Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

No Justins, No Peace

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

T R E 4 5 O N

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Bark louder, little dog.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Consistently wrong since 2002

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

This blog will pay for itself.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / And a Very Merry Christmas to All of You

And a Very Merry Christmas to All of You

by | 76 Comments

This post is in: 

I had a really nice day today. Woke up and wrote hostile things on twitter for a while, then took a nap. Got up, showered, cleaned the kitchen and made some brownies with walnuts and extra chocolate chips and a batch of home made ice cream, and went over to Gerald’s for an early afternoon Christmas dinner. Came back, and Taylor came with me to watch the Steelers game (Gerald is a Browns fan and Taylor is a Steelers fan, so he usually comes here or to my parent’s house), and now we are watching Rogue One.

I ate too much ham at dinner and they made deviled eggs which are a real weakness for me so I had to nap during the Steelers game.

About a decade or so ago (who knows, time flies), a very nice woman named Anne from NYC started sending me handcrafted knitted catnip balls for Tunch. Tunch is long gone, but Steve is still around, and every Christmas his package arrives. So, here is my Christmas gift to you- Steve getting stoned to the bejeezus on catnip:

He’s such a good boy. I really love him. At any rate, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever.

BTW- I am in the market for a new Ottoman and chair for my living room. Any recommendations?

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  1. 1.

    Betsy

    I’m here taking refuge from my awful sister-in-law. Thank you for this video.. Steve is really cute and also gorgeous.

    ETA: Jeez, am I the first to comment? I really do have an internet overuse problem.

    ETA TA: Why must I blame myself, always. Like I said: I’m here because of my sister-in-law.

  2. 2.

    Alain the site fixer

    Merry Christmas, John. You’ve created a wonderful community here and I’m thankful to be a part of it. Have a great night!

  4. 4.

    Raven

    I was describing BJ to the family last night and told them about Tunch, Walter and the other positive shit that goes on here. Pretty Christmasy in a warped sort of way.

  5. 5.

    James E. Powell

    We do a very late dinner out here on the Left Coast, so the prime rib is just getting started. The day has gone well. All three dogs seemed happy with their gifts; several squeaky toys were destroyed with minutes. I skyped with my mother and skillfully avoided talking with my Trumpista family members. Three out of four of us do not work tomorrow, so the champagne will flow.

  6. 6.

    M. Bouffant

    Woke up and wrote hostile things on twitter for a while, then took a nap.

    Hmmm, who else do I know of who Tweets hostilely as soon as he wakes up? Right on the tip of my tongue …

  9. 9.

    The Dangerman

    Disembodied voice: “You’re going to roll off the foot stool!”

    Steve: “Your point being?”

  10. 10.

    joel hanes

    coffee
    stockings with racing reindeer Christmas crackers, tissue crowns, terrible jokes
    excessive breakfast with mimosas
    three hour gift-opening marathon
    nibbling
    nap
    board games
    pack for 7:50 AM flight tomorrow

    we’re all healthy
    we’re all employed
    we’re all safe and secure

  16. 16.

    Quinerly

    World Market has some cute chairs and ottomans. Patterns and ethnic prints. Great sales. I caught a great little sectional sofa on sale there around Thanksgiving for $420.00. Close to 1/2 price. Love me some Steve. Glad your day was great, Cole.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    Hit or miss on any given day, but the Habitat Re-Store here often has furniture. Gently used, as in from hotels and the like.

    Snagged a full-length very spiffy woven cane sofa for 75 clams a while back.

  18. 18.

    brettvk

    Steve vids are always such a treat. I have a whole heard of cats, so catnip here always results in growls and swipes instead of purrs. (But because I am motivated by guilt, I still grow it for everybody.)

    Thanks for sponsoring this oasis, Mr. Cole. It’s part of my everyday self-care in the interests of sanity.

  21. 21.

    Anne Laurie

    omg those are like three thousand dollars. I’m looking for significantly less expensive

    January is usually good for furniture clearance sales — keep an eye on the local ads.

