h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

RE, the shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist -- from the Shrub's response, no, I'd say he has no clue how bad an insult it is, since he equated it to being flipped the bird.

I'm only sending about 6-8 cards, and I still can't get up any enthusiasm. Maybe it's because I can't put up any decorations. So glad we have a Goo spruce in the Salon.

Mornin All

Dark.

No longer dark here, just cold.

I'm sat at home again having walked back from the station because there are no trains along our line. Broken down train further up the line causing problems. I'm now trying to use the joy of t'internet to work out when a train will turn up so I can go and get it and get to work.
This is not a good start to a monday.

With just one week left to the winter solstice, I'm amazed at how light the mornings are if the skies are clear - I seem to remember that it used to be pitch dark when I've left for w*rk previous winters...

Could it be that the has wobbled a bit more than usual lately?

Chicken soup is said to be Jewish penicillin, is it not?

What's succotash? I always wondered.

Sounds like you've got a version of the bug which is doing the rounds here, FG; the delightfully named Winter Vomiting Virus. No3 had it for several days. Hope you feel better soon.

* joins the others in Bah-Humbu**ery Corner and feels slightly better when she looks at the Goo Spruce.

A lost weekend and over 8 pages of backlog

I've not written my cards yet, hubby has done the ones to be posted and K and I will do the school ones later.
I need some new fairy lights. They failed to work when I tried them yesterday and then I proceeded to trample several underfoot

Morning all. T'internet suggests succotash is something to do with corn and butter beans, possibly with other vegetables. As usual the first five google hits are all different...

Going to write another bunch of cards today and planning a longish walk to get some of them delivered - this is not the only delivery I'll be hoping for as a result of the walk! Still not feeling very christmassy so I really hope #2 hurries up and comes out so that I can stop worrying about him and think turkey instead. I usually love christmas so it isn't nice to feel so flat about it this year.

Had several people comment on the size of the (enormous) bump in sainsburys yesterday. Now, I know it is huge and I don't actually mind but some women are very sensitive to any kind of comment about their weight. At what other time is it appropriate to go up to a stranger, touch her stomach, and comment on her size?

J at home now for the rest of the year so am making a long list of jobs for him to do - can't have him cluttering up the place and getting under my feet while I try to relax

Succotash in my world was always corn, lima beans, and carrots. Never a fan myself, but then again, one of my favorite things to do with veggies is to cream spinach, which most folks flee from, so maybe I'm just weird.

I love cream spinach but it has rather unfortunate effect on me. It steams through my digestive tract like a TGV heading south.

I was going to send the Xmas cards today, but then I lost the Star's photos that I had labouriously made a special trip into the High Street to get printed to go in them. The only thing I can think of is that they were tucked into something that got thrown out in my purge of the coffee table this Saturday. I should clearly never tidy. And neither should my MiL.

Anyway, this has meant going back and adding a postscript to the Xmas letter, a good half of which was a commentry on the photos.

And the Star has a cold again. Although if it weren't for the cough I'd be suspecting the butternut squash since he also has impressively, ah, loose stools.

[Sol. Covered in pooooooooo!]

Hey. I liked the Will Smith version of "I am Legend". But then I hadn't read the book, and was expecting a hollywood ending so not at all distressed at finding one. And I have no class.

/* Slurps */

I haven't seen it, haven't read the book either.

I haven't seen the film, but have read and loved the book. That is also the reason for not seeing the film, I think!

Surrering succotash!
It seems Iraq is divided, half of Iraq is on the streets asking for shoe thrower to be released and given a meddle, the other half of Iraq want him to be given throwing lessons to improve his aim!

Phil, did you get your tree put up?

Saturday's library holiday potluck was fun. It should have been better attended, but it's their loss. They missed a great meal and a lot of laughter. I ordered some Christmas crackers. Not a single one of them even knew what they were. They enjoyed them so much that now they are asking to have them every year.

I got enough crackers for Syn's sister's Christmas Eve party. Besides the regular ones, I was able to find some for the kids with cute snowmen, reindeer, santas, etc. on them. Plus, I plan to use the last bottle of Lady C's cranberry wine to make a cranberry orange sangria. Syn has a sister, two brothers and a slew of nieces and nephews who all live within 5 miles of him. And...wonder of wonders...they all get along. Imagine that!

It was 72ºF/22ºC yesterday. This morning it is 10ºF/-12ºC. And the wind chill makes it feel a lot colder. The good news is that there is so much sleet and freezing rain on the roads that I decided not to open the library. Unexpected day off. All of the schools in the region are closed.

I've planned on catching up on my will smith movies while i'm home for a few days before christmas. I like him as an actor, and i've missed happyness, i am legend, and hancock, through no fault of my own. I just saw .. the day the earth stood still, with keanu reeves (who, once again, did a good job in a part where he shows no emotion and speaks woodenly. Bravo, Keanu.

If i were creative enough, i'd love to do a comic strip holiday update. Maybe i'll work on that for next year, or send one out for groundhog day (which is an unfortunately ignored holiday. My daughters make a cake for that each year. a holiday card for all and sundry would be cute... Put that on the calendar, lml)

Ben, with regard to the banknotes, have you seen this?http://www.kleinbottle.com/gauss.htm
forgive my ignorance, but i guess this guy Gauss is a famous scientist, and they're selling these "portraits" of him. too funny.

Hyp, The tree is in place but not yet decorated (or at least it wasn't when i last saw it this morning, unless MC did it after I eventually left for work). What I did also manage to finish off was sorting out the chimney so we could have a fire - that was very very nice. Shame we didn't feel like decorating the tree after that but we're both trying to get over some nasty colds that are going about.

my tree looks so pathetic (its artificial, but that's not why) the kittens pretty much destroyed it last year. many branches are tied up with ribbon so they'll hang right, i've decorated it completely with dollar store decorations, because i dont want the silly cats to ruin my good ones. And, i can't keep the presents under the tree, because they'll destroy the wrapping, too.

I forgot. Christmas letters. One of my cousins used to be a Methodist missionary. Not in deepest Africa or anything. He was assigned to some little island in the Louisiana swamps. Anyway, he and his wife used to send out the most wonderful Christmas letters. They fit into the unintentionally hillarious category. I know it was unintentional because the man doesn't possess an ounce of humor. The upshot is that I was always afraid of doing one.

Of course you have class, d'E.

I guess I didn't have a bug after all--just a low-level migraine. Seems odd after all the complaining, I know, but the sweats aches were coming from all the vomiting. It's a stressful, strenuous activity.

TMI, TMI I KNOW.