Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Democrats are back in array!

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

We still have time to mess this up!

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I’m thankful for two years of you all putting up with me.

I’m thankful for two years of you all putting up with me.

by | 132 Comments

This post is in: 

Actually, my anniversary here was on the 22nd.  We are cooking the turkey as we speak, and one of my nieces just dropped off the green beans and crunchy onion thing that will go in the oven later.  She’ll be back this afternoon.  We have ten people coming, in addition to the four we have.  Everybody is bringing something.  I have two apple pies, one pecan pie, and one pumpkin pie for dessert that I baked last night.  Also, we’re taking some food to the Emergency Room at VA later for the fine people there.

I hope that all of you have many things this year for which to be thankful, as I am.

Reader Interactions

132Comments

  2. 2.

    La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)

    Thankful for health, loved ones and a meaningful job that pays the rent. For fun, I’ll be working over the long holiday weekend to try to save a couple more homes from our rapacious bankster overlords. . . and feeding kittehs of course. Thanks for your insightful posts, Sooner.

  3. 3.

    Wag

    Read the linked article and it’s actually pretty goo advice. Especially David brooks advise to tell anyone who claims the President is from Kenya that they’re wrong followed by throwing the turkey at them

    Mark shields had a couple if great questions to use to change the subject if necessary.

    My other suggestion: It’s good to ask non-political quizzes to get the conversation going.

    Here’s a question to kick things off. What are the only four American colleges or universities to have produced both a President of the United States and a quarterback who has won the Super Bowl? (There are 44 U.S. presidents and 30 winning quarterbacks and there are more than 14,000 U.S. colleges and universities.)

    Answer: Stanford University produced Hoover and two Super Bowl quarterbacks, John Elway and Jim Plunkett, who won two as well. The University of Michigan produced Gerald Ford, as well as Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. The third school is the United States Naval Academy, from which Jimmy Carter and the Dallas Cowboys’ Roger Staubach both graduated. Finally — and no one ever gets this one — there’s Miami University of Ohio, which claims Benjamin Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

    The other question I use that I think everybody can play is: What are the smallest (in population) state capital cities in the U.S.?

    Answer: Montpelier, Vt., which is home to fewer than 8,000 people; Pierre, S.D., with fewer than 14,000; and Augusta, Maine. And I’ve been to all three.

    Not a complete waste of time

  5. 5.

    Linnaeus

    It’s been kind of a rough year, particularly in the past 4 months or so, but I’m getting through it, so I’m thankful that I’ve had the means to do so.

  6. 6.

    ruemara

    Happy Anniversary and that’s quite a haul. Good on you for taking extras to your local VA. The cookies and biscuits are in the oven, the parsnip and spinach thingy is getting to room temperature, so once the cookies are done, I think it’s time to shower. If I want to head over to my afternoon invite on public trans, I have to miss the parade. I haz a sad. I hope everyone has a great holiday. Here’s your card.

    Anyone ever work for Stanford? Are they the sort that hire non-Stanford-ites? Non ivy leaguers, even?

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    Has it been two years already? You’ve been more than OK in my book, Sooner! :)

    My youngest bro, the one I’m closest to, has his birthday around Thanksgiving every year, so I got him a book tipped off on site, a memoir from the author of Darkness at Noon called Scum of the Earth.

    His kind of title :)

    So while he’s on the other coast, we’re thinking of each other. Until teleportation gets worked out, that is how it is.

  8. 8.

    Tommy

    Happy anniversary!

    Having a ham today along with a ton of other stuff. Just my parents and myself. Heading to my brother’s house and his family he married into for “official” Thanksgiving Saturday.

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    We are seeing Mr. Suzanne’s family at Christmas, and my mom flew back east to see all my relatives, so it’s just me and my husband and the Spawns. I didn’t want to cook, so we are going to a vegan restaurant. I just don’t have the energy for the meal this year.

  15. 15.

    Tommy

    @Suzanne: I am at home. But mom doing all the cooking. I’ll do it all Saturday, but today I gave my kitchen over to somebody else. As something of a foodie that is rare, but honestly sitting here in my PJs and not doing anything, well it is kind of nice. Biggest decision I had to make today was what time we’d eat. Took me like an hour to figure that out :).

