The Person Below Me, thread 47 (The number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin)

Carried over from here.

The person below me is in Taiwan where the sun is up a this moment.

I am not. I'm in Florida, where the sun is most definitely down.

TPBM has been to Taiwan.

You'd think so, judging from the stuff in my house! A lot of it was made there.

TPBM owns a piece of coral.

I havenʻt really been to any country on the Asian Continent.

And only to on the European: France, Germany,
(then known as "West Germany"), Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Greece*.

In the Pac ific Islands: only Hawaiʻi (present residence) and Tonga

TPBM has lived in or visited one or more of the following:
Hawaiʻi, Tonga, Western Samoa, American samoa, Tahiti, Tuvalu, Madagascar, the Tuamotus, Kiribasi,
or Tuvalu.

*curiously Greeks often speak of going to other European countries as "going to Euruope",

Off topic:

(Iʻm amazed that Touchstones picked up the
correct spelling of Hawaiʻi in #4. It has an apostrophe (used here as a glottal stop), and Iʻve always known "Search" to be allergic to apostrophes.)

Nope. But I'm impressed by your list.

TPBM has been imprisoned in North America all his/her life.

AH...I went back to sleep on you Sholofsky.

And ... I have been imprisoned in North America from the age of 7.

TPBM wishes they didn't have that second piece of cake, at 2AM!

I don't eat after midnight as a rule (Gremlins?)

TPBM has fasted for health or religious reasons

Regularly--in my youth.

#7 Me, too, Second. I'm sure we did our best.

TPBM forgets all diets from Thanksgiving to New Years.

Yep. I never diet anyway(can't stick with them), but I don't see the point in depriving myself of everything I like. Moderation, as always, but I'm still going to enjoy candy canes and hot chocolate.

TPBM is a musician by profession or hobby.

Nope. I just sing because I like to.

The person below me is hugging someone or something!

Not at the moment, but earlier today.
WholeHouseSister-in-Law (and hubby) arrived. They're doing the cruise thing with us.

And, quite unexpectedly, my wife's (probably best) friend and her hubby are in town for a week. They called us a couple of hours ago, and have already visited and left. Great folks, and lots of hugging going around today.

We have to get up at 3 a.m. to make our quite-early flight tomorrow morning, so this is it for me until the 23rd or 24th.

TPBM questions whether there is actually any empirical evidence for the claim set forth in the title of this thread.

Nope, I'm still working on existence.

#12 Have a great trip, Wholehouse!

TPBM is deeply jealous of Wholehouse.

Oh yes I am...I've never been on a luxury cruise. Only shipped between US and Italy/UK, and it was far from luxury.

Have a wondrous trip and take lot's of photos!

TPBM is very photogenic.

My photos always look just like me, which is rather sad. I know many people whose photos look much better than they do in real life!

TPBM hasn't even addressed Christmas cards, yet. Please limit reply to those who actually send out Christmas cards. ;-}

You want to know the truth....they are RIGHT NEXT TO ME....all I have to do is reach over and start jotting down a greeting, stick them in an envelope, put a mailing label on them, and stuff them in my mailbox, but NOooOOoo I am on LT.

TPBM thinks Christmas cards are just another form of litter.

If they are from people, no. If they are sales promotions, yes.

The person below me is cool either with or towards Christmas.

I think Christmas is cool but not mixed with non-Christmas music.

TPBM still sets out milk and cookies for Santa

Nah. The cat knocks over the milk to drink it and the dogs inhale the cookies. Besides, the whole concept of Santa is lost on Kidlet. In a few years when my next child is old enough to understand, we'll probably start setting out milk and cookies for Santa, plus carrots for the reindeer, which my parents always included when I was a kid.

TPBM has already got presents wrapped and waiting for Christmas Eve.

I wish, but I still haven't even hardly started shopping yet. I am just not feeling very Christmasy this year.

TPBM does a lot of Christmas baking

Just eating, to the great relief of our guests.

TPBM, along with myself, is one of the last people in America who likes fruitcake.

Yes, I am. I have my great-grandmother's recipe and used to make it every October, then store it in the pantry, pouring a little rum on it every week. Even my M-I-L liked it. But times have changed and I haven't made it in years.

TPBM is ready for some good news.

Always.

TPBM thinks rum has better uses than dousing a cake.

(Side note: My granny's 2nd husband was a teetotaler, and the only time liquor was allowed in the house was when she made fruitcakes for the holidays. Pretty sure Granny took advantage of the rum in other ways than soaking her cakes, lol)

As long as my fiance stays away from it, I don't really care what uses it has. (He's normally a happy drunk, but rum makes him angry for some reason.)

TPBM has a really good fruitcake recipe to share, rum or no rum, so the rest of us don't have to eat doorstop-worthy fruitcake this holiday season.

Von's or Ralph's, unfortunately.

TPBM likes liquor-filled chocolates.

I adore them, but only at Christmas!

TPBM has a good recipe for stuffing.

No, but the apple cobbler recipe I mentioned in the last thread is adapted from one in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics. I futzed with the type of sugar and added a few spices.

The person below me prefers Persuasion to Pride and Prejudice.

Having read neither, I'll have to refrain from voicing an opinion.

TPBM has actually read Moby Dick, unlike me who has had it sitting on my shelves for 10 years unread.

It hasn't even made it as far as my shelves.

The person below me will comment on a different work of classic literature.

Candide was the best surprise for me in my early pursuit of the classics. Elegant and laugh out loud funny, too.

TPBM will share another.

JANE EYRE is a surprise for me. The writing is so intelligent and to the point--though I was put off by a reference to a "Jew-usurer." So many pit-falls in the prejudices of primitive times.

TPBM was similarly elated and disappointed by a classic.

Edited because I was weighty and off-putting.

No, and when a reference stings I just chalk it up to the author being an idiot, or mean, or casually assuming a common prejudice of the times. Old times they are all forgotten...the world was a very different place in the past. What really surprised me about the classics was discovering how enjoyable they were- I expected something weighty and off-putting. Not the case. Usually.


TPBM is good at impressions.

I think I'm good at first impressions. I've been able to pretty well size up my daughters' boyfriends spot on. I tried to keep my mouth shut most times, but be ready to help during the fall.

TPBM thinks TPAM meant something entirely else.

I can make excellent impressions in play-do. Is that what you mean? I have no idea what kind of impressions I leave people with other than they rarely forget me!

TPBM wonders how a person 'in love' can be so dang blind

Because love is like ignorance - it is "Bliss." It allows one to believe things that aren't true and see things that aren't there.

TPBM was in love once.

Yeah, I learned my lesson. But I still sometimes reflect longingly on potential squandered.

The person below me realized their potential in romance or something else fulfilling.

In romance? I'm the most non-(un)romantic woman you will ever meet. I laugh at romance novels/films. I really TRY to read/watch them and get into them, but I find myself snickering and giggling. Seriously, what man now of days takes virtue seriously? I don't just mean chastity...I mean all ways virtuous. Or woman for that matter.
I am still figuring out my potential.

TPBM is good at calling BS. ;-)

(Back to the fruitcake....I had a dinner guest Saturday whom said she loved fruitcake and I agreed. I remember a joke I heard or read somewhere that said there is only one fruitcake in the world and everyone is just passing it around.)

Sometimes I'm good at calling BS. Some people are just too convincing.

TPBM often gets used as a pillow.

Not very often even though I am nice and soft.

The person below me recently cleaned something out or up.

Only because my bedroom didn't listen when I told it to clean and organize itself.

TPBM has recently gone through old threads just for the fun of it.

Usually my ears.

#32 I agree, SomeGuy. I will continue reading JANE EYRE--it's just disappointing when a large-minded person like Charlotte Bronte all of a sudden becomes small-minded.

TPBM is large-minded.

It's all that open space between my ears, folks.

The person below me re-reads Jane Eyre annually. (Personally, I tend to re-read it some time during in the first week of January or thereabouts.)

I used to, but I haven't read it in several years now.

TPBM has a book that they associate with a particular season.

ETA LeapFrog:
#42: Actually I do, usually around the Spring.
#43: Not just one, several and too many to name.

TPBM relates to a character in Jane Eyre.

Oh hell no.

TPBM has a favorite 'unknown' author.

Raymond Smullyan or Richard Sorabji will do.

The person below me doesn't like to have a book force them to change their life.

Depends on the kind of book.

My prompt from message #40 still needs a response. Anybody else read old threads for fun, or am I the only weird one?

I have trouble keeping up with the new posts...and new threads...and new groups. I try to remember there are some good recipes in previous threads but I never remember where.

The person below me likes gingerbread.

Nope. Marzipan.

TPBM also loves marzipan.

I hated it as a child. Perhaps I ought to give it another chance?

TPBM rather likes something they once hated.

My ex-husband.

TPBM hates something they once liked.

Once loved D. H. Lawrence--now he's beginning to annoy me.

TPBM liked D. H. Lawrence, too.

Wasn't he the one with bad skin and dirty hair? He owes me money.

TPBM lives close to a decent bakery.

I WISH!

Our local bread bakery closed down, and the neighborhood lost value because the daily awesome odors dissipated.
Very sad.

TPBM avoids carbs.

Oy. Many. Comes with living in a megatropolis. (In fact, there's a really good bagel place around the corner from home.)

No, I don't. I probably should cut back on them, though.

The person below me will tell us their favorite kind of bagel.

To the best of my knowledge the nearest bakery is at least 4.5 miles away and I have no idea how good it is. My wife however has recently gotten a bread maker and has had fun and success making different breads.

I very rarely eat bagels but I've had a cinnamon one and one with Chocolate chips, both were pretty good.

TPBM loves fresh baked bread.

Who doesn't?

TPBM would divorce someone who doesn't.

Nah. I can think of far more important things to divorce over than one's bread preference.

TPBM is wondering who gave it permission to be so dang cold.

No kidding! We had single-digit windchills.

The person below me thinks we're wusses for complaining about the cold.

yes, your windchills need to at least have a '-' in front. our light breeze is almost giving us double-digit windhill (-)

TPBM refuses to leave the house when the actual temp reaches 0F

That is a fantasy of mine. But, reality is, walking the dog, going to work, blah, blah, blah.

TPBM has never felt 0 F.

Nope, never have. The coldest I've ever felt was in a small town in New England, but the lowest temps I've experienced were probably in Jackson, WY (that might have been 0-ish.) I really don't see how folks in Minnesota get through the cold.

TPBM would gladly eat gingerbread cookies for dinner.

Home baked, if you please. After all, we are adults and our mothers no longer hold sway.

