something something my shiny metal ass
November 28, 2022 2:48 AM Subscribe
On the first day of christmas, my true love gave to me this thread and an advent of robots, all for free.
Merry Monday, mefi mortals! You don't need to be a believer to color a robot a day from Dec. 1 'til 25 (pdf for crayons, etc. or png for digital). Or give it to your kid, or boss, or cat, or someone else who wants to kill all humans! In the meantime, enjoy this very special extra-free thread! ❄️ 🤖
Merry Monday, mefi mortals! You don't need to be a believer to color a robot a day from Dec. 1 'til 25 (pdf for crayons, etc. or png for digital). Or give it to your kid, or boss, or cat, or someone else who wants to kill all humans! In the meantime, enjoy this very special extra-free thread! ❄️ 🤖
Kitten update: they all found homes! As a special bonus, we get to keep the last one for a couple of weeks. His new mom has a trip scheduled in early December, so she isn’t taking him till he gets back. We are integrating him with our other cats so he’s not cooped up by himself.
posted by notoriety public at 4:14 AM on November 28, 2022 [22 favorites]
posted by notoriety public at 4:14 AM on November 28, 2022 [22 favorites]
So when I'm bored on conference calls, I'll usually doodle or color, and the other day I got involved in a picture of Bender, to the point that I kept working on it after work, and my younger kid goes 'who's that' and I'm laughing, like, c'mon, you know who that is, that's Bender! 'Who is that?' You know, the robot from Futurama? 'From what?' C'mon, Futurama, the show Matt Groening did after-- Gentle reader, that blank stare she gave me made me despair for my parenting skills.
posted by mittens at 4:30 AM on November 28, 2022 [20 favorites]
posted by mittens at 4:30 AM on November 28, 2022 [20 favorites]
Oh man, my kid (8) is super-into swearing right now. Like, any time she hears or reads a swear she thinks it's just the funniest thing. I needed her to smile for a picture the other day, and she was giving me this goofy fake grin that looked ridiculous, so I said, "Enough with this bullshit, just smile, damnit!" and got the perfect photo.
Point being -- I bet she'd love Bender.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:40 AM on November 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
Point being -- I bet she'd love Bender.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:40 AM on November 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
On our separate blogs, a friend and I used to post the most outrageously expensive things for the 12 days of Crassmas.
posted by DJZouke at 4:44 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by DJZouke at 4:44 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I love advent calendars. My partner and I have 5 between us, plus one for the dog. Unfortunately, the dog we adopted in August is still not entirely sold on the idea that he should not grab random objects to chew when he decides his plethora of appropriate chew toys is insufficient. So our usual Christmas decorating will take some adjusting. Advent is set up in our bedroom instead of the dining room table, and our Christmas tree is going to be sequestered in a corner behind a gate. Still, looking forward to walking around the festively decorated neighborhood with Cyrus (seen here distrusting Halloween decorations).
I can take or leave Christmas day itself, I'm not religious, so all holidays are just feast days to me, but I love the whole festive season leading up to it. (No, I have never had to work retail this time of year, how could you tell?)
posted by the primroses were over at 5:40 AM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
I can take or leave Christmas day itself, I'm not religious, so all holidays are just feast days to me, but I love the whole festive season leading up to it. (No, I have never had to work retail this time of year, how could you tell?)
posted by the primroses were over at 5:40 AM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
I've gotta say I'm with Cyrus on that last one.
posted by taz at 5:52 AM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by taz at 5:52 AM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
Hello MeFi! Got the holiday decorations up yesterday, and ready to take on another week (sorta).
Want to share a link that I'm not sure is worthy of a front page post: my favorite new writer at NJ.com, Karim Shamsi-Basha. He's a Syrian who moved to New Jersey from Alabama, and started writing about food and culture for NJ.com earlier this year. My favorite articles of his are where he tries NJ food staples like bagels for the first time.
That said, I should go get some breakfast...
posted by May Kasahara at 6:14 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Want to share a link that I'm not sure is worthy of a front page post: my favorite new writer at NJ.com, Karim Shamsi-Basha. He's a Syrian who moved to New Jersey from Alabama, and started writing about food and culture for NJ.com earlier this year. My favorite articles of his are where he tries NJ food staples like bagels for the first time.
That said, I should go get some breakfast...
posted by May Kasahara at 6:14 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
TIL medieval English kings had an impressive logistics operation for arrows. They bought arrows. They made arrows. They got people to pay their taxes in arrows. The Tower of London had half a million arrows in stock at a time. They banned the makers of clogs and wooden overshoes from using the light strong wood aspen/poplar because that was the best wood for arrows. Source, source.
Forget "Once more unto the breach...", what Henry V really did well was "Get thee absolute fucktons of arrows to hurl at ye French, sirrah."
posted by TheophileEscargot at 6:26 AM on November 28, 2022 [10 favorites]
Forget "Once more unto the breach...", what Henry V really did well was "Get thee absolute fucktons of arrows to hurl at ye French, sirrah."
posted by TheophileEscargot at 6:26 AM on November 28, 2022 [10 favorites]
This probably explains the letter I got from the IRS demanding a stabilizer fin assembly for a RIM-67 missile.
posted by Naberius at 6:31 AM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 6:31 AM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
Yeah, our dogs had issues with decorations, too. Probably the worst was when Angel saw a plastic light up nativity. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was against it.
Speaking of decorations, we put the tree up this weekend, and my daughter's cat wasted no time before climbing up it. Technically, last year was her first Christmas, but she was still a kitten then, and ignored the tree. There aren't any decorations up yet, so she wsa just amusing.
posted by Spike Glee at 6:50 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Speaking of decorations, we put the tree up this weekend, and my daughter's cat wasted no time before climbing up it. Technically, last year was her first Christmas, but she was still a kitten then, and ignored the tree. There aren't any decorations up yet, so she wsa just amusing.
posted by Spike Glee at 6:50 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yeah, our dogs had issues with decorations, too. Probably the worst was when Angel saw a plastic light up nativity. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was against it.
One of our neighbors put up life-sized humanoid decorations for Halloween. Our dog is generally fearful of people, and she absolutely refused to walk past these. The one time I did coax her to walk past them, she kept looking back after we'd passed, presumably to make sure they weren't following us.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:18 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
One of our neighbors put up life-sized humanoid decorations for Halloween. Our dog is generally fearful of people, and she absolutely refused to walk past these. The one time I did coax her to walk past them, she kept looking back after we'd passed, presumably to make sure they weren't following us.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:18 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Really, really pleased after seeing the orthopedist this morning about my busted knee. It's got some problems, but if all goes well it should heal up, and if I'm comfortable with normal activities I can do them. Considering how horrible the injury felt and looked -- and sounded! -- I am extremely lucky. Now I just gotta deal with a tendonitis flare that's a knock-on effect.