    Heck, we just got two very nice recliners (one powered!) for less than what my frugal Spousal Unit expected to pay for just one. But that was a store-closing special, with the local magnate shutting up shop to retire somewhere warmer. Probably gonna be more of those this winter, too also.

  23. 23.

    gammyjill

    Steve is, as always, excellent. Can you give out the contact info for the lady in NYC to order catnip balls? Thanks.

    I spent the day in true Jewish style and saw a movie and had Asian food. “All the Money in the World” was fabulous. I heartily recommend it. I’d love to have seen what Kevin Spacey did with the part but Christopher Plummer was great.

  24. 24.

    Elmo

    Made the best rib roast of my life: coarse salt, black pepper, garlic, rosemary, paprika, and a touch of thyme, roasted in a 500 degree oven for five minutes per pound and then left with the oven turned off until internal temp hit 112. Rested 15-20 mins and the internal temp came to 124. PERFECTION.

  25. 25.

    laura

    @John Cole: please consider an older chair that might need some refurbishing because they’re usually really well built. Check out a mission style due to wide, flat arms for resting arms or beverages or cats, and wide seats for wide seats. Ottomans are similarly scaled. Don’t rush into an unsuitable chair.
    Get one that transfers weight to your skeleton, and not your tissues otherwise you will find that a seemingly comfy chair is only good for 15 to 20 minutes.
    Also, Merry Christmas and thanks for the cats and dogs and folks and fury and sanctuary. It’s a balm in troubled times.

  26. 26.

    JMG

    Thanks for sharing your life with us, John. It’s been a lovely Christmas here, but my obsessive children have still not completed their gourmet dinner and their mom, dad, and partners are getting on the verge of too soused to appreciate it.

  29. 29.

    columbusqueen

    So no Merry Shitmas this year? A good deal for you. Merry Christmas and thanks for everything, John.

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    As mentioned in the previous thread, Christmas now consists of watching the teenagers play video games while the rest of us shout wine-soaked advice. It’s actually kind of fun.

  35. 35.

    cain

    Merry Christmas everyone. It’s been a hell of a year, and I hope that there will be good in the coming year.

  36. 36.

    Lizzy L

    @Mnemosyne: Feliz Navidad is my neighborhood greeting today.

    John, that’s a great video. So sweet. Sounds like you’ve had a good Christmas. Thanks for giving us a place to hang out.

  38. 38.

    Jager

    Nice quiet day up in the canyon, calls to Santa Cruz (Holy shit do my grandsons have deep voices!) San Diego, North Dakota and New York. We had our big dinner last night, Prime Rib roast, mashed potatoes, etc, etc. Today prime Rib sandwiches and now lasagna for dinner. Mrs J got us a new sound system for our TV, we’ve been listening to music on it all day, tonight a couple of episodes of VIKINGS and a couple of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. Then to bed, hopefully Mrs J is feeling frisky, I’ve been plying her with wine. Anze the Dog is licking his new balls so there’s that.

    Here’s to World Peace.

  39. 39.

    middlelee

    Thanks John for a haven, for often great laughs provided by FPs and commenters, for well-done derision for those who deserve it.

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

  40. 40.

    satby

    Glad you had a nice day John, Merry Christmas to you. And another thanks for creating this community where we all find solace.

    I feel a cold coming on, fortunately I don’t have to go anywhere or so anything for the next two days.

  43. 43.

    LAO

    John, check out joybird (joybird.com). I️ love my couch and chair. And the pet friendly fabrics, really are. Good luck.

    ETA: my ipad is acting up. ?

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne

    @Lizzy L:

    Given the latest influx of neighbors, I think the greeting in our building today is, “What’s this ‘Christmas’ thing, anyway?” in Pashtun or Hindi. ?

    They seem nice, but it’s annoying that all pop music in every language has the same annoying bass.

  46. 46.

    cain

    @Mnemosyne:

    That’s kind of wierd since I believe Christmas is popular in India.. (dunno about Pakistan though) It’s just another thing for culture warrior Hindu assholes fight off. They can’t even really use Hinduism..

