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To kick things off, here are some ice-breaker questions. Since my intention is to focus on The Happy, they're all questions about favorites. Since this party will last seven days, there are seven questions:
- What is your favorite holiday--any holiday--memory? It could be the holidays people usually mean when they say: "Happy Holidays!" or it could be Halloween, or Arbor Day, or Star Wars Day, or Thursday the 20th, or your best friend's birthday, or... whatever.
- What's your favorite treat to eat when you're in a celebratory mood?
- What's your favorite holiday song? (And yes, my definition of "holiday" covers anything you want it to)
- Do you have a favorite YouTube channel? If so, what is it?
- What was your favorite piece of media from 2018? (It could have been produced this year, or any year. It could have been mass-produced and sold to the public, or it could have been a bit of privately made ephemera, like a doodle in the margin of a page, whatever.... Just something you've seen this year that you really, really like)
- What's your favorite cryptid?
- What's your favorite meme?
My Answers:
1. When I was in high school, our eccentric art teacher decided to teach an elective where we built a giant, hollow, paper mache dragon, big enough for the nursery school and kindergarten kids to climb around in and on. And this would be "The Dragon of Winter." And, come May Day, we, as a school, would take the dragon out to our soccer field and burn it, to usher in the life-giving power of the spring. On May Day, all afternoon classes were cancelled, and we spent the last 2 hours or so singing songs, and watching Morris Dancing (our physics teacher was the member of a troupe), and dancing 'round the May Pole. It culminated with our biology teacher, in a mask, jogging out from the woods behind the soccer field with a bow and arrow. And shot a flaming arrow into the dragon. The first arrow was a dud. The second arrow was a dud. The third arrow resulted in the expected bonfire, and from the flames, buoyed by the hot air, a "dragon ghost" made of white rice paper (iirc) rose from inside the giant dragon we had made. And our biology teacher made a pose like this: \o/
2. Chocolate brownies, topped with whipped cream.
3. GLOUCESTERSHIRE WASSAIL
Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee
So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek
Pray God send our master a good piece of beef
And a good piece of beef that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee
And here is to Dobbin and to his right eye
Pray God send our master a good Christmas pie
A good Christmas pie that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee
So here is to Broad Mary and to her broad horn
May God send our master a good crop of corn
And a good crop of corn that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee
And here is to Fillpail and to her left ear
Pray God send our master a happy New Year
And a happy New Year as e'er he did see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee
And here is to Colly and to her long tail
Pray God send our master he never may fail
A bowl of strong beer! I pray you draw near
And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear
Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best
Then we hope that your soul in heaven may rest
But if you do draw us a bowl of the small
Then down shall go butler, bowl and all
Then here's to the maid in the lily white smock
Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock
Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin
For to let these jolly wassailers in.
4. So hard to choose! Right now, it's Tom Scott for short form essays, and Philosophy Tube for long form essays; Warning: that second YouTuber does not shy away from blue language, or difficult imagery, but it's all in service to exploring ideas.
5. I finally saw the animated movie "Megamind" this year, and I really liked it, and think it got unfairly overshadowed by "Despicable Me" when it first came out.
My favorite bits of media that were actually released this year were the new Doctor Who theme music for Series 11, and the new visualization of the Time Vortex, in the same.
6. It's a toss up between Santa Claus and one whose name escapes me that's a fur-covered snake with the head of a cat (or a cat with a snake's body, depending on how you look at it)
7) I'm showing my age, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the hamster dance (used to be on a GeoCities website, now preserved as a YouTube video
no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 06:53 pm (UTC)(Your stepdaughter could probably describe the look on your face when you did see it, which could never be part of your story.
Which is why there are different storytellers in the world.
*slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 08:26 pm (UTC)Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 08:40 pm (UTC)#5 Christina Aguilera's Liberation
Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 09:00 pm (UTC)And thanks for the recs (have you caught on to my plan, here?).
Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 09:03 pm (UTC)(And the answers are not as important to me, as the process of taking time to think of favorite things.
Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 09:05 pm (UTC)You can sit with me here and have some hot spiced apple cider!
Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 09:21 pm (UTC)Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-25 10:14 pm (UTC)It's hard-to-impossible to give gifts through the Internet. But we can give recommendations, and share links to things. And that has the same energy.