Sometimes I think about a pup I had growing up. He was a poorly constructed chihuahua who lived to be 18, which I think is not unrelated to the fact that the vet was a close family friend who gave steep discounts. When the dog had some kind of serious tendon issue in his legs and/or hips, the vet did surgery and rigged a reinforcement (?) with off-the-shelf fishing line. The vet has since passed, so I will never be able to learn the details of this. But whenever I have tendon trouble, I wish somebody would do the same for me.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
Sometimes I think about a pup I had growing up. He was a poorly constructed chihuahua who lived to be 18, which I think is not unrelated to the fact that the vet was a close family friend who gave steep discounts. When the dog had some kind of serious tendon issue in his legs and/or hips, the vet did surgery and rigged a reinforcement (?) with off-the-shelf fishing line. The vet has since passed, so I will never be able to learn the details of this. But whenever I have tendon trouble, I wish somebody would do the same for me.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
We have (well, technically my daughter A has) a cat named Apollo who is a little slow because his head was run over by a car 18 months ago. My eldest daughter B (initials! not just placeholders!) moved out and is working/living in a boarding school an hour away and comes home on weekends and holidays with her newly adopted cat Ella.
Ella and Apollo have become pretty close buds and Apollo has been learning actual cat behavior from Ella, instead of dog behavior from, well, the dogs. It's really cute to see, and he's feeling lonely today because B and Ella went home last night.
We might need another cat because as much as we tried, we couldn't convince B to let us have Ella sleep over with Apollo for the next 10-15 years.
posted by Ickster at 7:19 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Ella and Apollo have become pretty close buds and Apollo has been learning actual cat behavior from Ella, instead of dog behavior from, well, the dogs. It's really cute to see, and he's feeling lonely today because B and Ella went home last night.
We might need another cat because as much as we tried, we couldn't convince B to let us have Ella sleep over with Apollo for the next 10-15 years.
posted by Ickster at 7:19 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
My 172-year-old house has been providing adventures in water--first, a radiator burst at the seams; next, some of the pipes exploded during the freeze at the beginning of the year; and now,my upstairs toilet decided to flood. I think I'm out of water-carrying things that might blow up--well, I suppose the main sump pump might decide to die on me again--but you can never tell.
In the meantime, on a more positive note, I am counting the days to my sabbatical--thirty-three, to be precise--and planning out a visit to the UK in order to sit in a library (or possibly multiple libraries), which is one of my very favorite academic things to do.
posted by thomas j wise at 7:22 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
In the meantime, on a more positive note, I am counting the days to my sabbatical--thirty-three, to be precise--and planning out a visit to the UK in order to sit in a library (or possibly multiple libraries), which is one of my very favorite academic things to do.
posted by thomas j wise at 7:22 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
I don't have room for a tree in my current apartment, and....I'm actually kinda okay with that? The Christmas decorating that means more to me anyway is the collection of books I've been building up; my aunt did that, she collected all kinds of kids' picture books and "Christmas stories" anthologies and such and would put them all over the house, and I always thought it was such a wonderful idea I adopted that.
I do also have an advent calendar - one from the French tea shop Palais des Thes, where each day there's a tea bag of some super-fancy tea to enjoy. It's a way to build a little self-care into the season ("Welp, I gotta sit and have some tea for five minutes on a daily basis now, darn heck shoot").
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I do also have an advent calendar - one from the French tea shop Palais des Thes, where each day there's a tea bag of some super-fancy tea to enjoy. It's a way to build a little self-care into the season ("Welp, I gotta sit and have some tea for five minutes on a daily basis now, darn heck shoot").
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yesterday we were in my friend's garage to swap out parts on his old-ish F-150, he hit a deer last week coming home from curling (this is starting to sound like the set-up to half the Canadian jokes out there) so there was damage to the bumper, grill, etc. and luckily he had another truck out in the yard for parts so we were back-and-forth cannibalizing the one vehicle as the temperate past few days steadily gave over to nasty winds and just a general change for the worse blowing in. One hood and some front side panels later we were back in the garage and let me tell you it's distracting working around two kittens. Mama cat and the remaining two from a litter of six call the garage home and those rascals were happy to have a captive audience.
The deer this time of year, especially the males, just seem to go a bit crazy.. lots of impact stories, they seem to be hyper-focused on the females and are prone to leaping out on the road. My friend called his brother-in-law who came out the night of the impact and he put the creature out of its misery and took the carcass to harvest the meat, such is the circle of life out here.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:28 AM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
The deer this time of year, especially the males, just seem to go a bit crazy.. lots of impact stories, they seem to be hyper-focused on the females and are prone to leaping out on the road. My friend called his brother-in-law who came out the night of the impact and he put the creature out of its misery and took the carcass to harvest the meat, such is the circle of life out here.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:28 AM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
So there is a (pretty much dead now) "entertainment site" called Tickld.com. And a few years ago, their model for attracting traffic was Facebook posts with an image designed to get your attention, and part of a sentence. The image cut off the sentence right before the interesting bit, so you would hopefully click through to see what it said. And it never actually told you anything interesting.
I found these so annoying that I put together a proof of concept Tumblr blog called Tickld Fucks Goats. The idea was that I would post their ad images, and then complete the sentence for you so you wouldn't have to wonder. The sentences would all turn out to be about fucking goats somehow. As it turns out, I only did the one proof of concept post before deciding there had to be better ways to waste my time. But I never got rid of it either. I haven't seen a Tickld ad or been on Tumblr in years, but every so often, Tumblr reminds me that it's been another year for Tickld Fucks Goats, and today is apparently that day.
So happy birthday, Tickld Fucks Goats. You never lived up to your full potential, but you've outlasted your inspiration, and that's something.
posted by Naberius at 7:52 AM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
I found these so annoying that I put together a proof of concept Tumblr blog called Tickld Fucks Goats. The idea was that I would post their ad images, and then complete the sentence for you so you wouldn't have to wonder. The sentences would all turn out to be about fucking goats somehow. As it turns out, I only did the one proof of concept post before deciding there had to be better ways to waste my time. But I never got rid of it either. I haven't seen a Tickld ad or been on Tumblr in years, but every so often, Tumblr reminds me that it's been another year for Tickld Fucks Goats, and today is apparently that day.
So happy birthday, Tickld Fucks Goats. You never lived up to your full potential, but you've outlasted your inspiration, and that's something.
posted by Naberius at 7:52 AM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Weekend update: mostly theater stuff. I did go to a craft fair one day and went to craft stores the other day, managing to find what I need. Dinner with the relatives went well, albeit by myself (see below).
Theater shows went on this weekend. None of my friends who supposedly wanted to see the show went, but that's not a surprise. My solo got extremely effed up Friday night by people being too slow to deliver their lines, which pained me greatly, but they got on the ball the rest of the weekend, whew. One person missed a show, but that was due to food poisoning and was back the next day and her parts were shuffled about, so that was taken care of. And Sunday one castmate's dress burst open in the back like mine did on week 1, but they got pinned in quickly enough to go on. We did well on filming day and that's the important thing, and we got more people this weekend than opening weekend, yay.
