Small Talk: The Library

[Chyna]

Tiny C is going to LOVE that dance video.

[buffyjunkie]

I just watched that on a flight trudi-tru! Never having heard of it I was reasonably impressed. POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW

I liked how the movie dealt with the resolution of his relationship with his girlfriend. And I did not come to the same conclusion you did. I felt the protagonist was pretty hardcore but triumphed via a "work around." I also liked the ambiguity of how people can love something but still cause harm.

[trudi-tru]

Yeah, but I felt almost like it was saying that people who are strong enough and motivated enough can overcome abuse, while the weak perish. Which, no.

 

Speaking of things that bother me, Drake's Hotline Bling's lyrics are so wrong.

 

I'm done bitching.

[Endeavour]

It's been a while since I saw Whiplash. I thought it was really good but I also felt the same way you did about the end trudi. Others I talked to didn't though.

[AnnieF]

Anyone doing anything different for the holidays? I've talked a bit here about my SIL, and how she blew up Xmas a couple of years ago (she'd been swallowing bullshit from the inlaws for years, finally broke and brought everything into the light). Part of the aftermath of the Giant Xmas Explosion is that my BIL, SIL, and their daughter will not stay at my FIL's house anymore, so if they come for the holiday this year (they live in NM) they will stay at our house.

And things got very bad at my mom's house during Xmas last year (my mom and stepdad can't have babies staying with them anymore, apparently), so my sister and her husband and their son will also be staying with us. So we may end up with six adults, an almost-16-year-old, a 12-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a 2 1/2-year-old at our house over Xmas. You'd think this would be stressing me, but it really isn't. I want everyone to have a nice holiday, and that's just not possible if people stay at grandparents' houses. So we're It, and I'm good with that. :)

How about you, my friends, who I am so grateful for every day? :)

Edited November 20, 2015 by AnnieF

[buffyjunkie]

AnnieF, you are a saint. I had been hoping to host Thanksgiving this year so we would get a break at Christmas but no luck. So we will go to my Mom's the previous Sunday and try to bring Christmas to her and then host Christmas at our house for husband's side of the family Christmas day. Which wouldn't be so bad but I had to switch my vacation to the week after Christmas. I also have to have a certain test that people of an ancient age are subject to post-Christmas. I really look forward to the mellow time after Christmas, enjoying the tree lit up at night...reading new books in our pjs...that sort of thing.

[Chyna]

Some close friends who have kids the same age had a lot of family drama at Thanksgiving last year, so at the time, we talked about just running off to a waterpark or something over the holiday this year. Didn't happen. Mr. C's dad is heading up on 80 soon and his health is starting to decline a bit--he's not at death's door or anything, but enough that Mr. C would feel guilty about not seeing him on a holiday. So we're going to my BIL and SIL's with a whole bunch of drama-queen relatives, and our friends are heading off to deal with racist gun-nuts. Whee!

 

ETA: My friend was saying that she's tired of arguing with them, and it's hard to get up and leave the table since the kids are left listening to that crap. Her 10-year-old has these giant Bambi eyes and a willingness to do anything on a dare, so I told her that when her MIL spouts off, she needs to have Bambi-Eyes say, "Whoa, Grandma, that's really racist!" I was only half-joking, but I hope she goes through with it. :)

Edited November 20, 2015 by Chyna

[Erratic]

I have a 'friend' on my FB page who is so very right wing, fanatical oil, and racist beyond belief (hidden behind conservative 'Christian' teachings natch). I really want to de friend her, but where else would I get my daily dose of cray-cray?

[buffyjunkie]

Well here in the good ole you ess of ay, it's impossible to turn around without bumping in to it.

[trudi-tru]

If it amuses you, keep her. I always end up being upset, so I keep as few people as possible, with the exception of my best friend's boyfriend, cause that would cause a diplomatic crisis.

Why must holidays be so stressfull?

