFT career that I’ve been in since then. I started the job at Hull Trading the week before Christmas that year. I’d only just moved into Chicago proper a few months before. Logan Square was a much different place back then. A little rough around the edges still, a far cry from the completely gentrified fancypants neighborhood it is today.
And ugh. Now that I think of it, I must have spent Christmas at my dad’s, because my mom and stepdad were still going up to Wisconsin to stepdad’s family back then. That was back when I was still on speaking terms with dad’s side.
posted by notoriety public at 5:02 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
My 1999 Christmas? I was two years out of university, and just entering into the HFT career that I’ve been in since then. I started the job at Hull Trading the week before Christmas that year. I’d only just moved into Chicago proper a few months before. Logan Square was a much different place back then. A little rough around the edges still, a far cry from the completely gentrified fancypants neighborhood it is today.
And ugh. Now that I think of it, I must have spent Christmas at my dad’s, because my mom and stepdad were still going up to Wisconsin to stepdad’s family back then. That was back when I was still on speaking terms with dad’s side.
posted by notoriety public at 5:02 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Merry Christmas, Metafilter.
We’re at home, ostensibly because Little e likes it best that way, but secretly, I prefer it, too. We did a pre-Christmas with family, which meant we had all our panicked rush a week or two early and yesterday was just for making too many cookies, at a leisurely pace. Tonight, after we have gorged ourselves on too many sweets, Mr. eirias will make us a stir-fry containing an actual vegetable.
In 1999 I would have been celebrating with my parents and my college boyfriend. We never had to have disputes about whose family “won” for Christmas because his family was Jewish. He seemed to enjoy the opportunity for cultural exchange and being thoroughly spoiled by my mother, who adored him.
posted by eirias at 5:10 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
We’re at home, ostensibly because Little e likes it best that way, but secretly, I prefer it, too. We did a pre-Christmas with family, which meant we had all our panicked rush a week or two early and yesterday was just for making too many cookies, at a leisurely pace. Tonight, after we have gorged ourselves on too many sweets, Mr. eirias will make us a stir-fry containing an actual vegetable.
In 1999 I would have been celebrating with my parents and my college boyfriend. We never had to have disputes about whose family “won” for Christmas because his family was Jewish. He seemed to enjoy the opportunity for cultural exchange and being thoroughly spoiled by my mother, who adored him.
posted by eirias at 5:10 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
I woke up too early today. Just like when I was a kid, but unintentionally.
It'll be a quiet day at home with the two of us and the cats. Making fruit pancakes for breakfast and macaroni and cheese for dinner, the latter with some chunks of leftover Thanksgiving ham mixed in.
Hope you all eat good today as well!
posted by May Kasahara at 5:28 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
It'll be a quiet day at home with the two of us and the cats. Making fruit pancakes for breakfast and macaroni and cheese for dinner, the latter with some chunks of leftover Thanksgiving ham mixed in.
Hope you all eat good today as well!
posted by May Kasahara at 5:28 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Having a quiet morning w/my son before heading over to relatives, things I've enjoyed so far:
- We watched our annual viewing of 'Die Hard' last night, still so good: "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."
- Watching the Bad Brains Christmas concert clips from 1982
- I have been in a creative lull the last few weeks, and so flipping through my Christmas present to myself has been very inspiring. It may be too late for this year, but for anyone looking for 2024 presents for artists, scientists, or just anyone with a curious bone in their body, "Explorers' Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure" is so cool, it features scans of original sketchbook pages from the 18th century up through the 20th, amazing stuff.
Christmas 1999 I had just started a new job for the office I still work for and will retire from some day. All I really remember is that the 2 people I was spending Christmas with would not shut up arguing about when the new century would begin, very tiresome. Ever have that feeling that there are people out there somewhere who are having interesting conversations but you're never there?
This Christmas is not very much better companywise but I do have 5 days off from work and the 2 most adorable cats in the world sitting on me, and I don't have to cook Christmas dinner or wash dishes after it, and I found a very good wine from Virginia, and I have a lot of new books, so things are good on the whole.
posted by JanetLand at 6:03 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
This Christmas is not very much better companywise but I do have 5 days off from work and the 2 most adorable cats in the world sitting on me, and I don't have to cook Christmas dinner or wash dishes after it, and I found a very good wine from Virginia, and I have a lot of new books, so things are good on the whole.
posted by JanetLand at 6:03 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don’t recall Christmas 1999 with any particular clarity, but there is a moment from just under a week later that stays with me:
Background: I grew up in and was then living in Canada; as well, Y2K was an unknown property. No one was 100% sure that all the potential problems had been addressed. Not a few people had laid in stores of tinned food and bottled water.
The morning of December 31, 1999, I woke up and realized it was coming up on the moment of truth. I also realized that of course, it was already 2000 in New Zealand, so I turned on CNN to see if there were planes crashing or nuclear plants melting down. Of course, there was nothing dramatic, and at the moment I turned on the TV, it was just turned midnight on the east coast of Australia. I recall seeing fireworks going off from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as seen through the boats at anchor in the harbour.
My immediate thought, was, “Man, it must be cold being out in the harbour on New Year’s Eve.” This was followed about four seconds later by, “You idiot.”
I had learned about hemispheres in geography class when I was seven or eight, and had known for decades that Christmas fell in the summer for antipodeans. It really never occurred to me until that moment that New Year’s did as well.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:13 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Background: I grew up in and was then living in Canada; as well, Y2K was an unknown property. No one was 100% sure that all the potential problems had been addressed. Not a few people had laid in stores of tinned food and bottled water.
The morning of December 31, 1999, I woke up and realized it was coming up on the moment of truth. I also realized that of course, it was already 2000 in New Zealand, so I turned on CNN to see if there were planes crashing or nuclear plants melting down. Of course, there was nothing dramatic, and at the moment I turned on the TV, it was just turned midnight on the east coast of Australia. I recall seeing fireworks going off from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as seen through the boats at anchor in the harbour.
My immediate thought, was, “Man, it must be cold being out in the harbour on New Year’s Eve.” This was followed about four seconds later by, “You idiot.”
I had learned about hemispheres in geography class when I was seven or eight, and had known for decades that Christmas fell in the summer for antipodeans. It really never occurred to me until that moment that New Year’s did as well.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:13 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
December 1999 was a quite different place on the blue of MetaFilter,
Er, yes: an entire day with four posts total, and a collective total of three comments on them.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:28 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
Er, yes: an entire day with four posts total, and a collective total of three comments on them.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:28 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
Merry Christmas, MetaFilter! Currently sitting by the fire, reading and gaming and eating See's truffles while my true love knits. The tree is glowing, the sun is shining in the cold, and squirrels are busy squirreling outside.
In 1999? It was a weird holiday on various counts, including a 26-hour bus ride, on which I read Steven Millhauser's Enchanted Night and Paul La Farge's The Artist of the Missing. By the end of the ride, I was no longer entirely certain that reality existed.
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:28 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
In 1999? It was a weird holiday on various counts, including a 26-hour bus ride, on which I read Steven Millhauser's Enchanted Night and Paul La Farge's The Artist of the Missing. By the end of the ride, I was no longer entirely certain that reality existed.
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:28 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Christmas 1999 I was around 5/6 months pregnant with my youngest. The eldest was just over 2 1/2 and every time we handed him a present to unwrap, he said, in the cutest little baby voice, "Oh! Thank you!" Every. Single. Time. It remains one of my favorite memories.
This year I woke up early, unintentionally, and am enjoying a quiet morning. The eldest (now just over 26 1/2) is sleeping downstairs and the youngest (who is 23) will be driving home from Chicago when her shift at the Brookfield Zoo ends today. Tomorrow will be our actual Christmas! I'll spend the rest of today cooking for tomorrow, making cookies, wrapping gifts.
Happy happy to all who celebrate!
posted by cooker girl at 6:33 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
This year I woke up early, unintentionally, and am enjoying a quiet morning. The eldest (now just over 26 1/2) is sleeping downstairs and the youngest (who is 23) will be driving home from Chicago when her shift at the Brookfield Zoo ends today. Tomorrow will be our actual Christmas! I'll spend the rest of today cooking for tomorrow, making cookies, wrapping gifts.
Happy happy to all who celebrate!
posted by cooker girl at 6:33 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Update to my earlier status: Just tested positive for COVID, though it appears to be a mild case. At least this time, unlike the last time, I'm not taking care of a man with terminal cancer and I can sleep in my own bed.
And I mask conscientiously and am boosted. Be safe out there.
posted by Peach at 7:05 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
And I mask conscientiously and am boosted. Be safe out there.
posted by Peach at 7:05 AM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
I came down with a bad cold on Friday. A runny nose, low grade fever and general exhaustion. Too tired to take a shower or make a sandwich. Too tired to talk on the phone.
Saturday was better and Sunday woke up feeling okay. I was seeing my family Christmas Eve so I took a home Covid test just in case. I did not think it was Covid - I mean, I've had it three times already, and obviously there must be a limit to how many times you can get if you are a triple vaxxed double boostered youngish person. Sigh.
So. I spent my Christmas Eve (which where I live is the main celebration) watching my family celebrate via Teams.
Because it turns out you can get Covid four times.
Merry Christmas Metafilter! I did not know about the site back in 1999 (back then celebrating with my parents, still living at home) but I'm glad I found my way here in 2011.
Hope all of us who are sick get better soon.
posted by M. at 7:06 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Saturday was better and Sunday woke up feeling okay. I was seeing my family Christmas Eve so I took a home Covid test just in case. I did not think it was Covid - I mean, I've had it three times already, and obviously there must be a limit to how many times you can get if you are a triple vaxxed double boostered youngish person. Sigh.
So. I spent my Christmas Eve (which where I live is the main celebration) watching my family celebrate via Teams.
Because it turns out you can get Covid four times.
Merry Christmas Metafilter! I did not know about the site back in 1999 (back then celebrating with my parents, still living at home) but I'm glad I found my way here in 2011.
Hope all of us who are sick get better soon.
posted by M. at 7:06 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Nursing a big black eye from my cataract surgery on the 22nd of December. Doc says not unusual, but always happens on the second eye surgery...
Which possibly could mean that your body responded very differently to a second identical surgery than it did the first, as if it had learned from the first and was choosing to do something different the second time around. Which is strange and intriguing.
My best friend is having cataract surgery on both eyes, one a few weeks after the other, early next year, and is the kind of person who would wonder whether something had gone very wrong if this happened to her. I’ll have to keep it in mind.
posted by jamjam at 7:18 AM on December 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Which possibly could mean that your body responded very differently to a second identical surgery than it did the first, as if it had learned from the first and was choosing to do something different the second time around. Which is strange and intriguing.