  16. 16.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I tried to post this before, I’ll see if WP swallows it this time, too…

    Sarge, I always look forward to your posts. You’re the sort of NCO I wish I had a dozen of back when I was in the Green Machine…it would make my lazy/smart military persona much more burnished than it was.

  18. 18.

    Unabogie

    I just wanted to say that I’m thankful for all the kind words you guys gave us last night about our dog Fergus. It truly meant a lot and helped a bunch. We still have another dog and two cats to boot. And I’m already determined to rescue another pooch as soon as I can. These “pets” give us way more than we ever give them and ask for so little.

  20. 20.

    Tokyokie

    Grunt, I’ve enjoyed having a fellow Okie as a front-pager. I usually do the desserts for Thanksgiving over at my brother’s house, but since our mother died a couple of years ago, he’s taken to going on the road to visit his kids and grandchildren on Thanksgiving, and we can’t travel all the way to Kansas City. So this year I’m not making anything for Thanksgiving, and at some point, we’ll visit some of the spousal unit’s friends in the local Filipino community for dinner. Not that they’d like my chocolate pecan pie anyway.

  22. 22.

    Yatsuno

    @Unabogie: Bacon. At the end of the day all they want is bacon.

    Laying here in a bedroom at my parents’ house on Turkey Day. Soon one beastie will be frying and another will be roasted and stuffed. Plus turkey skin. I can skip everything else as long as I get crispy, delicious, perfectly roasted skin.

  25. 25.

    Tommy

    @Unabogie: It was a wonderful story. My parents are over. They have never had a pet. The joy they seem to get with my cat loving them, wanting their attention, is well nice. When my folks are at my brother’s house, and he has two cats and a dog, they don’t engage much. My cat is in your face. Not shy at all. If you come in my house she is like “who are you” and “will you pet me.”

    My folks have some financial means and a huge house and yard. I am like there is a pet someplace that needs a home. Why not give them one?

  28. 28.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Echoing many other comments to say how much I love this place and what an asset you are, Soonergrunt. You’ve been through such a lot personally in the last couple of years that it’s particularly gratifying to read your posts.

    In many ways, BJ is more of a community to me than many of the people I know IRL. I love all the FPers and frequent commenters, pets and recipes and gardens and music and health care and blackness and cartoons and even sports. And politics, of course, and the snark that so often accompanies political rants. I love that we have people from early 20s to late 70s, living in every part of the US and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Oz, Asia. Gay, straight, male, female, transgendered. Cat people and dog people. Really, this place is a lovely microcosm of the world, and is high on my list of things for which I am most grateful on this Thanksgiving Day.

  30. 30.

    Schlemizel

    @Tommy:

    I would never give an animal to another person unless they asked for it. It is a commitment and unless the person is on board with that it is not fair to either party.

    – – – – – – – – –
    seperate thought
    As a kid I always pestered my mom for a dog or a cat. Now that I am an adult I realize we were hardly making it as it was & a pet was a luxury we couldn’t afford. In the last 40 years we have had the pleasure of the companionship of cats and I am thankful for that and for being able to share my home with them.

  35. 35.

    Another Holocene Human

    I’m grateful for Muschamp.

    Now, I’m no Georgia fan. But a coworker and I were speculating last night that Muschamp was a sleeper agent sent by Georgia to take back Georgia’s dominance in the Florida/Georgia game (which is always played in Jax amidst rowdiness aplenty). Georgia didn’t mean to totally destroy the Gators, you understand, but Muschamp was so eager to please his new masters that he got a little carried away.

    ///

    Actually, in all seriousness I despise the guy and I despise his paymasters for not shitcanning him a few games ago after what he did to those kids and to his own quarterback. What a contemptible human being.

  36. 36.

    feebog

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I will add to the echo chamber and say thanks to all the Front Pagers and Commenters here on BJ. I love that we are such a diverse group, which brings forth so many different points of view. Wishing every single one of you a very happy and safe holiday and extended weekend.

  38. 38.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    Glad you’re here, sooner. How’s Soonerdaughter doing on treatment?

    turkey’s almost done. Potatoes are on. Gravy’s heating, stuffing’s done…just needs to heat while the bird is resting. Pies are in the basement.