TPBM wants milk with that.

I have Aunt Edy's gingerbread crinkle cookies in the freezer (along with a large cast of other cookies) baked last weekend and waiting to be divied up for family get together this weekend. I'm sure some will want milk with them, but I have learned to dislike Christmas cookies after so many years of baking large quantities. The smell of peanut butter and chocolate makes me gag by Christmas Eve.

TPBM loves Christmas cookies, with or without milk.

Except gingerbread.

TPBM goes first for the head of a gingerbread man.

Of course, along with the heads of animal crackers and the ears of the chocolate bunny.

TPBM just shoves those things into his/her mouth and chomps, not caring which part is eaten first.

Well, if I find myself thinking about how I should do it, I criticize myself for being obsessive and then just chomp. But sometimes I think I just see an appendage and bite it off.

The person below me likes big mouths-ful of food.

Leaped like a seventh lord.

Ugh, no. And talking with the mouth full will completely put me off my feed.

...I can't do it, I've already got a reputation...

No, I'm the same way- head and ears. My brother and I always get a chocolate Santa, which leads to a headless fat guy and some inner conflicts.

TPBM wears loud sweaters.

no, I don't actually wear sweaters, I almost never where long sleeve shirts, usually way to warm. Surprises many considering where I live.

TPBM likes downhill skiing

I like to watch it.

TPBM likes uphill skiing, hair shirts, and other forms of religious self-abnegation.

They told me in Sunday school self-abnegation would make you go blind. Or was it moonshine? In either case, they were wrong.

TPBM wonders who jill is hugging? (Oh jill. Where is she? What is she thinking? Is she thinking about me?)

Sorry, SomeGuy, Jill is hugging Jack, and they just went up a hill--skiing.

TPBM thinks SomeGuy is confusing self-abnegation with what Webster used to call self-abuse (what a put-up job!).

Or at the very least considers denial a form of abuse.

TPBM is feeling grinchy

Not quite sure what 'grinchy' is, but onomatopaeically it sounds about right.

TPBM OTOH is glad all over

Right now, I am. I'll take it while I've got it.

I had dinner with a high school classmate last night - the first time we've seen each other in (gulp) 40 years. We had a blast. Thank you Facebook for connecting up our high school graduating class.

I got up at 3 a.m., finished wrapping presents, bubble-wrapped the delicate presents, found the box that sister and I have been mailing back and forth for a while now, and got all the California presents boxed ready to mail today.

I also worked on Band Boosters this morning.

Good day so far, feet are doing a happy dance.

TPBM still has presents to buy but is looking forward to it.

Nope. Wife gets about a hundred catalogues and orders till the closet's full--that's the department store.

TPBM loves shopping except at Christmas.

Yup, that's me - and every year I swear I'm going to get all shopping done before December. I'm finishing tonight... I hope!

TBPM is planning something yummy (other than the traditional options) for Christmas dinner.

Several yummies are planned in order to keep everyone happy. Christmas dinners will also take place on multiple days in order to accommodate everyone's travels.

(BTW, #71 and #72, this particular Jill was hugging her children.)

The person below me is trying to avoid unnecessary purchases; he or she does this every year around this time.

Nope, the only time I'm not frugal is at Christmas which is always a mondo fiesta.

My parents are not coming this weekend. In a way it's a relief because now I don't have to finish changing out the bathroom fittings- right now I've just got metal plates dangling from loose screws. TPBM already knew that towel racks were so OVERLY complicated to install. Seriously, I'm thinking Crazy Glue and a level would be better than a plate affixed to the wall to hold another plate in position to which I can attach a third plate that will hold the rack itself (assembly required, natch.) so that I can tighten the screws securing it to the wall ensemble.

No, I haven't considered towel racks that complicated. Maybe you should just put the tools down and the floor and back away slowly...

TPBM wouldn't know the difference between pliers and a wrench.

Yes, I do!

TPBM has used super glue to hold up a towel rack, as have I.

I can never get that stuff to work right for me. I'd rather drill into the concrete substrate and ANCHORBOLT it.

TPBM has an embarassing super glue story.

Just having to return the stuff to a store five times because each tube was dried out.

TPBM has a similar store-return story.

I've had to return my Blackberry Storm three times; I'm on my fourth phone now, and the latest, now a Storm 2, has problems that I don't like. The main one, but not the only one, is that I can't get it to synchronize with my car's Bluetooth.

The person below me has no problems with modern products and is glad not to have lived earlier when they hadn't been invented.

I don't have many problems with modern products because I don't use many. However, I am glad that I wasn't born before air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and concierges that know where to score pot. I'm guessing.

>>80 readafew: raf- Why are people always telling me to put something down and back away slowly?

TPBM will tell us something interesting about someone they know.

Where to begin...I know a lot of something's interesting, about a lot of people I know.

Uh, a woman I know has 6 children, whom she home schools and for the holidays still has time to quilt, make soap, cookies, gift baskets and all that jazz.

To me THAT is interesting, when I can barely find time to read a book, finish a piece of art work, or finish last years quilting and crochet projects, especially when all I do is sit at home on my tucus.

TPBM is very ambidextrous and can do many things at once.

ETA: #84, we are very techy people here in my house and I have to ask WHY after so many of the same devices, you still went back to the Crackberry?
There is a saying:"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". I'm sure you know who coined that phrase.

My job requires that I be able to do a lot of things at once, that can carry over into real life. I've got friends that get so much done it astounds me, though.

>>86 SecondChances: SC- Congress? No, they wouldn't be that honest. The party leadership of the loyal opposition?

TPBM knows someone with an IQ above 160.

I suspect that I do. Basing things on my own IQ and how much smarter folks are than I. One woman at church is a leader in Mensa. She can probably do better on tests than I do, but I can still talk with her.

The person below me thinks that it is elitist to consider intellectual capacity when we elect people or otherwise choose people we do business with.

I don't know if it's elitist, but I would prefer the people who are making government policy have some higher education. Better, I'd like them to have common sense, but that's unlikely to happen in Washington any time soon. People I do business with, I just want them to be knowledgeable and capable in their area of expertise (a master plumber or electrician is probably more important than anybody in Congress, come to think of it, though) :)

TPBM knows someone who has multiple college degrees, say more than 3.

ETA: Leapfrog
#88 Yes and No.
I can define why, but would probably write a novelette on why I think yes and why I think no.

Although, I do like to be surrounded by intelligent and intellectual people (especially in business), those with an IQ smaller than mine can be very savvy. It's not so much brains as cunning now of days that you have to be careful with/of. You don't have to be remarkably smart to be very cunning, do you?

#90: Do 2yr degrees count, because I have many degrees. I have 4. Do they have to be Masters or Bachelors ;-) Define "degrees".

TPBM will define if he/she thinks cunning is different than smarts.

To be cunning requires smarts but cunning to me implies as well a certain willingness to skirt the edges of fairness in achieving one's end. Like theexiledlibrarian in #89, I would prefer common sense be pre-eminent in those with whom I have to deal.

TPBM found a much-desired gift for someone today.

Found and afford are two different things. I found what they wanted, after I figured out what it was, and I think I will just buy a new car. ;-)

TPBM makes their gifts, rather than buys them.

Not generally, but for you, my dear, I'll make an exception: your very own THIRD chance (invalid unless opened Christmas morning, taxes and handling charges still apply, the user agrees to accept all responsibility for the ability to change events and/or history, manufacturer not responsible for any tears in the time/space continuum resulting from misuse or misapplication of relativity, et. al, etc...)!

TPBM would rather just get a scarf or tie.

Yes...a lovely, black, silk scarf...please.

TPBM is agonizing over last minute gifts. As in what the heck do I get so and so.

Nope. I always go with gift cards--the unimaginative gift-giver's ultimate saviour.

Looks like it's us insomniacs again, Second. Let me think up a good one for you...

TPBM knows exactly what she'd do with a third chance.

That I do. I would get my Masters, I would buy that piece of land in the country and a few horses to put on it. I would have kept the books I let go 15 years ago. Sigh....oh the possibilities.
FYI: Second Chances is kind of a thing with me and books. They are used, people get rid of them and I "save" them for their "second chance". Also, I feel guilty when I no longer want them and have to mooch them away, hence why I mooch them out instead of just dropping them in some bin at the thrift store. They need their second chances too. Granted they will more than likely get good homes from the thrift shop, but it just does't seem right to drop them like unwanted, unloved things to be sorted with all the other thrift store "junk". Ah, but one (wo)man's trash is another's treasure.

TPBM feels guilty for letting his/her books go to a dusty old thrift store bin.

PS: Yes, I am up again listening to the wind really howl outside tonight.

Not really - I either mooch books out to those who want them, or donate them to local charity shops, where they're displayed well and taken care of!

TPBM actually likes it when someone says: "I had this really weird dream last night ...".

I have weird dreams so I do enjoy other people's.

The person below me is looking forward to holiday gathering.

Yes and No. We're going to see son, d-i-l and grandson this weekend, haven't seen them in six months. Excited to see my guys, but for some reason, d-i-l has been very hostile the last few times we were together. Have no idea why, I bite my tongue and smile and agree or just smile, because I was ??blessed ?? with a nosey, arrogant, know-it-all mother in law and didn't want to do that to my son and his wife. Sigh, I try to focus on son and grandson and be gracious to the girl.

TPBM would rather confront and get it all out in the open.

In theory, yes, but alas, I am the queen of passive-aggressive behavior when it suits me.

TPBM is blessed with superb in-laws.

Mom-in-law had passed when I met the wife (hate speaking ill of the dead, but wife describes her as a virulent anti-semite); dad-in-law, an M.D., frowned on having an idler (read writer) cluttering his daughter's life; he kicked the bucket and we tied the knot in-lawless. My greatest hope is that Heaven has perfected them--and that they're not still waiting for the Earth to perfect me.

TPBM could care less what his/her in-laws think.

I've been lucky, I like my in-laws, and they at least pretend to like me. Early on I made it clear I didn't like meddling, give me advice, fine, but don't try to meddle with our affairs, it's worked our well. been 11 years yesterday.

TPBM wonders why we can't all just get along.

Because we weren't meant to. I don't know. Things are just too complicated.

TPBM gets the impression that everybody does get along in his/her life.