My best friend is having cataract surgery on both eyes, one a few weeks after the other, early next year, and is the kind of person who would wonder whether something had gone very wrong if this happened to her. I’ll have to keep it in mind.
posted by jamjam at 7:18 AM on December 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
I rode my bike outdoors today, the latest in the year I've ever been able to do so. It was foggy but near 40F. This is not great.
posted by tommasz at 7:23 AM on December 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 7:23 AM on December 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Woke up this morning with a solid cup of coffee. Headed out to the Arabian Sea via Water Metro. Was invited by a group of about 20 strangers, young men having morning Christmas beer and liquor in the shade by the beach. After being filled up with few of beers, walked around and met a fisherman who showed me around his teak wood canoe, 4 horsepower engine, fast. Paddles were like big wooden spoons, the hull sewn together by fiber. Then a walk back towards the KRSTC communal bus. Christmas greetings from everyone. Along the way, a woman was cooling her water buffalo in the creek, she invited me to take a selfie with her water buffalo and told (warned?) me: it's too hot. Starting to feel nausea, dizzy, horrible. In the 35°C heat, having just coffee and beer probably wasn't the wisest choice. Really just not doing well. Got back home, feeling like a flu/fever was about to set in. Took an ice cold shower then a two hour nap.
Feeling better now. Remember everyone: drink a lot of water, stay in the shade, avoid heat stroke.
posted by UN at 7:30 AM on December 25, 2023 [12 favorites]
Feeling better now. Remember everyone: drink a lot of water, stay in the shade, avoid heat stroke.
posted by UN at 7:30 AM on December 25, 2023 [12 favorites]
Merry Christmas to those celebrating and happy Monday to the rest of you. Enjoying a few days with my family. Got up early to make the apple crisp, because it is very hard to find a time the oven is not being used, and then went for a run. It is also my birthday, so it's nice to get to be with them for that, too.
In 1999, I was in AmeriCorps, working for Maryland DNR. We got very little time off for the holidays. My roommates all left before me, and our little basement apartment in Annapolis was barely heated, so I remember that as a dark, cold, lonely time. It was snowy in MD, and I remember the snow slowly fading as I drove south on I95 then I85 to NC.
posted by hydropsyche at 7:52 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
In 1999, I was in AmeriCorps, working for Maryland DNR. We got very little time off for the holidays. My roommates all left before me, and our little basement apartment in Annapolis was barely heated, so I remember that as a dark, cold, lonely time. It was snowy in MD, and I remember the snow slowly fading as I drove south on I95 then I85 to NC.
posted by hydropsyche at 7:52 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Three grown kids are reading Christmas gift books, while the fourth plays video games. I guess .750 ain't bad...
posted by wenestvedt at 7:54 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:54 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
What with all the sickness, I’m starting to think they have the right idea in Australia. Let’s move Christmas to summer. We don’t all have to celebrate it at once, right? Give Santa year-round employment? Whadddya say?
posted by eirias at 7:54 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by eirias at 7:54 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
My Christmas gifts last night went great. They were opened last night because people around here are really sleeping in these days. I got fun things like books and toys, including the Lego Magic Maze I didn't think I'd get (and nearly bought for myself, good thing I didn't!), can't wait to mess with that today. It's adorable, if possibly not working totally smoothly when i watched videos online. My mom's boyfriend also gave me a large amount of money with instructions not to save it, but to have fun with it. I think I'm going to use a fifth of it to pay for a ticket to go to a swanky NYE party one of my theaters is putting on this year, that I really wanted to go to but couldn't justify under the circumstances.
I have to leave early here today, which I'm not thrilled about, but I have to be located back home for my program tomorrow morning and they'd rather I not schlep home in the dark, which is fair. It will be interesting to see if my mom actually gets all the food done in time, which I suspect not because she wanted to make lasagna (me: "how long does that take again, because me just cooking a defrosted one seems to take a few hours...").
Other than that, I am brooding over this situation, unfortunately. I know I was all "time to let it burn" and all that, but now I feel shitty and guilty that I said this sort of thing during the Christmas season, watching the old guy and his son make up in Home Alone last night made me feel sad and guilty, etc. I had a dream last night where I heard from the person, was briefly happy, and then woke up and realized it was a dream. I don't know...I wish I didn't hurt over the situation, I don't really know how to stop hurting over it, and I thought burning bridges would finally make it stop, but apparently not. I think I assumed they'd apologize, but then I reread over what I said and um, yeah, I think I discouraged that heavily, albeit that was because I figured they'd be all, "I feel uncomfortable and will never speak to you again because you made me feel uncomfortable" and trying to guilt someone into responding isn't great. Though also maybe they just haven't read their mail. I don't know.
I just continue to make myself crazypants and I don't know what the heck else to do to make myself feel like less shit about the situation and to just totally stop caring and let it go, because burning the goat about it didn't work either. Or maybe it's just Christmas regrets that I was deliberately shitty at Christmas, too. I'm not sane and I'm not thinking things clearly (which I actually pointed out in the letter) and I just made everything weird. I want to make up but at the same time don't think it's possible and it's probably not a great idea and hell, I don't know, nobody knows.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
I have to leave early here today, which I'm not thrilled about, but I have to be located back home for my program tomorrow morning and they'd rather I not schlep home in the dark, which is fair. It will be interesting to see if my mom actually gets all the food done in time, which I suspect not because she wanted to make lasagna (me: "how long does that take again, because me just cooking a defrosted one seems to take a few hours...").
Other than that, I am brooding over this situation, unfortunately. I know I was all "time to let it burn" and all that, but now I feel shitty and guilty that I said this sort of thing during the Christmas season, watching the old guy and his son make up in Home Alone last night made me feel sad and guilty, etc. I had a dream last night where I heard from the person, was briefly happy, and then woke up and realized it was a dream. I don't know...I wish I didn't hurt over the situation, I don't really know how to stop hurting over it, and I thought burning bridges would finally make it stop, but apparently not. I think I assumed they'd apologize, but then I reread over what I said and um, yeah, I think I discouraged that heavily, albeit that was because I figured they'd be all, "I feel uncomfortable and will never speak to you again because you made me feel uncomfortable" and trying to guilt someone into responding isn't great. Though also maybe they just haven't read their mail. I don't know.
I just continue to make myself crazypants and I don't know what the heck else to do to make myself feel like less shit about the situation and to just totally stop caring and let it go, because burning the goat about it didn't work either. Or maybe it's just Christmas regrets that I was deliberately shitty at Christmas, too. I'm not sane and I'm not thinking things clearly (which I actually pointed out in the letter) and I just made everything weird. I want to make up but at the same time don't think it's possible and it's probably not a great idea and hell, I don't know, nobody knows.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
This go-round I'm rethinking my approach to aging; ie, I'm finally admitting to myself that it's happening to me. After suffering a bad fall a couple of weeks back, I'm now strategizing ways to avoid falls in the future and developing contingency plans for the next one. Even though my weight is now the lowest it has been in decades, hauling my carcass off the deck is a struggle and it's only commonsense to assume that I'll have to face the challenge again next year. Not a happy Christmas thought, but it's what's occupying my thoughts right now.
posted by SPrintF at 8:19 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 8:19 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
If we moved Christmas to the summer, half the US would still be packing themselves into aluminum tubes at the same time with no protective measures, so...
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:57 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:57 AM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm recently out from behind the Great Chinese Firewall where one cannot access YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia*, anything Google, major metropolitan newspapers and especially Metafilter, really missed you guys!
* Curiously though, a curated sub-set of Wikipedia pages is available: the New World Encyclopedia, a project of the Unification Church.
posted by Rash at 9:11 AM on December 25, 2023 [10 favorites]
* Curiously though, a curated sub-set of Wikipedia pages is available: the New World Encyclopedia, a project of the Unification Church.
posted by Rash at 9:11 AM on December 25, 2023 [10 favorites]
Welcome back, Rash! And, of course, it goes without saying, but Hail Vectron!
posted by tigrrrlily at 9:25 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by tigrrrlily at 9:25 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
We said goodbye to my dear Pico this morning after nearly seventeen years of being the Best Cat Ever. Biggest love to the mobile hospice vet who takes appointments Christmas Day.
posted by avocet at 9:51 AM on December 25, 2023 [21 favorites]
posted by avocet at 9:51 AM on December 25, 2023 [21 favorites]
Oh, I’m so sorry, avocet.
posted by eirias at 9:58 AM on December 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by eirias at 9:58 AM on December 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
omg I didn't know the other thread wasn't a free thread in a holiday hat!
I apologize for that.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Cheery Kwanzaa, late Rockin' Ramadan, and a Saucy Saturnalia.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 10:01 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
I apologize for that.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Cheery Kwanzaa, late Rockin' Ramadan, and a Saucy Saturnalia.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 10:01 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
1999? I'd had tonsilititis at the end of my first term at university and aware enough of the buzz around Y2K that it was basically a solved problem while less-informed family members panicked, still a bit afraid.
This year, we assembled my siblings and their entourages at my parents house as was the plan in 2020 but for regional lockdowns, we've eaten well opened gifts and taken naps.
We're brazenly celebrating -- I know many people don't feel it appropriate -- Woke Awareness of Other Festivals We Colonized Day. May your celebrations be a joy and a delight.
posted by k3ninho at 10:25 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
This year, we assembled my siblings and their entourages at my parents house as was the plan in 2020 but for regional lockdowns, we've eaten well opened gifts and taken naps.
We're brazenly celebrating -- I know many people don't feel it appropriate -- Woke Awareness of Other Festivals We Colonized Day. May your celebrations be a joy and a delight.
posted by k3ninho at 10:25 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
we always do Xmas eve with the MIL. the group has shrunk over the years, so there were only four of us. some nice wine, and all the food was great. I always handle decorating the pie my husband makes, this year's was a great one (a kitty head wearing a santa hat aka Santy Claws, you know.)
today we will have a chill dinner with a small group of friends. The boys are going to jam for a while, its so cute watching old white guys rock out. I'm going to do my best to convince the group we should all watch Die Hard together. or else, I have to watch it tomorrow.
had pie for breakfast, cause I'm not a damn barbarian!
happy whatever you celebrate!
posted by supermedusa at 10:55 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
today we will have a chill dinner with a small group of friends. The boys are going to jam for a while, its so cute watching old white guys rock out. I'm going to do my best to convince the group we should all watch Die Hard together. or else, I have to watch it tomorrow.
had pie for breakfast, cause I'm not a damn barbarian!
happy whatever you celebrate!
posted by supermedusa at 10:55 AM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm pretty sure I was living (briefly) in Las Vegas in '99, so I probably had xmas dinner with Aunt & Uncle and assorted cousins, but really I cannot say for sure...that was a long time ago!
posted by supermedusa at 11:06 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 11:06 AM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
Our good friend left us a homemade stollen this morning and I replied to her:
"Behold, I bring good tidings of great joy. For unto you is born this day a stollen, which is a German sweet bread your friend knows you really like. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the bread wrapped in tinfoil, hanging from your doorknob."