How about you, my friends, who I am so grateful for every day? :)

Awww. Likewise. Edited November 21, 2015 by trudi-tru

[Hostile16]

Secret Santa update! The list below contains all the participants I know about. If you're interested, please let me know by Monday night. Also, if you are new to the shenanigans or have moved on the last year, please send along your new address. Hopefully, everyone will have an assignment before December 1st. That said, is anyone interested in being my elf?

AnnieF

Barphe

Boliver

buffyjunkie

Chyna

cko

Darkpool

dusky

Erratic

Harvester

Hostile16

KPC

romantic idiot

Trudi-tru

[Chyna]

I just defriended someone from my old neighborhood. All the "Obama is gonna take our GUNZ" posts were bad enough, but a Bill Cosby rape "joke" finally made me click "Unfriend."

[trudi-tru]

I volunteer as Elf. Green looks good on me.

[cko]

Can I put out a quick call at the other place in case there are a few who are there and not here? For Secret Santa I mean.

 

I'm currently obsessed with eating popcorn. I'm having it right now for dinner. With Olive Oil and Spanish paprika.

[Harvester]

I say the more the merrier for Secret Santa.

Hotel Annie will be a lovely place to spend the holidays. Is the house all you had hoped for? It's still seems new to me.

I am estranged from my hateful, abusive relatives, so Thanksgiving is really pleasant. I feel a rush of culinary creativity coming on, and my Thanksgiving with my sister's family will have a ridiculous amount of food.

[Endeavour]

I really look forward to the mellow time after Christmas, enjoying the tree lit up at night...reading new books in our pjs...that sort of thing.

Yes, this.

Thanksgiving should be drama free this year for me...thankfully.

I am just starting to feel better after being sick for 6 days - fever, achy, sinus, etc. People who are sick really should stay home from work. I hate when people drag themselves in and infect everyone else - or me in this instance.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Endeavour

[Earl Is Dead]

[Q]I'm having it right now for dinner. With Olive Oil and Spanish paprika[/Q]

I want this. Now.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Earl Is Dead

[Hostile16]

Absolutely mention Secret Santa at the other place. Hell, invite your friends. We need new blood.

[buffyjunkie]

Me too (about the popcorn.)

[Erratic]

The baby turns 6 months this week. What a half year!

We had a meeting with the caseworkers again this week. The father seems to be MIA, which is good for us, however, now they are saying that ALF's treaty band are not overly friendly about allowing g adoption outside the band, so we may end up fostering the kid for the next 18 years. The good news is that apparently that is the worst case scenario, so we can breathe a little easier, however, I really need the government to get PGO (permanent guardianship order) so we can cut the poor lads hair. It is a third of the way down his back!

[Endeavour]

Is getting a PGO a long process, Erratcic?

[trudi-tru]

Erratic, I really wish things work out in the best way for both you and Alf. Whether it's adoption, unlimited fostering or PGO.

 

6 months! Where does the time go?

[Chyna]

One of Chynette's BFFs is Seminole/Cherokee, adopted by a Caucasian mom, and she also had a difficult time working things out with the tribes. I totally understand why they're wary about kids being "adopted out," especially given the history of intentionally moving Native kids into White culture to try and eliminate indigenous culture, but there was literally no one else who was willing or able to take the child. (That's how her mom got her to begin with--she hadn't planned on adopting at all and told herself she would just foster the baby for a couple of days. Ha. :) ) It took quite a while, but now she's fully adopted, and her mom makes every effort to be sure she's involved with her Native culture and her bio-siblings.

[Erratic]

PGO can be fast. The bio parents are a little AWOL right now so the government needs to prove to the courts that they have made every effort to give them a chance to fight. I reckon we'll probably have PGO this spring some time though.

[buffyjunkie]

I too hope things move along as expediently as possible for you and Alf and Mr. Erratic. In the meantime, enjoy the approaching holiday season with the now no longer quite so wee one.