Re: *slurps spiced cider*
Date: 2018-12-25 10:16 pm (UTC)(This cider is yummy, by the way. Thank you)
no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 11:03 pm (UTC)I'm not sure I have one, just a generalised feeling of delicious anticipation.
What's your favorite treat to eat when you're in a celebratory mood?
Gingery chocolate. Not that it's easy to find.
What's your favorite holiday song?
Snoopy's Christmas! I've loved that all my life.
Do you have a favorite YouTube channel?
Not really, but here's my current favourite vid.
What was your favorite media from 2018?
I dunno, video?
What's your favorite cryptid?
Nessie!
What's your favorite meme?
Absolute unit.
Cheers!
Date: 2018-12-25 11:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-26 01:26 am (UTC)2. I was going to suggest Divine Chocolates. But Divine Chocolate NZ looks like a very different store than Divine Chocolate USA ...
The former sources chocolate from all over, and no mention of farmer-owned cooperatives. And the latter is all about the fair trade, farmer-owned cooperative in one country. And the latter also has orange & ginger chocolate.
I think the problem may be shipping: chocolate melts in the mail in the summer. And if you're shipping between the northern and southern hemispheres, it's going to be summer for at least half the trip... :-/
3. *searches for that* That's nice. At first I thought you were talking about the jazz music that was the soundtrack for the animated Christmas TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (Which is also very nice, in a different way)
4. LOL!
5. I meant: what was your favorite piece of media?
6. Nessie's nice. I almost mentioned Champ -- the lake monster in Lake Champlain, Vermont.
7. I like Absolute Unit. But I like cat unit memes better than politician units.
Re: *slurps fancy coffee*
Date: 2018-12-26 08:08 pm (UTC)*savours my turkey sandwich*
Today I'm enjoying leftovers while sitting by my festive windowsill - would you like some hot spiced apple cider? I made ... a lot.
Re: *savours my turkey sandwich*
Date: 2018-12-26 10:29 pm (UTC)*purrr*
Thanks, I love me some hot cider.
Have you tried hot spiced pomegranate juice? Back when I was in high school, we did a history unit on the middle ages, and the teacher hosted a medieval style banquet with period recipes. So my mom got me a book on medieval cookery with recipes in the back... and spiced pomegranate juice was one of them.
Of course, it's a lot easier for us, today, 'cause we can buy the juice already bottled, instead of gathering the pomegranate seeds and pressing the juice out by hand.
...The mind boggles at the thought.. No wonder they saved it for special occasions.
Thank you for this
Date: 2018-12-26 11:38 pm (UTC)Re: *savours my turkey sandwich*
Date: 2018-12-26 11:44 pm (UTC)Also- I wonder what is the natural range for the vines? How far north do they grow? I know they grow wild in India, but what about Europe? How early did the trade in "exotic" fruits begin I wonder? When did oranges reach north/western Europe for example?
Re: *savours my turkey sandwich*
Date: 2018-12-26 11:44 pm (UTC)https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spiced-pomegranate-sipper
adds in *more sweetness* -- pineapple and grape juice -- which seems totally unnecessary. Pom juice is super sweet as is. But heating it up with some ginger slices and a cinnamon stick sounds fine.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 12:26 am (UTC)Divine dark chocolate!
...or if it's warm, mango gelato
A favorite holiday song is a glum meditation on unemployment, called Detroit December, by Si Kahn: audio
Spotify audio / sheet music
Definitely grim, but a nice counterweight to all the forced-cheer from every audio source.
Really, I could post around 90 Si Kahn songs--I love the way he puts words together, and when I was a musician, I performed lots of them.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 05:12 am (UTC)What's your favorite holiday song? (And yes, my definition of "holiday" covers anything you want it to)
Can I Interest You In Hannukah? - https://youtu.be/RhXfpGPY4Vk
Do you have a favorite YouTube channel? If so, what is it?
I have soo many. I watch mostly youtube these days... RN these are some of my favs.