    Just us, and a family we’ve known for a long time. Eight of us total.

  39. 39.

    Another Holocene Human

    Also, I am grateful for FSU because they’re the shining beacon in Tally, our last, best hope for peace Alabama not winning the SEC championship. Why? Because Alabama fans are _annoying.

    Meanwhile, I’m going to sekritly root for Bethune-Cookman. Not necessarily for sports teams, just in general. Because schools named after awesome people are awesome.

  41. 41.

    Josie

    @Yatsuno: I have a secret sin. I skin chicken pieces if I am going to use them in a casserole. I roast the skins at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until they are super crispy and dip them in different sauces and eat them for supper. It sounds awful but they are absolutely delicious, and, since I am always low carb, they are legal for me.

    To all other BJ’ers: Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, if that is your wish. I so appreciate this place and would be very lonely at times without it.

  44. 44.

    Another Holocene Human

    @piratedan: *dies*

    I’m grateful to have family and friends gathering (and not the ineluctable family members either.. .okay, I little, but not overmuch), but if I didn’t, that would definitely keep me warm… wow!

    I always knew Joel was a mensch, but I never knew how much.

    ETA: PS, what you said: @brendancalling:

  45. 45.

    gogol's wife

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Very well said!

    I really appreciate especially the veterans among the commenters as well as Sooner. It’s a perspective many of us don’t hear enough.

  46. 46.

    Yatsuno

    @Josie: Ina Garten will roast whole bone-in skin-on chicken breasts with herbs and butter stuffed under the skins for any sort of dish where she wants cooked chicken meat for. Of course for the TV audience the skins get peeled but I bet once the camera is off she and her crew devour those luscious lovelies. Any sort of poultry skin is amazing, including duck. Duck skin is like manna from Heaven when it’s good and crunchy.

  48. 48.

    Violet

    Thanksful for your posts, Soonergrunt. Your take on things is always interesting and I appreciate your perspective. Happy anniversary! And Happy Thanksgiving to all the Juicers. So many days I’m so thankful for this place. It’s a safety pressure valve, for sure, in addition to being a good source of info, commentary and pet pictures!

    Busy getting my contributions to the Thanksgiving feast ready to go. Some make-ahead mashed potatoes I’ve never made before. Hope they work out. The host wasn’t going to have mashed potatoes, but they’re my favorite on Thanksgiving, so I’m making these. Other stuff too, but this is the new thing this year.

  49. 49.

    brendancalling

    @Another Holocene Human: I wish I still had my blog, because the insanity of the past few days has been so beyond the pale. I may have to write it up somewhere for posterity and make it into a one-act play.

    Let’s just start with “my father sent me a text at 11:30 at night while I was in Canada, asking me to make an international call so he could un-invite me from Thanksgiving and was surprised that I got upset.”

    And spiral from there.

  50. 50.

    scav

    Thankful for food, people I like arguing with and don’t want to really hit (and don’t have to worry about consequences usually if and when they are proved right), more food, grand humor and they know all sorts of interesting stuff, more dessert And they can pretty much spell despite everything autocheck, MrPad and FYWP throws at them.

  51. 51.

    fuckwit

    I appreciate your posts and Richard’s. Probably you are the two I enjoy the most of anyone’s. That is because you are both rational, careful, thorough, level-headed, knowledgeable, clear, and you do your homework.

    The rest of us here (including our bloghost– hell, especially our bloghost) can be such screaming emo’s so much of the time. We like to yell and rant and bitch and piss and moan about shit. We do a lot of snarking and half-cocked pontificating (well, I do, at least, but I’m not alone). We like to yabber on about pets and music and food and other prosaic things too. We like to comment while +2 +4 +7 etc. In short, we’re largely a bunch of drunks, dry drunks, and recovering drunks.

    But you and Richard provide actual knowledge and depth and expertise. It seems like you’re even sober when you do it too. You do what one would expect a functioning media would do, if we had one. So, I appreciate your posts, and Richard’s too. I almost always end up better educated after reading what you guys write.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @piratedan:

    Watching now. “She’s presenting like a mandrill!”