However, we found out Sunday night that one of the ushers who came to the show Saturday night got it Sunday, after having said hello to everyone and then went out to eat with the director and another castmate, so EVERYONE'S EXPOSED AGAIN, everyone's on 10 day wait and more testing AGAIN. And since no masks were on, not even on me, well :/ I'm hoping it was short enough exposure to not have done anything, tested negative yesterday but that was day one, so. I hope the show doesn't get canceled before last weekend, anyway. In the meantime, I'm forbidden from going to my dance studio because they won't let you back in for 10 days after exposure. Feh. Oh well, there was going to be a substitute anyway. Meanwhile I hope the lady who got it is okay because she's well, really old.
My mom tripped over something in Hoarder House and broke/dislocated her shoulder Wednesday, spending till around 3:30 a.m. in the ER and ending up having burgers at home for Thanksgiving. Presumably she'll need surgery, sigh. She's not happy. I'm just grateful her boyfriend's there and she's not in Hoarder House dealing with this (or worse, ME having to stay at Hoarder House with her dealing with this). That kind of throws the holidays all to hell, though. Her boyfriend STILL doesn't know about the hoarding because she somehow managed to get herself out of the house before calling. Oy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:22 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Theater shows went on this weekend. None of my friends who supposedly wanted to see the show went, but that's not a surprise. My solo got extremely effed up Friday night by people being too slow to deliver their lines, which pained me greatly, but they got on the ball the rest of the weekend, whew. One person missed a show, but that was due to food poisoning and was back the next day and her parts were shuffled about, so that was taken care of. And Sunday one castmate's dress burst open in the back like mine did on week 1, but they got pinned in quickly enough to go on. We did well on filming day and that's the important thing, and we got more people this weekend than opening weekend, yay.
However, we found out Sunday night that one of the ushers who came to the show Saturday night got it Sunday, after having said hello to everyone and then went out to eat with the director and another castmate, so EVERYONE'S EXPOSED AGAIN, everyone's on 10 day wait and more testing AGAIN. And since no masks were on, not even on me, well :/ I'm hoping it was short enough exposure to not have done anything, tested negative yesterday but that was day one, so. I hope the show doesn't get canceled before last weekend, anyway. In the meantime, I'm forbidden from going to my dance studio because they won't let you back in for 10 days after exposure. Feh. Oh well, there was going to be a substitute anyway. Meanwhile I hope the lady who got it is okay because she's well, really old.
My mom tripped over something in Hoarder House and broke/dislocated her shoulder Wednesday, spending till around 3:30 a.m. in the ER and ending up having burgers at home for Thanksgiving. Presumably she'll need surgery, sigh. She's not happy. I'm just grateful her boyfriend's there and she's not in Hoarder House dealing with this (or worse, ME having to stay at Hoarder House with her dealing with this). That kind of throws the holidays all to hell, though. Her boyfriend STILL doesn't know about the hoarding because she somehow managed to get herself out of the house before calling. Oy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:22 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've started a rewatch of Futurama because it's been so long since I've seen those early episodes; I'll have to do a special Robot Santa session soon.
Thanksgiving went pretty well, pretty much, and my main problem at the moment is wondering when I'll be able to get on Ozempic, because there are still shortages caused by prescriptions strictly for weight loss. Very frustrating.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:46 AM on November 28, 2022
Thanksgiving went pretty well, pretty much, and my main problem at the moment is wondering when I'll be able to get on Ozempic, because there are still shortages caused by prescriptions strictly for weight loss. Very frustrating.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:46 AM on November 28, 2022
all holidays are just feast days to me
posted by the primroses were over
Until I read that comment, I didn't realize how perfectly a single phrase could express my own views on this topic.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:28 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by the primroses were over
Until I read that comment, I didn't realize how perfectly a single phrase could express my own views on this topic.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:28 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
So I was checking my email spam folder and there was message from someone called FAMILY OF GREATNESS with no subject line. I opened it out of curiosity and, in German, there was an invitation to join the Illuminati.
And if I hadn't checked my spam I would have missed it!
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:54 AM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
And if I hadn't checked my spam I would have missed it!
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:54 AM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
So, there IS a cabal!
posted by hippybear at 10:04 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:04 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
We live just within the city (200k) limits but also we're in the forest on the edge of a vast wilderness. About an hour ago my neighbor texted me to say she'd just seen a "giant bear" less than 100 meters away. I sent text messages to other neighbors who have pets. Now my dog is telling me he needs to go for a walk. I will take my Gandalf-worthy staff.
posted by neuron at 10:06 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by neuron at 10:06 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Man I used to love the holiday season so much, it was like, literally life-sustaining. And then I lost all love for it at once, and every year I think maybe this is the year it comes back, but it never is. So now the whole damn year is just one big long slog, with no respite, and they just keep happening.
Therapist: so where would you say you are, vis a vis depression symptoms?
Me: Oh, not too bad, I'm not really depressed--I just hate everything and everyone, and am furious all the time and want to sleep for 22 hours a...oh.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:10 AM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
Therapist: so where would you say you are, vis a vis depression symptoms?
Me: Oh, not too bad, I'm not really depressed--I just hate everything and everyone, and am furious all the time and want to sleep for 22 hours a...oh.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:10 AM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
We stayed home this Thanksgiving since the in-laws all had flu and covid. I called my mother in law Saturday night and asked how she was doing. "Good. I kept a piece of toast down this morning." Apparently they all caught some sort of stomach bug too.
I wasn't feeling great myself that day, possibly due to the half a pecan pie I ate for breakfast that morning.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 10:29 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I wasn't feeling great myself that day, possibly due to the half a pecan pie I ate for breakfast that morning.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 10:29 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
In reading the recent stories about the flustercluck that is being a Foxconn employee, I just realized today that Foxconn is a Taiwanese company with a huge presence in the PRC. That really breaks my mental model of the relationship between the two countries; I’d envisioned them being about as likely to have joint business relationships as North and South Korea.
Guess I have a lot of reading to do.
posted by Ickster at 10:53 AM on November 28, 2022
Guess I have a lot of reading to do.
posted by Ickster at 10:53 AM on November 28, 2022
And then I lost all love for [the holiday season] at once
In my case it was a combination of being single again and my son having grown up and moved out. I'm not all "bah humbug", but holidays just aren't the same without a child around to inject some infectious enthusiasm into the proceedings.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:58 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
In my case it was a combination of being single again and my son having grown up and moved out. I'm not all "bah humbug", but holidays just aren't the same without a child around to inject some infectious enthusiasm into the proceedings.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:58 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
(although lately, I guess they're more likely to just inject infection...)
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:02 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:02 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I ghost around the house and, under my breath, mutter - to the toon - "It's the most! hor-rible time of the year!" and find it very satisfying. Xmas had turned into an unwieldy smorgasbord of "gifting" that was not a lot more than expensive and time consuming. Then a bunch of years ago the idea was come upon to do a "Yule Club" where everyone brings two gifts - one, an honest gift (for under 20€!) and the other a thing you want out of your life, a garbage-gift. And then a game is played to swap the gifts (dice roll to determine who gets to open which; and when another number is rolled all gifts shift left or right - and etc, the rules are preposterous and elaborate.) It's a good time. The kids get gifts from the grandparents and us, but the rest of us it's just the one and it's perfect - the emphasis is on hanging out for the evening, eating, shooting the breeze and playing a silly game with prizes.
