Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

We still have time to mess this up!

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

T R E 4 5 O N

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / New Years Day

New Years Day

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Pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, football, pets, and I am burning lemongrass essential oil.

Earl Grey, biscotti, and Lilyhammer on Netflix after the Fiesta Bowl.

Life is good. Watched this again today and rethought my post from last night:

Oh boo fucking hoo me. My cat was killed and I have to buy another car. And I’ll sit here with a full belly and indoor plumbing and a warm house with three animals who eat better than billions of people ever day bitching about it on computer equipment that costs more than 5 years salary in some places. White privilege ain’t got nothing on first world privilege.

This really started out as a positive happy post but because the only thing I enjoy more than sports and my pets and sleeping is self-loathing, so this happened. I’m a waste as an atheist, because I bet I could really bring it with the guilt were I an Irish Catholic woman or a 60 something NYC Jewish woman.

PS- I am totally with that kid from the AT&T ad. My New Years Resolution is to eat more jelly beans, too.

Reader Interactions

122Comments

  5. 5.

    Mike in NC

    We’re finally binge-watching “House of Cards” after several neighbors recommended it. As people who lived in the DC area for 20 years, overall it rings pretty true. Assholes on Capitol Hill who need to be shot.

  6. 6.

    raven

    @John Cole: She really enjoyed it, we got two boxes of four each so she can look forward to 7 more meals! I don’t eat beef or pork so I had some big shrimps and fried sweet spuds in duck fat.

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    I spent this New Year’s Day in the manner I generally prefer: sitting around in my pajamas watching Rose Parade reruns and knitting. This year, I got some lap cat time from Charlotte, too, so life was pretty good.

    Early to bed tonight — G has to get up ridiculously early to do an inventory and we both generally sleep better if we go to bed around the same time.

  9. 9.

    chrome agnomen

    let me express my gratitude to this blog for being one of the very few places i go nearly every day, for an injection of sanity (relatively speaking).

  11. 11.

    max

    @BGinCHI: Col, you are a 60 something NYC Jewish woman.

    Nah.

    because I bet I could really bring it with the guilt were I an Irish Catholic woman or a 60 something NYC Jewish woman.

    He’s a 60-something chaste lesbian ex-nun!

    max
    [‘Probably one of the mean ones with the ruler.’]

  14. 14.

    raven

    Damn, 60 something. Makes me think about the fact that I was at the Rose Bowl 30 frickin years ago!

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    Happy New Year, Mr. Cole!

    I’m trying to get into Lillyhammer, but would it kill them to use some goddamned subtitles?

  17. 17.

    Mj_Oregon

    Spent my day indulging myself with the live feed of the Philly Mummers Parade and then obsessing until Michigan State finally put away the hated team from Stanford. (I’m a transplanted Philadelphian who graduated from the UofOregon, if that helps explains my day. GO DUCKS!)

    So Happy New Year to everyone here on BJ, especially YOU, Cole. You’ve help keep my sanity the past few years!

  18. 18.

    PsiFighter37

    Finally just getting over my hangover now. I probably would’ve been functional about 6 hours earlier if I had bothered to get Advil earlier. Despite having fewer people with friends more spread out around the country, it was a blast – cooked tons of food, had a good amount of drink, and all was well. The only downside is the cleanup, and the fact I sliced my thumb real nice while cutting an onion yesterday.

    I do think I’m going to take the day after New Year’s off next year, though. I have zero interest in going to work tomorrow.

  19. 19.

    khead

    @BGinCHI:

    I live next to a 60 something Jewish lady from NY. She would’ve annoyed the farmer to the point that the car would be gone – or she just would’ve kicked his ass. Either way, Cole has not met the requirements.

  21. 21.

    John Cole

    @Betty Cracker: You have to turn them on. Down in the lower right hand corner you should see a “CC” which gives you those closed captioning options, right near where you choose the picture quality, etc.

