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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Happy Year of the Black Water Snake

Open Thread: Happy Year of the Black Water Snake

by Anne Laurie|  February 10, 20135:00 am| 43 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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In general, snakes are a tricky lot. If it wants to move forward, its body undulates and it’s not easy to tell which direction it is going to go in. That’s the same with the 2013 year. It will seem to go in one direction, and then, very unexpectedly, it will veer in completely another direction. That’s why it will be so difficult to plan for. Those that do best this year are the ones that have a natural ability to move at the pace of the snake and who are able to navigate tricky waters. The example is steering a ship in a storm with loads of mist, unable to see, and having to use other senses – like radar, sound, computer equipment, etc. to get through safely. It’s a year when it’s best to work with others and to talk things over before starting something new. It’s a year when quick maneuvers are going to be needed in order to avoid unexpected obstacles.

Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve….

The 2013 Snake year has ability to read complicated situation quickly in a controlled manner which is good for business. Signing documents of any kind requires very thorough attention. It is a good year to begin important detail work. Research and investigation are supported. The Snake has sneaky energy that can be to your advantage. Look for the holes in the loop. A new-found ambition to greatness will inspire you to be all you can be, and provide you with the follow through to actually achieve your goals. And 2013 year of the Snake also supports added responsibility, but watch for fanatical commitments since Snakes inclination to spend money quickly than earn them may produce tensions in personal relationships. Create a safe space to work from this 2013 year. The Snake likes protection, needs to feel safe and secure to utilize its special analytical skills. This is the year to make headway in slow and methodical ways…

It’s supposed to bring luck if you wear blue, green, or purple today. Guess y’all can break out your Mardi Gras finery a couple days early… I wonder how the intersection of Mardi Gras and the State of the Union will be reported in the media.

What’s on the agenda, for those of you who are not still digging out?

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43Comments

  1. 1.

    Origuy

    February 10, 2013 at 5:14 am

    Just got home from four hours of self-administered bastinado; the Scottish country dance Valentines Ball. It was fun but I won’t want to walk tomorrow.
    Have to apply for my visa to Russia on Monday. It requires a trip to San Francisco, a pile of documents, and a rather large check.
    Related to Chinese New Year: Saturday the 23rd is not only the parade in San Francisco, but the Chinatown Treasure Hunt. This will be the ninth year I’ve done it. It’s a lot of fun. Proceeds this year benefit the Circus Center, which conducts classes to keep the circus arts alive.

  2. 2.

    TheMightyTrowel

    February 10, 2013 at 5:41 am

    Just had a late dinner of Eggplant parm which my eggplant-hating other half loved. Ha!

    Also, spent the weekend working on a paper and hiding from the world because of a cold sore on my chin. On my chin dammit! How is that fair???

  3. 3.

    raven

    February 10, 2013 at 6:46 am

    Happy Tet, butterfly.

  4. 4.

    Mustang Bobby

    February 10, 2013 at 7:11 am

    Putting off doing the final edits on an essay on William Inge that’s due at the end of the month. I’ll probably get to it when I’ve seen everything on TiVo and finished the crossword puzzle.

    At some point I’ll get around to procrastinating.

  5. 5.

    Phylllis

    February 10, 2013 at 8:02 am

    Does the wear blue count if it’s blue jeans with my Gamecock t-shirt? We’re off to Columbia for brunch then the men’s basketball game against Tennessee.

  6. 6.

    Betty Cracker

    February 10, 2013 at 8:37 am

    I’m doing some research on home-brewing hard cider. What could possibly go wrong?

  7. 7.

    Southern Beale

    February 10, 2013 at 8:46 am

    Jesus. Did y’all catch this creepy, pants-wetting PSA from Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke?

  8. 8.

    Sarah, Proud and Tall

    February 10, 2013 at 8:51 am

    It’s pissing down rain and I should be asleep.

  9. 9.

    MikeJ

    February 10, 2013 at 8:55 am

    @Betty Cracker: Exploding bottles? Food poisoning? Other than that, I don’t know. I think both of those are pretty easily avoided with a little care and scrupulous cleanliness.

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    February 10, 2013 at 8:57 am

    Someone outside is setting off fireworks. It’s certainly illegal; permits for those long dangling strings of Lunar New Year firecrackers were phased out decades ago. It sounds like small-arms fire. It’s really annoying; luckily the sound in my mostly non-Chinese neighbourhood, while it makes Bianca prick up her ears, isn’t loud enough to startle or frighten her.