I still fucking hate this time of year - until the end of January I want to hide in one of the kitchen cabinets (and plan my life accordingly). But there will be this bright spot.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:22 AM on November 28, 2022
I still fucking hate this time of year - until the end of January I want to hide in one of the kitchen cabinets (and plan my life accordingly). But there will be this bright spot.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:22 AM on November 28, 2022
In my case it was a combination of being single again and my son having grown up and moved out. I'm not all "bah humbug", but holidays just aren't the same without a child around to inject some infectious enthusiasm into the proceedings.
Ha, and in my case the doldrums coincided with the introduction of children into the mix. Maybe not the sole cause or a direct cause--but the Kid Factor turned the holidays from a delightful break with minimal complication and lots of good hearty booze and food into a logistical nightmare for exhausted, frazzled, sober people in charge of protecting a small army of tiny people from 52 lethal allergens at once. Every year we're like, let's do a holiday! and every year eventually all of the parents just nope out to do their safe, less-exhausting nuclear thing. Nobody invites the city mouse spinster aunt to their 2.2 kids and parents gathering in the suburbs three states over, and even if they did, she can't go because she doesn't have a car.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:37 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Ha, and in my case the doldrums coincided with the introduction of children into the mix. Maybe not the sole cause or a direct cause--but the Kid Factor turned the holidays from a delightful break with minimal complication and lots of good hearty booze and food into a logistical nightmare for exhausted, frazzled, sober people in charge of protecting a small army of tiny people from 52 lethal allergens at once. Every year we're like, let's do a holiday! and every year eventually all of the parents just nope out to do their safe, less-exhausting nuclear thing. Nobody invites the city mouse spinster aunt to their 2.2 kids and parents gathering in the suburbs three states over, and even if they did, she can't go because she doesn't have a car.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:37 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
(To be clear, I don't fault exhausted parents for doing what they need to do to spend a holiday without an epi-pen at the ready. I just, you know, had a family, until THEY had families, and now they don't need the rest of the family, and it's garbage.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:40 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:40 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Therapist: so where would you say you are, vis a vis depression symptoms?
Me: Oh, not too bad, I'm not really depressed--I just hate everything and everyone, and am furious all the time and want to sleep for 22 hours a...oh.
I call that "every single workday." What's the difference?
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:41 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Me: Oh, not too bad, I'm not really depressed--I just hate everything and everyone, and am furious all the time and want to sleep for 22 hours a...oh.
I call that "every single workday." What's the difference?
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:41 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
In recent years I've managed to distill the entire Seasonal Experience down to having a couple drinks too many on Christmas Eve, getting maudlin, and listening to the three songs on the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack album that are embued with the most wistfulness (sometimes including a repeat listen, to make sure I've fully extracted the melancholy), then going to bed. Then that's it, Christmas is over; I can't keep feeling sorry for myself or I'd never get anything done for the rest of my life.
...
And now, having brought down the mood in the thread, I'll attempt to lighten it again with my own captions for a couple of uncaptioned New Yorker cartoons...please hold your applause until the end of the thread:
"No no, I didn't say I had *Lyme* Disease..."
"Oh that's Parker's work, I'd recognize his inking style anywhere."
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:04 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
...
And now, having brought down the mood in the thread, I'll attempt to lighten it again with my own captions for a couple of uncaptioned New Yorker cartoons...please hold your applause until the end of the thread:
"No no, I didn't say I had *Lyme* Disease..."
"Oh that's Parker's work, I'd recognize his inking style anywhere."
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:04 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I call that "every single workday." What's the difference?
I presume the difference is whether it persists into the evenings, the weekends, and vacations.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:05 PM on November 28, 2022
I presume the difference is whether it persists into the evenings, the weekends, and vacations.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:05 PM on November 28, 2022
My holiday spirit isn't gone but in the vein of that my birthday is tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. For the first 37 years of my life I always shared it with my grandma, born the same day 60 years before me. She died earlier this year so this is the first birthday spent without her around. I'd rather just skip it this year cause every "Happy birthday!" I get will just be a reminder.
posted by downtohisturtles at 12:15 PM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 12:15 PM on November 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
Eight years ago my gastroenterologist scheduled an appointment for the afternoon of Christmas Eve. That was when he let me know that I have Crohn's disease.
My mom had passed away earlier that year, I'd broken up with my boyfriend a couple of months after that, and my friend group was in the process of disintegrating. So I'd stocked up the house with all sorts of good healthy munchies and I was determined to make the best of a solo Christmas. Healthy munchies like nuts, salad, all the makings of my favorite beef with broccoli...
All the stuff you can't eat with Crohn's disease. All the stuff that had been making my symptoms worse for months.
That night just broke Christmas for me. Up until then I'd donned the gay apparel with abandon, I had new Christmas playlists every year, I spent ages figuring out the perfect gifts for people. Went to Christmas singalongs at the local independent movie house. Went out to see Christmas lights and drink cocoa, despite it being Tucson, Arizona.
Now the holidays just mean a couple of months when I can't get to the stores because they're all too crowded.
Bah. Humbug.
posted by MrVisible at 12:16 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
My mom had passed away earlier that year, I'd broken up with my boyfriend a couple of months after that, and my friend group was in the process of disintegrating. So I'd stocked up the house with all sorts of good healthy munchies and I was determined to make the best of a solo Christmas. Healthy munchies like nuts, salad, all the makings of my favorite beef with broccoli...
All the stuff you can't eat with Crohn's disease. All the stuff that had been making my symptoms worse for months.
That night just broke Christmas for me. Up until then I'd donned the gay apparel with abandon, I had new Christmas playlists every year, I spent ages figuring out the perfect gifts for people. Went to Christmas singalongs at the local independent movie house. Went out to see Christmas lights and drink cocoa, despite it being Tucson, Arizona.
Now the holidays just mean a couple of months when I can't get to the stores because they're all too crowded.
Bah. Humbug.
posted by MrVisible at 12:16 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
About 10 years ago, my apartment had a breakin a couple weeks before Christmas. There was a faulty lock on one of the windows, and someone had crawled down the fire escape on my building and tried all the windows on each apartment until they found ours opened. As soon as they got in they locked and bolted the front door and then started casing the place; I think I got home only a few minutes later, and it took me a few minutes to fumble with the locks and the chain and get myself in. I found all the closets and some of my dresser drawers open, but the only things missing were my laptop and my roommate's laptop. They probably heard me fumbling with the locks and grabbed the laptops and fled. (The only other thing out of place was a gift set of chocolate body paint that they'd dug out of my nightstand and set on my bed; my trying to discreetly explain to a police officer what it was when giving them my statement was an exercise in comedy.)
And as for them taking my laptop - this was back before I was in the habit of backing things up, so everything that was on that laptop was gone. 10 years worth of writing, emails from friends, the first pictures of my niece as a baby - gone. I'd fortunately sent some of the things I wrote to friends, and they all sent me back everything I'd sent them, but some things I will never see again.