You know somebody loves you when they make you a thing with three risings.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:27 AM on December 25, 2023 [13 favorites]
"Behold, I bring good tidings of great joy. For unto you is born this day a stollen, which is a German sweet bread your friend knows you really like. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the bread wrapped in tinfoil, hanging from your doorknob."
You know somebody loves you when they make you a thing with three risings.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:27 AM on December 25, 2023 [13 favorites]
what were you doing (or how was your life back then) on Christmas Day 1999?
Ah, this is a question about the past, isn't it? I remember what house I was living in... I was recently divorced, my son (who would have been 11) was more than likely spending Christmas with his mom and her nearby family (my family lived about 6 hours away), and my housemate was likely spending Christmas with their (local) family. So probably it was a solitary quiet Christmas much like the majority of ones I've had since.
But it's not as sad than it sounds; I'm used to it, and I don't bother to muster up any holiday spirit anyway once my son grew up and moved out on his own. Since then it's just been an excuse to get a day off work and maybe have a get-together with friends (which is exactly like our get-togethers the rest of the year, not holiday-ish at all). And really, at this point I kind of prefer the lack of holiday hullabaloo...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:51 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Ah, this is a question about the past, isn't it? I remember what house I was living in... I was recently divorced, my son (who would have been 11) was more than likely spending Christmas with his mom and her nearby family (my family lived about 6 hours away), and my housemate was likely spending Christmas with their (local) family. So probably it was a solitary quiet Christmas much like the majority of ones I've had since.
But it's not as sad than it sounds; I'm used to it, and I don't bother to muster up any holiday spirit anyway once my son grew up and moved out on his own. Since then it's just been an excuse to get a day off work and maybe have a get-together with friends (which is exactly like our get-togethers the rest of the year, not holiday-ish at all). And really, at this point I kind of prefer the lack of holiday hullabaloo...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:51 AM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Christmas 1999 we were in New Zealand visiting my parents and anticipating the Y2K bug. As it happened the power did go off there on new year’s, but only for five minutes so I guess somebody booted up the new systems successfully. This year, well, my dad died a couple of months ago and my brother and his kids are ramping up their campaign to become estranged from all sides of the family so it’s more subdued and full of worries.
posted by thixotemperate at 12:05 PM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by thixotemperate at 12:05 PM on December 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate.
My kids both have SOs whose parents are divorced, like me, so officially I only get to have them all at Christmas every fourth year. Normally, I'm pretty good at making a lovely Christmas for myself and the dog on the off years (and sometimes one ex and I do it together and break that four-year cadence), but this year, we were hit by a huge storm that complicated everything. So today I've had a rather mediocre confit de canard with potatoes and sprouts and just watched tv and played games. It's good though. We had a very, very nice family gathering last week, and I'm loving the quiet and darkness.
1999 was a strange Christmas for me. I don't even remember where I was, just the feeling of being totally overwhelmed by everything. I had just moved to a new apartment, with a dear friend. In the beginning of January 2000 I would start an entirely new career, and then lots of stuff happened. It was truly a new beginning, but not necessarily in a good way, though some things were great. Life is complicated.
posted by mumimor at 12:27 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
My kids both have SOs whose parents are divorced, like me, so officially I only get to have them all at Christmas every fourth year. Normally, I'm pretty good at making a lovely Christmas for myself and the dog on the off years (and sometimes one ex and I do it together and break that four-year cadence), but this year, we were hit by a huge storm that complicated everything. So today I've had a rather mediocre confit de canard with potatoes and sprouts and just watched tv and played games. It's good though. We had a very, very nice family gathering last week, and I'm loving the quiet and darkness.
1999 was a strange Christmas for me. I don't even remember where I was, just the feeling of being totally overwhelmed by everything. I had just moved to a new apartment, with a dear friend. In the beginning of January 2000 I would start an entirely new career, and then lots of stuff happened. It was truly a new beginning, but not necessarily in a good way, though some things were great. Life is complicated.
posted by mumimor at 12:27 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
We are having a quiet at home day because we spaced out all the in-town sides of the family hanging out by five days and this is how it worked.
Fingers crossed that the no-transmissions actual goal works too!
posted by clew at 12:39 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Fingers crossed that the no-transmissions actual goal works too!
posted by clew at 12:39 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
It has been normal London Christmas weather: grey, warm(ish) and raining. Lacking most family members for one reason or another, Mrs 43rd and I decided to do something a bit different, and in particular something that did not involve cooking a large meal.
So we went to a very traditional carol service at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square, followed by coffee and then excellent popcorn chicken from a takeaway place in Chinatown. I was amazed at the number of people out and about in Central London, and the traffic felt like a normal weekday. Any restaurant or coffee place not open today was seriously missing a trick. The plan had been to see elderly mother, but she has come down with (thankfully mild) Covid and is thus out of bounds for a few days, so there was no visiting.
Our Christmas meal this evening was at our favourite Indian restaurant, and this has all been such fun that I can see something similar happening next year!
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 12:49 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
So we went to a very traditional carol service at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square, followed by coffee and then excellent popcorn chicken from a takeaway place in Chinatown. I was amazed at the number of people out and about in Central London, and the traffic felt like a normal weekday. Any restaurant or coffee place not open today was seriously missing a trick. The plan had been to see elderly mother, but she has come down with (thankfully mild) Covid and is thus out of bounds for a few days, so there was no visiting.
Our Christmas meal this evening was at our favourite Indian restaurant, and this has all been such fun that I can see something similar happening next year!
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 12:49 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
I tried to post it on Metatalk and I've lost the stupid Facebook link now but Ian Thorpe the swimming wombat is all recovered and has been released back into the wild! Yay!
posted by The otter lady at 1:10 PM on December 25, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 1:10 PM on December 25, 2023 [8 favorites]
Thanks for the hat tip.
It’s not Monday here yet. And I couldn’t help myself from wanting to give you all “Seasons Greetings”. On to whatever 2024 has to give us. We can do this!
(Metafilter: We can do this!!!)
posted by Windopaene at 1:42 PM on December 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
It’s not Monday here yet. And I couldn’t help myself from wanting to give you all “Seasons Greetings”. On to whatever 2024 has to give us. We can do this!
(Metafilter: We can do this!!!)
posted by Windopaene at 1:42 PM on December 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Merry Christmas! We're definitely not in the Christmas mood here--I just brought in our Christmas tree (purchased 9 days ago) from outside and put it up. My job sucks ass and I continue to be fatigued due to health problems. My wife goes across town every day to spend a couple of hours with her mother whose dementia is getting severe. We went out for brunch on Saturday and I'm pretty sure she didn't know who I was.
And my son-in-law tried to kill my daughter in a drunken rage a week ago. He's now out of jail and under the recognizance of his family out of state. My daughter stayed with us last night along with her dog. She says she didn't really sleep at all, so right now she's over at her home taking a nap. I've got a turkey in the oven and she'll come back over later.
Where my mother-in-law lives there has been a stray cat hanging around for a week or two. It's been pretty cold lately, below freezing at night, and on Saturday this cat jumped into my wife's car. So she brought it home. It appears to have been outside for a while. No ad for it on Craigslist and no signs posted in the neighborhood. It's a very affectionate cat, happy to be picked up and held. Our existing cat does not approve so we'll just have to see what develops.
My siblings and I have been in touch today, exchanging photos by text. They're all across the country from me but I saw them 2 weeks ago at a funeral and will see them again next week at a wedding.
posted by neuron at 2:36 PM on December 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
And my son-in-law tried to kill my daughter in a drunken rage a week ago. He's now out of jail and under the recognizance of his family out of state. My daughter stayed with us last night along with her dog. She says she didn't really sleep at all, so right now she's over at her home taking a nap. I've got a turkey in the oven and she'll come back over later.
Where my mother-in-law lives there has been a stray cat hanging around for a week or two. It's been pretty cold lately, below freezing at night, and on Saturday this cat jumped into my wife's car. So she brought it home. It appears to have been outside for a while. No ad for it on Craigslist and no signs posted in the neighborhood. It's a very affectionate cat, happy to be picked up and held. Our existing cat does not approve so we'll just have to see what develops.
My siblings and I have been in touch today, exchanging photos by text. They're all across the country from me but I saw them 2 weeks ago at a funeral and will see them again next week at a wedding.
posted by neuron at 2:36 PM on December 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
Oh neuron, what a bundle of troubles. I hope your family dinner will be soothing and give you some strength for the things to come.
posted by mumimor at 2:46 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 2:46 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Since the pandemic and then my mother's death in '21, Christmas Day - and US Thanksgiving - have been more low key.
So, the past couple days have been quiet. Brief walk with a friend yesterday, followed by watching two services online, one from a Unitarian Universalist church that I've thought about visiting, the other from a church of the denomination I was raised in, United Methodist.
Then opening a few presents last night and today, including the mefi exchange gift and another from a film enthusiast group Secret Santa. Always fun!
Today I've been in touch both with relatives with whom I've developed a deeper relationship the past few years and relatives from whom I've been somewhat estranged.
This evening I'm prepping a freelance writing assignment that's due first thing a.m. (why do I wait?) and listening to David Rosenfelt's latest Christmas mystery.
There's Xmas music and the two mini trees, which will stay up til February-ish or until I get a tree-crazed new pet, whichever comes first. (Oh neuron, if we lived close by, I'd be asking more about that stray.)
Even though I'm agnostic, I continue to enjoy Christmas decorations and music, and just the idea/ aspiration we could all be kinder. This past year has given me much more to process about that.
In late summer, I had a brain aneurysm. I've had two procedures and PT/OT. I walk unassisted, even drive. So far, a good outcome. But it's been a lot, my friends.
On top of this, I also had to put a beloved pet down last month.
Before reading a couple posts here, I was going to joke that it feels like I'm daring you to "top this." But we all do have many major challenges. Perhaps some of you have also experienced the personal world-changing shift like I have with this particular health "event."
As for '99, I don't recall Xmas specifics, although I no doubt visited relatives.
But I do recall "Y2K" New Year's Eve. Driving around that night, I stopped to call someone *on a pay phone*. And I remember in that phone call discussing how "the 2000s sound so weird," and how, if we had ever thought about the 2000s when we were younger, it had seemed like the far, far, sci-fiey future.
posted by NorthernLite at 3:28 PM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
So, the past couple days have been quiet. Brief walk with a friend yesterday, followed by watching two services online, one from a Unitarian Universalist church that I've thought about visiting, the other from a church of the denomination I was raised in, United Methodist.