    Oh, and when will FYWP deign to remember my nym and email address?

  11. 11.

    Maude

    February 10, 2013 at 9:01 am

    @Betty Cracker:
    Fermentation. Think of champagne bottles.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    February 10, 2013 at 9:05 am

    This cider kit seller keeps getting interrupted by a crowing rooster as he’s demonstrating the process in his video. Sounds like chicken keeping and cider making go hand-in-hand!

  13. 13.

    MikeJ

    February 10, 2013 at 9:07 am

    @Betty Cracker: Is this related to that old saying, “What do you want? An egg in your beer?”

  14. 14.

    MikeJ

    February 10, 2013 at 9:09 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Oh, and when will FYWP deign to remember my nym and email address?

    Just this morning I deleted the cookies set by balloon-juice.com and now my name and email seem to be sticking. For how long I don’t know.

  15. 15.

    Mike E

    February 10, 2013 at 9:15 am

    Working, but not prospering. What else is new…Gotta move out of Dumbfuckistan before my 5-0h this year, while I still have my youth and remnants of my sanity. Let’s go to the map!

  16. 16.

    Suffern ACE

    February 10, 2013 at 9:21 am

    Wearing purple and blue. But I lack green. Hopefully I’ll get 2/3 of the good fortune I have coming to me.

  17. 17.

    Southern Beale

    February 10, 2013 at 9:22 am

    BTW, is it just me or does everyone else have to re-enter their name/mail/website info in the boxes above the comment every time the page loads? This just started last night.

  18. 18.

    Redshirt

    February 10, 2013 at 9:23 am

    Moar shoveling!

    I’ve got three 6 foot monster banks I’ve got to move today, lest they turn to ice and remain in place for months. My back is already yelling at me.

  19. 19.

    Suffern ACE

    February 10, 2013 at 9:30 am

    @Southern Beale: honestly. Don’t bother calling 911 cause we aren’t coming? Perhaps they do need fewer cops, since the ones they have aren’t on patrol.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    February 10, 2013 at 9:30 am

    @Betty Cracker

    Ever think of making a cyser instead of cider?

    Lots of room for flavor variations (different yeasts, honeys, spices, etc.). And a bottle of cyser makes a nice gift.

  21. 21.

    Frankly

    February 10, 2013 at 9:34 am

    @Southern Beale:

    Yeah, unless you clear out your cookies & I have been too lazy to do that. I just tried posting in the previous thread & accidentally entered my previous nym – instant moderation!

    When I enter BJ I am taken to “A Tradition Of Service” & then use ‘recent comments’ to get to the latest posts.

    Edit: gotdam thing decided to ignore me changing my nym & tossed this into mod also – FYWP

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    February 10, 2013 at 9:39 am

    @NotMax: Never heard of it. I’ll look it up.

  23. 23.

    Boudica

    February 10, 2013 at 9:43 am

    Taking my almost 18-year old, 6 foot 4 inch son suit shopping. This will be fun, right?

  24. 24.

    La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)

    February 10, 2013 at 10:21 am

    Johannes is scraping ice off the car and I’m dishing out cat food into a large bin & girding my loins to go feed our ferals at the BNY. Damn I hate winter.

    However, PUPPEH!

  25. 25.

    Brachiator

    February 10, 2013 at 10:25 am

    Got hit with a bad cold, so I am most looking forward to some Thai soup, or maybe some pho, a little later on today. Might watch some of the Grammys just to see which artists defy the supposed ban against too-sexy costumes.

    Listened to a BBC piece on the singer Emmy the Great, who is going to perform at a big Chinese New Year bash in London. Very interesting and sweet voice.

  26. 26.

    Schlemizel

    February 10, 2013 at 10:36 am

    Because of WP I have a couple comments in mod – can someone bless them please?

    I went & threw away my cookies & BJ still does not work for me! Still takes me straight to a post from 2 days ago when things went to hell. It also wants to change my nym back to what it was a couple years ago before I changed it to more accurately reflect my station in life.

  27. 27.

    gbear

    February 10, 2013 at 10:36 am

    What’s on the agenda, for those of you who are not still digging out?