    After that, we go to my brother’s for turkey loaf and Potato Buds in lieu of actual mashed potatoes. I did volunteer to cook today, but they turned me down. Sadly, my sister-in-law is under the mistaken impression that she knows how to cook and no one wants to be the one to tell her the truth.

  53. 53.

    ? Martin

    I don’t throw the turkey on the grill rotisserie for a few more hours. Pies done last night. I can’t stand half of my family, so we invite select ones plus other acquaintances that are more in need of a family get-together than some of the idiots in my gene pool. It’s no-pressure, so some will show, some won’t. It’s a bit of an extension of my grandmother who would invite all of the foreign exchange students home for every holiday. Her family was on the other side of the country, so I could only visit now and then, but she’d always have a dozen or two kids from everywhere on earth home for turkey or Christmas, etc. They were super-fun holidays because the students were incredibly appreciative of not being stuck in the dorm alone, and you learned a lot about them, and their culture. They would invite her to visit their families after they graduated, and even after they got married and had kids. She could go almost anywhere and have an invitation to stay for dinner or sleep in the guest room. I’ve got 1000 foreign students, so I can’t quite repeat that, but I have my own version of it.

    This is probably my 20th or so time at this, and I’m surprised at how easy its gotten with practice. Getting the turkey out of the kitchen makes the whole effort much easier, and the rotisserie requires no attention. I highly recommend it for those reasons alone. Turkey turns out fantastic every time, too.

  54. 54.

    fuckwit

    @rikyrah: Interestingly, that classic line is an ungrammatical flub. The script probably said “With God as my witness, I though turkeys could fly”. They kept it probably because they ran out of time to do retakes, or because the performance was otherwise so good, or maybe because the director just didn’t notice or give a shit.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    As the holiday shall be solitary by both choice and desire, a full turkey is too much bother. Found a small boneless leg of lamb cowering behind the usual bulky ones at the store yesterday and going to be thankful for that this evening.

    Baked orange-skin sweet potato with crumbled bleu cheese, couscous with mushrooms and saffron, and also lima beans (a veggie I like a lot but for some reason almost never think to purchase).

  58. 58.

    Violet

    @Yatsuno: Yeah, I have no idea what she was thinking. I loooove mashed potatoes, but they really are a make-at-the-host-‘s-home kind of thing. Maybe she’s doing low carb or something? I don’t know. Anyway, I’m making these and crossing my fingers they work okay. I’m planning to more than double the recipe, because frankly, three pounds of potatoes doesn’t begin to seem like enough. I’m going with somewhere between 7 and 8 pounds. There are going to be 16 people at this meal, I think. Oh well. We’ll see how it works out.

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    If she also uses I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, that’s grounds for a sudden pre-journey onset of toothache or stomach flu and a phone call of contrite apology for not being able to make it.

    Enjoy what you can; slough off the rest.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    While at Costco yesterday, did notice that, curiously, they had plenty of fresh bagels except were completely sold out of the everything bagels.

    Figured maybe there was some recipe for stuffing using them which went viral this year.

  63. 63.

    Yatsuno

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Your host wasn’t hired to begin with. Honestly if I was in your boat I’d just waltz into the kitchen and take over. But I’m pushy like that.

    Maybe you can offer to make latkes because Thanksgivukkah. Then there would be at least one edible thing. But Jeebus can’t she at least get a turkey breast or something that looked like it came off an actual turkey?

    @Violet: Those look really good. As long as the starch didn’t get things too gummy should be fine. I’d throw some cheese on top right before baking but I’m ebil like that.

  64. 64.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    Instant mashed potatoes can be made tolerable for quotidian meals if one uses evaporated milk in place of regular milk and whips the bejesus out of them.

  65. 65.

    MattR

    I am probably one of the few people who is happily home alone cleaning up the apt while watching football. Isn’t that how everyone spends their birthday? My sister chose to work today so she could have tomorrow off to give her a long weekend so we are all meeting up at Mom’s tmrw for some belated turkey and cake (and menorah lighting).

    Hope everyone else is surviving their family time today. Just remember, the safest course of action is to smile and nod then pretend like there is somthing important coming through on your phone.

    (EDIT: Is there some sort of facebook etiquette requiring that I reply to each well wisher or is a general thanks on my wall sufficient?)