Jill Bearup - https://www.youtube.com/user/SursumUrsa - Analysis of nerdy things by british girl
Life Where I'm From - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqwxJts-6yF33rupyF_DCsA Videos about Japan by Canadian expat who lives there with Japanese wife & kids. Kids in a lot of videos are cute. :)
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 01:07 pm (UTC)Thanks for the Jill Bearup rec (Not that I need another time sink ... Not that I won't fall into it ;-))
You might like the channel Emmymadeinjapan: https://www.youtube.com/user/emmymadeinjapan (She's actually Chinese and back home in America, now. But she started her channel when she was living in Japan for a year, learning the language by reading the instructions on the back of food packages. Now, she's basically a cooking/lifestyle channel trying out "Weird" recipes from around the world and through modern history -- and snack foods people send her from around the world. And then she tastes the food for the first time, and describes what it's like -- and is honest about whether she likes it or not ... and why she doesn't like it, which I appreciate.
Here's a serious Hanukkah song I found this year, which would definitely go on a party music playlist, if I lived in an alternate universe where I gave holiday parties:
"Shine" by the Maccabeats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfieP6H47lc&feature=youtu.be
Re: Thank you for this
Date: 2018-12-27 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 01:58 pm (UTC)But yeah. 99.9% of his work, I adore.
Re: *savours my turkey sandwich*
Date: 2018-12-27 02:01 pm (UTC)I just add a dash of ground ginger to a mug of pom juice and heat it up in the microwave...
Makes a lovely red color, too.
Re: *savours my turkey sandwich*
Date: 2018-12-27 02:15 pm (UTC)Pomegranates grow on trees. The tree in the Tapestry "The Unicorn in the Garden" is a Pomegranate.
According to Wikipedia they're native to Iraq and northern India, and have been grown throughout the Mediterranean.
Re: Thank you for this
Date: 2018-12-27 02:25 pm (UTC)I've only seen the first animated movie, and was really impressed with its depiction of disability, of all things, as a thing that happens, and not treated as a de facto tragedy.
(I rented it and watched it streaming on YouTube).
I've not read the books, which, I understand are quite different. But the book series has its own, small, and dedicated fan base.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 04:18 pm (UTC)What would you nominate for "Disability Anthem"?
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 04:20 pm (UTC)This song is called "Thanksgiving Eve," by Bob Franke--Sally Rogers' audio. I've found it eminently singable at all sorts of found-family gatherings, which often coincide with holidays:
THANKSGIVING EVE
(Bob Franke)
It's so easy to dream of the days gone by
So hard to think of the times to come
And the grace to accept every moment as a gift
Is a gift that is given to some
CHORUS: What can you do with our days
But work and hope
Let your dreams bind your work to your play
What can you do with each moment of your life
But love 'till you've loved it away
Love 'till you've loved it away
There are sorrows enough for the whole world's end
There are no guarantees but the grave
But the lives we have lived and the times we have spent
Are a treasure to precious to say
CHORUS
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 04:25 pm (UTC)"Video" on YouTube (Just a static picture of the album cover while the song plays)
The text of the lyrics from the Jonathon Coulton Wiki.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 04:57 pm (UTC)I like a lot of the Maccabeats' stuff... some more than others. The video they did for this year (I have a little dreidel sung in all different styles) is also fun.
And this is the video they referenced at the beginning of "Shine": https://youtu.be/oHwyTxxQHmQ
no subject
Date: 2018-12-27 05:05 pm (UTC)But this is a song I wrote, specifically in answer to Si Kahn, covered by someone with a better singing voice, and better recording equipment than I had at the time (Though the visuals in that video are mine):
https://youtu.be/V47a5qs1294
RELEASE the KRAKEN~
Date: 2018-12-28 03:14 am (UTC)On another note.. I made soup from leftovers and it is.. not great. How did I forget that Turkey Soup is BLAND. So Bland. those tasty leftovers are so amazing in sandwiches. but I made rice and veg soup with turkey and it.. tastes like. Rice.
Still- it's hot and healthy, so I will eat it all up.
How was your day?
no subject
Date: 2018-12-28 04:04 am (UTC)I love the Maccabeats! I haven't seen Shine in a while. :)
Thanks for the Emmy rec. I may have several of her videos on my watch later list now....
no subject
Date: 2018-12-28 08:40 am (UTC)2. When out and about, having worked very hard on being out of the house, and needing refuelling before heading home - a falafel kebab, with plenty of tabouleh, and preferably barbecue sauce, or chilli sauce if I'm feeling in need of extra excitement. Falafel is better than just about any other vegetarian option, and the fresh ingredients are lovely. Leaving the house and doing things is something that deserves celebration!
