I’m supposed to be at a party to plan the annual Mardi Gras party, but I am so wrapped up in Season 1 of the West Wing I skipped it. I came up with a plan, though- on the night of the party, I will eat dinner, shower, get dressed, and walk down the street with two bottles of wine to the happening. I think it is a solid plan.
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General Stuck
My first “fat Tuesday” while living in Biloxi, blew my mind. All these people coming out of their offices and the like, whooping and hollering. And I never seen so many beads, even back in the hippie era.
We don’t get much Mardi Gras though, out here in the high desert.
Mark S.
SNL’s re-running that Jimmy Fallon episode? It seems like that one was on barely a month ago.
Oh well, I guess I’ll go over to Cole’s and watch some West Wing.
opie jeanne
That sounds like an excellent plan.
You really are the social animal, aren’t you. I’m really impressed by how often you go to parties and how often you throw parties.
We’re retired and we are pikers compared to you.
PeakVT
… a party to plan the annual Mardi Gras party …
Those people should just admit they’re lushes
Buffalo Rude
That’s my favorite kinda plan.
ruemara
Who has Mardi Gras parties? And why aren’t these people friends with me?
Linda Featheringill
Complain, complain.
I’ve done the best I could in several areas this week and have made very little progress. Bah! Life is so hard. Reportedly, death is easy.
On the brighter side, Newt Gingrich is doing a wonderful job of testing out attacks against Romney. I watched a 7+ minute hit job called Blood Money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVUQuJDEs04&feature=player_embedded
We’ll see how well this works.
Another good thing is that an orange striped cat thinks I’m a nice person.
redshirt
A party to plan a party? Genius.
Palli
Yes, West Wing has a great deal to teach us. One of the many lines that have stayed with me, forget what season… President Bartlett says,mostly to himself= paraphrased: “why is one American life worth so much more”.
Chris
There’s a plan in everything, John. And I love it when a plan comes together!
Roger Moore
Only two bottles? You should at least bring more alcohol than you’re planning to drink yourself.
Violet
I had Mexican for dinner. Yum.
I think I’m going to head to bed soon. Had a long day driving. I’m tired.
khead
I applaud you sir. Your action(s) would get me either arrested or actually shot in my hood.
Violet
Your neighborhood has lots of parties. I’m impressed.
AliceBlue
@redshirt:
Beat me to it.
Pavlov's Dog
JC – Add one of those cakes with the little guy baked in, that is standard fare for a Mardi Gras party. I think the tradition is whoever gets the slice of cake with the toy soldier has to bring the cake for the next year. Be sure and wear your “show us your tits” t-shirt.
maven
So I’ve planned my almost 60th year here on Earth. Afternoon BINGO; home to a comforting hotdish; then Lawrence Welk with paisley/orange topstitched polyester song and dance numbers by the boys and girls. (Men and Women to you younguns). Bed by 9 PM. Early to bed and all that…..
Yutsano
Well that worked: decided on a little nap at 4:30, woke up a few minutes ago. Her Eminence is next to me commanding attention NAOW!! I guess the only real thing I can do tonight is my taxes.
Violet
@Pavlov’s Dog:
It’s a King Cake or King’s Cake.
snailbiscuits
Hi everyone, I am a longtime lurker, not so occasional poster. I am in Kandahar on my 3rd back to back deployment. Having a hard time on this one and just needed a place to vent. I have only been home 22 months since July 2007 and it’s done a number on me. I’ve done all the army behavioral health stuff and I just cannot shake this feeling of apathy. I’ve pretty much unintentionally pushed my wife away. So now I find myself right back here in Afghanistan and I feel stuck. Thanks for listening, hope eveyone has a good Saturday night. (It’s Sunday morning here already.)
Dave Ruddell
In Excelsis Deo is a great episode (probably the best from S1) and What Kind of Day Has It Been is pretty damned good as well.