Then opening a few presents last night and today, including the mefi exchange gift and another from a film enthusiast group Secret Santa. Always fun!
Today I've been in touch both with relatives with whom I've developed a deeper relationship the past few years and relatives from whom I've been somewhat estranged.
This evening I'm prepping a freelance writing assignment that's due first thing a.m. (why do I wait?) and listening to David Rosenfelt's latest Christmas mystery.
There's Xmas music and the two mini trees, which will stay up til February-ish or until I get a tree-crazed new pet, whichever comes first. (Oh neuron, if we lived close by, I'd be asking more about that stray.)
Even though I'm agnostic, I continue to enjoy Christmas decorations and music, and just the idea/ aspiration we could all be kinder. This past year has given me much more to process about that.
In late summer, I had a brain aneurysm. I've had two procedures and PT/OT. I walk unassisted, even drive. So far, a good outcome. But it's been a lot, my friends.
On top of this, I also had to put a beloved pet down last month.
Before reading a couple posts here, I was going to joke that it feels like I'm daring you to "top this." But we all do have many major challenges. Perhaps some of you have also experienced the personal world-changing shift like I have with this particular health "event."
As for '99, I don't recall Xmas specifics, although I no doubt visited relatives.
But I do recall "Y2K" New Year's Eve. Driving around that night, I stopped to call someone *on a pay phone*. And I remember in that phone call discussing how "the 2000s sound so weird," and how, if we had ever thought about the 2000s when we were younger, it had seemed like the far, far, sci-fiey future.
posted by NorthernLite at 3:28 PM on December 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Here's a trailer for another Charlie/Wonka Chocolate Factory prequel. Kinda wonky in its own right.
posted by zaixfeep at 3:33 PM on December 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by zaixfeep at 3:33 PM on December 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
1999, I had recently turned 21 and for NYE a bunch of friends had gotten tickets to some all night party at one of the big clubs on Delaware Ave in Philly. I can't remember which one, but they had huge circus tents set up outside and I was dancing around with a friend in one. For some reason I grabbed her arms and swung her around in a circle like you would with a little kid, but we were drunk and she somehow slipped and hit her head on a tent stake. Blood was squirting out and I was like oh fuck I just killed someone! She didn't seem bothered much, though and went to the bathroom to check it out/clean it up. I waited at the bathroom door for what seemed like ever and she never came out. I was sure she died in there and ran out into the night to get my last taste of fresh air before spending the rest of my life in prison.
Turns out that because of alcohol reasons I had blown the whole situation out of proportion. She was totally fine and "blood was absolutely not squirting out of my head, Andy." Anyway, the problem is that it was 1999 and none of us had cell phones so I didn't find this out until late the next day, while spending the entire time looking out the window waiting for the police to come get me.
In other words, I was an idiot. Still am, but I was one, too.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:21 PM on December 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
Turns out that because of alcohol reasons I had blown the whole situation out of proportion. She was totally fine and "blood was absolutely not squirting out of my head, Andy." Anyway, the problem is that it was 1999 and none of us had cell phones so I didn't find this out until late the next day, while spending the entire time looking out the window waiting for the police to come get me.
In other words, I was an idiot. Still am, but I was one, too.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:21 PM on December 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
This Christmas I have spent a quiet day with my cat watching him play with the packaging from my package. In 1999 I was frantically putting the finishing touches on the co-op membership database I concocted in anticipation of y2k. The previous database company decided to go out of business rather than update so I put together a new one for my co-op of over 7000 members using Filemaker Pro on my Mac. The magic part of this is I am not a programmer, am not good at math and my position was as a graphic artist. Not knowing how massive a project that this would be, I volunteered, since I did use Filemaker Pro to keep sale signs, produce and bulk products records, and deli recipes and signs. I'm proud to say that it worked well (better than the previous db) and was in use until 2008 when we switched to a PC based POS system.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:57 PM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:57 PM on December 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
Although I don't recall Christmas 1999, I do remember going outside at 11:59pm on Dec. 31 1999 to stand for a few minutes gazing at the stars, thinking DEEP THOUGHTS about Time and the concept of "new years" and "new centuries"*...and keeping an incidental ear out for crashing planes, doomsday sirens, wailing and lamentations, etc. To my complete lack of surprise the night remained tranquil (apart from the occasional firework**), so I stepped back inside and went to bed.
* I know, I know, it's supposed to be 2001, shut up I don't care. I stand with the cohort who think the turnover from 9s to 0s is more symbolic that going from 0 to 1, and in reality they're both totally made up and silly so GYOB with your mathematical precision and stuff.
** Fireworks were illegal - and hard to get - in my state and city at the time, so a lot of noise on NYE wasn't really a thing then.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:39 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
* I know, I know, it's supposed to be 2001, shut up I don't care. I stand with the cohort who think the turnover from 9s to 0s is more symbolic that going from 0 to 1, and in reality they're both totally made up and silly so GYOB with your mathematical precision and stuff.
** Fireworks were illegal - and hard to get - in my state and city at the time, so a lot of noise on NYE wasn't really a thing then.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:39 PM on December 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
I didn't do anything at all for Christmas this year except buy some last-minute gifts and cook a nice dinner last night and tonight. No tree, no cards, no baking. I just couldn't. I have to fly across the country to go visit my mom in a couple of days and the mere prospect of that has drained me of all energy. Then I went and got in a fight with my partner last night. We had a better day today, went to a party, had a nice dinner. But my fantasy these days is to quit my job and spend the next year sleeping. I'm so tired all the time.
posted by HotToddy at 7:32 PM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 7:32 PM on December 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
My father and brother-in-law had a big fight about current and future wars, global warming, and related problems that nobody is going to solve over Christmas dinner. No-one covered themselves in glory.
On the plus side, such as it is, I plan to shut down my father's political rants for the next several months (at least) by saying I had my fill at Christmas.
posted by mersen at 12:34 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
On the plus side, such as it is, I plan to shut down my father's political rants for the next several months (at least) by saying I had my fill at Christmas.
posted by mersen at 12:34 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Perhaps that was a bit too much sustenance.
posted by srboisvert at 3:23 AM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 3:23 AM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
My parents fetched me at the train station in Rhode Island on Saturday and when we got to their place, a neighbor had left a gift of freshly dug oysters and quahogs on their doorstep.
We ate them on Christmas eve after returning from church in the afternoon. I had spent all morning on Christmas eve knitting a scarf for my sister in law - my brother is in Vermont with her and the kids this year so it is just my parents and me. I am leaving their gifts here for my parents to bring over (they live close). The oysters Rockefeller and clam raw bar before ravioli on Christmas eve was largely celebratory because I was done with that darn scarf.
Mom had done the bare minimum for their little tree - just lights and tinsel- because we were so chill we didn't miss it. But mom left some ornaments out "in case anyone wanted to decorate at any point." I was caught up in the scarf all day Sunday, but had an idea that evening- I waited for my parents to turn in, waited a half hour for safety, and then did a stealthy secret tree trimming, tiptoing back and forth between the TV room (where I could unwrap ornaments quietly) and the tree room. I was up until 1 am, and imagined my parent's surprise and even planned on pretending i hadn't done it.
Then on Christmas morning it was a full hour before anyone noticed the damn tree was decorated, and only because I cracked a joke about how "sheesh, you guys missed out on a major acting performance from me about the tree..."
Chill Christmas, a few modest gifts and a basic eggs-and-bacon breakfast - and a lot of peace. We got a few calls from family. We took a drive Down Cape to do some seal watching. We saw a lone Chinese restaurant open in Orleans and Dad insisted on lunch there. We head back home where I took the reins on boeuf bourginiogn for dinner and we discovered a New orleans jazz Christmas channel on Alexa.
We were SUPPOSED to be getting up early to meet my aunt in Rhode Island today, after which I would be put on a train back to NYC. But late last night my aunt called to say she had sprained her ankle walking her dog and had to bow out. I still head back home today but we will be moving slower this morning, and I think that is what we prefer...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:02 AM on December 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
We ate them on Christmas eve after returning from church in the afternoon. I had spent all morning on Christmas eve knitting a scarf for my sister in law - my brother is in Vermont with her and the kids this year so it is just my parents and me. I am leaving their gifts here for my parents to bring over (they live close). The oysters Rockefeller and clam raw bar before ravioli on Christmas eve was largely celebratory because I was done with that darn scarf.
Mom had done the bare minimum for their little tree - just lights and tinsel- because we were so chill we didn't miss it. But mom left some ornaments out "in case anyone wanted to decorate at any point." I was caught up in the scarf all day Sunday, but had an idea that evening- I waited for my parents to turn in, waited a half hour for safety, and then did a stealthy secret tree trimming, tiptoing back and forth between the TV room (where I could unwrap ornaments quietly) and the tree room. I was up until 1 am, and imagined my parent's surprise and even planned on pretending i hadn't done it.
Then on Christmas morning it was a full hour before anyone noticed the damn tree was decorated, and only because I cracked a joke about how "sheesh, you guys missed out on a major acting performance from me about the tree..."
Chill Christmas, a few modest gifts and a basic eggs-and-bacon breakfast - and a lot of peace. We got a few calls from family. We took a drive Down Cape to do some seal watching. We saw a lone Chinese restaurant open in Orleans and Dad insisted on lunch there. We head back home where I took the reins on boeuf bourginiogn for dinner and we discovered a New orleans jazz Christmas channel on Alexa.
We were SUPPOSED to be getting up early to meet my aunt in Rhode Island today, after which I would be put on a train back to NYC. But late last night my aunt called to say she had sprained her ankle walking her dog and had to bow out. I still head back home today but we will be moving slower this morning, and I think that is what we prefer...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:02 AM on December 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
Although I think I am going to try beating Dad to the coffee maker now so I can make myself at least one cup of coffee with NEW YORK levels of caffeine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:09 AM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:09 AM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
I am at my brother’s home in Western Mass drinking a cup of coffee from beans that he grew and harvested at his small farm in the Yungus region of Bolivia………but he only has soy milk :{
posted by tarantula at 5:13 AM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by tarantula at 5:13 AM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
Christmas Chili!
Years ago, chili used to happen, mainly because as people came and went, it was an easy way for anyone who would care for something to eat to easily have a bowl with minimal fuss. My daughter put the holiday attachment to the chili one year where we didn’t have it.
“Where’s the Christmas chili”?
Things are mellow here. I have this week off and have not let my job run as a background function in my head.