[Hostile16]

Final call! Final call! I don't have any additional names since up yonder and am sending Elf Trudi-tru a list later today. Act now or risk missing out!

By the way, I reserved a trifle for Thanksgiving from Harris Teeter, and when I picked it up found out that it's literally (literally!) twice the size of our little turkey breast. So you're all invited over for dessert and *Desk Set* on TCM.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Hostile16

[Erratic]

My husband sent out an email to his family titled, "Hello too all"

Do I kill him?

[trudi-tru]

Absolutely. Then you go find a companion who doesn't know how to operate an electronic device.

 

ETA: Happy Thanksgiving!

Edited November 26, 2015 by trudi-tru

[Endeavour]

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has a great day and long weekend.

[Darkpool]

Do I kill him?

 

Only after verifying the keyboard's "O" key doesn't stick.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Darkpool

[buffyjunkie]

Ah, very wise Darkpool. Wouldn't want a case of premature homicide.

[romantic idiot]

My address has changed. Will PM. It is Dubai now. :o) Hmm - though I'll be in India till 21st for my cousin's wedding. Hmm.

[Chyna]

romantic idiot's cousin's wedding killed the thread. ;)

[KittenPokerCheater]

Hey folks...DON'T READ THE INVOICES ON SECRET SANTA Presents!

 

Pretty please with sugar on it.

 

Also, Dubai!  I still can't believe i know someone who lives there!

[Valny]

Thread killer!  :)

Does anyone use Windows 10?  I've been getting a message every couple of days asking if I want to download it for free,but I've been putting it off. I asked the tech guy at work and he uses it and likes it, but I was wondering if anyone here has any good or bad words to say. I will probably download it, but you know....change is always a little scary! 

 

Speaking of scary....Are all our California peeps safe and sound?

Edited December 3, 2015 by Valny

[trudi-tru]

I've signed up for Windows 10 back in July but it's still not available to download. I haven't read any major complaints, so I think you're good.

[Barphe]

Re Windows 10. If you still use 7 don't switch. If you got saddled with 8 switch.

[Chyna]

My mom switched to 10 a few months ago and had so many problems, she had to take it somewhere to have them wipe the OS and reinstall the old one. It was a few months ago though--hopefully the bugs have been worked out.

[Hostile16]

Well, overlooking the antics of a certain elf who's gunning for the top job, all the Secret Santa assignments are out. And from Trudi_tru's group, with a week's advance notice, the rest can expect better gifts.

If there's anyone who hasn't heard from one of us, please speak up or risk being omitted from the reindeer games.

ETA: For those Secret Santas with overseas vic--, um, clientele, Neatorama (neatoshop.com) is offering free worldwide shipping on tee shirts for a limited time.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Hostile16

[cko]

Isn't it horrible, all these shootings. I'm far away from San Bernadino; I think of all of us, YME and taylorK are closest but not too close, hopefully.

 

I got my Secret Santa assignment, hooray. I'm one who loves this time of year.

 

Hope all are well.

[Erratic]

Given the state of the world right now, my sister was horrified that she had to go into her son's school to have a 'chat' with his teacher after the following conversation with him:

My sister: How was school today?

Nathan: Great. We got to play Cowboys and Indians. I was a cowboy and had to shoot all the Indians.

My sister: That isn't nice. That isn't a fun game.

Nathan: Why not?

My sister: We don't shoot other people, Nathan. That is awful.

Nathan: Oh.

It turns out that the teacher had arranged this game in gym class for 'fun'.

[buffyjunkie]

Holy carp.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Yikes about the cowboys and indians in gym class.  I can see kids playing something like that at recess (because they are kids and almost every kid I know has enjoyed those kind of games at least once in their lives).  But that teacher should be thoroughly chastised and ashamed of his behavior, especially in light of San Bernadino.