In a family? No way. No in-laws, but parents usually love me. If there's a problem, I just Jethro it up and play the amicable yokel so at least they think I'm harmless and then scamper ASAP. My grandparents probably met once in my lifetime and were cordial in the awkward way you see with long-time parishioners meeting on a church steps but nowhere else. Just thinking of my mom visiting my paternal grandparents and having to use an outhouse cracks me up. My brother's ex-f-i-l was Greek, spoke no English, had the hairiest ears I've ever seen, was unfailingly gracious, and could take mud and turn it into veal and sausages. He had kidney failure, so his time was short when I met him. The docs told him that if he didn't give up bacon it would kill him. He said it was better to be dead than give up bacon. And it is what killed him, rather quickly.

Oh oh oh! I've got a good one, perfect ghost story for Christmas- TPBM knows someone who has been involuntarily committed to an asylum.

Do I count? Just kidding. Short, very brief stay in a mental ward, but not asylum. And NO it was not me...that was a joke.

SomeGuy: Yokel eh? Why do people get the impression: everyone from the south is either a yokel, hillbilly, uneducated, pregnant and barefoot, loves all soda's and calls them all Coke's, can't be without their sweet tea WITH ice, And believe "the South will rise again". Oh yeah now I recall, the darn author's and tv/movie screen writers. Garbage. Yes, there are those people out there, but you have to be looking for them.

TPBM is ill informed of the "ways of the South".
I mean that in the nicest way, no offense.

>102 readafew: & 103 There is a famous proverb that goes something like this, "Without war there can be no peace." Take it as you like, but families are always at war. Be it your blood kin or by "marriage" binding.

I wanna go back to Dixie, I wanna be a Dixie Pixie and eat corn pone 'til it's comin' out of my ears. I wanna talk with Southern Gen'lemen...

TPBM knows where this is going

I feel like I am in a Country/Western song.

TPBM has been to the South and was enchanted. ;-)

yes, no, but since my 4 months in Georgia was spent at Fort Benning I hope you can understand why I didn't enjoy my time down there.

TPBM happily missed Basic Training/Boot Camp as a life experience.

Leapfrogged!

I've been to the South and stayed. I've lived here almost 20 years now and have no plans to move anywhere else. Central North Carolina is quite wonderful.

I continue to be enchanted.

Yes, I happily missed Basic Training/Boot Camp. My dad wanted me to go into the Air Force when I graduated from high school in 1971 but I just couldn't see the benefits for me when I was perfectly happy to go to college.

TPBM's a veteran and proud of it.

I'm a veteran at reading, but being an Army brat (50% of my family and 90% of my friends are military), I am also a veteran at all things A-R-M-Y.

I signed up for the Nat'l Guard, passed ASFAB, went to MEPS and was about to go to Fort Jackson, then had a pretty nasty vehicle accident. They gracefully broke my "contract".

TPBM has had a close call with a life changing event and although it may have been a terrible way to not end up doing something, they are thankful. If that just made sense...

>109 karenmarie:, I have been to N. Carolina, but it was only for a day to white water raft the Nantahala River. We drove from Tennessee I(rafting the Ocoee), then decided oh we'll just hop over to N. Carolina, no big deal. Yes well, it took us 4 hrs. The map forgot to mention it is all just a 2 lane highway up a mountain with curves the whole way. But...it was BEAUTIFUL!
I'm from Alabama and I have lived at all corners, except N.E. I love Huntsville, I love Dothan, but Gulf Shores is for me.

Dagnabbit! Leap-frogged. However, I'm the daughter of several generations of veterans. Very proud of all of them, including my niece who is the next generation's representative in the military.

The only thing that springs to mind is the time I was jay-walking across Sixth Avenue in NYC and very nearly got hit by a car that wasn't going to stop for me. I have *never* jay-walked since.

The person below me is going mad from --- (fill in the blank. Boredom? Constant christmas music? Noisy children?)

3 cups of coffee, internet bungling up as I am loading more books into my library, and yes boredom.

TPBM really abhors when their internet craps out right at the crucial moment...

I was on Huffington Post this morning when my cable connection fizzled. I contacted them; they were working on it; our telephone connection fizzled. I called back; as we were playing with it I got my cable connection back spontaneously. We hung up. The cable connection then fizzled a couple of times. It seems to be working now. I abhor it.

The person below me had no problem with modern personal technology (sort of a broken record, I guess).

#106~"Be it ever so decadent,
There's no place like home."

That is all. Please continue the game. Thanks.

No problem? I can't understand the instruction books. I've just bought a Freeview+ HD DVD/HD recorder to plug into my TV. HD can mean either High Definition or Hard Disk apparently. It promises to let me stop watching a live programme, go away and do something else then come back and pick up where I left off. Hooray! I just need to know which buttons to press.

TPBM thinks it has got much to do with being old.

>114 Boobalack: Right on, Boo! I'm glad someone remembers Lehrer.

Older=wiser. I guess I'm old--that's how I'm wise enough to know that.

#105 Don't let anyone put down the South. The South produced our greatest literary genius, William Faulkner, among other literary luminaries.

TPBM loves Southern writing--or Southern cooking, one or the other

Of course I do. I am a Southerner after all. I have many cookbooks and love to cook.

TPBM knows about the Lunar Eclipse happening Dec. 21 and will stay up to watch it.

abottthomas, is it because we're (gasp!) old?

I have every intention of staying up to watch it. Especially since I missed the meteor shower earlier this week.

TPBM will be sleeping, not watching the lunar eclipse.

"Not seeing the moon is what an eclipse is all about, right? The sleeping person has the best view of all." excerpted from ASTRONOMY FOR COUCH POTATOES AND OTHER DUMMIES by Carl Sagan Sholofsky.

TPBM shares that opinion.

Works for me.
As does watching the cars attempting an icy hill from the relative comfort of the kitchen, gives you that warm feeling. TPBM knows that one well too.

Yeah, I've got a great view of a particularly active stretch of road, so I know what you mean.

TPBM would rather look at trees than an urban/suburban scene.

Only if it is in the summer or early fall where it is still warm and not the tundra that I live in.

TPBM would rather look at trees than urban/suburan scene in the winter.

I have a large pine filling my little back yard in order that I might look at it all year long. I spend most of my waking hours at home on my back porch, and my trees are much of what makes it congenial.

The person below me believes that trees should have standing, and for extra points knows the reference.

I love trees and I think they should be treated as more than just a decoration, they play a large role in our lives, far more than just paper products. Especially, if you spent a ton of money on them. They should have value.
(That's what I think about 'standing' as far as trees go.)

TPBM thinks it should be acceptable to claim insurance on their trees.

I do believe they should have standing. This was broached in California at least 10 years ago, but I can't remember the outcome. Really, I think old trees should be allowed to remain standing (wink) and not cut down for highways, but I don't think they should have any legal standing.

TPBM agrees.

Simulpost, but I'm leaving it, anyway. I do think trees are valuable and should be included in insurance claims.

TPBM loves trees, too.

I do like trees, I make hardwood lumber and out of them. I don't think trees in general should be included in insurance claims unless you've specifically took out a policy on them. like if you had a grove of birdseye maple.

TPBM has had to pay a hefty bit to have a tree removed for some reason.

My parents did a few years back. Dead oak tree threatening to fall on the house and all.

TPBM is late for something.

My shower....sad isn't it, I've been meaning to have one since morning.

TPBM sings in the shower.

With my voice, the only place I'd dare.

When TPBM sings, dogs howl.

Mostly they just lie down and put their paws over their ears!

TPBM is going (or has been) to a Christmas Concert this year.

Yes, have been to the Lutheran Church
of Honoluluʻs
Christmas concert. Everything was sung a capella.

Iʻm not much of a musicologist; my main interest was the languages. The program had entries in 5 different languages: English, French, German,*Lowland Scots, and Larin. (No Scandinavian, surprisingly.)

*The German entry was Brahms, not, as I would have
expected, Bach.

TPBM can converse, or read without a dictionary in at least one of the 7 NON-EnGLISH languages mentioned above. ("Scandianvian" = Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish).

I know 5 languages, hence why it's so hard for me to pronounce normal English words sometimes, I over-stress vowels, syllables, etc.

TPBM has Christmas undies. (I'm sorry, but I found a pair of boxers today with Christmas lights, Rudolph and Snowflakes on them and wondered if I dare buy them.) Gag gift.

Do you want the short answer or the long answer? The short answer is 'no'. The long answer is 'noooooooo'. (Vicar of Dibley, season 2. Cracks me up every time.)

(Sound off, Phaedra.)

TPBM decorates their car for Christmas.

I don't own a car, or anything with an infernal combustion engine. Better that way since we don't get along.

TPBM can repair their own car's engine.

No. I can't even find a good mechanic who can. I'm sure one exists, but not where I can find him or her.

99> Siub! Long time no hear.

The person below me is planning something wonderful for dinner. (Any dinner. It is only 6 pm here and I'm hungry.)

Now these were simulposts. Dinner was good, if not actually wonderful. A substantial beef stew with root veg. and half a litre of Spanish red. Curly kale and baked potato on the side. Just right for a cold night

>135 justjim: Once, in more innocent and less complicated times, I could. Things came to bits and you could see what the function of each piece was. Now it seems that even trained mechanics can't fix anything unless they have plugged their computer in to the car. The trade-off is, of course that now cars rarely go wrong - then they always did. I think, in this case, I go for progress.

TPBM has other reasons to be glad they aren't living in the world of 50 years ago.

I am glad I don't live in the world of 50 years ago because if I did, I'd have to wear pearls and high heels more frequently than I do.

The person below me has more than 3 bumper stickers on his or her vehicle.

Seems we have a double post.
>136 xorscape: I am... marinating steaks for the grill, going to have sides and a relaxing night of movies with a good friend probably.
>137 abbottthomas: Health Care. That's all I can say about that. If we had the health care or abilities in health we do now, 50 years ago might not have been so terrible. There was good music.

TPBM has injured their self preparing for the holidays.

ETA: Wow a nice game of leapfrog too...
>138 jillmwo: I don't, but my DH does. Not bumper stickers per se. Stickers that he puts on the back glass for bands and places visited/hobbies like rafting/camping.

Not yet. Hope you're not looking into a crystal ball...

TPBM will recite the five languages in which SecondChances is fluent...or the lady will do the honors herself.

Hum. English, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian and that African clicking language.

BTW SC, buy the underwear, they sound too cool to pass up.

TPBM is at a Christmas party.

I'm not at a Christmas Party...I wish.

As for my languages a little history...
My maternal grandfather is French
My maternal grandmother is Italian
My paternal grandfather is Irish
My paternal grandmother is Lakota (Teton) Sioux (Sihasapa tribe)

I am a 1/4 of each exactly.

My Italian grandmother taught Spanish as a 2nd language in Italy and my Sioux grandmother taught English to Siouan speaking people.