I was also in the middle of making a Christmas songs playlist at this time, as an extra gift to give out to family and friends. Shortly after this incident I added Denis Leary's "Merry F'ing Christmas" to the list, explaining in the liner notes that it was not originally part of the list, but "after that breakin, it is now."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:54 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
And as for them taking my laptop - this was back before I was in the habit of backing things up, so everything that was on that laptop was gone. 10 years worth of writing, emails from friends, the first pictures of my niece as a baby - gone. I'd fortunately sent some of the things I wrote to friends, and they all sent me back everything I'd sent them, but some things I will never see again.
I was also in the middle of making a Christmas songs playlist at this time, as an extra gift to give out to family and friends. Shortly after this incident I added Denis Leary's "Merry F'ing Christmas" to the list, explaining in the liner notes that it was not originally part of the list, but "after that breakin, it is now."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:54 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
So, in case this is revelant for purposes of this thread:
Last saturday the light went on in my backyard. Usually it's the neighbors, what with me sharing the backyard with four other stories of neighbors who are prone to put some junk in the trash can or come home with their bicycles late.
But, as has happened before, it was this one street tabby.
So I put on my coat and opened the door for her (or him) to the front street. They (do cats care about pronouns?) fairly openly went down the sidewalk, I mean like not hiding under any of the cars, and bee-lined for the lights on that one pub with the lights on a few house numbers down the street. (Man, cats have it too easy not using words).
I wasn't about to, but I knew what was on that cat's mind, so I followed and yeah, rubbing the head against that door and mewling at me: That cat knew it could score a bit of food from that pub's owner. So, being a good human, I opened that door.
That cat probably cares as much about me as I care about my bottle opener, but I sat in that pub for some two hours after they left again, and I had some beers, also, mulled wine what with some guy having been nailed to a cross a few thousand years ago.
People let me tell you, toxoplasmosis is a hell of an ailment.
posted by flamewise at 1:41 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Last saturday the light went on in my backyard. Usually it's the neighbors, what with me sharing the backyard with four other stories of neighbors who are prone to put some junk in the trash can or come home with their bicycles late.
But, as has happened before, it was this one street tabby.
So I put on my coat and opened the door for her (or him) to the front street. They (do cats care about pronouns?) fairly openly went down the sidewalk, I mean like not hiding under any of the cars, and bee-lined for the lights on that one pub with the lights on a few house numbers down the street. (Man, cats have it too easy not using words).
I wasn't about to, but I knew what was on that cat's mind, so I followed and yeah, rubbing the head against that door and mewling at me: That cat knew it could score a bit of food from that pub's owner. So, being a good human, I opened that door.
That cat probably cares as much about me as I care about my bottle opener, but I sat in that pub for some two hours after they left again, and I had some beers, also, mulled wine what with some guy having been nailed to a cross a few thousand years ago.
People let me tell you, toxoplasmosis is a hell of an ailment.
posted by flamewise at 1:41 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Thanksgiving was spent with my extended family at the home of one of my siblings. Sibling's spouse had her entire family as well. The only person missing was my dad's spouse. The official reason was that she is in the process of learning to live life on a VERY different diet and did not want to be around all the food. Which I GREATLY sympathize with, as she is in the same place I was seven years ago and have returned to (as the diet went off the rails somewhat when my mom passed away then the pandemic happened). It is really HARD to be around holiday meals at first.
Siblings and I are aligned over the unofficial reason and hope that there can be a reset at some point in the new year.
I've had the Christmas spirit completely sucked out of me over the years. I have little desire to host or travel. We have to travel for Christmas Eve this year, but I have drawn a very firm boundary about my role in hosting on the day (I'm not lifting a finger) as spouse is reluctant to bar the door to his family. As his family is the reason I have no spirit left, it could get quite interesting because I'm leaving ALL the responsibility to him if guests show up on the doorstep.
And the cats have registered their disapproval at our travels on the carpet via solid waste, so I guess I'm going to be doing some more experimentation to get them back to pooping in the litter box. Happily, I have a couple of really good ideas based on my research.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 1:51 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Siblings and I are aligned over the unofficial reason and hope that there can be a reset at some point in the new year.
I've had the Christmas spirit completely sucked out of me over the years. I have little desire to host or travel. We have to travel for Christmas Eve this year, but I have drawn a very firm boundary about my role in hosting on the day (I'm not lifting a finger) as spouse is reluctant to bar the door to his family. As his family is the reason I have no spirit left, it could get quite interesting because I'm leaving ALL the responsibility to him if guests show up on the doorstep.
And the cats have registered their disapproval at our travels on the carpet via solid waste, so I guess I'm going to be doing some more experimentation to get them back to pooping in the litter box. Happily, I have a couple of really good ideas based on my research.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 1:51 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
this was back before I was in the habit of backing things up
Over my career I've seen more and more evidence that most of us don't develop the backup habit until after that first traumatic lose-everything object lesson.
If you currently aren't backing up and have not yet had that particular harsh lesson, know that sooner or later it'll happen to you!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:05 PM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Over my career I've seen more and more evidence that most of us don't develop the backup habit until after that first traumatic lose-everything object lesson.
If you currently aren't backing up and have not yet had that particular harsh lesson, know that sooner or later it'll happen to you!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:05 PM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I presume the difference is whether it persists into the evenings, the weekends, and vacations.
Not so much so far. I guess that's why my HMO doesn't think I'm clinical.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:10 PM on November 28, 2022
Not so much so far. I guess that's why my HMO doesn't think I'm clinical.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:10 PM on November 28, 2022
In our family, we have a rule that no decorations go up and no Christmas music is played before my youngest's birthday, which is Wednesday. We have always wanted her to have her day to herself, without a lot of distracting other stuff. And it's been lucky that "we" included the teachers at her pre-school and most of the extended family.
Obviously, the last few years have been tough for everyone, holiday-wise, and this year, the advent surprise was that my beloved aunt, who is more of a grandmother to my children than my actual mother is, was hospitalized yesterday. She is almost paralyzed in one side and her speech is slurred. I went to the hospital this morning before the diagnosis was clear, but the prognosis is good. My cousin is a nurse, and she could translate all the jargon into: she is doing far better than other patients of her age and she will recover, and I could see it. Part of it is that my aunt is much beloved, but also extremely difficult, temperamental, impatient and angry, and she is just not willing to be bedridden. While I was there, the physical therapy person came to help her train, and she started squeezing her little ball like a crazy person right away, even though theoretically, she shouldn't be able to. Anger isn't always a bad thing. My cousin said that before I arrived, my aunt had been scolding her for not wanting to read a book that my aunt feels is important. That is the bad side. Anyway, this morning I literally cried tears of happiness when I saw she was almost her angry old self, after being up all night worrying about her.
My mother, on the other hand, thinks I am in Ukraine, saving people. I haven't yet felt the energy to inform her of the real life situation. She is in her bed now for the tenth year in a row, with an impressive line-up of liquor for sustenance. My brother thinks she has invented a new lifeform, with her organs marinated in cheap whiskey.