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Well said, SiubhanDuinne. Love, peace and happiness to all who post and lurk here.

    I’m having some quality downtime with the housecat before picking up a friend at 3:00 and heading over to the bro’ man’s house for dinner. Was over there this morning for coffee, homemade cinnamon rolls and some final prep work and to drop off a case of wine. Probably about 12-14 people for dinner. Called my mother and had a good conversation with her. She and our other brother are going out to eat for Thanksgiving.

    Letterman’s top 10 list last night was Thanksgiving no-show excuses. My favorite: “The flight I never booked was canceled.” Need to remember that one for future use.

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @WereBear:

    Butterball calls it a “turkey roast,” but it’s turkey breast meat pressed into a football-like shape, held together with mesh.

    I’m seriously considering making our own mini-Thanksgiving this weekend, especially if I can get a good deal on a (real!) breast tomorrow.

  69. 69.

    feebog

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Bleh. We are headed over to my In-laws for what is always a sumptuous feast. Mrs Feebog just called to see what else she could bring beyond her pineapple bake and chocolate/cranberry bars and SIL asked that we come over early because Niece no. 1, who was supposed to help out is sick. We had four invitations this year, but always enjoy this crowd, so here we go.

  70. 70.

    MikeJ

    @Yatsuno:

    Honestly if I was in your boat I’d just waltz into the kitchen and take over. But I’m pushy like that.

    Damn it Yutsy, how many times do I have to tell you we cook in 4/4 on this boat!

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    Too late for most, but meant (and promptly forgot) to link back to a way to make vegetarian mock chopped liver for Chanukah use.

    It is better after sitting tightly covered overnight in the fridge, but more than passable if used same day.

  72. 72.

    geg6

    I am working my poor man to death getting the house clean. The turkey goes in in about and hour or so. Stuffing needs made and beans sautéed and carrots roasted. Everything else is a casserole and is built and just needs baked. So much work!

    Happy anniversary, Sooner! We didn’t start off well, you and I, but I’m glad to have you front paging. Hope you’re having a great day and the family, especially Soonerdaughter.

  73. 73.

    Yatsuno

    @MikeJ: Screw your boring pedestrian time signature. Now “Pictures at an Exhibition”, now THAT’S how you do it.

    @geg6: But has Koda gotten any bites yet? These are important questions dammit! :P

  76. 76.

    Violet

    @Yatsuno: Thought about the cheese, but people may want to use gravy, so not sure how the cheese would go with it. Plus we’ll have cheese grits (southern thing), so cheese might be too much.

    I’m sure it’ll all work out. I’m grateful she’s hosting because if she wasn’t, I’d have to, and I’m not up for it this year–too much else going on and things are kind of crazy. The house is a wreck and I don’t think I could clean it up for that many people.

  78. 78.

    ? Martin

    @MattR: We are all thankful that today is your birthday and will celebrate your birth by consuming large avian creatures and pie. Happy birthday, love America and its retail economy.

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Yatsuno:

    There’s no point in waltzing in — you can’t turn a turkey “roast” into real turkey, especially when you’re in the kitchen of someone who doesn’t keep fresh food on hand. It’s all canned fruit salad and three kinds of tortilla chips over there.

    I would probably be less annoyed if she had an excuse like having a job outside the home, but she’s a housewife. At least use that time to learn to freakin’ cook!

    (Though, obviously my brother doesn’t mind her cooking, but he’s one of those guys who refuses to let a green vegetable pass his lips.)

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Yatsuno:

    Thanksgivukkah may be a sore point — my ex-SIL kept the kids (my niece and nephew) this weekend but didn’t ask until the last minute. My brother was not happy, but, dude, it’s Thanksgivukkah!

    Now I’m glad my mom decided to go see the other set of grandkids in Florida since otherwise the holiday would have been a little awkward. She and my brother still aren’t quite getting along, and she’s never liked my new SIL.

  84. 84.

    MattR

    @? Martin: Thanks. My mother is quite thankful not to be in labor this Thanksgiving day (though at least she had an excuse not to cook the turkey 39 years ago).

  86. 86.