 

I don't know what it will take to get better gun control for the usa.  Should people who buy guns be held accountable if they give the gun to someone and that someone then uses it for violence?  A friend of mine thinks that the only way for the conservative politicians to get onboard because some super high profile politician's kid get murdered in that kind of gun violence. I hope that something like that never happens, but I do want better laws.  I think the no fly list means no guns is also a good idea.

 

It's a joke, I think, that folks talk about needing better services for mental health when they don't want to fund better mental health care.

 

Also, I'd like to deport Trump to someplace like Pluto.

 

Sorry, off my soap box now.

I do love christmas carols, and hannakah candles and songs.  I'm about the celebrating being together with people you like and love.

 

But after a week with my sister, several days with my dad and another week+ coming with my Mom, I swear; next christmas I am going to go to Rome.

[Hostile16]

We will never, ever have logical gun laws in the U.S. as long as the NRA contributes massive amounts of money to politicians. I wish I could remember who suggested that the best thing sensible citizens could do was all join the NRA, immediately elect new officials, and completely change its agenda. Wayne Lapierre deserves a very special corner of Hell.

I was channel-surfing one afternoon last week (Nicholas Brennan on "Dr Phil" -- yikes!), and I heard a panel discussing who they'd be if they could be someone else for just one day. And in all honesty, and because one day isn't enough time to be someone you'd really want to be, I'd be Donald Trump so I could withdraw from the race and cut that ridiculous mat of hair. And redistribute some damn wealth.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Hostile16

[jaytee1812]

We will never, ever have logical gun laws in the U.S. as long as the NRA contributes massive amounts of money to politicians. I wish I could remember who suggested that the best thing sensible citizens could do was all join the NRA, immediately elect new officials, and completely change its agenda. Wayne Lapierre deserves a very special corner of Hell.

I don't know if I said before that I'm from Scotland, I live not that far from Dunblane where the had a mass shooting nearly twenty years ago. I remember the gun control debate we had after that. Honestly it was more about how strict the legistlation would be, not whether there would be any. Also there were stricter background check and new processes after concern about Thomas Hamilton were missed. To let you understand how strict gun laws are, they had to relax them for a few months in 2012 for the Olympics, because some of the guns used in Olympic events are illegal to own in the UK.

The quote about everyone joining the NRA is from The West Wing.

[AnnieF]

It turns out that the teacher had arranged this game in gym class for 'fun'.

This was in England, right? I can't even imagine such a thing happening in Canada ("Hey kids, let's play Cattle Ranchers vs First Nations!" Um...)

[Erratic]

It was in England, and I guess that cowboys and Indians are as historically fictional as knights and dragons in most Brits minds, but given all the racial tension in Europe right now, it just seems like the dumbest idea ever. I mean, even taking out the race stuff, less than two weeks from Paris being shot apart, let's play a game where half the class pretends to shoot dead the other half? Insensitive, n'est-ce pas?

[Harvester]

I think the race factor is incredibly damaging. There are hundreds of fun and active games that don't involve murdering another race because they are there. Shame on that teacher.

I can't even start with gun control. I have several people I both love and respect who are so batshit crazy about guns and religion. My every encounter with these people has been lovely, and then Facebook offers opportunities for the crazy.

[Darkpool]

A friend of mine thinks that the only way for the conservative politicians to get onboard because some super high profile politician's kid get murdered in that kind of gun violence.

 

I don't think even that would do it. Ronald Reagan, patron saint of American movement conservatives, was shot by a deranged loner and the lunatic right barely budged on guns. I think the response to a politician's kid getting murdered would be the same response every time a child is murdered: "more guns."

[trudi-tru]

next christmas I am going to go to Rome.

YES!

 

Have you seen that family Christmas picture a politician, I think she's a Governor, posted, where all the family members are armed to the teeth?

From the outside, they look like a bunch of lunatics. Seriously, like mental health facility crazy.

 

Nicholas Brennan on "Dr Phil" -- yikes!

Yeah, that guy is in such bad shape, I don't know if he'll ever fully recover.