Thanks, sj. I'm glad about the bonds we share, sometimes not always about the extent of it all. I used to think I wanted a cruise one day...the thought of going a bunch of places without having to arrange a bunch of transport seemed appealing, but even before the pandemic showed up, there were lots of stories of noroviruses(my personal kryptonite) sweeping through pretty hard. I think I'll pass. Even if they're kind of begging for our business and all that. Mellow day. Checking in with some of the folks at work and probably having one of my presents for dinner(Tamales) Healthy vibes for everyone that wants some.

Well, so far I haven't written anything, but I think I've decided I need to watch the modern Godzilla, King et al. MonsterVerse franchise.

Skipping and skimming to wish y'all who celebrate happy holidays, my weird internet fam. Thank you for sticking with Nilly and myself in the parallel war universe we found ourselves in in the past months.

Epic, great news! So happy for you.

Pix, a big hug. I'm sorry. And may ND's clients pay, on time.

It's about forgiveness, and recognizing that you can't lean on one person to meet all your needs at a time like this. And various people will rise to their strengths, but sometimes not overcome their weaknesses. But you love them for what they can give you and not fret about the disappointments.

I know this song and dance too. Much love.

Happy holidays, all. Lots of health and rest and good time wishes. I love you.

Oh, and fwiw, don't say to your Israeli colleagues joyfully "you had your holiday season, now it's our turn!" unless you'd like to see all of us in shock (that poor colleague. It was unintentionally and and I managed to salvage that quickly, but oh boy, now I know what image comes to my mind when someone says something about our recent holiday season).

Ooo I have been wanting to watch Skull Island. I keep forgetting about it. And I will take all the hugs!!

Drew, I hope all your clients get visited by a ghost tonight, preferably Carol Kane armed with a toaster, and then pay post-haste (with a self-imposed and generous late fee).

Attempting to Meara from memory - first off, meara, hell yes. Buffista Island will likely never happen but perhaps we can create little Golden Girl units around the country? Maybe with separate units, like amyth and Calli and their friends.

Erika and sj, I hear you. I haven’t seen any of that personally or heard it, but I will push back if I do.

David, that must have been wild to realize, that it was Emmett.

Laura, I’m so sorry. That sucks. I hope you have a mild case with no lasting effects.

Speaking of… I may have been exposed to COVID last night, so the low key plans I did have are off the table. I’m fine with it. It seems right. I would have had a good time but I’m happy to stay here and rest, hopefully putter my apartment and budget into better order than they are.

My feelings about Xmas this year are, at best, feeling a mild detached interest like an alien. At worst, having intrusive thoughts about smashing the fake presents at my psych’s office when I went to Spravato. I’m friendly with the coordinator and told her about it and she was like, “you know we have one of those axe-throwing places in town, right?”

And last night at Waffle House I sat next to a FoaF who is a therapist, and I told her about my year, and she gave me multiple hugs and her number and encouraged me to smash some cheap glassware from Dollar Tree.

I have quite a lot of anger, though it is dormant at this particular moment.

Anyway, I’ve stocked my bed with supplies for fun and productivity, and after a quick lunch I plan to nap.

Wow., shir,I've occasionally gone with my first thought, to you know, recoil as the second half escapes, but, heavens, not like that. ETA: context

Hi Shir. What a terrible thing for your colleague to say. People can be very thoughtless.

little Golden Girl units around the country

Please, oh please!

Oh, I 100% sure she just didn't know/forgot that the war started on the last day of the holidays and was just excited about Christmas. She's great, and it's a good sign when this area doesn't take 100% of the world's attention, and alas, also opinions.

But yeah, that was a moment of reliving the shock.

I am failing so miserably at hosting my first Christmas Eve, and I’m full of self loathing.

{{shir}} {{sj}}

Last night we invited a group of friends over for dinner, a tradition we have for the weekend closest to the Solstice. Just eating, chatting, drinking ice wine with dessert and toasting the impending lengthening of days, and maybe a few board games if the mood strikes enough of us.

So right when we'd gotten to the point where everything was reasonably clean, chili and mulled wine ready and warm on the stove, and were just waiting for the guests to arrive, we heard a scream of agony and a familiar voice shouting for help. For context, I live on a hill, and there's a bank sloping down from from the (steep) street into our yard. The bank itself doesn't look especially steep, but it's deceptive, and when it's been raining a lot it's a bit of a slip-and-slide. Unfortunately our friend Elaine had the worst possible luck--she lost her footing on the bank at a point where when she fell her legs slammed into the steps of the walkway from our driveway to the front door. Dylan and I dashed outside and found her curled up on her side, sure that she'd broken her leg. We called 911, and Dylan sat and comforted her while Alex and I scrambled to bring blankets and towels, anything we could think of to make her more comfortable on the cold wet ground until the ambulance got there, which fortunately it quickly did.

I felt so useless. I used to think I was knowledgeable about first aid, but all I could think to do was to fetch blankets and towels, and then stand there holding a flashlight and making soothing noises. And of course something like that is just exponentially worse when it happens to your friend at your house. We decided that Dylan would follow the ambulance to the hospital, while the other guests and I kinda limped through having dinner and talking--we ended up at one point comparing our own most excruciating injuries and medical experiences.

The injury ended up not as bad as we first feared, insofar as it's a simple rather than a complex fracture, but they still decided she needed surgery for it, and transferred her to a different hospital where this could happen sooner (from Northwest to Harborview, for the localistas). She had surgery this morning, and they think she'll be able to go home on Boxing Day. She'd driven up from Olympia, ~70 miles away, so home isn't especially close, and Dylan coordinated with Olympia friends to take care of her cat and with other Seattle friends to have a good rota of visitors so she isn't too terribly lonely with a hospital Christmas. (We're going ourselves in a few hours.)

But whoa. I've had bad Christmases before, what with one thing and another, but this is an early contender for Worst.