Christmas Eve with my MIL was nice. Christmas Day with just my wife and I, and tonight my kids and grandkids for a charcuterie nibble and a few presents, which I am looking forward to.
Awesomeness to all!
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:41 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Years ago, chili used to happen, mainly because as people came and went, it was an easy way for anyone who would care for something to eat to easily have a bowl with minimal fuss. My daughter put the holiday attachment to the chili one year where we didn’t have it.
“Where’s the Christmas chili”?
Things are mellow here. I have this week off and have not let my job run as a background function in my head.
Christmas Eve with my MIL was nice. Christmas Day with just my wife and I, and tonight my kids and grandkids for a charcuterie nibble and a few presents, which I am looking forward to.
Awesomeness to all!
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:41 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Aaaannndd…
The whole aside about Christmas chili is because I saw EmpressCallipygos‘ post and just now I realized it was “chill” and not “chili”.
Glasses getting checked in January, so…
On with the merriment!
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:45 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
The whole aside about Christmas chili is because I saw EmpressCallipygos‘ post and just now I realized it was “chill” and not “chili”.
Glasses getting checked in January, so…
On with the merriment!
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:45 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Chili would indeed be chill. :-)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:21 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:21 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
OH. Hang on, kabong, you've given me a great idea - I will be on my own until the 6th and am looking for clean-out-the-fridge-and-then-restock-with-other-things cooking ideas. Chili would be a good one.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:28 AM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:28 AM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
I slow cooked some oxtail and then used it to make tacos for dinner.
I'm happy that the xmas season is basically over as it feels like it's just a lot of hot air.
I'll just be over here with my crappy attitude, thanks.
posted by djseafood at 6:39 AM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm happy that the xmas season is basically over as it feels like it's just a lot of hot air.
I'll just be over here with my crappy attitude, thanks.
posted by djseafood at 6:39 AM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm in Florida (yuck) for Christmas (yuck) with my wife, son daughter and granddaughter (yay, all of them!) again. We've been doing this for a decade so I guess I'm resigned to this for many years.
My problem with Christmas is that it highlights my deficiencies as a human being. My problems with Florida are many, including just getting here.
However, it's the 26th, and I don't have to do much of anything for the next week and a half, and it's not too hot, so I can relax for a while. The rental house is huge, so I was given my own cave.
Only thing wrong with the house is that it has a 'spa', which we were expecting to be a hot tub, but it only turns out to be a warm tub. :(
1999- we were still doing the thing where we have our own celebration, then driving 2 hours to another family gathering, and then 2 hours back.
Down from 3 other gatherings in the 80's, so that was good, but it made for a long, long day, and way too much food.
As to Christmas Dinner, we always have a traditional big brunch after presents are done, and I don't have to cook anything for that. Then I made a big batch of mac & cheese for the late meal.
posted by MtDewd at 6:47 AM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
My problem with Christmas is that it highlights my deficiencies as a human being. My problems with Florida are many, including just getting here.
However, it's the 26th, and I don't have to do much of anything for the next week and a half, and it's not too hot, so I can relax for a while. The rental house is huge, so I was given my own cave.
Only thing wrong with the house is that it has a 'spa', which we were expecting to be a hot tub, but it only turns out to be a warm tub. :(
1999- we were still doing the thing where we have our own celebration, then driving 2 hours to another family gathering, and then 2 hours back.
Down from 3 other gatherings in the 80's, so that was good, but it made for a long, long day, and way too much food.
As to Christmas Dinner, we always have a traditional big brunch after presents are done, and I don't have to cook anything for that. Then I made a big batch of mac & cheese for the late meal.
posted by MtDewd at 6:47 AM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
Tiny Film Student Update: On Friday I had a two-hour meeting with my film professor about a movie he wants me to be in -- I'm a little intimidated that it's a Billy Sunday prohibitionist speech, about 5 minutes, done in one take -- but the discussion also expanded out into other aspects of the film, and the politics of the film department, and experimental film in general. I really enjoyed the meeting but it brought into focus something that I've been having trouble with: I don't have a lot of friends, being a middle-aged man and all that stereotype comes with it. I've known the professor since before I decided to go back to school, we connected over cameras at the antique mall, but I think we're becoming friends, but I'm not sure how that works in this day and age. I'm mostly intimidated and afraid of messing up but I do like the guy and hope that I'm not misreading things or making it weird since he's also my professor, etc., etc.
In sad news: My 96 year old grandmother passed away late last night. We had an early Christmas with her on the 10th, and a week later she couldn't stand up under her own power so they moved her to pallative care. I saw her on Friday, and she wasn't super lucid but we did talk a little bit. Last night I had a dream and she was in it, at her old house, and in the dream I expressed surprise that they let her out of the hospital bed and got her into her favorite recliner. When I woke up and remembered the dream - which is also rare - I figured she had passed and it was true.
In unpleasant news: Sunday I wasn't feeling well, and tested positive for Covid. I'm still not feeling well, but everyone and their dog took today off at work (with xmas eve on a Sunday everyone got to pick when they wanted to take the holiday hours off) so I am technically at work, but working from home to avoid spreading the germs. The only other person in my department working today is a covid-denying anti-vaxxer and part of me wants to go in anyways and cough all over him but that'd be cruel, plus he has a three-month-old at home.
We are supposed to go to Wisconsin for Christmas with my wife's family leaving Thursday; according to guidelines I think I'm OK to go as long as I mask (I haven't had a fever since Sunday and only have sniffles and sleepiness now) and the inlaws have expressed no reservations about me coming - in fact have pretty much said I'm expected to be there anyway (they also guilted us over not seeing our daughter on Christmas Day, while I was still sick) - but I'm trying to be cautious and not sure whether I should participate much.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:24 AM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
In sad news: My 96 year old grandmother passed away late last night. We had an early Christmas with her on the 10th, and a week later she couldn't stand up under her own power so they moved her to pallative care. I saw her on Friday, and she wasn't super lucid but we did talk a little bit. Last night I had a dream and she was in it, at her old house, and in the dream I expressed surprise that they let her out of the hospital bed and got her into her favorite recliner. When I woke up and remembered the dream - which is also rare - I figured she had passed and it was true.
In unpleasant news: Sunday I wasn't feeling well, and tested positive for Covid. I'm still not feeling well, but everyone and their dog took today off at work (with xmas eve on a Sunday everyone got to pick when they wanted to take the holiday hours off) so I am technically at work, but working from home to avoid spreading the germs. The only other person in my department working today is a covid-denying anti-vaxxer and part of me wants to go in anyways and cough all over him but that'd be cruel, plus he has a three-month-old at home.
We are supposed to go to Wisconsin for Christmas with my wife's family leaving Thursday; according to guidelines I think I'm OK to go as long as I mask (I haven't had a fever since Sunday and only have sniffles and sleepiness now) and the inlaws have expressed no reservations about me coming - in fact have pretty much said I'm expected to be there anyway (they also guilted us over not seeing our daughter on Christmas Day, while I was still sick) - but I'm trying to be cautious and not sure whether I should participate much.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:24 AM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.
We're in Cluj-Napoca, Romania at Târgul Iarnă Horea Damian. This is our tenth Christmas market in our third country so far. Low key here, with Romanian music, very strong mulled wine, and ice skating. The hot chocolate brand they're selling is called "Black Cock" and I'm trying super hard not to giggle.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:42 AM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
We're in Cluj-Napoca, Romania at Târgul Iarnă Horea Damian. This is our tenth Christmas market in our third country so far. Low key here, with Romanian music, very strong mulled wine, and ice skating. The hot chocolate brand they're selling is called "Black Cock" and I'm trying super hard not to giggle.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:42 AM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
Oh, Christmas 1999: I was a single dad, my daughter was 3, so either Christmas Day or Christmas Eve she spent with her mother -- we would have we spent it with my family here in town with both sets of my grandparents, and then went to Wyoming to have Christmas with my parents and siblings through New Year's Eve, which I remember specifically because of all the Y2K stuff. There was my mom's drinking -- I believe the actual Christmas dinner and opening presents she was sober or at least holding it together, but we were there probably 5 days so there was one or two days in between Christmas and New Years she spent 'sleeping'. I also remember going online to check website logs, because a stupid website I made had just started going viral, which was new for me but also just new...in general, going viral on the web was a very ethereal and unpredictable concept then.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:42 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:42 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Here, the shops are closed for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. But tomorrow, I will go out and find an oxtail and some good beans and make a chili. Thanks for the inspiration, y'all!
posted by mumimor at 8:10 AM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 8:10 AM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Christmas was a quiet affair. We closed on our family home on Thursday. I'm now moved into my brother's spare room. I sang at "midnight" mass on Sunday. I recently changed churches and am liking my new one. I'm (at 48) not the youngest there. I also like the pastor a lot more. Father Joe was ok, but he didn't "speak" to me.
Christmas of 99 I was home from grad school trying my best to keep the last shred of sanity I had. I flew back to Tx on the 31st. The airport was quiet.
posted by kathrynm at 8:37 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Christmas of 99 I was home from grad school trying my best to keep the last shred of sanity I had. I flew back to Tx on the 31st. The airport was quiet.
posted by kathrynm at 8:37 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
I've made something with oxtail (stew, maybe?) once, and it was quite good; but oxtail here is really expensive for not a lot of product, so I may use it again sometime but it's not an ingredient I keep in regular rotation.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:48 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:48 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
I generally base my meal planning/household management on bargains. So we have oxtail stew when there's a bargain. But my gut feeling is there will be some tomorrow, because a lot of people here like expensive beef stuff for New Years, and the tails and cheeks and shank and all of the other stew cuts will be less sought after. During January and February, there will be more demand because people go all in on winter stews, and paradoxically, because they won't use money on the expensive cuts (which are still more expensive than oxtail, even as the price goes up).
Google confirms there will be cheap oxtails in the meat counters tomorrow.
Mostly, we eat vegetarian food, since it's cheaper and healthier, but now I was inspired by the comments, specially the concept of basing a chili on oxtail, that just feels really good.
posted by mumimor at 10:44 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Google confirms there will be cheap oxtails in the meat counters tomorrow.
Mostly, we eat vegetarian food, since it's cheaper and healthier, but now I was inspired by the comments, specially the concept of basing a chili on oxtail, that just feels really good.
posted by mumimor at 10:44 AM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Christmas was awkward, to put it kindly. I too am having son in law troubles - waves sadly at neuron; I have been exactly where you are and that was around Christmas too. This is son in law v. 2.0 and he's just as bad only in completely different ways. Sigh. At any rate between him, aka the Thing That Wouldn't Leave and my son, a radical anarchist vegan who does not believe in holidays since they are simply mindless consumerism driven by fear and don't we understand that this is the era of mass extinctions? Christmas was just not as fun as it should have been. Next year I'm having a women and children only solstice retreat full of pie and carols and the hell with these anti Yule men.