Now I am extremely scared of jinxing it, but I think the rest of us are going to have a really good Christmas. I got a message from the goose farm this morning that our bird is ready. We are going to be a good large crowd at the farm, so I'll be thinking of another protein and all the sides. Snow looks likely. My neighbor will give us a tree.
posted by mumimor at 2:20 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
Obviously, the last few years have been tough for everyone, holiday-wise, and this year, the advent surprise was that my beloved aunt, who is more of a grandmother to my children than my actual mother is, was hospitalized yesterday. She is almost paralyzed in one side and her speech is slurred. I went to the hospital this morning before the diagnosis was clear, but the prognosis is good. My cousin is a nurse, and she could translate all the jargon into: she is doing far better than other patients of her age and she will recover, and I could see it. Part of it is that my aunt is much beloved, but also extremely difficult, temperamental, impatient and angry, and she is just not willing to be bedridden. While I was there, the physical therapy person came to help her train, and she started squeezing her little ball like a crazy person right away, even though theoretically, she shouldn't be able to. Anger isn't always a bad thing. My cousin said that before I arrived, my aunt had been scolding her for not wanting to read a book that my aunt feels is important. That is the bad side. Anyway, this morning I literally cried tears of happiness when I saw she was almost her angry old self, after being up all night worrying about her.
My mother, on the other hand, thinks I am in Ukraine, saving people. I haven't yet felt the energy to inform her of the real life situation. She is in her bed now for the tenth year in a row, with an impressive line-up of liquor for sustenance. My brother thinks she has invented a new lifeform, with her organs marinated in cheap whiskey.
Now I am extremely scared of jinxing it, but I think the rest of us are going to have a really good Christmas. I got a message from the goose farm this morning that our bird is ready. We are going to be a good large crowd at the farm, so I'll be thinking of another protein and all the sides. Snow looks likely. My neighbor will give us a tree.
posted by mumimor at 2:20 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
Copy-and-pasted with the kind permission of the author:
Last year, around December 28th, I sent myself a message to be delivered on Thanksgiving. It was pretty dark and depressing. It was a Ghost of Christmas Past reminding me that Christmas wasn't always something that I hated and that winter will kill you if you let it.posted by ob1quixote at 3:21 PM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
I tried to solve this years ago by creating an Anti-Christmas celebration. I tricked myself into happiness in the form of revolt. But the revolution became an institution and that's when it's time for another revolution.
So, I'm quietly celebrating a secular Christmas this year. A few bright lights to cast off the winter darkness and some catchy nostalgic tunes with jolly, holly, and things that rhyme with "olly." I'll go see Christmas lights and read the "Hogfather" again and visit people. I'll watch some Christmas movies and cartoons. I may even carol.
Because, before it was this modern construct with a Coca-Cola Santa Claus, primal humans recognized that we need light and fire and music and companionship in the darkest part of the year. Because they knew that winter would kill you if you let it.
People let me tell you, toxoplasmosis is a hell of an ailment.
All the cats in the fishing port town gather! It’s fish!
posted by Countess Elena at 4:10 PM on November 28, 2022
All the cats in the fishing port town gather! It’s fish!
posted by Countess Elena at 4:10 PM on November 28, 2022
I've been having some close calls with blood pressure - every time I take it myself it's okay, but it spikes upward into "elevated" with greater frequency during the day than I'd like, and sometimes does so even when I've not done anything to trigger that. I got into a takeout-and-sedentary habit over the past couple years thanks to the one-two punch of Covid and a broken knee, and I think that's a large part of it; more activity and some small nudges at the diet should help.
So today I started to adopt three habits -
1. Every workday, I will spend half an hour of my hour-lunch-break going on a brisk walk. I work in a 300-acre gated business campus in Brooklyn, where there are no hills and little traffic, and so there are several options for "walk 15 minutes in one direction and then turn around and head back" and I should be able to keep that up.
2. Also every workday, I will actually do one of the videos from the Body Project when I get home. They're pitched to beginners, they have several that are low impact, and I can usually squeeze one in before my roommate gets home. So that's an hour of exercise five days a week, sorted.
3. Finally, during the work week I will also make a smoothie for breakfast. We have a Nutri-bullet at work and people keep little stashes of frozen fruit in the freezer - I'll start my own stash. And I'll add a half cup of cranberries to each one - this Thanksgiving my family was happily discussing how some recent studies show that a half cup of cranberries daily can have a noticeable impact on heart health within only a month.
...It strikes me that December is a REALLY, REALLY bad time to be embarking upon a health improvement kick. But hey.
....I'm also probably going to spend Christmas alone, but I don't mind that - especially since my father finally taught me a killer recipe for swordfish served on a bed of butter beans, spinach and tomato. He got it from an Italian restaurant we went to a few times - they had it on the menu once and he loved it, but after a few visits they'd changed it considerably. Dad actually asked to speak to the chef and described the dish he was fond of - and we're regulars enough that they complied, and then taught Dad how to do it himself as well.
And I have the butter beans and I now know of a nearby fishmarket, so I could do this for Christmas dinner.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:42 PM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
So today I started to adopt three habits -
1. Every workday, I will spend half an hour of my hour-lunch-break going on a brisk walk. I work in a 300-acre gated business campus in Brooklyn, where there are no hills and little traffic, and so there are several options for "walk 15 minutes in one direction and then turn around and head back" and I should be able to keep that up.
2. Also every workday, I will actually do one of the videos from the Body Project when I get home. They're pitched to beginners, they have several that are low impact, and I can usually squeeze one in before my roommate gets home. So that's an hour of exercise five days a week, sorted.
3. Finally, during the work week I will also make a smoothie for breakfast. We have a Nutri-bullet at work and people keep little stashes of frozen fruit in the freezer - I'll start my own stash. And I'll add a half cup of cranberries to each one - this Thanksgiving my family was happily discussing how some recent studies show that a half cup of cranberries daily can have a noticeable impact on heart health within only a month.
...It strikes me that December is a REALLY, REALLY bad time to be embarking upon a health improvement kick. But hey.
....I'm also probably going to spend Christmas alone, but I don't mind that - especially since my father finally taught me a killer recipe for swordfish served on a bed of butter beans, spinach and tomato. He got it from an Italian restaurant we went to a few times - they had it on the menu once and he loved it, but after a few visits they'd changed it considerably. Dad actually asked to speak to the chef and described the dish he was fond of - and we're regulars enough that they complied, and then taught Dad how to do it himself as well.
And I have the butter beans and I now know of a nearby fishmarket, so I could do this for Christmas dinner.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:42 PM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
I had been looking forward to the wedding of my lifelong friends son the day after Thanksgiving. I've been working six days a week and I never get a chance to "dress up". The location looked elegant, her family was my second family growing up and I'm still considered a member of the family.
But Thanksgiving night, my friend texted me with a heads up: the mother of the bride just tested positive for COVID. She would be there, wearing a mask and social distancing, but both sides of the family had been exposed, and no one was planning to wear masks.
