Dept. of Ambivalence and Hope
Dec. 24th, 2025 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaffy_rChristmas Eve Thoughts
I'm sitting in the livingroom, listening to Kpop rather than Christmas music of either secular or Christian origin. I've been prepping for Christmas Day, when we'll entertain four friends, and the house is full of the smell of two types of dressing cooked tonight so that I don't run the risk of overcooking it in the same oven as the tiny turkey (10.5 pounds) I bought for our somewhat unexpected meal. Unexpected, because we hadn't planned to do Christmas at all; one of our friends texted to ask if we were doing Christmas, possibly because they remembered that I'd said I wanted to invite them to a post-Thanksgiving dinner, and I just texted back "Yep!" because they've been very good to us, and this was one way we could repay them.
We jumped into "Emergency Christmas" mode, and I've already completed the cranberry orange relish and the Green Slime (it's a 1950s/60s recipe I got from Bob's mom, and it's not a canonical Christmas for our friends unless this is part of the menu, lime jello, cream cheese, maraschino cherries and all.) Tomorrow morning I'll stuff the bird with some of the dressing that didn't get baked tonight; I'll bake the veggie side-dish Bob and I chose; I'll make the peach cobbler I decided on instead of pie because cobbler is much, much easier to make. Then it's on to sweeping and damp-mopping the diningroom before putting extra leaves in the table and setting the Christmas board.
Last year, we were both despondent about the federal election and, without having the kids and Harlan here to be Christmasy for, we spent the day in a bit of a funk. To put it mildly.
A year later, the despondency has lifted a bit, but we still hadn't thought about Christmas much. We had improved enough to buy gifts for our three closest friends, and their son, but we'd expected to share them on New Year's Eve. Instead, that text came, and the rest is recent history.
And tonight, I got a comment on my AO3-archived story, "It Was Wonderful," a fanfic based on "It's a Wonderful Life," which Bob, Andy, and I have loved for years. For several years on Christmas Eve, I've reshared the fic, which I originally posted on my LJ, then on Dreamwidth, and I eventually posted it on AO3, and was always tickled when I got the few kudos I did for it.
The comment was thoughtful and that would have been all I needed to read. But the person then asked if they could do a podfic. They were polite, said they'd understand if I didn't want them to do that because they'd still love the story. I checked them out and found that they a) weren't the type of scammers apparently infesting the archive these days (people pretending to be fans of stories, then working around to asking for money to "create fan art" for stories) and b) were experienced podficcers.
I told them I'd be honored. It's the first time anyone's done that for one of my pieces, and it seems like a lovely and unexpected Christmas gift.
I'm not much of a believer these days - not a Christian, certainly, although my experience with Christianity growing up in a house filled with love was very good, and that experience colored the way I approach spirituality. But as Bob has often said, and I believe him, some stories are true even if they never happened. The story of a child born in a stable and placed in a manger for warmth, a child who angels sang to sleep, who shepherds approached quietly after having heard the lullabies, a child who was a hope of peace ... well, that's not a bad story to happen, even if it never did.
And then there's "It's a Wonderful Life," and "It Was Wonderful." You can find the latter at the link, should you like to read it, either the first time or perhaps for another time.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Peace be unto all, even those who don't celebrate. I am lucky to know all of you.
I'm sitting in the livingroom, listening to Kpop rather than Christmas music of either secular or Christian origin. I've been prepping for Christmas Day, when we'll entertain four friends, and the house is full of the smell of two types of dressing cooked tonight so that I don't run the risk of overcooking it in the same oven as the tiny turkey (10.5 pounds) I bought for our somewhat unexpected meal. Unexpected, because we hadn't planned to do Christmas at all; one of our friends texted to ask if we were doing Christmas, possibly because they remembered that I'd said I wanted to invite them to a post-Thanksgiving dinner, and I just texted back "Yep!" because they've been very good to us, and this was one way we could repay them.