Therefor, I know Italian, Spanish, French and Siouan/Lakota Sioux respectively.

As for the 5th ... I am still always learning and that is Latin.

TPBM is within a foot, of a huge pile of books.

Ha ha ha ha! You forgot English, SecondChances!

Yes. On the table right by me is a huge pile of books.

TPBM is in a room at this time with no books.

Never...I'm always surrounded by books...except the kitchen and bedroom.
Btw....it was asked languages besides English up there somewhere lol. So I know 6 languages YAH!
(#132 which I of course didn't read exactly haha)

TPBM is about to watch a movie ;0)

You're more interesting, Second. Don't know anyone who speaks Sioux--except maybe my attorney (sorry).

TPBM would like to learn Lakota.

I wish I had learned languages when I was young. The Spanish and French I studied have co-mingled in my mind, what little I remember. Nothing useful. Since I live a few miles from Mexico, I do plan to learn to converse in Spanish.

The person below me likes music from other countries.

I'm American and listen nowadays mostly to classical music which is mostly from countries other than the United States although it is often performed by Americans.

The person below me listens to folk music and has to stave off people asking, "What's that?"

Depends what kind of folk music - if it's Kate Rusby, then people are usually asking "what's that?" so they can run off and buy their own copy!

TPBM has done/witnessed Morris dancing.

>145 sholofsky: Thank you. Sorry I was less interesting before. Just kidding.

>146 xorscape: Good luck with Spanish. Let me tell you this, the only time you will use proper Spanish, might be in Spain or South America such as Columbia, etc. Many Mexicans/Spanish Speaking-Americans have their own form of Spanish. It's all about conjugating verbs and slang. Don't be surprised if you try out your new 'school' Spanish and can't understand them or (sorry) they look at you like you are silly. Same if you learn Spanish in Mexico and you go to Spain. Per example in Spain the 'tu' (you) pronoun is very informal. In Mexico it's used all the time. BUT...when meeting someone for the first time, the proper way is to use the more formal you 'usted' or you in the plural 'ustedes'. If you use the informal tu in Spain when first meeting someone they may become offended. There is also a vosotros form lost on Spanish-Americans or Mexicans.

Italian is similar to proper Spanish.

I have no idea who or what Morris is...

TPBM is up way past bedtime.

No, I went to bed hours ago. I'm up for the day now and plan on putting up my Christmas tree.

TPBM likes to get up early and enjoy the solitude and Morris danceby themselves.

Every Morris I know can't dance. Besides, I only dance with women or in groups.

TPBM likes group dancing, the Hora or the Chicken.

Yes I do. Hora, Chicken, Hokey Pokey, tap, ballroom, slow, disco, I love it all.

TPBM likes to dance the night away.

I gave up dancing a long time ago. Nor am I proficient at any martial arts like the Stick and Bucket Morris.

TPBM will touchstone a reference for the Stick and Bucket Morris Dance.

Wouldn't touch that one with a ten foot Morris.

However, TPBM will.

> 145 Just want to answer this one. I deffinately don't want to learn Lakota, but it seems that every other person I know does. In high school, about half of my classmates wanted to learn Lakota instead of Spanish, but our school didn't have a Lakota program.

TPBM will answer the question to the The Person Above Me or TPAM.

If I knew what the stick dance was I might....there are a few. I prefer this sort of stick dancing. ;o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS5FZ6Gt35g

TPBM will kindly show me which stick dancing they are referring to.

>155 DragonFreak: Lakota isn't a widely taught language. Only about 3,000 Native Americans can speak it fluently and correctly, might I add. I don't count myself as one of the 3,000 for the simple fact I am by no means able to teach another and hold long studious conversations. I can teach the fundamentals of Lakota. There is a basic language that can be understand by almost all Sioux, then you have the complexness of each tribe/region of Sioux. Kind of like the Chinese has Mandarin, but then you have the more complex Chinese dialects. Btw, I study languages, it's one of my short degrees. I wasted 6 years of college for art and language studies.

Alls I know is if Morris sticking dancing was any good we'd have it here in America.

TPBM is still finding glitter from Christmas 2009.

Well, there's this kind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bOEfAjc7dI

Or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf68LUkKkaI

Or even this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQgXccbxHbM (does bamboo count as a "stick," though?)

TPBM will pick one and make that the official "TPBM Game Stick Dance."

Grrrrk. Ok, fine. No, I'm not still finding glitter from Christmas 2009, but my son just brought in PLENTY of glitter for Christmas 2010. Thank you, preschool Christmas projects!

TPBM knows how to effectively remove glitter from skin.

Wait a year, then bathe.

The person below me believes that a year is too long to wait.

For removing glitter? I think SRedRose might find that it comes off fairly well if she bathes a little sooner than December 2011. It can or will come off by Epiphany, I'm sure.

The person below me agrees with me that it is time the Hallmark Channel swore off making any more overly-saccharine Christmas movies. We have a sufficient number, I'm sure.

Or any channel. Nothing beats the old standbys: White Christmas, Miracle on Thirty-fourth Street, It's a Wonderful Life, Hanukkah on Gilligan's Island, etc.

TPBM spends his/her Christmas vacation every year in a boat looking for Gilligan's Island.

No, but it sounds like fun.

TPBM thinks if people don't care for the newer glurgy Christmas movies, they can watch the old glurgy Christmas movies, as do I. My favorite is "Miracle on 43th Street" with the young Natalie Wood.

I just finished watching "Miracle on 43th Street". What is it about those old ones that the new ones just don't have??? Is it just the nostalgia??

While I love the old glurgy movies I love NL Christmas Vacation too.

TPBM will tell their favorite Christmas movie.

I'll take "Holiday Inn" over "White Christmas" any day.

TPBM remembers when "It's a Wonderful Life" was a well-kept secret.

I do. They used to show it anytime of the year, at ten in the morning, whatever, just another Jimmy Stewart movie. Then all of a sudden in the mid-seventies people woke up and it was like "Hey, what a great Christmas movie. Let's only show it only at Christmas."

TPBM is in the WHITE CHRISTMAS camp.

'Meet me in St Louis' is not really a Christmas movie but for a glurgy, lump-in-the-throat, Christmas song, I'd take Judy Garland any day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4lY8Y3eoo

TPBM has another favourite

Honestly, I have an unreasonable fondness for the Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol. Bob Cratchit's family singing "We'll have the Lord's bright blessing and knowing we're together. Knowing we're together heart and hand. We'll have the brightest Christmas, the very brightest Christmas, a Christmas far more glorious than grand." And Tiny Tim singing the bit about the razzleberry dressing. I love it.

The person below me is thinking about gingerbread and drizzled sugar icing.

No, Jill, I'm thinking of the great memories you've revived of the MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL. Thanks a million! That was also a childhood favorite of mine. Too bad political correctness about Magoo's near-sightedness has kept this and other Magoo features off the air.

TPBM would like to see Mr. Magoo again.

I like those old Christmas shows (and the WB cartoons.) They were awesome and as much a part of Christmas as the tree and shaking wrapped packages to figure out what they were. I can remember looking for when the the stop-action Rudolph and Charlie Brown's Christmas show would play, although CB always kind of bummed me out.

TPBM plays golf in the snow.

No snow golf. My favorite time to play golf is when the ground is frozen - since I can't get alot of "carry", I love the extra roll that frozen ground gives - an added bonus is if the water is frozen - water is a magnet to my golf balls!

TPBM thinks golf should only be played when the temperature reaches 80 degrees.

Only miniature golf. Frozen water traps are an appealing idea.

TPBM plays negative golf (black balls in the snow).

TPAM knows what 'n. O.' spells.

TPBM has mad skills at paintball.

Paintball? I don't even paint!

TPBM is knows Bocelli well.

My ears do (hope he doesn't mind wax).

TPBM prefers Botticelli.

Since music is my passion, I'll stick with Bocelli.

TPBM prefers sculpture to music or painting.

No, I'd rather have music than the other two, but a lot of tribal sculpture comes in a close second. Music is primal; you'll never see a clip of a parrot bobbing up and down to Rodin's Thinker on YouTube.

TPBM prefers painting to music or sculpture.

As a photographer I like to look at the 'Old Masters' and deconstruct their lighting. Outdoor sculpture is also often interestingly lit at different times of the day or of the year.

I think of music as a separate entity to the visual arts. I do love my baroque and early classical pieces. Bach, Handel etc etc.

TPBM is more fond of the late classical, romantic or even the modern period of so-called 'classical' music.

Not modern, but late classical maybe--Debussy, Ravel, Dvorsak, Vaughn-Williams, etc.

TPBM likes all of the above.

Classical's classical. I like it all. (Then again, the only music genre I truly dislike is rap; I can tolerate most of everything else, but rap just annoys me.)

TPBM is all prepared for Christmas.

As prepared as I will be. We haven't bothered with a tree in years and I've started doing my gift-giving at New Year's.

The person below me knew that there is, in fact, a historical basis for New Year's gifts.

The 'After Christmas Sale' at Bloomingdales!

I am soooo counting down the hours until I can hit the road; going to be a long week.

TPBM is never unprepared for snow.

I always THINK I'm prepared for snow and then my tractor decides it doesn't want to work again...

TPBM thinks snow in the northern states a decision worthy consideration on driveway length for home purchasing/renting.

Of course. Add to the that consideration - Is driveway uphill and do you pull out onto roadway and have to go up a hill. Didn't consider this, and now every snowy icy day it is an adventure just getting out of the driveway (also quite exciting getting back in the driveway and slip sliding into the garage).

TPBM has snacks in vehicle as preparation for the snow.

There are probably some dog biscuits on the floor somewhere, in the event of an emergency...

TPBM cleans their car more than once a year.

Can't. No car to clean. (Which is better than the MTA, which has many cars but probably doesn't clean them that often.)

>SGiV Actually, the historical basis is older than department stores: I'm not quite sure exactly when it came into fashion or when it went out again, but it was certainly in for Tudor & Elizabethan England.

The person below me has more than one car.

Mine and the wife's.

TPBM would like more than one wife/husband.

Heck no.....that would be insanity.
TPBM enjoys holiday music LPs.

*I finally received my new needle in today and have been on a Nutcracker binge. :-)

No, since I can't stand more than a few minutes' holiday music (and LP's are a bit before my time).

The person below me has unusual tastes in music.

I do, I like a lot of folk, tribal, bluegrass, tejano, etc. I also like Japanese pop, punk, lots of weird stuff. Rabbit Dance rooles!

TPBM also lives in a high rise and when they hear something on the window ledge also thinks of zombies and not pigeons.