I sadly declined to attend. The day after the wedding I was going to the services for another friends daughter, who died unexpectedly at only 30 years old. I would not, in good conscious, possibly carry a virus to grieving people.
It was a weekend of extremely varied emotions, I'll tell ya.
posted by annieb at 6:33 PM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
But Thanksgiving night, my friend texted me with a heads up: the mother of the bride just tested positive for COVID. She would be there, wearing a mask and social distancing, but both sides of the family had been exposed, and no one was planning to wear masks.
I sadly declined to attend. The day after the wedding I was going to the services for another friends daughter, who died unexpectedly at only 30 years old. I would not, in good conscious, possibly carry a virus to grieving people.
It was a weekend of extremely varied emotions, I'll tell ya.
posted by annieb at 6:33 PM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
For 11+ years I've mostly been alone for holidays; my birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the main ones. I've had invites to holiday celebrations but am just in the habit of solitude. I had food delivered from my favorite Indian restaurant on Thanksgiving this year. Pre-lockdown I'd usually go to a hotel and sit at the bar, now even though restrictions are lifted I'm still tired and just get delivery at home.
posted by bendy at 8:50 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by bendy at 8:50 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I needed her to smile for a picture the other day
When strangers ask me to take photos for them instead of saying "say cheese," I say "say penis." Universally accepted, hilarious results.
posted by bendy at 8:54 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
When strangers ask me to take photos for them instead of saying "say cheese," I say "say penis." Universally accepted, hilarious results.
posted by bendy at 8:54 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
I just wrote an Ask about what to get for my cousin (difficult to buy for, can manufacture and bear a grudge for years if the present is not good enough), and, in doing due diligence about tags and previously posted questions, found the answer and did not need to post - Jenny Odell's book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, recommended here. So thank you for that.
posted by paduasoy at 3:58 AM on November 29, 2022
posted by paduasoy at 3:58 AM on November 29, 2022
....I've been at the health kick I mentioned above for not even 24 hours now and I already notice a difference.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:51 AM on November 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:51 AM on November 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
I started a side-hustle doing voiceover this week. I'm also pursuing training and getting a real demo produced (which you need to get the "good" gigs), but in the meantime I decided to dip my toe into one of the online voiceover marketplaces, and ... I booked two jobs this week! I don't expect that my audition-to-booking ratio will stay this high, but it does give me confidence that I'm doing a lot right (plus these jobs have more than paid for the equipment I've invested in so far).
Next steps: get an agent, get those sweet union auditions, end up on late-night TV hawking scrotum razors.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:25 AM on November 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Next steps: get an agent, get those sweet union auditions, end up on late-night TV hawking scrotum razors.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:25 AM on November 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
I just wrote an Ask about what to get for my cousin (difficult to buy for, can manufacture and bear a grudge for years if the present is not good enough),
Aw man! I would have loved to have read that (see my previous rant on that topic).
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:20 AM on November 29, 2022
Aw man! I would have loved to have read that (see my previous rant on that topic).
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:20 AM on November 29, 2022
Located your rant and I feel your pain. I may well have to ask about the same person for Christmas (this was for his early-December birthday). He's still not speaking to someone in the family who sent him a box of biscuits, which arrived crushed, about twelve years ago. I really like buying presents! Apart for two to three people who are just impossible.
posted by paduasoy at 9:30 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by paduasoy at 9:30 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Crushedbizquitz admirable sock puppet name. Or a good threat.
posted by Oyéah at 7:34 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 7:34 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fun fact: Hallmark is apparently not letting anyone stream their movies. I just discontinued the service I used to watch movies because they weren't updating with this year's movies, and switched to the Hallmark service, but they aren't airing new ones either--they only air them on cable. Fuck THAT. I canceled the subscription.
FYI to anyone else who doesn't care enough to get cable installed. GRRRRRRRR.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:32 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
FYI to anyone else who doesn't care enough to get cable installed. GRRRRRRRR.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:32 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have reached the final chapters of the book I'm writing, the climactic scenes, and I've suddenly got cold feet.
I don't think the conflict at the end is strong enough to justify the buildup.
Also I think the way I'm dealing with neurodivergent characters is way too on the nose and heavy handed.
No way out but through! Can't fix it if I don't write it.
posted by Zumbador at 12:13 AM on November 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I don't think the conflict at the end is strong enough to justify the buildup.
Also I think the way I'm dealing with neurodivergent characters is way too on the nose and heavy handed.
No way out but through! Can't fix it if I don't write it.
posted by Zumbador at 12:13 AM on November 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
So not only is Operation Health Kick getting off to a roaring start, but something else seems to be improving.
In one of the other free threads I'd mentioned that my apartment building had a problem with Critters Inside The Walls that was getting pretty bad. I got read the riot act for cutting them too much slack, and decided that you're right - I would email our building manager one more time, and if I didn't like what she said in response I'd alert the city.
Well! I didn't actually get a response, and I went home for Thanksgiving anyway, and so before I called the city I called her a week later to follow up (that was just yesterday). And as it turns out - the only reason I didn't get a response was because my email had triggered her to go on such an all-out pest control attack that she'd simply forgotten to respond. She apologized profusely and then caught me up:
* The super had been scattering traps around the building, and had already caught several rats. He was continuing to lay traps and bait.
* Our exterminator is coming on Sunday, and she called them to insist they Arm Well For Battle.
* When I mentioned that the alley where the problem seemed to be coming from was locked and the neighbor had the only keys, she said she would track down the owner and speak to them.
* And then, she said, if all else fails - she offered to have our super cut a hole in the wall itself and stuff poison in there. I told her I'd keep that as a nuclear option; the manager encouraged me to check if my roommate (who has had things a little worse than me) wanted them to do that as well.
...And I have to be honest - I have noticed a definite decrease in Critter Activity in the past couple days. We had a warm spell this weekend and I'd been chalking it up to that, but last night the temperature dipped back down - and it was STILL at a similarly low-level (like, it went down from "multiple instances of digging and scratching and scurrying that lasted for several minutes at a time" to "a few seconds of critter footsteps once or twice").
I also had an enlightening conversation with a neighbor who's lived in this building for a few years. She said that critters had been a problem once or twice in the past as well; she'd also seen an uptick in critter activity, and had in fact called the manager too when she saw what looked like the beginnings of a hole leading into her own apartment. But - she added that our current manager is actually somewhat new; she was recently promoted into the role from being the assistant manager, and my neighbor said that she seemed way more pro-active than our previous manager. So my neighbor was optimistic. Our new manager was also behind the change in exterminators - our older exterminator was a nice guy but a little lazy, and the new manager switched to a newer one that started last month; he's definitely more responsive and active as well.
So I think not only is the problem starting to get under control, but I'm reassured that the landlord doesn't think of me and my roommate as Those Whiners In Apt. C, but rather are taking us seriously, and the new manager is Flat-Out Determined to fix things.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:43 AM on November 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
In one of the other free threads I'd mentioned that my apartment building had a problem with Critters Inside The Walls that was getting pretty bad. I got read the riot act for cutting them too much slack, and decided that you're right - I would email our building manager one more time, and if I didn't like what she said in response I'd alert the city.