3. Our big discovery this year: an Australian doo-wop group called Human Nature, who do a really lovely White Christmas (and in fact a whole Xmas album, which we listened to many, many times over three days). Their bass (the chap with the eyebrow ring) is excellent, I'm wild about the effortlessness of the tenor's voice, and I love that they all get a turn taking the starring role in different songs. Also not to be missed: their cover of Runaround Sue.
4. I really like Janet Stephens, who makes hairstyling videos recreating historical hairdos! Ancient Greek and Roman, Napoleonic, Victorian and more. I love that while the male historians were saying that the styles on statuary must have been artistic stylisation because they couldn't immediately see how they were done, she just went ahead and tried doing the styles.
5. My favourite thing this year has to be the fanfic my sister started writing for me! I burbled out some headcanons to her, and next morning she emailed me Chapter One. Wowzers. I don't really want to read anyone else's take on my favourite character, because nobody gets them just right the way she does.
6. I haven't delved deeply into the world of cryptids! But there have been reported sightings of big cats in New Zealand.
7. Spiders Georg has to be my favourite meme! The combination of earnest statistics and haphazard spelling, the way it's flexible enough to be adapted to many situations... I just love it.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-28 01:21 pm (UTC)...Sometimes, I just need to hear that.
Re: RELEASE the KRAKEN~
Date: 2018-12-28 01:44 pm (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/user/oceanexplorergov
From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. When they've got an active mission going on, they do live feeds of what their R.O.V. is recording on the ocean floor, while the biologists and geologists provide voice-over commentary. There's also a private chat (not visible to the public on the YouTube channel), where biologists from around the world can ask questions and ask their cameras to zoom in on animals and features that's their specialty.
It's like watching a nature documentary, but a lot slower, because the long stretches between sightings are left in, and also a lot geekier, because all these scientists are colleagues, and they have their inside jokes.
They do have highlight clips up on their channel, and this is one from April of this year: https://youtu.be/_zOHKSzH4OQ
no subject
Date: 2018-12-28 02:49 pm (UTC)2) Falalfels are great! And, for me, they're a definite "Eat out" treat, since deep frying is a pain, at home.
3) I love the resurgence of a capella / Barbarshop quartets. I remember a time in my childhood when they were hardly known outside certain niches.
4) So much of archeology would be different if there were more women in the field, that's for sure. And more people of color, and... and... and...
5) Oh, that's lovely! Lucky you!
6) The cryptid thing is definitely a nod to the Tumblr refugees I'm inviting to this party; there's a whole subculture in the Tumblr Queer community around cryptids -- Mothman. I'm pretty sure it's because if you're LGBTQ, you're treated something like a cryptid in the wider culture, so why not embrace that?
7) I checked "Know your meme," just now, and they have a picture of Spiders Georg! https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/015/631/tumblr_mp346w8Rl51s6nqv9o1_400.png
Re: RELEASE the KRAKEN~
Date: 2018-12-28 07:38 pm (UTC)Thank!
Re: RELEASE the KRAKEN~
Date: 2018-12-28 07:42 pm (UTC)(Who knew the Kraken was so darn cute, right?)
no subject
Date: 2018-12-29 04:15 am (UTC)Jessica Kellgren-Fozard does "Hello, lovelie people" & in BSL as well! She is so lovely and is doing a super intersting series on Christmastide/12 days of christmas. https://www.youtube.com/user/MissJessicaKH
Another rec for you that I just thought of...
Brothers Green Eats is a two brothers doing lots of different kinds of food, cheap (mostly veggie/vegan from what i've seen).
https://www.youtube.com/user/BrothersGreenEats/featured
no subject
Date: 2018-12-29 02:51 pm (UTC)*Checks Jessica Kellgren-Fozard's channel*
Yep. I thought the name sounded familiar. I included one of her videos as part of this Tumblr post I made: Regarding the "unmarketability" of disabled people.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-29 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-29 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-29 09:14 pm (UTC)