However, toddler grandchild was a delight; all the presents were a big hit; the only meltdown was when all the presents were opened and there were no more. This is, of course, a sad moment for everyone and when you are 2 and a half you like the world to know of your sorrows. The vegan gluten free key lime pie was amazing, the gluten free garlic knots were not, and the two pastas and salads were all delicious.
Christmas 1999 was my last Christmas in Maryland, but I didn't know that then. In retrospect it takes on a dim and wistful air: I had the best job I ever had or would ever have and I was still too inexperienced to know that the rest of the world was much nastier. I was also coming to the end of my last long term live in relationship and in retrospect that one wasn't so bad either. And, I was deeply enmeshed in a wonderful friend group who were like family. Oh well! Within a year my father would die and my children and I would move to Asheville. You never know when the big changes are coming.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:18 PM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
However, toddler grandchild was a delight; all the presents were a big hit; the only meltdown was when all the presents were opened and there were no more. This is, of course, a sad moment for everyone and when you are 2 and a half you like the world to know of your sorrows. The vegan gluten free key lime pie was amazing, the gluten free garlic knots were not, and the two pastas and salads were all delicious.
Christmas 1999 was my last Christmas in Maryland, but I didn't know that then. In retrospect it takes on a dim and wistful air: I had the best job I ever had or would ever have and I was still too inexperienced to know that the rest of the world was much nastier. I was also coming to the end of my last long term live in relationship and in retrospect that one wasn't so bad either. And, I was deeply enmeshed in a wonderful friend group who were like family. Oh well! Within a year my father would die and my children and I would move to Asheville. You never know when the big changes are coming.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:18 PM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
Update:
The maintenance guy from the rental outfit came by to fix the toilet, and afterwards he showed us how to turn the warm tub up to 104°. So it now can be a hot tub.
(We turned it back down to 84° after we got out, to save energy)
posted by MtDewd at 2:15 PM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
The maintenance guy from the rental outfit came by to fix the toilet, and afterwards he showed us how to turn the warm tub up to 104°. So it now can be a hot tub.
(We turned it back down to 84° after we got out, to save energy)
posted by MtDewd at 2:15 PM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
So my train home seems a bit fraught.
It arrived to my departure station on time, but then sat there 10 minutes when it wasn't supposed to.
Then ah hour ago an alarm went off somewhere - another passenger said it was because someone rang for assistance in the toilet. It took a few minutes for someone to respond.
And now we are on a track between stations somewhere in CT....we slowed, stopped, the lights went out, and then we started slowly BACKING UP for several minutes.
We are underway again, but I have no idea what is going on.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:21 PM on December 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
It arrived to my departure station on time, but then sat there 10 minutes when it wasn't supposed to.
Then ah hour ago an alarm went off somewhere - another passenger said it was because someone rang for assistance in the toilet. It took a few minutes for someone to respond.
And now we are on a track between stations somewhere in CT....we slowed, stopped, the lights went out, and then we started slowly BACKING UP for several minutes.
We are underway again, but I have no idea what is going on.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:21 PM on December 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
I have no idea what is going on.
Amtrak's unofficial slogan, as I recall
posted by From Bklyn at 3:38 PM on December 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
Amtrak's unofficial slogan, as I recall
posted by From Bklyn at 3:38 PM on December 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
I had my father, and his dementia, to stay over Christmas. I think it went ok. He texted this evening: "Er ... Am I right that yesterday was my 80th birthday?" It was a bit heart-breaking. My sister said, presumably somewhere in his brain was - yesterday was a bit special - there were food and presents; must have been my birthday!
posted by paduasoy at 4:21 PM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by paduasoy at 4:21 PM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
> a women and children only solstice retreat full of pie and carols
This sounds lovely. Winter on Crone Island.
posted by paduasoy at 4:23 PM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
This sounds lovely. Winter on Crone Island.
posted by paduasoy at 4:23 PM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Also: made best friends with a puppy at the winter market in Cluj. I named him Rocky and after the first time I met him he wouldn't leave my side for half an hour. He didn't have a collar, but he was soft, clean, and good-natured. I'm really hoping he wasn't a real stray but was maybe on an excursion from the apartments across the street.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:40 PM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:40 PM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
The "Sliding Doors Moment" there would be posting "I hope he's a real stray I brought home and not just on an excursion...."
posted by hippybear at 4:47 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 4:47 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was ready to negotiate his addition to the family, but for a variety of reasons, was assured that wasn't an option.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:49 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:49 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here, the shops are closed for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
In this part of the world (not far from Toronto), most things are closed on the 25th but reopen on the 26th, save for banks and government offices and the like. Today (it is evening on the 26th here) I visited my local pharmacy to pick up a prescription refill — it actually ran out on Christmas Day itself. Most pharmacies are open. Mine… not so much. After I found myself at their locked door, out of idle curiosity I called their phone line to see if they told anyone this. I was told by the outgoing message to check their website for their hours: on the website, not only is there no sign of holiday hours, I can find no trace of their regular hours either.
They were, however, quite eager to trumpet their history back their founding, show off their vision and mission statements, and give me a quick bio* of each of the pharmacists working there. When the place is open — well, that is none of our damn business.
* And attached photos of them looking like sexually available newscasters.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:34 PM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
In this part of the world (not far from Toronto), most things are closed on the 25th but reopen on the 26th, save for banks and government offices and the like. Today (it is evening on the 26th here) I visited my local pharmacy to pick up a prescription refill — it actually ran out on Christmas Day itself. Most pharmacies are open. Mine… not so much. After I found myself at their locked door, out of idle curiosity I called their phone line to see if they told anyone this. I was told by the outgoing message to check their website for their hours: on the website, not only is there no sign of holiday hours, I can find no trace of their regular hours either.
They were, however, quite eager to trumpet their history back their founding, show off their vision and mission statements, and give me a quick bio* of each of the pharmacists working there. When the place is open — well, that is none of our damn business.
* And attached photos of them looking like sexually available newscasters.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:34 PM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have just learned there's a thing being sold widely called a "Banana Cleaner". It's pretty obvious that it has nothing to do with actual produce. Or cleanliness, for that matter.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:12 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:12 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Is that sold on the same aisle as the knob polish?
posted by hippybear at 6:27 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 6:27 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I just came from seeing a friend whose grandmother has dementia, but what she remembers vs. what she doesn't remember is all over the map and inconsistent. Like she can't recall that her car was sold years ago, gets upset. I said, "can you just tell her it's in the shop?," thinking of stuff we used to do with my grandma who had a few seconds' worth of remembering and it wasn't worth the effort and drama to tell her the truth constantly and repeatedly. No, she said, because Grandma can remember SOME stuff for up to a week, but can't remember they keep going to the same restaurant over and over again.
In other news, said friend gifted me with several bath bombs. It's not that I don't appreciate them, but I live in a drought state and I feel guilty filling up a bathtub with that much water just to sit around in it with fizz. Can anyone think of um, any other way to put a bath bomb to use that doesn't involve actual bath? (And no, I don't have access to a pool/hot tub, and reasonably assume a hot tub owner might quibble with the idea.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:31 PM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
In other news, said friend gifted me with several bath bombs. It's not that I don't appreciate them, but I live in a drought state and I feel guilty filling up a bathtub with that much water just to sit around in it with fizz. Can anyone think of um, any other way to put a bath bomb to use that doesn't involve actual bath? (And no, I don't have access to a pool/hot tub, and reasonably assume a hot tub owner might quibble with the idea.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:31 PM on December 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
Literally a "shove it in the closet until you can regift it" gift if I ever heard of one.
posted by hippybear at 6:49 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 6:49 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have multiple bath bombs in my closet because she gives them to me every year, and see reference to above drought as to why I can't regift it :P
(note: it's really super duper not worth it to say anything about it, there'd be drama and it ain't worth it. I don't really mind except ethically I don't feel good using one in this state and I'm unlikely to be returning to Hawaii again any time soon.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:58 PM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
(note: it's really super duper not worth it to say anything about it, there'd be drama and it ain't worth it. I don't really mind except ethically I don't feel good using one in this state and I'm unlikely to be returning to Hawaii again any time soon.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:58 PM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
My first thought for the bath bombs was a foot bath, but I saw a listicle suggesting to use it to deodorize shoes or carpet, and a few similar suggestions.
posted by demi-octopus at 1:50 AM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by demi-octopus at 1:50 AM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Rebel Moon is even worse than I expected and I expected it to be awful. My wife after 20 minutes: "You can watch the rest of this without me".
posted by srboisvert at 3:37 AM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 3:37 AM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Rebel Moon is even worse than I expected and I expected it to be awful
Good to know. We should have more bad reviews here.
The oxtail chili is delayed for a day, because I didn't care to drive to the nearest larger town after my long and lovely walk with the dog. I saw a flock of swans and was surprised that the cygnets were still grey. But maybe I haven't noticed the other years, because there are usually thousands of birds, and a good mix of many species. And maybe I usually go out to see the birds a little more into the new year, or maybe the geese and the other types of swans haven't come south yet. Many questions.
Because of this ask, and also because my nephew has found his first own apartment, I have decided that now is the time for making an instagram-account. I have been working on a cookbook for several years now, first it was for my own two kids, but they rapidly became very good at cooking, so now it's for my niece and many nephews. The main cause for the delay is that I want to paint the illustrations, and that is going very slow. So in the meanwhile, I plan to put up seasonal food pictures on instagram for them.
Now here's the question: what should I call the account? All the obvious ones are taken, of course, both in Danish and English. I don't want to make it private, because I'd like to share it with you all, so I don't want to use my real name. But I don't want my family to easily find my posts here, so it can't be mumimor's anything. Any ideas? The cookbook is about living very frugally as a student/young person, while cooking mostly vegetable foods from scratch. But the name could be something silly, since it isn't for business at all.
posted by mumimor at 7:00 AM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Good to know. We should have more bad reviews here.
The oxtail chili is delayed for a day, because I didn't care to drive to the nearest larger town after my long and lovely walk with the dog. I saw a flock of swans and was surprised that the cygnets were still grey. But maybe I haven't noticed the other years, because there are usually thousands of birds, and a good mix of many species. And maybe I usually go out to see the birds a little more into the new year, or maybe the geese and the other types of swans haven't come south yet. Many questions.
Because of this ask, and also because my nephew has found his first own apartment, I have decided that now is the time for making an instagram-account. I have been working on a cookbook for several years now, first it was for my own two kids, but they rapidly became very good at cooking, so now it's for my niece and many nephews. The main cause for the delay is that I want to paint the illustrations, and that is going very slow. So in the meanwhile, I plan to put up seasonal food pictures on instagram for them.