PeakVT
@snailbiscuits: Vent all you want.
andy
Feeling more than a bit of social phobia, so I just hammered out some spaghetti with blood oranges. They only come but once a year but that is some spectacular citrus.
Scuffletuffle
@snailbiscuits: Vent all you need to, folks here are good listeners. And take care!
Roger Moore
BTW, I think you need to check on the hamster. It must be angry that you named it Jane and decided to slow down the web site.
CaseyL
You’re walking there? I’m going to assume there’s no ice on the street…
I spent last Sunday snowshoeing through a blizzard. Not as much fun as I’d hoped, but I may try again with a different guide group, in better weather.
Tomorrow I will be safe and snug and warm at home, waiting for my New Waterbed Mattress to warm up enough to sleep on. (The old one developed a leak that I couldn’t find to fix; replacing it has been an endurance trial lasting two weeks. I had to return one replacement mattress for being, IMO, either defective or shoddily made; and quite happily found a second replacement that is not only very well made, but still manufactured here in the USA.) I have been sleeping on a variety of improvised beds for the last couple weeks, and look forward to moving back to a real bed.
Does anyone know why waterbeds fell out of fashion? When I tell people I still have one, they look at me as though I’ve stepped out of a time capsule. Waterbeds are the most comfortable things you can sleep on, they’re warm when you get in, the waveless models are very firm and don’t move like the high seas every time you move, they cost less than “dead beds,” and you never have to worry about mites in the mattress. So what happened?
Linda Featheringill
@snailbiscuits:
[[hugs]]
Please take care of yourself watch that apathy doesn’t turn into carelessness.
Please comment frequently and please go ahead and unload. You might be surprised at how much understanding there is.
snailbiscuits
Thanks I appreciate it. I think that’s why i love coming to this blog so much.
General Stuck
@snailbiscuits:
Humans aren’t designed to spend as much time in war zones as you have. Give yourself a big break. You deserve it, imo.
Mark S.
@snailbiscuits:
Geez, take care. And vent all you want.
suzanne
I woke up and drove to the office before dawn to spend all day in a prep class for my Building Systems ARE. Feeling good about the test. Wish me luck.
However, I am bugfuck tired.
Right now, I’m watching Thursday night’s debate. Wanting to punch all of them in the face.
Anonymous At Work
A party to pre-plan a party in over 5 weeks? That’s either true dedication or pure psychosis…please clarify…
jurassicpork
Btw, today’s is my 7th anniversary as a blogger. Here are my thoughts on the phenomenon of blogging and its efficacy or lack thereof. Please donate whatever you can. The wolves are getting awfully loud outside our windows.
Cervantes
Speaking of new tag-lines:
“A stupid blog’s idea of what a smart blog sounds like.”
snailbiscuits
I think my last comment was eated by the wordpress. But I wanted to say thanks everyone I will keep you guys updated. Thanks for listening. It makes a difference.
Suffern ACE
@snailbiscuits: Hmmmm. What could we do provide some entertainment to lift your spirits while you draft that letter to your wife. We could rent a blog and put on a show.
suzanne
Hilarious that Mitt brought up that his wife had breast cancer and MS and noted how long they’ve been married right in front of Newt. That had to have been salt in the wound.
snailbiscuits
A show sounds good actually. I nice distraction from the bitter cold and dust storm currently enveloping the airfield.
TooManyJens
@Cervantes: That actually made me hyperventilate with laughter. Kudos.
Violet
@snailbiscuits:
Vent away. People here can be good listeners. You’ve spent a lot of time in a war zone. That’s a lot to handle. Go easy on yourself.
@CaseyL:
I was listening to something on the radio today and they were talking about waterbeds and how they were a relic from the 70’s. I think it was on NPR and it was something about how cows liked waterbeds? I can’t remember, but it’s funny you bring them up now. I haven’t thought about waterbeds for ages and now I hear something about them twice in one day.