We jumped into "Emergency Christmas" mode, and I've already completed the cranberry orange relish and the Green Slime (it's a 1950s/60s recipe I got from Bob's mom, and it's not a canonical Christmas for our friends unless this is part of the menu, lime jello, cream cheese, maraschino cherries and all.) Tomorrow morning I'll stuff the bird with some of the dressing that didn't get baked tonight; I'll bake the veggie side-dish Bob and I chose; I'll make the peach cobbler I decided on instead of pie because cobbler is much, much easier to make. Then it's on to sweeping and damp-mopping the diningroom before putting extra leaves in the table and setting the Christmas board.
Last year, we were both despondent about the federal election and, without having the kids and Harlan here to be Christmasy for, we spent the day in a bit of a funk. To put it mildly.
A year later, the despondency has lifted a bit, but we still hadn't thought about Christmas much. We had improved enough to buy gifts for our three closest friends, and their son, but we'd expected to share them on New Year's Eve. Instead, that text came, and the rest is recent history.
And tonight, I got a comment on my AO3-archived story, "It Was Wonderful," a fanfic based on "It's a Wonderful Life," which Bob, Andy, and I have loved for years. For several years on Christmas Eve, I've reshared the fic, which I originally posted on my LJ, then on Dreamwidth, and I eventually posted it on AO3, and was always tickled when I got the few kudos I did for it.
The comment was thoughtful and that would have been all I needed to read. But the person then asked if they could do a podfic. They were polite, said they'd understand if I didn't want them to do that because they'd still love the story. I checked them out and found that they a) weren't the type of scammers apparently infesting the archive these days (people pretending to be fans of stories, then working around to asking for money to "create fan art" for stories) and b) were experienced podficcers.
I told them I'd be honored. It's the first time anyone's done that for one of my pieces, and it seems like a lovely and unexpected Christmas gift.
I'm not much of a believer these days - not a Christian, certainly, although my experience with Christianity growing up in a house filled with love was very good, and that experience colored the way I approach spirituality. But as Bob has often said, and I believe him, some stories are true even if they never happened. The story of a child born in a stable and placed in a manger for warmth, a child who angels sang to sleep, who shepherds approached quietly after having heard the lullabies, a child who was a hope of peace ... well, that's not a bad story to happen, even if it never did.
And then there's "It's a Wonderful Life," and "It Was Wonderful." You can find the latter at the link, should you like to read it, either the first time or perhaps for another time.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Peace be unto all, even those who don't celebrate. I am lucky to know all of you.
Happy Christmas!
Dec. 24th, 2025 01:17 pmrifleman_lincoln
And to all who have sent good wishes, e-cards and snail-mail cards:
thank you so much!
Dept. of Mouse Patrol
Dec. 22nd, 2025 09:41 pmkaffy_rReturn of the Cute but Awful Little Mammals
You know, the Rexulti I'm on is really doing its job; when I went into our south larder yesterday (we have two sets of shelving units in the closets of our office, two in the north closet and two in the south, which has absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand) to get some things, I discovered mouse droppings and their attendant dried leavings. We had blocked off their access after their last incursion a fair while ago but, as is all too often the case, hunger and cold weather made them desperate enough to gnaw through the very fine steel wool and the anti-mouse block that is sprayed like spray-on insulation and dries to a pretty hard substance that we'd laid down.
Did I swear up a storm? Yes, yes I did. But I did not descend into the kind of simmering rage that previous mouse incursions caused me. Instead, after about ten minutes of being pissed off at the world, I calmed down. We pulled everything off the bottom two shelves nearest where we figured the mice had come through, and we spotted two or three spots where they probably wiggled themselves in. We decided how we'd handle this - coarser steel wool, to be laid over the previous anti-mouse block, taped into place, and then a further layer of the mouse block. The coarser grade of steel wool should be tougher for them to get through.
And all this is happening three days before Christmas, which I agreed to hold dinner for just a few days ago. Six of us - our best friends in Chicago and one of Andys best friends, who's in a tough emotional space right now, and who needs some support.
But I don't feel too stressed about all of this. Is it because of the new pill? Is it just delayed maturity showing up at the last minute? I don't know, and I don't think I need to know. We're going to defeat mus musculus; I'm going to cook a fine Christmas dinner with Bob's help. It's all going to be good.