    I’m re-adapting to a one-cat household after having to take my new cat back to the shelter yesterday. My 12 year old cat just would not accept the new cat and her health was starting to suffer from the stress. The Golden Valley Humane Society assured me every time I asked (three times) that there would be no time limit on how long they’d keep him; He will be there until someone adopts him. They also said they have more demand than supply for cats right now so he should have a home by next weekend.

    If anyone in the Twin Cities wants to adopt a cat who loves to be the center of attention and has very good habits (as long as he has a nice rough-textured scratching post), here’s a link to his page at the adoption center. He needs to be in a household with more than one human and with younger playmates.

    I can’t look at the photo without feeling horribly guilty of betrayal. My old cat Halley is already doing a lot better, and Edward will find a better home soon, but I feel like shit this weekend.

  28. 28.

    PeakVT

    February 10, 2013 at 10:39 am

    @Betty Cracker: Home brewing isn’t hard (and cider is certainly easier than beer because no need to do a big boil). The main thing is cleanliness, so that your critters (the yeast) have a head start over all the other critters floating around in the environment (wild yeast, mold, bacteria). I used to home brew, but after several good batches I had 4 bad ones in a row, and gave up because each was $40-60 and 12 hours down the drain. I’m fairly sure I’ve identified the culprit now (contaminated kitchen sink sprayer head) but I haven’t brewed again since I got rid of my carboys in the interim.

  29. 29.

    General Stuck

    February 10, 2013 at 10:39 am

    Too add on to the tea party v GOP proper commentary from yesterdays threads, here is a good example of the sausage making dance, that republicans primarily do , and sometimes dems as well.

    Late on the night of April 8, 2011, Washington’s leaders announced that they’d just done something extraordinary. They had agreed to cut the federal budget — and cut it big.

    “The largest annual spending cut in our history,” President Obama called it in a televised speech. To prevent a government shutdown, the parties had agreed to slash $37.8 billion: more than the budgets of the Labor and Commerce departments, combined.

    At the Capitol, Republicans savored a win for austerity. There would be “deep, but responsible, reductions in virtually all areas of government,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) promised a few days later, before the deal passed.

    Nearly two years later, however, these landmark budget cuts have fallen far short of their promises.

    This is the game , and it has been going on at least since Reagan. And derives from the tribal mantra of conservatism on small government and less spending dogma for the winger masses to be sated and controlled by their leadership. Especially on the right with the ‘they’re stealing my stuff and giving it way for free’ mentality .

    But republicans, or the old guard, know full well that they have even more hungry and poor mouths to feed in red states that are the bulk of their voters, and that right wing seniors are full of hypocrisy with their fapping about SS and medicare. That they are no different than more rational seniors that the New Deal is literally a lifeline for them.

    So what happens is, the bargain goes like democrats letting republicans rant and rave and demagogue to their voters about spending, big government, yadda yadda yadda. And sometimes even pass bills that on the surface, look draconian on cutting gov service and funds (like the Obama deal in 2011 averting government shutdown) But there are many tricks that both sides employ to tone such cutting way down in the real world. Because they know that their duplicitous voter base, (mostly GOP) will not make the connection to their own bennies from government programs.

    The tea party wants to really do real cutting, regardless of costing lives and dignity of many citizens, and regardless of the political blowback on the center right nation that would surely come from doing the cutting themselves. They are the real deal heartless bastards, quasi fascist to weed out the takers of their shit, in their own minds. Some of them are on welfare themselves, or disability, but the hate blows right by those truths. As well as the now healthy tea tards, that could fall to illness or injury at any time forward.

    Nearly two years later, however, these landmark budget cuts have fallen far short of their promises.

    In some areas, they did bring significant cutbacks in federal spending. Grants for clean water dried up. Cities got less money for affordable housing.

    But the bill also turned out to be an epic kind of Washington illusion. It was stuffed with gimmicks that made the cuts seem far bigger — and the politicians far bolder — than they actually were.

    Rove wants to turn back this shit, that even old guard leaders like Boehner and McConnell are buckling to, out of fear of getting primaried, but it is pol death for any actual draconian cuts to social programs, now and for a long time, at least without dem support.

  30. 30.

    Mike E

    February 10, 2013 at 10:39 am

    @Boudica: Easier to clothe him than to feed him, amirite?

  31. 31.