Well! I didn't actually get a response, and I went home for Thanksgiving anyway, and so before I called the city I called her a week later to follow up (that was just yesterday). And as it turns out - the only reason I didn't get a response was because my email had triggered her to go on such an all-out pest control attack that she'd simply forgotten to respond. She apologized profusely and then caught me up:
* The super had been scattering traps around the building, and had already caught several rats. He was continuing to lay traps and bait.
* Our exterminator is coming on Sunday, and she called them to insist they Arm Well For Battle.
* When I mentioned that the alley where the problem seemed to be coming from was locked and the neighbor had the only keys, she said she would track down the owner and speak to them.
* And then, she said, if all else fails - she offered to have our super cut a hole in the wall itself and stuff poison in there. I told her I'd keep that as a nuclear option; the manager encouraged me to check if my roommate (who has had things a little worse than me) wanted them to do that as well.
...And I have to be honest - I have noticed a definite decrease in Critter Activity in the past couple days. We had a warm spell this weekend and I'd been chalking it up to that, but last night the temperature dipped back down - and it was STILL at a similarly low-level (like, it went down from "multiple instances of digging and scratching and scurrying that lasted for several minutes at a time" to "a few seconds of critter footsteps once or twice").
I also had an enlightening conversation with a neighbor who's lived in this building for a few years. She said that critters had been a problem once or twice in the past as well; she'd also seen an uptick in critter activity, and had in fact called the manager too when she saw what looked like the beginnings of a hole leading into her own apartment. But - she added that our current manager is actually somewhat new; she was recently promoted into the role from being the assistant manager, and my neighbor said that she seemed way more pro-active than our previous manager. So my neighbor was optimistic. Our new manager was also behind the change in exterminators - our older exterminator was a nice guy but a little lazy, and the new manager switched to a newer one that started last month; he's definitely more responsive and active as well.
So I think not only is the problem starting to get under control, but I'm reassured that the landlord doesn't think of me and my roommate as Those Whiners In Apt. C, but rather are taking us seriously, and the new manager is Flat-Out Determined to fix things.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:43 AM on November 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
Hurrah Empress, I was worried for you.
I just called my youngest to say happy birthday, and at some point our connection was lost. We live in a dense area, and sometimes the network is just overloaded. But then she sent me a text that made me smile: Couldn't hear what you said. But lets have muls frits soon. If anyone loves someone who is dyslexic, I'm sure you love the inventive language use. I think from now on, the official name should be muls frits.
posted by mumimor at 9:39 AM on November 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
I just called my youngest to say happy birthday, and at some point our connection was lost. We live in a dense area, and sometimes the network is just overloaded. But then she sent me a text that made me smile: Couldn't hear what you said. But lets have muls frits soon. If anyone loves someone who is dyslexic, I'm sure you love the inventive language use. I think from now on, the official name should be muls frits.
posted by mumimor at 9:39 AM on November 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
no wait it was even better, she wrote mul frit.
posted by mumimor at 9:42 AM on November 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mumimor at 9:42 AM on November 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't like eating muls but I will happily adopt the term (and the food) pum frit
posted by moonmilk at 10:36 AM on November 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 10:36 AM on November 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
this is a 1968 music video of leonard nimoy singing the ballad of bilbo baggins
enjoy!
posted by pyramid termite at 6:39 PM on November 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
enjoy!
posted by pyramid termite at 6:39 PM on November 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
Looks like I’ll be having to say goodbye to our 14.5 year old doggo tonight. Send hugs.
posted by rikschell at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'm so sorry, rikschell. Sending those hugs.
posted by mmmbacon at 2:17 PM on December 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mmmbacon at 2:17 PM on December 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
One of the main characters in Christmas Carol (Present) got covid. (For the fourth time--he works in a school.) They told us to get there at 5 to reconfigure the show. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW YOU DO THIS SHOW WITHOUT CHRISTMAS PRESENT, plus he plays other characters and does a literal lot of lifting. We don't have any kind of understudy/backup (no people for that) and I'm still shocked they haven't just canceled it. I have no idea what's going to happen or if we can even do shows this last weekend.
What a bummer.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:46 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
What a bummer.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:46 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you have the means to pull movies from the interwebs via non-conventional means, find yourself a copy of the Italian film Freaks Out and watch that.
It is a big budget (for Italy) movie from 2020 set in WWII in which a troupe of super powered circus performers are thrown into a chaotic adventure when one group of Nazis seizes their Jewish emcee and a second group headed by a six fingered Nazi scientist who can see the future tries to kidnap them into being Third Reich secret weapons.
It's wildly entertaining but it's also not a mystery to me why no US company wanted to pay a high price during COVID closures for what plays like a magical realism superhero movie with Nazis, exploding heads, a masturbating dwarf, and two wolf people having loud sex.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:37 AM on December 4, 2022
It is a big budget (for Italy) movie from 2020 set in WWII in which a troupe of super powered circus performers are thrown into a chaotic adventure when one group of Nazis seizes their Jewish emcee and a second group headed by a six fingered Nazi scientist who can see the future tries to kidnap them into being Third Reich secret weapons.
It's wildly entertaining but it's also not a mystery to me why no US company wanted to pay a high price during COVID closures for what plays like a magical realism superhero movie with Nazis, exploding heads, a masturbating dwarf, and two wolf people having loud sex.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:37 AM on December 4, 2022
We don't have any kind of understudy/backup (no people for that) and I'm still shocked they haven't just canceled it. I have no idea what's going to happen or if we can even do shows this last weekend.
My daughter has been in a little-kids (under-13ish I think?) community theater production of Frozen Jr. for the last few weeks. They're running two separate casts for most parts, two shows each weekend day. But there's only one Hans, and they've been sick for the last two weekends -- they're calling in replacements from all over, and it's just some random kid who has been in one of their other shows and hasn't rehearsed this one at all. They're doing an admirable job, given the circumstances, but this wouldn't fly if the audience were anything but 100% family members.
Yesterday they had a substitute Young Anna, though, who apparently had performed the part in some other production somehwere -- she was really great. Today is the final performance, and who knows who's going on... could be anyone!
posted by uncleozzy at 8:10 AM on December 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
My daughter has been in a little-kids (under-13ish I think?) community theater production of Frozen Jr. for the last few weeks. They're running two separate casts for most parts, two shows each weekend day. But there's only one Hans, and they've been sick for the last two weekends -- they're calling in replacements from all over, and it's just some random kid who has been in one of their other shows and hasn't rehearsed this one at all. They're doing an admirable job, given the circumstances, but this wouldn't fly if the audience were anything but 100% family members.
Yesterday they had a substitute Young Anna, though, who apparently had performed the part in some other production somehwere -- she was really great. Today is the final performance, and who knows who's going on... could be anyone!
posted by uncleozzy at 8:10 AM on December 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this sounds about like my experience this weekend...I'll tell the whole thing in the new free thread!
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:45 AM on December 5, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:45 AM on December 5, 2022
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posted by adept256 at 3:01 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]