    Let me know how stupid you feel when you find it.

  22. 22.

    hitchhiker

    Uh, I’M a 60-SOMETHING WOMAN. Glad atheist tho’ raised as Irish Catholic & magically missing the guilt buttons. It’s not such a bad thing to be, surprisingly.

    From my perspective, Mr. Cole, you’re doing okay. And thanks zillions for the blog, which somehow serves as a gathering place for laughs, insight, good recipes, rage, and weirdly necessary animal photographs.

  24. 24.

    raven

    @John Cole: 11 seasons of Shamelss (UK) had them then all of the sudden in 12 they didn’t. I’ve contacted their help three times and get no action.

  25. 25.

    the Conster

    I’ve loved John Cole and Balloon Juice and this weird little world of commenters every day in every way for 5 years now, madly and deeply. All of us who come here every day are the better for it. Thanks again, John, for sharing your quirks and foibles with all of us strange agents who wait patiently for you to post evidence that we can point and laugh at and convince ourselves that you’re weirder than us – except mclaren. That person is a total buzzkill.

  28. 28.

    Exurban Mom

    Happy New Year, Mr. Cole. For me, 2013 sucked major ass…glad to be off to a new year and a fresh start. But I’m always grateful to be reminded that my problems, as shitty as they have been, are really first world problems and I am beyond lucky to be alive, healthy, free, working, and with healthy children and husband and extended family. Though I’m a lurker, mostly, this blog is something I look forward to every day. It brings sanity to my life and makes me feel less alone in my very red hicktown. Thanks for the blog, and thanks to all the front pagers for their writing every day. Wouldn’t mind a taste of Sarah, Proud and Tall again sometime soon……..

  31. 31.

    Betty Cracker

    @John Cole: Okay, I already feel stupid that it never occurred to me to turn on closed captioning. But when we watch foreign films, we don’t have to turn the subtitles on; they’re already provided!

  33. 33.

    raven

    @Betty Cracker: We watch a lot of stuff with subtitles due to shitty hearing and British TV. It’s funny when there is a program that has pieces of foreign language interspersed and you get the default subtitles and the cc one’s at once.

  34. 34.

    jnfr

    I’m a 60-year-old woman myself, and life is good. I spent the day watching local dispensaries here in Colorado sell state-legal marijuana to anyone who walked through the door (subject to certain restrictions).

    It did my heart good, and (almost) made me feel hopeful about this world.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    I saw “red hicktown” in a comment above, and my eyes turned it into “redkitten”. Is she still around?

  37. 37.

    Valdivia

    Happy new year. And though I agree our problems are nothing compared to those of people in other parts of the world I am still pretty happy 2013 is behind us.

    And my exboyfriend is still a massive wanker.

    ETA: corrected for accuracy.

  39. 39.

    Citizen Alan

    John, you have the right to be sad and upset over the death of a beloved pet. In fact, you even have the right to be upset over the unexpected wrecking of your primary vehicle which thereby imposed an unexpected financial hardship on you right before Christmas. This is true even if the financial hardship did not reduce you to penury and a likelihood of starvation or death due to dysentery. I’ve never liked that whole “First World Problems” meme because it seems to imply that no one has the right to be upset over something unless things are as bad as they could possibly be. It’s a conservative meme, the kinder, more likable version of the idea that we shouldn’t help poor people in America because poor people in Africa have it so much worse or the idea that Gitmo is nothing to complain about because Saddam would have treated them worse in Abu Graib.

  40. 40.

    Aimai

    @khead: yeah, as a fifty something jew lady i dont get johns emphasis on guilt and self loathing. We’re tougher than that. Jeebus: enjoy your life and pay it forward. No one is helped by your self loathing fits. You are loved and esteemed by lots of people and animals. Draw strength from that and get up off your ass and go back to helping other people. Its whst you were born to do. You. Are.loved. Accept it.

  42. 42.