    Schlemizel

    February 10, 2013 at 10:41 am

    @gbear:

    Sorry about you’re having to do that. Our daughter adopted a dog from there a little over a year ago. At the time they were importing dogs from around the country because demand was outstripping supply. They said the same was not true for cat. I am very very happy to hear that is not the case any longer.

  32. 32.

    General Stuck

    February 10, 2013 at 10:47 am

    @General Stuck:

    Rove wants to turn back this shit, that even old guard leaders like Boehner and McConnell are buckling to, out of fear of getting primaried, but it is pol death for any actual draconian cuts to social programs, now and for a long time, at least without dem support.

    Bad paragraph, should be Rove wants to turn back the tea tard drive to turn back the ancient game of the above bait and switch, the wingnuts have been pulling on the right wingers.

  33. 33.

    WereBear

    February 10, 2013 at 10:58 am

    @gbear: They also said they have more demand than supply for cats right now so he should have a home by next weekend.

    OMG. This is one of the Signs of Paradise I have been dreaming of! I haz such a happy about the supply/demand thing. And I’m sorry the 12 year old was not enthused; my now-17 year old was never enthused (they will tackle my head, I just know it) but getting two young cats, who will play with each other and leave the senior cat alone, is one strategy to try, just FYI.

    In more mundane news, I found Outright.com to be very much what I’m looking for in terms of Cloud Accounting… what a nightmare it was having my old one blow up on me so abruptly (Wave Accounting is DEAD to me, get what you pay for, etc.) As always, work in progress.

  34. 34.

    scuffletuffle

    February 10, 2013 at 11:05 am

    @gbear: you did the right thing. I went through it with a greyhound but she found a better fit in another home. I still feel bad butI know I did the right thing for her and for my cats.

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    February 10, 2013 at 11:11 am

    Out early this morning to the grocery store. Shelves stocked but no big crowds yet. I even ventured to the usually jam-packed Trader Joe’s to get the few things I need from there and found that it wasn’t too bad either. Now I’m back home and settling into a lazy Sunday. Manchester United-Everton just started.

    The Princess Bride is on BBC America at 4:00 and 6:00 EST for those who want to refresh their quote banks.

  36. 36.

    WereBear

    February 10, 2013 at 11:11 am

    @scuffletuffle: @gbear: you did the right thing. I went through it with a greyhound but she found a better fit in another home. I still feel bad butI know I did the right thing for her and for my cats.

    In fact, I just wrote an article about this:

    Dear Pammy, I give up.

    It’s not a bad thing to decide a certain pet is not right for you. Let them go where they will be happy and wanted!

  37. 37.

    MikeBoyScout

    February 10, 2013 at 11:19 am

    Two things:

    1) Paterno family issues report challenging Freeh’s findings because family Paterno can’t shut up about having shut up for a decade of child abuse going on under its nose.

    2) Why the GOP is and will continue to be the party of white people as TNR’s re-launch comes forward with its White Cover.

  38. 38.

    scuffletuffle

    February 10, 2013 at 11:29 am

    @WereBear: amen!

  39. 39.

    scuffletuffle

    February 10, 2013 at 11:29 am

    @WereBear: amen!

  40. 40.

    gbear

    February 10, 2013 at 11:49 am

    @scuffletuffle: @WereBear:

    Thanks for the advice and the stories. I think what I’m going to do is let Halley be an only cat for the rest of her life, and when I’m ready to adopt again, I’ll adopt two that are siblings or have been together at a previous home. Hally has spent a little time looking around for Edward today, but she is also a lot more relaxed and purring more than she has in a while. It wasn’t a good four months for her.

  41. 41.

    WereBear

    February 10, 2013 at 11:56 am

    @gbear: You did the right thing for both Edward and Halley.

    This is why I tell my husband I always have more than two cats… it keeps their social side, sharp.

  42. 42.

    JR in W Va

    February 10, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Re hard cider…

    It could taste bad, or after bottling, it could explode from accumulated CO2. This happened to my great uncle Herb back in the depression, in my Grandma’s basement. She said it was like a tommy-gun going off down stairs, and the whole basement smelled like a very sick brewery.

    Took weeks to clean and air out the space. Her brother Herb was on the s—list for months if not years.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    February 10, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    @Betty Cracker

    Bare bones how-to on cyser making here.

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