Well, I live in a beach house, upstairs ... so the zombies can't get me. I haven't seen any pigeons out here, have some gulls though.

LPs were before my time as well, but so were classic books, doesn't mean you can't own and enjoy them.

TPBM collects things from "before their time".

Some fountain pens, pocket watches, and coins.

The person below me collects something big.

Grievances.

Jesus, I got hit with a migraine an hour ago- feels like I took a bullet in the forehead (I'm guessing.) Out for the night.

TPBM will tell us what the following means-

B
O
B

B bring
O our
B baby?

WIth the question mark, it's an interesting time at a party!

TPBM like to play a certain board game attired in little or nothing at all.

Scrabble Slap is the easiest game ever. All you need is quick thinking and a vocabulary of 4 letter words

>191 Mr.Durick: I thought BOB stood for
Battery
Operated
Boyfriend

What do I know?

TPBM played the hardest board game ever.

That would be go, and I have played it. A taxi company owner on Okinawa gave me nine stones and cleaned up the board with me. I have never played it "attired in little or nothing at all."

The person below me has beaten a Japanese person at go.

Nope. Then, again, no Japanese person has beat me at checkers.

#192 Sorry about your migraine, SomeGuy. Wishing you relief soon.

TPBM hasn't played Go, but they've enjoyed No.

That's a no go. Haven't played either. I used to be very good at Othello, which I believe is similar to Go.

TPBM is the 'person to beat' at some game.

Monopoly. Cannot under any circumstances beat me.

TPBM is the "person to beat" at another game.

My job is to babysit geniuses, cranks, and the clearly insane. I learned a long time ago that I wasn't the smartest guy in the room, and there was no game someone in it couldn't kick my ass at. That being said, I wouldn't get so bruised up in a word game.

>>192 SomeGuyInVirginia:-

B
O
B
= bob up and down

TPBM saw the lunar eclipse last night.

I was going to. My son woke up at 1:30 with a nightmare and took me 30 minutes just to settle him down, and he didn't go back to sleep till 3:30. He didn't want to come outside and watch it with me (the moon isn't very interesting when you're five, I guess, and it was cold out). So I've just seen pictures. Doesn't look very different from the other lunar eclipses I've seen, so i don't feel like I missed much.

TPBM follows astronomical events regularly.

yes, I track the rising and setting of Sol frequently...

TPBM can identify one or more planets in the night sky.

Occasionally I can sort out that what I'm looking at is probably a planet and occasionally my wild guess as to which one it is may turn out to be correct. Poor eyesight is a hindrance to serious stargazing. Plus, the damn things are moving around all the time. I have tremendous respect for people who can look up and say, "Oh, that's Jupiter."

TPBM has no problems driving at night.

No special problems.

TPBM is guided by the stars when behind the wheel.

No, although the moon is always a friendly sight in the skies. It looked pretty full as my husband drove me home from the commuter train station.

The person below me prefers eating popcorn in the movie theater to munching on various forms of candy in the movie theater.

Yes, which reminds me, I'm thinking of going out to see The Fighter.

The person below me prefers to watch movies at home, even if they are big screen spectaculars.

No way, spectaculars have to been seen in theaters. That being said, I see most of the spectaculars in an old theater in a small town in the Valley and it doesn't have 3D, so I have yet to see them in all their spectacular glory.

TPBM lives on a street with a haunted house.

I don't (at least not that I know of), but there is a haunted hotel about 5 miles from my home. My friend and I plan on spending a night there in January.

TPBM has lived in a haunted house or experienced something supernatural.

All existence is supernatural. According to the laws of science, nothing should exist at all--because something cannot come from nothing, and at some point that would have had to happen for anything to exist.

TPBM has understood the above for a long time.

I don't even understand it now but I am intrigued. Please explain it in further detail.

I actually don't remember ever trying to decide how/where/why it all started. I just want to know what the heck I'm supposed to be doing here.

The person below me is less self-centered than I obviously am.

In the beginning there was nothing. Which exploded. Then there was me, and the universe came into being so that I would have a place in which to be awesome.

So, Roxanna, possibly not...

TPBM has a similar solipsistic outlook.

Not quite--then I wouldn't be able to recognize your awesomeness.

#209 Morningwalker, science always talks about the Big Bang as the origin of the Universe; what is never talked about are the forces that created the Big Bang, and the forces that created those forces, and the forces that created those...ultimately, you come to realize that things had no beginning, because there always had to be something preceding it. For things to have no beginning is a scientific impossibility--hence all existence is supernatural. Yes, guarrenteed to give most people a headache--I should have warned SomeGuy. Look at it this way: we are all miracles.

TPBM definitely feels like a miracle.

But doesn't a miracle imply divine intervention? Thank you for the explanation. Well put.

TPBM thinks this is too deep and is calling it a night.

Yes, I've even exhausted my own limited resources. Bed looks good. Yet...

#213 I think one can define a miracle in many ways, depending on one's faith and beliefs. The same with a concept of the Divine. Some people have a problem with God because of the negative reputation of some religions. People fail to consider that religion is only a belief system, not necessarily a Divine reality.

TPBM has already fallen asleep.

Tried. Didn't work. Too much on my mind to sleep.

TPBM can sleep even with a full mind.

My mind is usually empty. Don't say it! But I can't sleep very well on the rare occasions when it actually contains something about some thing(s).

TPBM is ready to retire for the evening. So 'Night.

Just started on my first coffee of the morning... But having said that, it's a miserable, freezing, foggy morning, and heading back under the duvet sounds like an excellent plan for the day.

TPBM wraps presents in fiendish ways.

With lots and lots of tape (I learned from my grandmother, who never met a piece of Scotch tape she didn't like!).

TPBM uses gift bags instead.

Gift cards tossed in gift bags. See, the holidays don't have to be complicated afterall!

TPBM approves of Christmas short-cuts (even--horrors!--re-gifting).

Some shortcuts are acceptable - buying things in bulk and distributing appropriately and using cute little tins for gift cards.

Personally I don't re-gift, or at least haven't yet. Not to say it won't happen.

TPBM just has a few more things to buy to be all ready for Christmas.

Just one, and I was waiting for that 40% off coupon from Borders. Looks like I'll have to settle for 33%.

TPBM buys used.

I love "re-cycling" and giving things with a history a second chance, so yes I buy used for myself, but I would only do it for a gift if I thought the recipient felt the same way I do. I have re-gifted when I know the gift in question would fit someone else more than me.

TPBM would never buy used.

Only books. My library would be nowhere without the used bookstore. Would never give used gifts--then, again, I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind a used Gutenberg bible...

TPBM has an artificial tree.

Yes, I do, three of them, in fact. Too old and feeble anymore for the live ones. When the kids were little bought the balled ones and then planted them outside--one of the white pines is 80 feet tall now, the Douglas Fir and Blue Spruce maybe 20 feet.

TPBM loves children's books.

The special ones. CHARLOTTE'S WEB. THE SPACESHIP UNDER THE APPLE TREE--any one remember that one?

TPBM has favorite children's Christmas books.

I do! We used to read The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, among others, every year.

TPBM feels as though it just doesn't seem like Christmastime yet this year.

It's the first year this decade when I haven't been working in a mall at Christmastime, the experience of which just about ruined the holiday season for me anyway. All Christmas meant was I finally got a day off. I had to work on New Year's Day.

That said, I'm still not feeling very festive, nor experiencing much anticipation. I had my Winter Solstice Yule observance a couple of nights ago, but that was just by myself. All my holiday decorations are in storage in another state. Still, might go with one of the roommates today to pick out a tree. I like trees, and around here, you get the Carolina Fraser firs which are lovely.

My dad used to be one of those Christmas depressives. I think I've inherited it.

TPBM cannot understand being mopey during the holiday season.

I think it's perfectly understandable, especially with what you've recently gone through. Seasonal good cheer is a mutha and you have to work at it. I'd go with the roommate to pick out a tree, and listen to Mahalia Jackson and Rat Pack Christmas records. Have a pumpkin beer and wear a Santa hat. And get yourself a sparkly to put under the tree.

TPBM is traveling on Christmas Eve and will wear a Santa hat.

Yes, and no, or at least unlikely.

TPBM does not have the natural build to dress like Santa either...

Well, no...and growing a long white beard would be a heck of a feat.

TPBM has strong feelings on the subject of turkey pot pie.

I do, it's a crime to waste perfectly good pot on a turkey.

TPBM is color blind.

No, that would be the spousal unit. Showed him Christmas wrapping paper that was green last night, and he thought it was hazelnut brown. *sigh*

The person below me has sufficient wrapping supplies for their holiday gifts.

I gave all of mine to my daughter last year, as I no longer buy presents. I either give a little check in a card or a small gift card, if I know what the person would like. I used to love wrapping presents and had bookoos of paper. Then I'd buy more every year after Christmas, and I didn't even need it. I miss it, now.

I know that's not how you spell bookoos. lol

TPBM also misses wrapping bookoos of presents.

Nope. When the wife had time she would create real masterpieces out of wrapping. Recipients would be reluctant to rip the stuff off.

TPBM misses getting presents.

Only a little. I bought one for myself.

The person below me likes to watch other people open their presents.

I do, especially if it's from me!

TPBM has given a gift that was poorly received

Honestly, no. In part because my taste is impeccable and on the other hand I will pound the ingrate. One Christmas I opted for Secret Santa for a child in need and spent the money I'd set aside for my brother's gift for little Timmy or Janet or whatever. I left a card for bro under tree with a pome explaining what I'd done, and the last line was '...and you, dear brother, aren't getting squat.' That was a real angry sibling that year.

TPBM has a good joke.

Perhaps I should have left this question to be answered by someone much more wittier than I, but no. I don't have a good joke. I'll prove it to you by giving you my best material of the moment:

What did the Gingerbread Man put on his bed?
A cookie sheet!

See? Lame!

TPBM isn't baking any cookies, candies or pies this Christmas.

I'm just about to launch into my famous creamy baked cheesecake, a request from my sister who is hosting Christmas this year.

TPBM doesn't think a cheesecake is suitably festive.

(I could be persuaded to put cherries on it if that is the thread's consensus!)

Yes and no. Our oven is kaput, so we can't bake anything. However, for Thanksgiving I created a no-bake, no-gluten pie crust from pecans and dried cranberries, which was filled by one of the roommates with a no-bake pumpkin custard. Came out pretty good. We're visiting with the same folks for Christmas, and they have asked us to bring more of the same. The husband is gluten intolerant, and is thrilled we came up with a pie he could eat.

Leapt!

I would never pass up a cheesecake. Just within the hour, had some left over from another holiday party.