Now here's the question: what should I call the account? All the obvious ones are taken, of course, both in Danish and English. I don't want to make it private, because I'd like to share it with you all, so I don't want to use my real name. But I don't want my family to easily find my posts here, so it can't be mumimor's anything. Any ideas? The cookbook is about living very frugally as a student/young person, while cooking mostly vegetable foods from scratch. But the name could be something silly, since it isn't for business at all.
posted by mumimor at 7:00 AM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Okay I finished Rebel Moon. It is kind of amazing in its sheer turgid badness but not really in a fun way. It's like a warhammer/star wars hybrid written by an AI trained on a 14 year dude's fan fiction and the TV tropes website. It steals pretty much every thing from every major sci-fi fantasy in the last 50 years with Last of the Mohicans and Gladiator thrown in seasoning.
posted by srboisvert at 9:53 AM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 9:53 AM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
mumimor - maybe something like the phrase "cheap-ass veggies" or something similar, translated into Danish?
I did finally get home via train, did some emergency groceries and ate a very light dinner (my parents and I went out for a fantastic lunch before I got on the train) and collapsed.
I had already decreed that I wasn't leaving the house today - it's my first full day with no rehearsal or Christmas commitments, and my first day in a weeks' worth of No Roommate. I'd planned to catch up on random TV but am having an issue signing into one streaming service. So instead I'm doing some slightly-more-thorough cleaning in random corners of the house - sorting through the tea and cookbook collections, tidying up all the other bookshelves, going through the medicine chest to ditch the expired Mucinex, that kind of thing. My office is in DESPERATE, DESPERATE need of that kind of sorting-and-organizing, but it's so out of control it will need a full day, so that's tomorrow's chore.
My cookbooks are not only more orderly, I was able to make enough space for the new cookbooks I got as gifts this year. In fact, I'm probably going to use one tomorrow and bake something as a reward after the cleaning. I'm also putting a dent in all the damn tea - my family went through a phase where their thought process for gifts to me was "when in doubt, tea", and it's piled way up.
Maybe at some point today I'll also get to some other meal planning. I've been deliberately doing minimal shopping to make myself eat through everything in the fridge so I could start with more of a clean slate after Christmas; eggs, milk, and sugar have been the only things I've gotten some weeks. And now that the coast is clearer I'll do some planning ahead for the next couple weeks and grocery shop accordingly; I have the time and money to make little expeditions to some specialty shops, too, like to a huge Asian market in Sunset Park or to little mom-and-pop Italian groceries in Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Apparently a Japanese market opened up about 3 blocks from me sometime last month, and my brother got me a tamagoyaki pan for Christmas that I need to break in so I may be delving into Japanese cuisine a bit.
But that kind of browsing cookbooks and sipping tea and listening to music is EXAAAAAACTLY what I wanted to do today so this is perfect.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:18 AM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
I did finally get home via train, did some emergency groceries and ate a very light dinner (my parents and I went out for a fantastic lunch before I got on the train) and collapsed.
I had already decreed that I wasn't leaving the house today - it's my first full day with no rehearsal or Christmas commitments, and my first day in a weeks' worth of No Roommate. I'd planned to catch up on random TV but am having an issue signing into one streaming service. So instead I'm doing some slightly-more-thorough cleaning in random corners of the house - sorting through the tea and cookbook collections, tidying up all the other bookshelves, going through the medicine chest to ditch the expired Mucinex, that kind of thing. My office is in DESPERATE, DESPERATE need of that kind of sorting-and-organizing, but it's so out of control it will need a full day, so that's tomorrow's chore.
My cookbooks are not only more orderly, I was able to make enough space for the new cookbooks I got as gifts this year. In fact, I'm probably going to use one tomorrow and bake something as a reward after the cleaning. I'm also putting a dent in all the damn tea - my family went through a phase where their thought process for gifts to me was "when in doubt, tea", and it's piled way up.
Maybe at some point today I'll also get to some other meal planning. I've been deliberately doing minimal shopping to make myself eat through everything in the fridge so I could start with more of a clean slate after Christmas; eggs, milk, and sugar have been the only things I've gotten some weeks. And now that the coast is clearer I'll do some planning ahead for the next couple weeks and grocery shop accordingly; I have the time and money to make little expeditions to some specialty shops, too, like to a huge Asian market in Sunset Park or to little mom-and-pop Italian groceries in Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Apparently a Japanese market opened up about 3 blocks from me sometime last month, and my brother got me a tamagoyaki pan for Christmas that I need to break in so I may be delving into Japanese cuisine a bit.
But that kind of browsing cookbooks and sipping tea and listening to music is EXAAAAAACTLY what I wanted to do today so this is perfect.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:18 AM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
Tagging along with mumimor’s question, I’m looking for alternatives to two household phrases: “fridge cleaner” and “kit your shit”.
"Fridge cleaner” is a kind of meal — in a sentence, "Fridge cleaner for dinner; do you feel like stew or stir fry?”
"Kit your shit” means “put things you use together, and keep them that way, and make it easy to do and verify.” I don’t like referring to wanted stuff as shit though. Best alternative I’ve come up with is “kit your kit".
posted by clew at 11:16 AM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
"Fridge cleaner” is a kind of meal — in a sentence, "Fridge cleaner for dinner; do you feel like stew or stir fry?”
"Kit your shit” means “put things you use together, and keep them that way, and make it easy to do and verify.” I don’t like referring to wanted stuff as shit though. Best alternative I’ve come up with is “kit your kit".
posted by clew at 11:16 AM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
clew, that is perfect. In Danish, the phrase would be Væltet Køleskab. How does that sound for English speakers, I mean are there any embarrassing associations?
I forgot to mention that parts of my extended family are Latin American, and I hope to help them keep up on our connection this way. My Spanish and Portuguese are not good enough, though I study.
posted by mumimor at 11:31 AM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
I forgot to mention that parts of my extended family are Latin American, and I hope to help them keep up on our connection this way. My Spanish and Portuguese are not good enough, though I study.
posted by mumimor at 11:31 AM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don’t like referring to wanted stuff as shit though.
"Have ya ever noticed how everyone else's stuff is shit, and your shit is stuff?"
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Have ya ever noticed how everyone else's stuff is shit, and your shit is stuff?"
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
In Danish, the phrase would be Væltet Køleskab. How does that sound for English speakers, I mean are there any embarrassing associations?
I don't think there are any English speakers that look at those two words and even attempt to say them. There is nothing within the letters on the page that relate to anything in English.
posted by hippybear at 12:12 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't think there are any English speakers that look at those two words and even attempt to say them. There is nothing within the letters on the page that relate to anything in English.
posted by hippybear at 12:12 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
"kit your crap"
less offensive than shit, and somehow less fecal, but contains alliteration.
posted by hippybear at 12:13 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
less offensive than shit, and somehow less fecal, but contains alliteration.
posted by hippybear at 12:13 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
“kit your shit"
Group your poop.
Control your chaos.
Rack your stack.
conceptually I like to call this:
"Reducing friction"
"Kit en place"
posted by srboisvert at 12:57 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Group your poop.
Control your chaos.
Rack your stack.
conceptually I like to call this:
"Reducing friction"
"Kit en place"
posted by srboisvert at 12:57 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Væltet Køleskab. How does that sound for English speakers, I mean are there any embarrassing associations?
Køleskab depending on how it’s said — "scab" is a little icky for food, but "cab" is fine.
Væltet sounds classy although I can’t come up with any meanings, which is a silly combination but there it is.
posted by clew at 1:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Køleskab depending on how it’s said — "scab" is a little icky for food, but "cab" is fine.
Væltet sounds classy although I can’t come up with any meanings, which is a silly combination but there it is.
posted by clew at 1:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
I threw a bath bomb into my shower last night. It dissolved into radioactive lime green with a teal core. I didn't notice much "fizz." Whatever, bath bomb.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:05 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:05 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Finished rereading the Lord of the Rings - for the umptagazillionth time, I do believe - and concurrently rewatching the movies. Am now halfway through the Return of the King and I am become Fluffy Tolkien, most annoying destroyer of movies. I never watched them this close to a reread before although I do remember declaiming about this sort of thing in a cinema parking lot when they came out and mortifying both my kids. I keep shouting Off Book! and pointing out the issues where the movies diverge for no good reason. Good thing only my son is here to be annoyed and, older now, he’s almost as much of a purist as I am. But damn. What the hell. Free Tom Bombadil! Bring in Ghan Buri Ghan! Harrow the Shire!
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:33 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:33 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Give a damn about trees!
posted by clew at 7:15 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by clew at 7:15 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Went in for my "new patient appointment" today, even though I've been going to this health clinic for years. But for some reason, I'm now a new patient.
Everything went well. I was really up front and honest with the doctor about all my substance use, which I haven't always been in the past, and made it clear I was really hoping we were going to work together to find a way to get me either diagnosed and healed or diagnosed enough to get on government money. Right now I am neither healed nor employable, so maybe we can do this.
The conversations with the doctor were all good. Well, Physicians Assistant, but who actually sees a doctor these days? Anyway, I felt I was open and honest about my situation and what I was hoping to accomplish, and after a very lengthy conversation and him doing a lot of typing he said he felt like he know a beginning approach to treatment and he would have a nurse in soon to draw some blood and have a conversation with me about a couple of treatment choices I might start thinking about.
I was left waiting a half-hour in the room with no communication at all. And this is all after 5pm, so I'm listening to hear if people are still in the building after a while. Twice I went to stand with my door open, looking down the hallway, to have people look at me and look through me, like I'm not standing there. I finally was stressed out enough that I curled up on the examination table because I didn't know what was going on and I'd been in there forever...
I swear, if you have someone coming in and saying they're coming to you with an anxiety disorder, this is truly NOT the way to interact with them. I'm left without dinner tonight thus far because it fucked me over enough to kill my appetite and make me shit myself while trying to work on making food despite not being hungry, which deleted dinner for me entirely.
I'm really super glad to have health insurance again and to be pushing forward to find myself some healing, maybe eventually, but this was a fucked up couple of hours today and I'm very much doubleplusunhappy about it.
posted by hippybear at 7:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [9 favorites]
Everything went well. I was really up front and honest with the doctor about all my substance use, which I haven't always been in the past, and made it clear I was really hoping we were going to work together to find a way to get me either diagnosed and healed or diagnosed enough to get on government money. Right now I am neither healed nor employable, so maybe we can do this.
The conversations with the doctor were all good. Well, Physicians Assistant, but who actually sees a doctor these days? Anyway, I felt I was open and honest about my situation and what I was hoping to accomplish, and after a very lengthy conversation and him doing a lot of typing he said he felt like he know a beginning approach to treatment and he would have a nurse in soon to draw some blood and have a conversation with me about a couple of treatment choices I might start thinking about.