    Aji

    @raven: LOL – we horsey peeps love this kinda thing. Did she get to see the pix of the boyz? If the new boy gets to stay, I’m gonna enjoy watching him get healthy, like Miskwaki has done.

  44. 44.

    Looking for a Canadian (fka wini)

    @Betty Cracker: Beginning with The Wire, which I binge-watched post bar exam in 2011, I watch all shows on Netflix (and pretty much everyplace else) with the captions on. It helps so much, including with Lilyhammer.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    Say what you want, Cole, but Tunch was family. You lost a family member. Joe Biden would tell you that’s a big fucking deal and that it takes time to get over it.

    Best wishes to you, Cole, and to everyone on BJ, for a great year in 2014.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Aji:

    You should come down to the DeBlasio thread — just the comments on your post had more actual information than an “official” anti-carriage website someone linked to (sorry, Scott!)

  52. 52.

    John Cole

    @raven:If there is anything more beautiful than horses running across a field free and unbridled with their mane flowing, I have no idea what it is.

    BTW- you know my mom was a jockey? We still annually acknowledge the death of her favorite horse, Missy.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodinger’s cat: I don’t know what happened or how it happened, but an old open thread appeared in my open tabs a few minutes ago. It turned out to be an open thread from 4 years ago when my sweet kitty quiver died. I cried as i read through the thread, but I was also shocked to see that so many of the people who replied to me seem to be gone from the blog now. Really sad to see that.

    A few minutes later was when I saw redkitten’s name when it wasn’t there.

  58. 58.

    Elmo

    @John Cole:

    My uncle was a jockey. Hated horses with a vicious passion, though.

    He wasn’t a nice man, by all accounts. Family lore has it that his wife shot him dead and only later made up the story that she thought he was an intruder breaking in the house.

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Citizen Alan:

    I’ve never liked that whole “First World Problems” meme because it seems to imply that no one has the right to be upset over something unless things are as bad as they could possibly be.

    Agreed.

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    @Yatsuno: Yay, she’s not MIA! I won’t type her nym, though, because, damn, autocorrect is very insistent on making her nym into two separate words.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    @MikeJ: I saw earlier today that season 3 of Sherlock is coming to us in the next month on PBS. Very excited about that.

    Figured it was coming soon since they are running the previous two seasons again now.

  64. 64.

    Ruckus

    @John Cole:
    Have a friend living in Iceland for the moment and she sends pics of the wild horses running in the countryside. They are beautiful with all the extra hair to stay warm.

  65. 65.

    Felonius Monk

    Happy New Year everyone.

    Cole, the roast pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes w/pork gravy up here was fantastic — I hope yours was also. And Happy New Year to Steve and the girls.

  66. 66.

    Betty Cracker

    @MikeJ: Lucky dog! My kid tried to find a stream for the Chromecast, but the buffering drove us mad. We gave up for the night and plan to try again tomorrow.

  67. 67.

    Aji

    @raven: Awwwww. [See? There I go . . . . :-D] They’re beautiful. So’s the area. If she wants to send us some of that snow, we’ll take it.

  68. 68.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Had the entire family over (my siblings, nieces, nephews, etc) for brunch — man, cooking for a lot of people is complicated. Did pretty well though, and had a lot of fun. We also did that accent/dialect survey thing that someone had posted here. The oldest sibling, who was 17 when we left the East was pegged as an East Coaster, all the rest of us raised mostly in Calif got results out here. Pretty amazing.

    Best story of the day was the same oldest sibling who told of the family’s first move out of their native New York across the Mason Dixon line. Not far across it, but enough to where people seemed to talk a little differently. One day for example a neighbor kid told my mother that his dad “had gotten a new paramour.” While she raised an eyebrow, to say the least, he continued on nonplussed, saying things like “Yeah, he lets me take her for a spin sometimes” and so on. Finally he said something about how much ground you could cover, or something, and she realized he had been saying “power mower”.

  70. 70.