TPBM bakes all year 'round.

When I can. Baking is one of my favorite hobbies most of the time, much to my waistline's chagrin. Not really in a baking mood right now, nor a Christmas mood either. Kinda feeling a little Scrooge-ish.

TPBM is not feeling even the slightest bit Scrooge-ish.

Not Scrooge-ish, but neither am I in the same class as Tiny Tim. Give me 36 hours. I'll bake for the family and hope that playing games and silliness will remind me of what Christmas is.

The person below me is working as hard as Bob Cratchit.

I must be--I'm tired as hell.

#239 Definitely go with the cherries--they improve everything from ice cream to Shirley Temples.

TPBM eats Maraschino cherries out of the jar (and can even spell "Maraschino").

Ew! Gaghxt! Maraschino cherries. I'd puke but that would be a waste of perfectly good vomit. I don't...I can't even...ugh.

TPBM likes olives.

Sometimes.

TPBM is going to sleep soon.

Now.

TPBM sleepwalks.

Not since I was a kid.

TPBM has a leaky faucet.

LOL---not only do I NOT have a leaky faucet, but I don't even have a faucet as my kitchen is being remodeled and I don't even have a sink at the moment!

TPBM snores like a freight train.

No. According to my husband, I snore little bitty cute snores. He, however, sounds like a chainsaw most all night long. I have threatened to kill him if he doesn't stop. He still lives at the present time.

TPBM sleeps through all the snoring with no problem.

Edit: I'd rather have him here snoring than not here.

My wife goes through phases in her sleep, all over the decibel scale. I just turn a radio to static and use it for white noise.

TPBM loves Marashino cherries almost as much as #244.

If you knew how commercial Marashino cherries were made, you'd make your own!

TPBM is impressed and might just try this.

Yes, I am. I love Maraschino Cherries. It's a bit expensive, what with 4 1/2 pounds of cherries, but I've saved the recipe to a word document and now it's in my brain. Dangerous place to be.....

TPBM has a complicated recipe that they love making.

//Don't mind me... It's cherry season here right now. They're very much a Christmas treat down under!

Carry on.//

Depends on your idea of complicated - but my (alright, Nigel Slater's) ginger cake with cream cheese and clementine frosting can be tricky (but entirely worth it!).

TPBM prefers satsumas to clementines.

My powers of distinguishing between different types of small orange fruit have never been great. I can identify a banana, usually.

TPBM has a bottle of something strange in their cupboard.

Yes, and it's nearly empty! A chilli-infused sesame oil. Absolutely delicious to put a few drops on almost anything.

TPBM has a stranger bottle.

I have a bottle of North Atlantic Ocean in my fridge. The worst thing about living inland is not being able to smell the ocean. It's also a very soothing gargle for a sore throat.

TPBM has never lived near an ocean.

Alas and alack, tis true. However, I did inherit a house in Florida that backs up to Tampa Bay, which is an outlet of an ocean, but am too young to live there full time yet, it's a retirement community.

TPBM is a peanut lover.

Well I've never had any complaints. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?

TPBM will take us to cleaner topics…

Peanuts and I are just good friends. Cashews and I are lovers.

TPBM is passionate for Brazil nuts...and even those more organized mentally.

Apart from my family, the only nuts I'm passionate about are macadamians.

TPBM will reveal a secret passion.

I'd rather people guess.

TPBM is open about his/her passions.

My life is an open book. I've given up keeping it off the Intertubes.

TBPM is up to date on all current privacy options.

Well, Facebook doesn't think so. They keep telling me to increase my security options; the privacy options are as high as they can go.

The person below me can't remember the name of their first grade teacher (one of Facebook's ideas for a good security question...)

True...or most of them 'til junior high.

TPBM's early education is a similar blank.

Yes, since by the time I was in sixth grade I had been to seven schools. My step-father had an itchy foot and a big mouth, got fired a lot. There were compensations, I learned to navigate very young and became an obsessive reader, which has always stood me in good stead. Sometimes the new schools were not as advanced as the old one and I would make really good grades for a while, which got both parental units off my back. But I usually slid back to normal behaviour, reading instead of studying.

TPBM always had good study habits

I've never had good study habits and I worries me since I am planning to start my Masters in Jan.

TPBM took copious notes in class.

I was out sick a lot and always depended on the kindness of strangers.

TPBM had a parent who was a teacher--and couldn't remember his/her name either.

My mom taught me to read by reading me Winnie the Pooh stories, but I can remember her name and all.

I'm off the grid traveling and being festive and stuff. Merry Christmas, everyone, happy holidays and, if I'm not back before next year, the very best in the New Year.

TPBM feeds wild animals.

The neighborhood birds get quite intrusive at my kitchen window if fresh stale bread is not laid out for their pleasure.

The local bread shop sells a bag smashed full (of brown bread, by request) for only one dollar.

TPBM lays out a more elaborate feast for the feathered and furred.

Oh Contraire...lay out NOTHING for the feathered and the furry---in fact the feathered and the furry do quite a bit of damage to our house and we spend a lot of time keeping them from within 100 feet of it! Although in the winter I will take out bread , muffins, etc, torn into really tiny pieces and scatter it in the back 2 acres. Although I do like to sit on the deck in the summer and fall and watch the glorious birds and squirrels scampering.

TPBM secretly watches and likes "Miracle on 34th Street"

No secret about it. I love Miracle on 34th Street!

Edit to add: Merry Christmas to Some Guy and drive safely!

TPBM will spend a portion of their Christmas Eve at church.

I will. There will be a pageant which has already been staged once and got good reviews. Some people expect Christmas carols. There will certainly be cookies. I expect to see people I know.

The person below me likes the feeling of the season even without a church's being a part of it.

Yes, I do. More so in days gone by, when I was able to do more. Loved the family, the cooking, the fun.

TPBM will be staying in for Christmas with no big doings.

Pretty much. No big shin-digs, not a lot of company this year, but I do get to make a gingerbread house with my two favorite people in the world. Perhaps that's what Christmas is all about anyway.

TPBM made a gingerbread house this year, and is darn proud of the way it turned out.

I did not build a house, but I did make gingerbread and distributed it to a bunch of fellow commuters in my regular train station.

The person below me is already thinking about resolutions for the New Year.

(Should this be my last time on the computer for the next few days, Merry Christmas to all here and to each of you, my best wishes of the Season.)

OH yes, I've had the same resolution for nigh on 20 years: to lose weight and read more!

TYBM likes to play cards and watch sporting events during the holidays.

Spider solitaire, yes, but I'm more the nostalgic Christmas movie type when it comes to the tube.

My best wishes to SomeGuy as well for a safe Christmas.

TPBM also likes sitting down with a great Christmas flick.

Depends what definition we're using. I don't mind watching a Christmas classic like It's a Wonderful Life -- once every few years. But on the other hand, I don't go to movies that often, and Christmas is pretty much it, so last year's "Christmas movie" was The Young Victoria.

Given the above, the person below me now wonders if I go out for Chinese afterwords. (I don't usually.)

No, I figured you were married to someone Chinese (like my wife) and got all your Chinese at home.

TPBM also stays home for Chinese.

There's a good joke in there, but I refrain. ;-}
My brother-in-law stays home for Japanese.

Happy Yule, Y'all!

TPBM is also from the South.

Iʻm from New England. I think where I live now is the southernmost state of the U.S. The part I live in is
West-Northwest Oʻahu.

TPBM has lived at least a year in parts of the U.S. that could
be roughly designated as "The North, the East, the West, and he South.

No, but I have lived at least a year in Cairns, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne, which fits the bill for Australia.

TPBM can fit Roland's criteria.

I grew up in the East and went through flight training in the South.

The person below me has lived at least a year outside their native country.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Unfortunately, no. I've never even been outside of my native country at all! Though I do truly hope to travel someday.

TPBM is just hanging out in the company of their pet this Christmas Eve.

Pfft. My family is 25 people big. They were ALLLLL over here this evening at once. And now it's 10:16 and it's me, my mom and sisters, my son, the three dogs and one cat who live here, and my cousin's dog, because we're dog-sitting.

TPBM has a smaller gathering planned for Christmas Day.

Hanging out with my oldest friend and his family. How old? We met in the playpen. Any friend older would have had to be related and met in the womb.

TPBM also has a friend that old.

Unfortunately, I don't! My closed friends are people that I meant who have children the same age as mine....so that's about 30 years.

TPBM loves ethnic food, especially Mexican.

Mexican is wonderful. Authentic, Americanized, Taco Bell.... you name it, I like it.

I had dinner with a friend last Tuesday at a new Mexican Restaurant in town and it was very good.

TPBM will be cooking Christmas Dinner today.

Nope. On Christmas I'm kind to the digestive tracts of others.

TPBM will also be a food recipient this year.

Emphatically Yes. The domestic gene skipped a generation in our line, and my children are adventurers in the kitchen, with great results nearly always. We all prefer that I do the wash up afterwards

TPBM needs something that can't be purchased today.

I don't want what I haven't got.

Hi all! We got back from the cruise late on the 23rd. There were 261 unread messages in the thread. I decided to ~not~ do a reply until I had read them all. An additional 20 or so were added in the meantime.

It was an okay cruise; seas could have been calmer, weather could have been warmer, but I'm not going to complain. I watched the lunar eclipse (with maybe 3 dozen other passengers). I took almost 200 pictures, but the seas were so choppy, and it was so windy, that only a couple of the pictures were marginally worth keeping. I'll be posting some other pictures in a different thread later this week.

Missed you folks something fierce!

TPBM knows the origin of my answer.

Sinead O'Connor song?

TPBM has watched one too many Christmas movies.

Only in relation to the Sinead O'Conner tune. But, then, Whole, if you didn't have it all, we'd call you Halfhouse. (I know, reason you missed us was the great puns).

TPBM also has it all.

You know, I think I do. Or pretty close to it.

The person below me is always amazed at the weird conversations at family/friend gatherings. (Today we talked about the pros and cons of living another 40,000 years!)

Families tend to be weird in one way or another, in my experience.

The person below me will name one (out of a projected list of ten) key influencer of the past decade.

I think, especially for our site, one of the most important influences has been Oprah Winfrey. Though I seldom see her show, her advocacy of reading and books has, for my money, made her one of the most positive voices on television.

TPBM agrees, and will add another to Jill's list.

George W. Bush

The person below me wants to drop out of this series.

Yes. But someone else may wish to continue. I'll change the subject but feel free to get back to it...

The person below me has eaten spaghetti and meatballs recently.

No, but ate its first cousin-lasagna.