I’ve always thought they felt like you were on the ocean. Every time you turn over, the whole thing moves. Doesn’t work for me. And leaks…seems like a big disaster waiting to happen.
Suffern ACE
@Violet: Flipping the mattress was always a chore. Well actually, moving the bed was a chore. I think that had a lot to do with it. They were a “trend” in as much as they were new and some people bought them making it look like they were going to be a big market. But the market for waterbeds saturated rather quickly.
Roger Moore
@Cervantes:
“Not intended to be a factual blog post”
Cervantes
@TooManyJens:
My apologies.
DanielX
Open thread and hyperventilation indeed…
I was of the opinion that most of the Super Bowl entertainment in my fair city this week sucked. I mean, if the only two choices are being shot and listening to Bret Michaels, well, I’m thinking door #1. (Okay, Patti Labelle was good.) But today, today, I find out that George Clinton/P-funk and Robert Randolph and the Family Band are playing at the same bar on Thursday night and Buddy Guy is playing at the Slippery Noodle Inn* on Saturday night at 10:30. Now I gotta find out how much it costs for a round trip by cab from my front door (150% markup for fleecing out of towners), since I suspect that at least a small amount of tequila will be involved either night. Decisions, decisions…
*Oldest bar in state, former whorehouse, center of bathtub gin manufacture, scene of at least one murder and hangout for John Dillinger and his homies. Oh yeah, and a resident ghost. What’s not to like?
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Good lord, if you’re not in New Orleans, who cares?
You’re close enough to Pennsylvania, take Fastnachts.
Ron
Went to play some poker at closest casino tonight. Saw the craziest hand I’ve ever seen and I was happy to be on the winning end of it. If it was an online poker hand people would try to use it to claim it was rigged.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@snailbiscuits: Thanks for writing, glad you’re not lurking. I have no advice for you, having no experience in similar matters. Hope someone else does, though, and anyway, keep commenting, it’s a good community (trolls aside).
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@CaseyL: I slept on a waterbed for a year, it was my landlady’s in the 70s. I had to buy the heater for it after my first night. It was a drag lying or sitting in bed trying to read. Maybe they got better, but people who had my experience will never go back.
Oh, and supporting a ton of water in a second floor bedroom in an 80-year old house? Not something I want to try.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Suffern ACE:
If that godawful rendering of Cole’s godawful picture didn’t provide enough entertainment, I don’t know what would!
Suffern ACE
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I thought it was paczki that we were supposed to be chomping on to get our fat fixes.
Omnes Omnibus
@snailbiscuits: Do your job. The rest of your unit is depending on you. Whatever you feel or don’t feel, they need you. If you need to vent, B-J is a great place. Okay?
hitchhiker
There used to be a channel that showed West Wing reruns twice a day; my tivo was set to capture them, so I always had a random selection for the odd hour free . . . I never got tired of them. I think in all five seasons there were only two shows that didn’t quite work.
I love the one where Glenn Close gets to be Chief Justice, and I just learned the other day that when they were writing the last season, where a Hispanic guy wins the presidency, they were looking at Barack Obama as a model.
More here
Anne Laurie
@CaseyL:
I think bad experiences with the early leaky unstable models put a lot of the people in my demographic (back-end Boomers) off waterbeds permanently. And I suspect they never got over being associated with hippies, Hugh Hefner, and other unsavory types, either.
Also, Select Comfort(tm) — which are essentially very-well-modded air mattresses. My father-in-law got us one of the early models for a wedding gift, and we’ve been devoted users ever since. Since they’re patented, the company has stores in every upper-end mall in America, which is not true of any waterbed companies. The Select Comfort bags are not much less trouble to set up than the mid-80s waterbeds, but air is a lot less trouble than water to deal with for night-by-night readjustments… and you never have to worry about the weight stressing old joists, if you use a larger-than-twin mattress.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie: God, I have always hated waterbeds. If they have cells, the are marginally less horrible than the ordinary ones. Futons, OTOH, are something with which I can work.
opie jeanne
@CaseyL: I will forever associate them with a very awkward attempted seduction by a neighbor just back from Vietnam. We were both married to other people and I was not impressed.
dance around in your bones
@snailbiscuits: Man, hang in there….just try to stay safe and come home.