    Culture of Truth

    If someone or something hurt my cat I’d go Walking Dead on their ass.

    I would have been a good jockey. I like horses.

  72. 72.

    MikeJ

    @WaterGirl:

    Figured it was coming soon since they are running the previous two seasons again now.

    PBS is starting it on the 19th, a week after the run is completed on BBC.

  76. 76.

    the Conster

    Just want to say I miss General Stuck. RIP General – hug that plastic unicorn especially tight for all of us.

  78. 78.

    burnspbesq

    Not sure why, but this has turned into Synth-Free 80s Music Night.

    John Mellencamp, X, Rosanne Cash, John Hiatt, Los Lobos, Southside Johnny, Richard Thompson. Maybe even some Jackson Browne if I run out of alternatives.

  80. 80.

    Aji

    @Ruckus: Ice (the white) or Miskwaki (the paint)? The latter is now in good shape, and ready to start desensitivity training.

    The former? Be glad I didn’t post the other photos I took of him tonight, from other angles. I was documenting just what terrible shape the poor thing is really in. Just in case it’s needed down the road.

  81. 81.

    Yatsuno

    @raven: I’m on track to get out of rehab on time, which will be the 6th. After that it’s working with the home health nurse and getting shit tons of border collie luv.

  84. 84.

    Aji

    @schrodinger’s cat: Doesn’t he, though?

    WRT yer snow: Send it, send it, SEND IT!!! We need it desperately. If things don’t change soon, this year’s drought is gonna make recent years look like nothing.

  85. 85.

    Daffodil's Mom

    @Aji: Oh Aji, you’ve still got him — Thank God! But that picture — he looks as skinny as a starving greyhound. Best wishes to you, Wings and all the lovely beings with whom you share your lives — may Ice become and remain one of your (ever-expanding) pack!

  87. 87.

    PurpleGirl

    Spent the day sleeping and finally became conscious around 4 pm. Turned the TV onto TNT for The Lord of the Rings (got most of The Two Towers and all of The Return of the King). Now I’ll be up most of the night. This is not a good routine.

    Wishing everyone (and their pets) a happy and healthy 2014.

  88. 88.

    Aji

    @Daffodil’s Mom: Ssshhhhh. We don’t need “ever-expanding.” :-D

    But, yes, he’s still here. The other horses seem to have adopted him into the herd already, believe it or not. And he’s convinced that he’s home, so . . . he stays as long as he can stay. If that’s permanent, so much the better.

    Happy new year, hon!

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @Aji:
    Ice. Saw some of the others from earlier so I know he isn’t in good shape but he is a good looking horse.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Aji:

    Aw, c’mon! At least give us a better website link than the one that’s there the next time it comes up. That one sounds like a bunch of NIMBYs who don’t want to deal with horse poop.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    FWIW, Glendale’s float is right at the beginning, so you wouldn’t have to watch the whole thing to see it in action. Oh, and Vin Scully was the grand marshal.

    There were some neat ones, but it wasn’t a particularly standout year, IMO. Though I do like how Stephanie Edwards is able to slap Bob Eubanks down at will.

  101. 101.

    snetzky

    @BillinGlendaleCA:
    The little ones always seem to have the most devious minds. Buster, our shihtzu mix will cache his pig ear and then watch for his chance to steal the one we gave to our other dog, the flat coated retriever.

  102. 102.

    Aji

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Okay, well, article from The NYT here. Tries to take the “both sides” approach, but the itemization makes it pretty clear.

    And when I lived there, horseshit was virtually never an issue – most of the carriage drivers had full traces that included the . . . um . . . collector, shall we say, strapped beneath the horse’s tail. So rarely did you see an instance of a horse dropping anything on the street.

  103. 103.

    scav

    @MikeJ: S3E1 Lucky Fiend, with cake and eating it too. I so enjoy watching the interwebs go mental that I don’t mind the spoilers, or at least put up with them.