    Yatsuno

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): At least bring a sack of potatoes. This holiday deserves to be enjoyable for you as well. And maybe you can offer to teach her how to mash or bake them rather than using the pre-made stuff. But you’ll need milk and butter as well.

    EDIT: Or bacon. Anything can be made better with bacon.

  87. 87.

    dmsilev

    Bird is in the oven. Veggies are sliced and herbed and are ready to roast when their time comes (another hour or so). Latkes are being fried now, for later reheating. Salad is mostly done, thank God (my mom picked an annoyingly complicated recipe, so she and I spent an hour this morning segmenting four grapefruits and a large bag of oranges and then later tried not to cut off any fingers slicing a fennel bulb on a mandolin). Table is set, and the house is about fifty percent baby-proofed so far. T minus 1.75 hours and counting….

  88. 88.

    Tommy

    Gosh I wish I could invite a few of you over to my house for dinner. Mom is running the kitchen and I think she is cooking enough for a small army. And it is just me, my mom and dad. Heck she just asked me if I thought she was cooking enough sweet potatoes. I am like yeah, ten ought to be enough.

  90. 90.

    Yatsuno

    @Tommy: JeffreyW and his crew aren’t all that far away from you. WaterGirl is also down around Carbondale. Probably too late to send the invites though.

  94. 94.

    Tommy

    @WereBear: And thinking of that, I need to be thankful I have so much. I am not rich but I don’t often ponder how nice it is to always have a full fridge. Not worry about paying my utilities. I drop off stuff at my local food pantry once a month, but I need to make a mental note to do that more often.

  95. 95.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Okay, I need to stop whining about my SIL’s cooking and start getting ready to head up there to eat it. If she springs a surprise on us (like a real turkey), I’ll post.

    Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

  96. 96.

    Dee Loralei IPhone

    I am sittingin an ER not far from you Sooner, at Grady Memorial in Chickasha. My son had a non major motorcycle accident about 2 hours ago. Hit a pretty big metal pole across the chest and stomach area, then landed in his right shoulder .he’s getting a Ct scan right now, and then a shoulder and chest X-ray. No we haven’t eaten yet

  100. 100.

    Dee Loralei IPhone

    @Dee Loralei IPhone: I already reamed my cousin who basically bullied my son into riding the motocross bike, and road it with gun for 5 minutes or so. Then when my very heavy cousin stepped off the bike, the balance shifted, son panicked and popped a wheely and lost control and slammed into a very old post for a laundry line

  102. 102.

    Tommy

    @dmsilev: I have to ask, what is a pesudo-turkey? I am not a vegan, but I rarely eat any meat (I could not live without cheese, milk and eggs BTW). It is a combo of a health and environmental thing. But when I want meat I eat meat. I could not imagine what a vegan turkey would taste like :).

  103. 103.

    dmsilev

    @Tommy: From what was described up-thread (or maybe yesterday), it was a turkey loaf thing molded into a breast-ish shape. I think ‘pseudo-turkey’ was a fair shorthand.

  104. 104.

    Mary G

    HBM’s puppy Leland has come to stay with us. He is hilarious, especially when he tries to be friendly and play with the cats, who are outraged.

    We are going to a friend’s house later. They do it semi-potluck but have never before let me bring anything. HBM is making two pumpkin pies and this delicious cinnamon raisin apple crisp pie to take. It is delicious. He made one on Monday as a test and we ate it all in two days, Weight Watchers be damned.

  107. 107.

    Tommy

    @dmsilev: That seems wrong on like ten different levels. As I said I don’t eat a lot of meat, but I tend to eat a lot of rice and soybean based stuff (like Miso soup). I figure if it works for a few billion Asians it will work for me.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    @gogol’s wife

    Lovely.

    Yup, scientists have claimed GGC to be gender-prevalent but not gender-specific.

    However, no field researcher’s arteries have yet lasted long enough to complete a full and rigorous survey.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    Is it too geeky to admit that, in between checking back here, some of my characters on WoW are cooking up Thanksgiving food items?

    /rhetorical question

  113. 113.

    Tommy

    @NotMax: Nope. Not a WoW person myself but this morning I had the following conversation with my father:

    TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. See the Doctor travels through space and time saving the world ….