TPBM loves the entire snow/blizzard/winter "thing."

No...no...I really don't.

TPBM got something good for Christmas.

A decent night's sleep. Kidlet wasn't up all night, the dog wasn't making noise, and I didn't have a horrible bout of insomnia. That's a rarity around here.

TPBM still has houseguests from the holidays.

That depends on how one defines "guest".
Squirrels have taken up residency in our attic - can hear then gnawing on wood, found their access point...

I suspect they are the reason our oven went out - the electric wires run in the approximate vicinity of their "door".

TPBM knows how to permanently eradicate squirrels.

Arsenic? But then they'll think you're trying to kill someone.

TPBM has also read too many mysteries.

No such thing.

TPBM has plans for New Year's Eve.

No, I don't. I may wander up to Prospect Park for the fireworks if it isn't to bitterly cold.

The person below me also has a local New Year's Eve fireworks display near them.

I wish. I could visit the dysfunctional half of my family...then, maybe not.

TPBM also avoids dysfunctional family members.

I try, but then I accidentally pass by a mirror.

TPBM knows why you park in a driveway and drive on a parkway.

Mere social convention?

The person below me is awaiting the arrival of someone whose travel plans have been disrupted by the snowstorm here in the Northeast.

Ah, we had our fair share of snow here in the Southeast. We made it home through some flurries, had a beautiful white Christmas and a friend's girlfriend postponed her trip down here, because of the snow, though I think she just wanted an excuse not to travel.

TPBM loves leftover holiday turkey/ham for sandwiches. Yum!

Love giving holiday food secondchances (couldn't resist):-)

TPBM has a pun for SecondChances, too.

MrsHouseLibrary is one of mine.
Being alive to tell you that is actually a ThirdChance (so to speak).

TPBM is already tired of the The Year in Retrospect segments on the television.

Nope, but I'm sure it's because I don't watch TV

TPBM is up on current events.

Well, all too frequently I have the news on and I end up tuning it out. So no, I'm pretty sure I'm not up on everything that's happened.

The person below me is adapting to a bunch of changed plans.

Changed plans, yes, but not really "a bunch" (and the few changes have been minor). For starters, we had a snow day yesterday. The only other recent change in plans happened because the movie theater was sold out of the 2:20 showing of The King's Speech on Saturday, so we bought our tickets early for the 4:50 instead.

The person below me has also seen a good movie recently.

I have seen and liked comparing The Fighter and The King's Speech. I also was stirred to reread (yet actually to be accomplished) the play by the recent movie The Tempest which others have liked more than I did, although I thought it was good enough to pay for and sit through.

The person below me can't be bothered with movies in a theater (have I used this before? recently?).

Robert

I have no interest at all in movies in the theatre, and seldom watch them at home. My husband sometimes takes the kids to the theatre, and I stay home and enjoy my quiet time.

TPBM wants new furniture.

I need more bookshelves and something to store things in. We are actually trying to sell some furniture.

TPBM has read Fahrenheit 451 and will comment on it.

I thought it was an excellent book with a warning all should heed.

TPBM has Fahrenheit 451 on their 'ought to read' list.

Nope, read it in high school. We shall not discuss how long ago that would have been, except to say the movie wasn't out yet.

TPBM is inspired to add some other book to their Read But Not Owned collection.

Read it as a teen but lost my copy. Definitely on my "ought to get" list.

Hate the movie theater experience as others seem to, with kids talking, babies bawling, and cell-phones going off--10 to 20 bucks for this? Many of us experience it in our own homes and would pay 20 bucks just to escape. Give me my big screen TV and the only noise coming from the movie, not some zoo in front of it.

TPBM either agrees with me or is one of those who brings bawling kids to the show.

#322 - I do want to add Lullaby River (for the kids) and Secret life of Laszlo, Count Dracula (for me) to my collection. Unfortunately, they're both out of print!

#323 - I never take Kidlet to movies - he doesn't have the attention span to sit through longer than half an hour of any given thing and he gets cranky when he's bored.

I have to say that the only time I've ever been in a movie theater with bawling or talking children has been when I took the cousins or sisters or babysitting charges to the summer dollar movies. Cell phone talkers don't happen often. I guess my fellow movie-goers are more considerate than elsewhere?

TPBM is pet-sitting.

No, though I have done so in the past. I still do, in fact; it helps to make up for the fact that my day job pays me little more than my health insurance.

The person below me can afford health insurance but doesn't have it anyway.

#234 - No f-ing way!

#235 - No, I can't; fortunately, MrsHouseLibrary has it through where she works.

TPBM had a fairly quiet day.

Yes. Between the shellacking we got from the weather, and being between Christmas and New Year's, we did. I had more excitement coming and going than I did at the office.

The person below me will report how much snow got dumped on them this weekend.

Edited to fully implement a partial rephrasing.

None, although there was rain.

The person below me is wondering about getting their haircut for the new year.

Nope. I take my cue from Yul Brynner.

TPBM has trouble taming his/her flowing locks.

No, my stylist lives with me so I can pretty much count on having a cut/style on demand or at least every couple of weeks.

TPBM is planning a spa visit in the near future.

This is what braids are for. Keeps the hair (mostly) out of my way.

TPBM is going for a world record.

I am going for the world record for how long a person can go without visiting a spa.

TPBM is all wrapped up in something warm and cozy.

MrsHouseLibrary, so to speak...
Honestly! She puts out more heat than a 3-Mile-Island Camp Generator.

TPBM enjoys camping.

Only with Mrs--no, I won't say it.

TPBM has no plans for New Years.

I will ignore it and it will go away.

TPBM will be on the razzle.

Ummm...maybe?

The person below me knows what "razzle" means.

I think that is the pulling the con part of razzle-dazzle them. Richard Gere did it very well in CHICAGO.

TPBM is content to leave off the dazzle. . .and the razzle

A clean soft pillow under my head is the way I like to greet the new year. No loud colors, 100% cotton.

There are other much more important dates that merit celebration, IMHO.

TPBM will list one such.

Dec 15. At least it is the second most important date I am to remember in a calendar year, the first is her birthday...

TPBM received books for Christmas and will elaborate on the title/s.

Nope. Got one present--a gift basket. I live in the land of Scrooge.

TPBM re-gifts.

Nope. But I'm not adverse to the idea. I got a cellphone case for Christmas that besides being pretty unattractive, doesn't fit my cellphone at all. Just gotta find the right person to dump it on give it to.

TPBM is still snowed in.

By everything but snow.

TPBM can sympathize.

Awww, poor sholofsky. (((HUGS))) Everything will be okay, don't you worry.

TPBM will evaluate as to whether I was sympathetic enough.

If you want sympathy you can find it in the dictionary between S**t and Syphilis

;)

TPBM realizes WHL is much more sympathetic than I.

#343, 344 Your compassion has melted all my snow--now what do I do with all this rain!

TPBM is impressed by the compassion exhibited on this thread.

I am. Now, if the mayor would show as much compassion towards residents of non-primary streets in the outer boroughs, we'd be running at something better than 60%. </rant>

The person below me has a snowplow they'd be willing to lend us.

Actually, we do have a snowblower, but we have been very fortunate this year and all we have had is rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.

The person below me has an umbrella.

No, I find that umbrellas are more trouble than they're worth. I never know what to do with one when I get to where I'm going.

>tarmina : You need a snowblower on Vancouver Island? I thought the climate was tropical out there :)

TPBM likes to skate.

I like to skate, but it doesn't like me. ;-)

TPBM will collect bruises from sledding/skating/other winter weather outdoor activities. (I understand you Aussie's are having fantastic summer weather.)

Only strained muscles.

We have a raised garden - its dimensions are 19x5x3 interlocking cinder blocks (approx 10.5 cu. yds.) When I first built it, the bottom 2/3rds was filled with cuttings from the yard - all kinds of vegetative matter that a rented industrial-strength chipper/shredder could handle. I filled it the rest of the way with dozens of 40-lb bags of topsoil, sand and manure. Over the years, I've added dozens of more bags of topsoil, but haven't touched it in the past 3 years. The soil has compressed to half its original volume.

MrsHouseLibrary complained that A) it was too wide - couldn't reach the middle without climbing into it; B) it was too low - doesn't like stooping; C) it was too close to the fence - made it difficult to work on the fence-side. So, I've been resizing it - 12x3x4 (approximately 5+ cu. yds.) - a lot of the cinder blocks were marginal, or broken in the initial configuration, so I didn't use them at all in the latter. A lot of what was ~in~ the garden is now in the ~bottom~ of the garden; 3 walls are up, and I'm moving the dirt via a wheelbarrow and the capstones are providing a solid ramp to roll it up to the top of the heap. Approximately half the dirt has been moved, and I can already tell that I'm going to have to buy at least 50 bags of topsoil/sand/manure to finish filling the garden bed.

TPBM can explain how soil, left on its own, continues to compress itself to oblivion. Wind and erosion are not part of the equation in this instance.

Why do you assume that compression is the explanation?
I think you have a microscopic trans-dimensional matter scoop, placed there as part of a nefarious plot to diminish the mass of the planet. This is only phase 1 of the plan.

TPBM will explain phase 2, or give us a better understanding of the forces behind the forces.

I'm not sure, but it seems to me that when the soil is wet, the extra weight pushes on the dirt and squeezes out the air pockets contained therein. When the water evaporates, maybe the dirt then stays in the compressed condition. It just occurred to me that this is why dirt must be tilled each time there is a new planting, else the seeds wouldn't be able to send down their little roots, as there would be no room for them.

TPBM thinks this is a reasonable explanation or else will present another one.

If I could they'd call me Wholehouse.

TPBM prefers not to think about how food gets to the table.

It's rather difficult NOT to think about it if one happens to be a farmer.

TPBM has a favourite nifty kitchen gadget.

That would be the microwave, close second the fridge.

TPBM still likes to do "this" the old-fashioned way.

Depends on the "this." Baking? Always - from scratch tastes best. Laundry? Not so much. I'm not really into scrubbing holes in my clothes on washboards and drying things on a clothesline (In Florida? And with a golden retriever who likes underwear? Are you kidding?) I like my washing machine and dryer, thankyouverymuch!

TPBM has a funny story to tell.

Saw a great cartoon: the Hamlet Highrise--shows one apartment labeled "2b", the one next to it "Not 2b".

TPBM will amuse us further.

"There is a time for laughing and a time for not laughing -- this is not one of them."
…Inspector Clouseau

TPBM loves the "Pink Panther" (not the cartoon).

Absolutely! I also recently watched "The Party" in memory of Blake Edwards.