  104. 104.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Aji: Thanks for posting the pictures, and your comments on the NYC horse carriages. Well said. :-) Best of luck with Ice and your other ponies.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  106. 106.

    John Casey

    “because I bet I could really bring it with the guilt were I an Irish Catholic woman or a 60 something NYC Jewish woman.”

    Nope. To really bring the guilt, you needed to have picked one of these as your mother. I speak from some experience here.

  109. 109.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    One day for example a neighbor kid told my mother that his dad “had gotten a new paramour.”

    Bawlmerese. The local accent is the weirdest combination of southern and northern. It’s the only place I know that rhymes George with “sewerage”

    Miscellaneous consonants are dropped. But it’s OK, all the vowels are tripthongs so they make up for it: “Dorsey Road” comes out “Duorsey Raowud” or something like it.

  110. 110.

    RandomMonster

    @Citizen Alan:

    I’ve never liked that whole “First World Problems” meme because it seems to imply that no one has the right to be upset over something unless things are as bad as they could possibly be. It’s a conservative meme, the kinder, more likable version of the idea that we shouldn’t help poor people in America because poor people in Africa have it so much worse or the idea that Gitmo is nothing to complain about because Saddam would have treated them worse in Abu Graib.

    This. The whole “first world problem” argument is just someone’s cheap means of shutting down an argument they’re too lazy to dispute. It’s like, “Your concern is not worthy of the real tragedy going on in the world.” I guarantee you people making that argument are hours later whining about some fucking bullshit like the traffic in their Whole Foods parking lot or the cost of their Dish Network subscription.

    The truth is, John, that you should NEVER feel bad about grieving for an absent pet and friend. That is the mark of being an actual caring, moral person.

  111. 111.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Aji:

    I realized in the discussion below that I’m partly coming from a perspective that is very uncomfortable with the common notion that city streets should be all about CARSCARSCARS and anyone else who tries to use the street (not just horse carriages, but also bicyclists and pedestrians) should expect to be seriously injured or killed at any moment because God forbid the CARSCARSCARS should be inconvenienced in any way at all.

  114. 114.

    Aji

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Oh, when I lived in NYC, I wanted to see the mayor and city council do the right thing, and ban all but delivery/emergency vehicles and public transportation within a certain [large] square-block radius. I’m all for reducing the cars. My only thing about the carriage horses is that, the way things are, it’s simply abusive to the horses, and has been for a long time now. On that basis, I can’t support keeping them in business.

  115. 115.

    Citizen_X

    @KCIvey:

    That video is OK until the end, when it’s revealed to be an ad for an anti-vaccine group. Come on, John!

    Seriously. “…in exchange for your toxic drugs and vaccines”? WTF?

  116. 116.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Here’s my two favorite Bawlmerese jokes:

    “What happened to the I in Riviera Beach?” (Pronounced Reveera)
    “It went to the Patapsico River” (Spelled Patapsco)

    “What happened to the G in Washington DC?” (Pronounced Warshnin)
    “It went to Odington” (Spelled Odenton)

  117. 117.

    Gretchen

    60-year old Irish (formerly) Catholic woman here. Most of us did therapy in our 40’s and got rid of the guilt problem then. Therapists are a good thing.

  118. 118.

    Lmd

    John,Not sure if this has been said but the end of that video (which seems tacked on) implied vaccine denier quackery.

  119. 119.

    Paul in KY

    Go Central Florida! Saw them beat UL on homecoming night (Luke Hancock was Homecoming King). We were up 28 – 7 in 3rd quarter & they just beat us down. Knew they were going to whup Baylor!

    On a related note, can someone explain the Taco Ball commercial where the kid takes off running with (I presume) his father running after him. Why is the kid running after the parents came home early? Doesn’t he have to go back there sometime?

  122. 122.

    Jen

    i made pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes for new years day too. the internet is a small place sometimes.

    happy 2014.

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