You know, the Rexulti I'm on is really doing its job; when I went into our south larder yesterday (we have two sets of shelving units in the closets of our office, two in the north closet and two in the south, which has absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand) to get some things, I discovered mouse droppings and their attendant dried leavings. We had blocked off their access after their last incursion a fair while ago but, as is all too often the case, hunger and cold weather made them desperate enough to gnaw through the very fine steel wool and the anti-mouse block that is sprayed like spray-on insulation and dries to a pretty hard substance that we'd laid down.
Did I swear up a storm? Yes, yes I did. But I did not descend into the kind of simmering rage that previous mouse incursions caused me. Instead, after about ten minutes of being pissed off at the world, I calmed down. We pulled everything off the bottom two shelves nearest where we figured the mice had come through, and we spotted two or three spots where they probably wiggled themselves in. We decided how we'd handle this - coarser steel wool, to be laid over the previous anti-mouse block, taped into place, and then a further layer of the mouse block. The coarser grade of steel wool should be tougher for them to get through.
And all this is happening three days before Christmas, which I agreed to hold dinner for just a few days ago. Six of us - our best friends in Chicago and one of Andys best friends, who's in a tough emotional space right now, and who needs some support.
But I don't feel too stressed about all of this. Is it because of the new pill? Is it just delayed maturity showing up at the last minute? I don't know, and I don't think I need to know. We're going to defeat mus musculus; I'm going to cook a fine Christmas dinner with Bob's help. It's all going to be good.
University Challenge
Dec. 22nd, 2025 09:04 pmrifleman_lincolnWhat a shame! Although Lincoln University did really well in their first round, the second round wasn't quite as successful and they were beaten 190 / 85 by UCL.
But it was great to see a team from Lincoln competing for the first time ever and hopefully this will encourage them to put teams forward in the future.
Non est vincere sed participare.
But it was great to see a team from Lincoln competing for the first time ever and hopefully this will encourage them to put teams forward in the future.
Non est vincere sed participare.
Dept. of Fuck These Lying Fucks
Dec. 21st, 2025 01:42 pmkaffy_rReasons to Swear Up a Storm, Part the Bazillionth
I'll not go over what this image is about, because y'all know it. Thank you, superbly foul-mouthed political commentator Jeff Tiedrich for showing it to me and many others.
Here you go:
I'll not go over what this image is about, because y'all know it. Thank you, superbly foul-mouthed political commentator Jeff Tiedrich for showing it to me and many others.
Here you go:
Sheffield United v Birmingham City
Dec. 21st, 2025 08:17 pmrifleman_lincolnA good win – the opposite of last week’s game – as yesterday the Blades looked quick, hungry, and aggressive. We passed through the opposition, pressed their defence and stole the ball a number of times leading to opportunities.
( Read more... )
Dept. of Memes
Dec. 19th, 2025 08:44 pmkaffy_rMusic Meme, Day 16
A song from a television soundtrack:
The reimagined Battlestar Galactica was one of the best SFF shows of the 1990s - in fact, it may be the best SFF show of all time (with The Expanse only a hair behind it), at least in my opinion. Its soundtrack by composer Bear McCreary is a major engine driving the story, underlying the incredible writing and acting that made BSG the classic that it became. McCreary, who also composed for shows such as Outlander, for which he won an Emmy, became known during his tenure on all four seasons of BSG for what fans lovingly termed "the poundy drums." They're here in this song, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
In his reimagining (there's that word again) of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, McCreary did what I initially thought was impossible. Who could be arrogant enough to rescore that song? He was, and despite my initial wariness, I came to love his version even more than Dylan's. It plays during a key point in the show's third season, and the show's producers were absolutely right to go with it. I'm including two versions here: the one on the Season 3 soundtrack, and a live version that McCreary directed during a night of BSG music played live several years ago.
Before I add the live version, here are my previous meme answers, starting with Day 13 (which has a link to the 12 previous answers, and adding Day 14 and Day 15.
Finally, here's the live version of the song.