TPBM will tell of another favourite Blake Edwards movie.

Days of Wine and Roses

The person below me likes alcoholism and addiction movies. (I recently saw The Fighter and thought it was very special.)

I do, funny that, being I am not addicted to anything...as in I never developed a taste for alcohol, etc.

Leaving Las Vegas and Barfly are good movies for me.

TPBM likes to drink alcohol and can hold their liquor.

I can hold my liquor for hours. My husband says he has never seen anyone who can make one drink last so long.

TPBM plans to live it up on New Years Eve.

Nope. I plan to put my son to bed at his usual bedtime and finish work on some crochet projects.

I know, I'm sooooo exciting :-/

TPBM has better plans.

Yes, going to DD (designated driver) all my alchy friends from one pub to another along the coast, then hang out and watch all the people who dressed up for an 80's party, before tucking them all into bed. Ah, the life of the responsible.

>362 SylviaC: Exactly what I can do.

TPBM has better plans than mine ;0)

I can think of no better plan than to keep all your friends from ending up in jail or in an accident -- possibly dead.

TPBM joins me in a tip of the hat to SecondChances!

Absolutely! Hat tip (with hats) to SecondChances and any other DDs out there tonight.

TPBM will now rush over to the linked thread and post a hat picture.

Sorry, I'm too computer illiterate to even do that.

My kudos as well, SecondChances. Great way to start the new year (and just think how much better you'll feel the next morning than everyone else!).

TPBM will also go bar-hopping New Year's eve--sober.

Just wanted to say thanks for the hat tip's and pats on the back. I actually don't mind it at all, being the DD that is, I get to remember what a fun time I had and get to revel in the new day of a New Year, without anything being sore.

Here in the U.S.of A, it's not New Year's Eve yet, we have a few hours until it's officially NYE and over 24hrs before it's NYDay. So everyone on that side of the globe: Have a Safe and Happy New Year/etc

carry on.....

*applauds SecondChances*

Picking up the TPBM challenge from #367, I will not be soberly bar-hopping on New Year's Eve. I won't be bar-hopping in any fashion. At most, we'll stop over at a neighbor's house for a few minutes.

The person below me is wondering whether 2011 will be an improvement over 2010.

My guess is, it will at least pass faster than this year has.

Y'all have a great celebration today. Wishin' and prayin' for world peace. - Why not?

TPBM is being dragged away from the keyboard to do something important for someone else.

Heading for the head--sorry, another selfish activity.

TPBM must also be selfish for the next ten minutes.

More like 20. I have to take a shower and then we have to go grocery shopping. I don't wanna, but have to. We're out of eggs and milk.

TPBM has resolutions for the new year.

Not one actually... not any...I don't think I ever make any.

TPBM will share their resolution(s).

I only have one but it might horrify many here so I won't reveal it.

TPBM will share their resolution(s).

To conquer the world and bring about a reign of peace and prosperity for everybody, except of course those who deserve worse.

The person below me will be my vice-regent.

Count me in on anything that has 'vice' in it.

Happy New Year, everbody!

My resolutions are...no ready for prime time.

I'll co-vice regent. Count me in!

Happy New Year!!!!

The person below me is writing checks for donations in order to make the end of the year deadline thingy. (I always do. I like to give if I can, but I procrastinate...a lot.)

In the UK we've got until the end of the tax year - April 5th - so no donations just yet.

Still 110 minutes of 2010 left here but Happy New Year to all. Hope you had a good Xmas, SGiV.

TPBM will be in a mild alcoholic haze by 23.59 local time.

Nope. Even if I wanted to, I think my midwife might kill me if I tried.

TPBM will be setting off fireworks at midnight (or, if you happen to be my down-the-street neighbors, at the slightest hint of anything that looks like dusk).

No, but I might go up to the park to see fireworks set off by professionals.

The person below me will be staying in tonight, thank you.

I'm going to my mom's in a few minutes.

Arizona legalized fireworks this year. My friend had her palm tree go up in smoke as the neighbors tried out their new fireworks. Scared the bejesus out of everyone. Of course, I used to just listen to the gunfire at midnight...

Have a safe New Year!!!

The person below me has good and safe plans for tonight.

If I'm not asleep, or writing (something I've been woefully neglecting lately), I might be playing the guitar. MrsHouseLibrary will DEFINITELY be asleep.

Not for me, as I don't imbibe, but TPBM knows a good cure for a hangover.

I think you have the best cure, Wholehouse.

Happy New Year everyone!

TPBM is impressed by how responsible we all are.

Ah, we already went over this.
Thankfully, we stayed home. The weather was supposed to get pretty nasty, but hasn't, Go figure.

TPBM will explain how their NY went.
We have 35mins before ours is final.

Well, Happy New Year, folks. My new year was... quiet. The TV was off (sisters and son had gone to bed, mom's still at her friend's party, fiance is probably at a bar somewhere) and I had a crochet project in my lap (like I said I would a few posts ago, lol). Of course, that lasted until my youngest sister decided she couldn't sleep and the TV came back on less than 5 minutes after midnight...

TPBM had champagne at midnight.

OOPS, first leapfrog of 2011! No, champagne--we're retired imbibers.

#385, original message: It's you and me again, Second. Alright, I won't pat you on the back again, I promise.
Got two hours left here in L.A. Spending a quiet one with the wife. Post me in an hour if you're still up and let me know ahead of time how 2011 is proceeding. Happy New Years and all the best!

TPBM probably won't post till next year.

Not a chance! That'd be 365 day from now, at least.

TPBM can't imagine being without LibraryThing for a whole year.

You'd be right. Too late to go into details, though. Done: it is next year. Currently 1:24 AM, way past my bedtime.

The person below me is also up way too late.

IT'S THE NEW YEAR.
My friend is in L.A., so I am sure she is patiently waiting.

My new year is quiet...I am LibraryThinging and chatting with friends and watching Fox as the time counts down for other folks. I might crack another book open, being I just finished one for my 75 Books for 2011 challenge.

TPBM is also doing a book challenge.

Ah, I leapfrogged my first time for the new year. ETA: Make that 2 times.
I am up my usual time...as in I am always up late.
Happy Old & New Year ALL.

#387 Still an hour and a half left of 2010 for me and the wife, Wholehouse--what's this 365 days foolishness?

Getting my wife to read a non-mystery--that's my challenge.

TPBM is also still in 2010--or very active in 2011; one or the other.

Actively adding to my Wishlist on Bookmooch.
It's been about 2 hours and 2011 seems as quiet and slow as yesterday in 2010.

TPBM has an extensive Wishlist.

Possibly not as extensive as some, but 251 books that I'd like to have seems big to me.

TPBM plans on reading 100 or more books this year.

Admirable goal. Can I take two years? I'm a reading snow-plow, rather than a Ferarri.

TPBM has misunderstood, and wants me to clear his/her driveway.

Nope, I definitely understood you on that one (and can completely relate!). Even if I did misunderstand though, there's no snow to plow out of my driveway here in California!

TPBM is aiming to read a relatively low number of books in 2011 (compared to everyone else), but will still be proud and rightfully satisfied if they accomplish reading at least 25.

If I get to count books I read to the kids, I'll definitely get to at least 25!

TPBM has already broken a resolution.

You can't break something that's not been made.

TPBM understands that ~doing~ (or ~not doing~, as the case may be) is more important than ~saying~ you'll do (or not) said goal.

Exactly. I can't make resolutions, because I don't do them or I start and never finish.

Actions speak louder than words.

TPBM is cooking greens and black-eyed peas for the NYD tradition and will please tell me how to cook the peas. I have never cooked them and I feel I will fail.

lalala- The hills are alive with the sound of me not waking up in a strange hotel room, laying in a pool of what I hope is my own urine and a very angry pimp tossing the joint looking for my ATM card. So far, 2011 is like a bazillion times better than 2010!

I've got greens from half a sammitch I left in the fridge before I fled the scene, and I'm going to take a Sharpie and paint a black dot on a kidney bean to make it into a black eyed pea. SC, you will not fail. I have no idea how to cook them.

TPBM knows that holding someone's hair back while they vomit makes you practically engaged.

Or a parent.

The person below me is having a happy new year.

Happy not to be living SomeGuyInVirginia's life at the moment. SomeGuy, go home and watch the Rose Parade, my friend. Much safer (saner?) way to start 2011.

TPBM is doing just that.

We donʻt have televeision, so Iʻm not doing just that. And when we did have TV, I was a very tranquil New years celebrator who could take parades or leave them alone, especially the latter.

As for the games, this morningʻs newspaper here didnʻt indicate who was in which bowl, in today or laterʻs games. I suppose a real football fan would know this anyway. The only one Iʻm interested in
is TCU/Wisconsin; rooting for TCU because theyʻre
United Church of Christ affiliated as I am. Some
empathy with U of W, too, because the Wisconsin
fans deserve a championship.

TPBM is a lifelong fan of at least one of
todayʻs (or this bowl-seasonʻs) teams.

That I am....my BEP's are actually coming out nicely, I threw a bunch of random things from the fridge and spice/herb cabinet in and kept it on simmer and so far the pot smells wonderful and the 3 peas I attempted to eat weren't horrid.

TPBM will explain to me why some random guy in Virginia had a pimp tossing his hotel room....

TPBY is assuming that the pimp (in 398) is a "Ghost of New Years Past" (to paraphrase Dickens), not a character in todayʻs New Years.
>Note the "not" (11th word in 398ʻs first sentence), a word by which I was puzzled at first, and was at that time reading it as 402 apparently did--as a present situation.

TPBM is a stickler for "good" English, including
unambiguous use of tenses.

I knew he meant last year, because he said 2011 was way better than 2010. Not to quote exactly. I assumed he meant, he woke up on the NY in 2010, in that strange hotel room.

Anyway...yes I prefer English to be well spoken and written. However, in this day and age I will take what I can get when I am fighting over 6 languages in my head.

TPBM will take their English anyway they can get it as well.

I will, but I prefer correct grammar.

SGIV is harmless and doesn't do nearly all the things he pretends to do. lol

SecondChances, I didn't see your request in time to tell you how to cook BEPs, but it seems that they turned out okay.

I can hardly wait for the championship game.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaar Eagle! Roland, I'm a lifelong (almost, as I wasn't aware of football until I was about eight years old) Auburn fan.

TPBM is going to take a nap before the OU (my second favorite team) game comes on television.

Considering I don't know when that might be, I can't give an definitive answer to the affirmative or the negatory.

TPBM is trying to improve his/her vocabulary, and will let us know in the new thread.