    He looked at me like I had a third hand growing out of my forehead and I figured we’d find something else to watch on my DVR :).

  114. 114.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    (G got on the phone with his family in Illinois, so I have a few minutes to kill before we leave.)

    @Tommy:

    I made myself a car magnet using this image (properly licensed from the artist, thankyewverymuch) with a line from the episode “The Doctor’s Wife”:

    I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and I ran away

    It didn’t really survive our first good rain, so I’ll have to try try again.

  115. 115.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I actually have this, although not installed it yet on my glass front door.

    http://www.geekosystem.com/tardis-door-decal/

    I so hope one of the many kids that walk by my house on the way to school will knock and ask what is up. I will just say it is bigger on the inside.

    I don’t have kids myself, but my four year old niece loves rockets and space. I can’t wait a few more years until I can introduce her to the Doctor and Amy Pond. I mean who wouldn’t want to travel through space and time?

  116. 116.

    Yatsuno

    @Tommy: Not to make too fine a point of it, but Doctor Who is a programme for kids. Four might be a hair too young yet but very very soon.

  117. 117.

    aimai

    I remember you from when you used to post at Kos, many, many years ago. I am so very thankful that you survived all your adventures and came home to family and to post here. Also: survived tornados.

  118. 118.

    Tommy

    @Yatsuno: Oh I hear you. I watched The Doctor back in the 70s cause it was carried on our PBS station. Then not until a few years ago when my cable provider picked up BBC America. So I really only know the last few years and I think Amy Pond is such a wonderful companion. Nice to have a smart and intelligent women in a science fiction show. I come from a family of strong and smart women and my brother and I want her to know she can be and/or do anything.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Yatsuno:

    I did notice with one of the River Song episodes that she and the Doctor had to be married before it could be strongly implied that they were gettin’ it on. Apparently a handfasting in an alternate dimension that never really existed counts as a wedding in the BBC Standards and Practices handbook.

  120. 120.

    NotMax

    @Tommy

    Know next to nothing about the Whoverse, but deep down have always suspected the term TARDIS came first, as it sounded vaguely futuristic and science fiction-y*, and the words behind it came later, following audience inquiries. Would be quite the stretch of disbelief, after all, if the Time Lord native tongue was present-day English so that the acronym conveniently came out right.

    *Much as Roddenberry’s self-admittedly off-the-cuff explanation of warp speed (cubing the setting – warp 6 was 6³ times the speed of light, for example) was offered well after the series had gained a foothold.

  121. 121.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): As best I can tell it was telling that he was having sex with anybody. The story arc of River Song I think was kind of set. It goes in reserve for her. That for him the first time they met was for her the last time they met. Yeah that whole time thing. I always felt it was kind of an amazing love story. She knew how it ended. He didn’t. Unfolding for him but in reverse for her as you saw it on the show.

  122. 122.

    Yatsuno

    @NotMax: They actually thought that out. The Doctor’s granddaughter uses the acronym and its meaning in the very first episode. So they can do it rite!

  124. 124.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @NotMax:

    Well, this is the best time of year to level up your cooking skills in WoW…those roast turkeys will carry you for a couple hundred skill levels…

  125. 125.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    I am happy to report that my SIL made an ACTUAL TURKEY this year. All is joy and jollility.

    I suspect it’s a rehearsal for my mom’s Xmas visit. She is not someone who will eat turkey loaf without comment.

  126. 126.

    NotMax

    @
    Villago Delenda Est

    True, true. One can go from cooking level 1 to level 300 with alacrity.

    But cooking already leveled up past the Turkey Event recipes level.

    Idly doing dailies each day of the event to get some no-fuss, no-muss character leveling on a couple of guys rarely played.

  130. 130.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @NotMax:

    That works as well, the dailies are pretty good with that. All the holiday dailies are well worth the time for characters you’re leveling up.

  132. 132.

    fuckwit

    @ruviana: Ooh good point. Hers are good too. Though the stuff she posts about is stuff I already have a good deal of experience with– GOTV and local grassroots work– so I personally don’t find it new information to me, she does write very well too. Her stuff about Ohio in particular some years ago was excellent and definitely was new information to me. Thanks for pointing that out.

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