Does anyone have fun plans for their weekend? We're hoping to take ltc to one of the town events where Santa will be so that we can get some pictures for our Christmas cards and hopefully get a tree.

I don't feel comfortable putting buffista in my profile for reasons I can't quite describe, but I believe most of the people here have already found me.

Done. I am, of course, @mattthebruinsfan.bsky.social

The Baltimore Mayor’s Christmas Parade is Sunday so if it’s not too cold I’ll go to that.

I didn’t get up my tree last weekend so really want to get that done. Ideally outside decorations also.

In random news, I've decided I want to go to the NYT crossword... er, thing?... in Boston (I think) next year, so I'm hoping to finally meet some of the Boston adjacent folks! I think it's in March. I think Jesse has gone before, too -- I'll have to ask for the scoop. I'm not at all a competitive-level player, but it seems like a fun thing to do.

Not sure when I will get active since I never did with Twitter, but I like the options they show for choosing your feed.

It took me a while to figure out Twitter but then it became really useful once I did.

It was really fantastic for breaking news and developing stories. Much faster than live updates on something like the NYT site. With reporters and people on the ground and experts chiming in. So things like the Korean coup attempt or the Syrian rebels insurgency would be good examples.

Over time I used it to carve out people I followed on Black Twitter, and that was really to eavesdrop on the political and cultural conversations of an in-group that I didn't belong to.

It helps when you find one person you want to follow and then you see who they are interacting with. In this case I really enjoyed following a black woman in the Georgia State Assembly named Dar'shun Kendrick. She's also an attorney and an AKA like Kamala. Note to self: Should probably go follow Jasmine Crockett too, now that I think of it.

I also followed a lot of people. who were experts on Classic Film, which was cool for turning up a thread on Classic Films that....well, I'll just share bits from one thread:

"Okay, I'm making this a (more or less) daily December thread of my feel-good favorites that aren't necessarily Christmas movies.

Today's feel-good favorite is THE YOUNG IN HEART (1938), in which a family of eccentric con artists set out to swindle a nice old lady, but find their goodness because of her. Top-notch cast, very funny across the board. And the futuristic Flying Wombat car is the bee's knees.

SHE MARRIED HER BOSS (1935): Another hilarious La Cava comedy about an outsider who turns a wealthy household upside down—for the good of all involved. Just when you think you know where this is going, it veers into playful anarchy and shatters clichés of conformity.

My favorite comedy de Havilland starred in is IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER. She's a hoot as a whimsical fangirl who will not be deterred in her devotion for caddish matinee idol Leslie Howard. A great New Year's Eve movie too!

FIFTH AVENUE GIRL (1939): Out-of-work gal Ginger Rogers befriends depressed millionaire Walter Connolly and agrees to pose as his mistress. The goal? Whip his spoiled, shallow family into shape. Buoyant, endlessly rewatchable comedy from the great Gregory La Cava.

PRINCESS O'ROURKE (1943) Olivia de Havilland was such a powerful dramatic actress that I feel her comedy chops are a bit underrated/underdiscussed. She's adorably befuddled in this rom-com about a sheltered royal with zero practical skills."

See how useful? That's where I discovered "It Happened On Fifth Avenue" which is now a regular part of our xmas rotation. Here's the opening: [link]

I had a lot of baseball follows, so local beat writers and national analysts. But it was especially cool to interact with and exchange messages with people like Jesse Strassler-Goldberg, who was the minor announcer for the A's Low-A affiliate the Stockton Ports. Because he was always happy to chat off-the-books and give insight on A's prospects that didn't show up on scouting reports.

That's the other thing is you will have the opportunity to interact with writers, actors, musicians, politicians directly, and sometimes engage in conversation.

Anyway, y'all know how Twitter used to work for you, I was just noting my path into and why it was useful. And being hopeful about Bluesky in that way.

I'd be curious about how others have used Twitter/Bluesky. What threads and hashtags did you follow regularly? I know erika had a lot of interaction with David Simon over time.

I Buffista-ed myself in the description, is that right?

I swapped to Bluesky yesterday and my Twitter is only Buffistas I'd like to find and racing. Because I love Nascar but damn my politics do not align. Now with fewer Buffistas to find.

See how useful?

Ooh, it really is! Maybe I will get good over there. I haven't logged onto FB since the election, and I'm not great at Instagram. I was never a Twitterer. I don't miss FB itself, but I do miss the day-to-day life stuff from people. I'll have to see who's following what and cobble together a good feed. I now have, like, ten sky-mates! Progress.

I really thought Pete Hegseth wouldn't get confirmed because of this total lack of qualifications, but I think the personal allegations might change that. I feel like he has a pretty good chance now.

I joined Bluesky last year when it seemed to be winning the post-Twitter microblog wars, but by that point I was so out of the habit of using Twitter that I still haven't posted anything. I added "Buffista" to my profile so in case I ever do y'all can follow me.

That's where I discovered "It Happened On Fifth Avenue" which is now a regular part of our xmas rotation.

IHOFA is the best. The best.

I'm still getting the hang of Bluesky and the feeds and I'm not there quite as much as Twitter, but now that they finally allow you to upload GIFs (which is about 50% of how I communicate on Twitter) I will probably be there more often. Plus, I think the person that runs the daily film challenge I do on Twitter is going to move it to BS in January. That is really what gets me to Twitter each day. My handle is pretty much the same as everywhere but here.

It occurs to me as a type this that someone (and by someone I mean someone more tech-inclined than myself) could create a Buffista feed at Bluesky. Or at least a Buffista starter pack. I could probably figure out the latter if people are interested. (Starter packs basically allow you to follow a bunch of people in one fell swoop, or go through and pick and choose follows as you like, but it collects people in one place.)