I was left waiting a half-hour in the room with no communication at all. And this is all after 5pm, so I'm listening to hear if people are still in the building after a while. Twice I went to stand with my door open, looking down the hallway, to have people look at me and look through me, like I'm not standing there. I finally was stressed out enough that I curled up on the examination table because I didn't know what was going on and I'd been in there forever...
I swear, if you have someone coming in and saying they're coming to you with an anxiety disorder, this is truly NOT the way to interact with them. I'm left without dinner tonight thus far because it fucked me over enough to kill my appetite and make me shit myself while trying to work on making food despite not being hungry, which deleted dinner for me entirely.
I'm really super glad to have health insurance again and to be pushing forward to find myself some healing, maybe eventually, but this was a fucked up couple of hours today and I'm very much doubleplusunhappy about it.
posted by hippybear at 7:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [9 favorites]
Well, heck, hippybear, that’s awful and separately bewildering. I’m sorry.
posted by clew at 8:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 8:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
My friend was at the ER for twelve hours for a fractured rib and a lot of that time she was just sitting around alone, apparently.
It seems like you have to wrestle the healthcare industry to get anywhere. Seriously, going into hysterical crying has worked wonders.
I'm sorry you had a literal shitty time :(
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:59 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
It seems like you have to wrestle the healthcare industry to get anywhere. Seriously, going into hysterical crying has worked wonders.
I'm sorry you had a literal shitty time :(
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:59 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm so, so sorry, hippybear. I walked out on a doctor's appointment a few months ago. Luckily they pulled the "leave her by herself in the exam room while we catch up on our hour-plus backlog" move before I had seen the doctor. As I walked past the front desk I told them, quite truthfully, "we're going to have to try this again because after an hour of waiting I'm now far too stressed to have a productive discussion".
I was in my happy place shopping for who knows what piece of hardware at Lowe's when the office manager called me to try to fix the situation. I didn't want to take the call but they actually handled it quite well, being apologetic and not putting much pressure on me, but offering to set up another appointment.
The next time, the staff were exceptionally sweet, checking in on me regularly when I did have to wait for a bit between seeing providers. Luckily the gods of Youtube were kind to me that day, and I was still in good spirits for the part of the appointment that was going to actually accomplish something.
I really hope your future medical adventures go much easier, hippybear.
posted by tigrrrlily at 11:58 AM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I was in my happy place shopping for who knows what piece of hardware at Lowe's when the office manager called me to try to fix the situation. I didn't want to take the call but they actually handled it quite well, being apologetic and not putting much pressure on me, but offering to set up another appointment.
The next time, the staff were exceptionally sweet, checking in on me regularly when I did have to wait for a bit between seeing providers. Luckily the gods of Youtube were kind to me that day, and I was still in good spirits for the part of the appointment that was going to actually accomplish something.
I really hope your future medical adventures go much easier, hippybear.
posted by tigrrrlily at 11:58 AM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Sending you positive mind atoms, hippybear.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:28 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:28 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
The quiet part of our trip (Romania, where we focused almost entirely on visiting family) ends today. Then we fly to Budapest for NYE, then Prague on the way home.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:28 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:28 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Budapest is awesome! If you have time to hit up one of the spas (I recommend Geillert or Szechenyi Baths), by all means do.
People say that the ruin pubs like Szimpla Kert are touristy now, but I'm going to dissuade you for a different reason - I have a feeling it'd be MOBBED on New Year's Eve.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:31 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
People say that the ruin pubs like Szimpla Kert are touristy now, but I'm going to dissuade you for a different reason - I have a feeling it'd be MOBBED on New Year's Eve.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:31 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
While walking the dog, I noticed a larch where a lot of the bark had been pulled off. It looked like when a buck is scratching his antlers, just a lot more than normal. Interesting. Also, if it was a buck, it must be a really big one, and I feel they usually choose sturdier trees. But what else could it be?
A few steps from there, and most certainly unrelated, my dog found one of the wolf's stashes of bones. He took the foreleg of a deer, with most of the meat eaten off it, but still with some smelly scraps and only a small part of it broken up for the marrow inside. What a treasure. It's good he's learnt to not bring stuff like that indoors. But now we may have the wolf circling the house all night, to retrieve his food. Depends on his hunting success.
There have been other indicators that the wolf is very close to the house: normally deer will graze in the back garden at dawn, but these days I've only seen them race across. Also the dog is very curious about the little wood behind the garden, which is a great hiding place for any animal.
On one hand, I really enjoy that the wolf stays here so much, and I love telling trespassers that he lives here. (I don't mind them taking a walk, but I do mind unleashed dogs and foragers). On the other hand, I'm always scared he and the dog will get into a fight, since my dog is such a thief.
posted by mumimor at 6:15 AM on December 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
A few steps from there, and most certainly unrelated, my dog found one of the wolf's stashes of bones. He took the foreleg of a deer, with most of the meat eaten off it, but still with some smelly scraps and only a small part of it broken up for the marrow inside. What a treasure. It's good he's learnt to not bring stuff like that indoors. But now we may have the wolf circling the house all night, to retrieve his food. Depends on his hunting success.
There have been other indicators that the wolf is very close to the house: normally deer will graze in the back garden at dawn, but these days I've only seen them race across. Also the dog is very curious about the little wood behind the garden, which is a great hiding place for any animal.
On one hand, I really enjoy that the wolf stays here so much, and I love telling trespassers that he lives here. (I don't mind them taking a walk, but I do mind unleashed dogs and foragers). On the other hand, I'm always scared he and the dog will get into a fight, since my dog is such a thief.
posted by mumimor at 6:15 AM on December 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
I've been in Budapest for ninety minutes and I've already been asked for an illegal cash deposit by an AirBNB host and walked into a half-empty restaurant and been told there was an hour long wait. Things are going great!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:04 AM on December 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:04 AM on December 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
DirtyOldTown, I hope you have a super fun experience in that godforsaken hellhole.
(Hungarian trans woman with a US passport that will not help me at allifwhen I have to travel there again)
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:50 PM on December 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
(Hungarian trans woman with a US passport that will not help me at all
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:50 PM on December 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
I apologize for the non-free thread, but was caught up in the holiday spirit. May 2024 be better for everyone than 2023! (seems sketchy at best, fingers crossed).
That being said, we have a coyote problem here in north seattle. Think it is injured. Was in the neighbor's adjacent city owned lot yesterday, was limping through our cul de sac today. Poor thing. (keep your cats inside friends, they will get eaten). Also little dogs!
posted by Windopaene at 8:19 PM on December 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
That being said, we have a coyote problem here in north seattle. Think it is injured. Was in the neighbor's adjacent city owned lot yesterday, was limping through our cul de sac today. Poor thing. (keep your cats inside friends, they will get eaten). Also little dogs!
posted by Windopaene at 8:19 PM on December 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
So I had to read The Worst Script Ever for my online theater company and I have one Budapest-related question now: do the women seriously all dress as dominatrixes?! And come on to every American in broken English and horrible come-ons?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:48 PM on December 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:48 PM on December 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
Coming into the thread late.
Both you and Rocky look solid!
posted by Windopaene at 9:54 PM on December 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Both you and Rocky look solid!
posted by Windopaene at 9:54 PM on December 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
The comp sci part of my brain immediately corrected that to "dominatrices". I thought it was just being funny, but turns out that's the "preferred" spelling??? TIL
posted by tigrrrlily at 9:14 AM on December 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tigrrrlily at 9:14 AM on December 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
So today history was made in Denmark: the Queen proclaimed her abdication in her traditional New Year's talk to the nation. On the 14th of January, Frederik and Mary will be proclaimed King and Queen, and Christian will be Crown Prince.
I have to admit I teared up a bit.
posted by mumimor at 10:39 AM on December 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have to admit I teared up a bit.
posted by mumimor at 10:39 AM on December 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
By the way, today's date is 123123, which only happens once every 100 years.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:24 PM on December 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:24 PM on December 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Budapest women dress pretty chill, nothing particularly goth or BDSM or intense about them.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:24 PM on December 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:24 PM on December 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I note DirtyOldTown didn't mention whether they've been coming on to him non-stop since he got to Budapest.
posted by hippybear at 5:02 PM on December 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 5:02 PM on December 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Today's date is 31 Dec 2023. I have no idea what that six digit monstrosity you've presented means.
posted by hippybear at 5:03 PM on December 31, 2023
posted by hippybear at 5:03 PM on December 31, 2023
That is exactly what I damn well thought. Thank you, DirtyOldTown. I presume they aren't trying to get into your pants either?
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:05 PM on December 31, 2023
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:05 PM on December 31, 2023
I have become An Stick-In-The-Mud - I cannot be bothered to stay up until midnight tonight to ring in the new year (modulo intrusive fireworks).
...I suppose I should clarify I'm on the US west coast, where it's 9-something PM....
If the world ends overnight, please do be sure to post informative updates tomorrow morning...but, y'know, not too early.
Happy new year, all!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:24 PM on December 31, 2023
...I suppose I should clarify I'm on the US west coast, where it's 9-something PM....
If the world ends overnight, please do be sure to post informative updates tomorrow morning...but, y'know, not too early.
Happy new year, all!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:24 PM on December 31, 2023
Hungary is a fascinating place because it manages to be hyperfocused on manners and propriety, even as people make a point out of not being a single drop more kind than is required. We have been joking that their national motto should be "Hungary: I Am So Sorry But I Cannot Help You."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:27 PM on December 31, 2023
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:27 PM on December 31, 2023
Welp, the 2020's continue to 2020, as here I am waking up at 4 a.m. to discover there's earthquakery and tsunamis in Japan. Then I remembered that one of my theater friends is over there right now and I'm trying to figure out where she is (Kyoto?) and if there's affected.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:51 AM on January 1 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:51 AM on January 1 [1 favorite]
She wrote back, she's fine. Whew.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:13 AM on January 1 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:13 AM on January 1 [2 favorites]
Why is half of this thread about relatives with dementia? Did we all join Metafilter when we were young and now we've aged into having relatives with dementia? I don't remember this being such a frequent subject in years past.
Anyway I'm here visiting my mom for her 80th birthday and yeah. Actually it's not nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be, which is a huge relief. But yeah.
posted by HotToddy at 7:30 PM on January 1
Anyway I'm here visiting my mom for her 80th birthday and yeah. Actually it's not nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be, which is a huge relief. But yeah.
posted by HotToddy at 7:30 PM on January 1
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posted by Wordshore at 12:33 AM on December 25, 2023 [1 favorite]