I traveled extensively in AFG many years ago (when they still had a king up until the coup and then the Russians invading in ’79) and it was a very cool place back in the day. It just kills me to see what has happened there in the intervening years. I hope there is still some beauty left in the place that you can appreciate.
I’m glad you have a place like BJ to vent. Please, try to stay safe and sane. We loves ya.
dance around in your bones
@CaseyL: Ha! Waterbeds! That brings back memories – we had one for more than ten years – it was warm in the winter, cool in the summer (you could adjust the heater thingy) and far and away the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on.
The only problem we ever had was right after we got it and our then toddler practiced ‘sewing’ on it – which meant sticking pins straight into the mattress…..we grabbed the ‘patch kit’ that came with it and glued a piece of plastic over the pinholes. Held up for the next ten years just fine.
Dang, I didn’t know they still made them – now I want one again. Sail away!
Yutsano
@dance around in your bones:
What happened to Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion is a travesty. Forty years ago, Kabul was known as the Paris of the East. Afghanistan was a pluralistic relatively peaceful city with one of the most tolerant forms of Islam in common practice. There were Sufi temples with intellectual discussions shaping a great counterpoint to the Wahhabi fundamentalism growing due to the expansion of Saudi power. And Kabul was one of the most cosmopolitan, beautiful, wealthy cities in Asia. All that changed because they decided to not elect a Communist regime. And then we monkeyed around with creating the Taliban, and everything went to hell from there. I would love a restoration of the monarchy and the reinstitution of the national Loya Jirga again. I fear it will not happen.
PS: I happen to own a chalice a friend who was stationed there gave me. I only know that it’s very old and in fantastic shape. I think they can make things like this again. And they’re sitting on a shit ton of mineral wealth they can use to rebuild when things finally stabilize. Snow leopards. Also. Too.
dance around in your bones
Oh Yutsano, it was such a beautiful and peaceful place. You could travel freely anywhere you wanted (we sat on the head of one of the Buddhas in Bamiyan before they got blown up) and there was so much beauty…people were friendly and curious, the only religious question you ever got asked is if you were “People of the Book”.
I’m originally from New Mexico, and when I got to Afghanistan it felt like coming home, in a way. Very similar geography, just a fantastically beautiful place.
I had to leave with our 7 year old as the situation was getting too dangerous (curfews, tanks and soldiers on the street corners, the American ambassador – who lived across the street from us – was shot) but my husband stayed on to finish up a shipment of carpets and etc. I still vividly remember standing in a Chinese imports store in December of ’79 and hearing over the store loudspeakers that the Russians had invaded…..I just froze and knew that was it.
Afghanistan was finished. So fucking sad.
THE
@Yutsano:
@dance around in your bones:
Have you seen this collection of pictures?
A long time ago in a country far far away.
Amir Khalid
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Fastnacht, or Fasching in some parts, is also the German name for Mardi Gras itself.
Ken
Any plan that involves two bottles of wine, for starters I assume, is a good plan. Well done, John.
dance around in your bones
@THE: Thank you, yes I have seen them before.
It’s good to remind people that Afghanistan was not always a hellhole. As Yutsy said above, Kabul was a surprisingly cosmopolitan city, and the general vibe throughout the country was infinitely more relaxed than Iran or Pakistan or even India.
I’m making myself sad thinking about it.
azelie
In case you’re up for making a King Cake, here’s the recipe I use:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/traditional-king-cake-10000001152929/
I’m not a terribly good baker (at least I’m not all that confident about yeast dough recipes), but this turns out well.
music lessons
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