A song from a television soundtrack:
The reimagined Battlestar Galactica was one of the best SFF shows of the 1990s - in fact, it may be the best SFF show of all time (with The Expanse only a hair behind it), at least in my opinion. Its soundtrack by composer Bear McCreary is a major engine driving the story, underlying the incredible writing and acting that made BSG the classic that it became. McCreary, who also composed for shows such as Outlander, for which he won an Emmy, became known during his tenure on all four seasons of BSG for what fans lovingly termed "the poundy drums." They're here in this song, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
In his reimagining (there's that word again) of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, McCreary did what I initially thought was impossible. Who could be arrogant enough to rescore that song? He was, and despite my initial wariness, I came to love his version even more than Dylan's. It plays during a key point in the show's third season, and the show's producers were absolutely right to go with it. I'm including two versions here: the one on the Season 3 soundtrack, and a live version that McCreary directed during a night of BSG music played live several years ago.
Before I add the live version, here are my previous meme answers, starting with Day 13 (which has a link to the 12 previous answers, and adding Day 14 and Day 15.
Finally, here's the live version of the song.
Dept. of Memes
Dec. 17th, 2025 09:01 pmkaffy_rMusic Meme, Day 15
I've been surviving very cold Chicago; I've been adulting, doing the Green Card renewal (which the CIS folks just sent me two letters stating my case is "in process," huzzah) and getting my Rexulti program application for 2026 ready for delivery to my delightfully old-fashioned shrink and The Amazing Nicki, and spending more time than I should cooking and baking rather than reading. But it's time to put all that behind me and return to my music meme, at least until I can think of interesting things in my brain that others might like to hear about. Therefore, I bring you -
A song from a movie soundtrack:
I've read The Lord of the Rings trilogy more times than I can remember. I also watched the three movies, both theatrical and extended release, dozens of times in total, in theaters, and at home. I love both the books and, with caveats, the movies.
I believe that the ending of The Return of the King, the third movie, is as close to perfect as it could possibly be. A major reason is the song written by Annie Lennox and Fran Walsh, with music by Lennox and Howard Shore. The words, which take from one of Gandalf's comments to Pippin before the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and speak of Elves being called home to the Undying Lands, get me every time.
This could have been the song I chose as one that makes me cry, but it's for that strange mix of grief, awe, and yearning that is somehow transmuted into joy. And of course Annie Lennox's voice is the wind that fills the sails as the ships leave the Grey Havens.
Here is a link to Day 14 and to Day 13; should you desire, you can see what I yammered on about in earlier meme iterations.
.
I've been surviving very cold Chicago; I've been adulting, doing the Green Card renewal (which the CIS folks just sent me two letters stating my case is "in process," huzzah) and getting my Rexulti program application for 2026 ready for delivery to my delightfully old-fashioned shrink and The Amazing Nicki, and spending more time than I should cooking and baking rather than reading. But it's time to put all that behind me and return to my music meme, at least until I can think of interesting things in my brain that others might like to hear about. Therefore, I bring you -
A song from a movie soundtrack:
I've read The Lord of the Rings trilogy more times than I can remember. I also watched the three movies, both theatrical and extended release, dozens of times in total, in theaters, and at home. I love both the books and, with caveats, the movies.
I believe that the ending of The Return of the King, the third movie, is as close to perfect as it could possibly be. A major reason is the song written by Annie Lennox and Fran Walsh, with music by Lennox and Howard Shore. The words, which take from one of Gandalf's comments to Pippin before the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and speak of Elves being called home to the Undying Lands, get me every time.
This could have been the song I chose as one that makes me cry, but it's for that strange mix of grief, awe, and yearning that is somehow transmuted into joy. And of course Annie Lennox's voice is the wind that fills the sails as the ships leave the Grey Havens.
Here is a link to Day 14 and to Day 13; should you desire, you can see what I yammered on about in earlier meme iterations.
.
West Bromwich Albion v Sheffield United
Dec. 13th, 2025 01:23 pmrifleman_lincolnA rather unspectacular match and a defeat for the first time in six games, so the Blades missed out on extending what had been a good run.
( Read more... )