Red-Handed Jill

Okay, here's one: "You're sittin' here, you're talkin' in circles! You're talkin' like we didn't go over this already!"

It just came to me (duh...) Is it The Mask?

time!

Here's a picture of Iron Jack and me at the Kearney Faire. The odd look on my face is due to the fact that I was sucking on a cough drop at the time...

Good on ye, Charity! And I'm with you on staying in for New Year's Eve, Christine. It's just too insane out there to consider going out. Jack and I are going the movies and munchies route as well. And speaking of unsave conditions, last night we were driven home from a party by a friend in his Suburban Behemoth and drove through a flooded area on the freeway. Suddenly, the truck turned into a power boat and we found ourselves floating and drifting. Eventually we got out of that water and continued on. We thought about moving over one lane but at the last minute decided not to - very fortunately for us, since in the next lane over we encountered a taxicab that had hit the water and spun out and was facing sideways on the freeway. Yikes!

Not so much a New Year's resolution, but it's been almost two years since I've given myself a real challenge. The last one was mental, so this one should be physical.

Woodstock

chunky

Cough! Hack! I'm with Rumba on this one. There's something just ... wrong with holding something that looks and smells just like dog poop that close to your face.

wassail

Well, Winter Solstice, Hannukah and Christmas are ALL holy days to some person or another. I figure saying Happy Holidays is a good way of generally wishing someone well during this time of year, whatever their religious views are (or not.) As a pragmatist, I'm a believer in trying to take life as it is and not being so ignorant as to wish someone who is obviously not a Christian a "Merry Christmas" or someone who is obviously not Jewish "Happy Hannukah." My extended family is a mixture of Catholics, Christians, Jews, Pagan (me) and agnostics. We've learned to celebrate what's important to all members - our celebration is a mixture of all faiths and non-faiths and it works very well.

castles

I don't mean there are no fireworks or warm fuzzies after the initial "honeymoon" stage runs its course. The point I made is that some people expect that stage to be the whole relationship and when that phase is over, they figure that the relationship is over and they are always disappointed. If the relationship is healthy, they'll successfully manoeuver through the end of the initial stage and transition to the actual long-term, functioning part of the relationship. Which, if it is love, will contain plenty of fireworks of one sort or another. And sure, the infatuation part is fun, but the good part is when you get past seeing the other person through rose coloured glasses, realise you still love them and get to the real commitment stage.

resuscitation

Yeah - movies in particular are horrible about selling us a bill of goods about love. Some people expect to be in that initial giddy, overly-stimulated, dramatic part of love forever, but that's only the illusory, adolescent phase. It's wonderful, but our psyches aren't designed to be able to maintain that indefinitely, so by its very nature it's meant to be finite. Unfortunately, we're fed the notion that "real" love stays in that illusory state and lots of people miss out on real commitment because they leave as soon as the "honeymoon" part of the relationship is over because they are under a misconception fed to them about what "real" love is. I'm with you on this one, Caraccioli.

Good question. I think Jack figured it out on his own after listening to Skip's CD. I'm not sure you can do that particular song on a concertina, though. Concertinas don't exactly have a great range - you can pretty much play the base line and not much else. Skip plays a melodeon (which is basically a mini accordion with buttons rather than piano keys)so he's able to play the full melody of a song.

Surfer Joe

too soon

Nice tree, Weasel! Jack and I change the theme of our tree every year. Last year, we had a (surprise) pirate theme, with a pirate skull tree topper. This year, it's an over-the-top tree with lots of large decorations in blue, silver and aqua. However, the lights are a mixture of red and those flame bulbs, so during the day it looks elegant, icy and blue and at night it's red and firey. Makes for a nice contrast. My parents didn't do the "Santa" thing. I knew my presents came from them and not some guy in a red suit. However, they told me that other folks believed in him and to just say, "Santa is love" when asked. I managed to make it through childhood without traumatizing any of my peers by debunking their Santa myth. I've noticed that for most part, Christmas has become a season of obligation. We end up gathering with a bunch of family members that we normally wouldn't want to spend time with, much less buy presents for. It was that way for me as a child and it has become that way again in recent years. So my mum and I have decided that this year will be the last one for the big family Christmas Eve dinner. We'll spend the money we'll save towards more charitable giving, which seems to me more in keeping with the spirit of Christmas, at any rate.

Thai yellow curry with vegetables.

gas giants

I play one with Fiberskyn rather than goatskin. Fiberskyn drums aren't all that reactive to weather changes and don't have to be constantly tuned, so they are much more consistent. I've played both and much prefer the Fiberskyn. Also, it's important to have tippers that fit. I mailordered a Cooperman tipper and damn - the thing was humongous. I could barely grip it, much less use the bloody thing. And it's a good idea to pay attention to the weight of your tipper. A lot of folks get very discouraged because even after lots of practice, they can barely play one song before getting exhausted. I started with a heavier tipper and built up my stamina to the point where I could play using a heavier tipper for about six hours with few breaks. However, for those of you who aren't gluttons for punishment, start with a lighter tipper.

lawn

talk

I'm a financial advisor. Yeah, doesn't sound exciting, but it lets me use my problem solving skills to help people avoid flipping burgers at McDonalds or being a greeter at Walmart when they are in their 80's (unless they WANT to be doing that then.)