  48. 48.

    laura

    @Quinerly: tell me what’s wrong with this story. I’ll start with hubris and move to avoidable risk to others, overreach, and stop at Credit Hogging -but it’d be easy to keep going.
    And the fawning press. My god, the adulation of the plutocracy. Forrest/trees. So obvious we’re being conditioned to admire our economic betters.
    I’m curious if this is the opening Salvo of the Koch Bros funded sell job on the tax cut bust out?

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne

    @cain:

    I assuming it depends on the family or region? My Canadian-Indian coworker doesn’t quite get the whole festival, though he likes watching us enjoy ourselves.

    (I call him Canadian-Indian because he was raised in both places, but he’s a naturalized American now.)

  54. 54.

    mai naem mobile

    @John Cole: John, I don’t know if they have any clearance Lazy Boy stores in Pittsburgh but if they do they’re totally worth it. BTW most of Lazy Boy is made in the US. They also have good deals when they have their sales. Also whoever mentioned the Habitat Restore stuff is right. They have junky stuff but they also have some really high end good quality stuff.

  55. 55.

    cain

    @Mnemosyne:

    I guess, but Christmas is fairly well known, although it doesn’t quite the encompassing presence it has here. Our celebration fo Christmas is sort of like Diwali.

  57. 57.

    Corner Stone

    Rogue One wasn’t even really a SW movie. The best 3 minutes of the entire movie happened in the last 10 minute sequence. When Vader went Vader NUTS and killed every fucking body like he was opening a soda can.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    @cain:
    Yesterday,Wikipedia’s main page was noting that the 25th of December is a public holiday in Pakistan — not the Prophet Jesus’ birthday, but Jinnah’s.

  60. 60.

    Mike J

    Tony Posnanski @tonyposnanski
    In the final holiday installment of PETTY AF news…

    Barack Obama’s “Merry Christmas” tweet that he posted six hours ago now has more likes that any Donald Trump tweet ever published.

  65. 65.

    J R in WV

    John,

    here it is nearly over already, and I’m just now wishing you a Happy Yule, ya’ll. Take your time on furniture, it’s too hard to move around to just go after some piece that strikes your fancy without spending some time sitting in it.

    Last new car we bought at VW, I took a book and sat in it, while it was 98 outside, with the A/C blasting and the engine idling. It kept the inside cool without over heating, so we bought it and drove it 189,000 miles.

    Merry Christmas Felice Navidad everyone!! and many happy returns.

  68. 68.

    Jackie

    @brettvk: how do you manage to grow catnip with cats around? I’ve tried hanging baskets far away from everything from a jumping distance and, somehow, someway, a cat manages to find a way to get to, and eat budding catnip down past the roots. I gave up.

  69. 69.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    @Another Scott:
    Totally agree about the Ekornes Stressless recliner and ottoman. We have 2 and I know they are expensive – but your back will thank you.

  71. 71.

    mainmata

    For the record, the Steelers trounced the Texans 34-6 to get their first round bye. Both offense and defense were quite strong though Houston has been decimated at the QB position. Hope you had a great holiday and same for the rest of the community.

    I will be happy to see the back of 2017. It started with Trump’s hideous inauguration and went straight down from there including the premature deaths of a brother-in-law and my youngest sister, one of our pet cats and several professional colleagues. Meanwhile, the political situation has become simply awful except for AL and VA elections and there lies a tiny hope for 2018.

    Selamat tahun baru

  72. 72.

    mainmata

    @Elmo: We did that version last year and it turned out great too. This year we did the reverse treatment where you roast the standing rib roast at 250 degrees until it reaches 130 (in our case for medium rare), let it rest for 15 min. while you crank the oven temp to max. (500-550), then put the roast in for max 10 min. to get it dark on the outside. Also led to great results with additional fat to help the Yorkshire puddings we made.

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    @chopper: You and your mom need to go fuck each other some more.
    In case that was not clear enough for a moron like you – go fuck yourself and take your mom with you.

  76. 76.

    msb

    Really late (because we had 11 people over) but wishing everyone happy holidays and thanking Our Grumpy Host for a great video.

Comments are closed.