Well, 2016, it’s been fun — by which I of course mean the complete opposite of fun. So here’s an open thread to say good riddance to 2016. And to look forward with trepidation but perhaps also a little hope to 2017. No trolls, Trump fans, MRAs, etc.
If you’re going out, be safe. If you’re staying in, curl up with this lovely Dumpster Fireplace to celebrate the end of this dumpster fire of a year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLXGkYg9uY
Happy New Year, y’all.
I’ve been isolating myself through 2016 but I made an effort and went out to see my friends TWO days in a row and drank a lot of really bad cocktails which were made from the remnants of several people’s random spirit collections – some of which had gone off. I emptied an almost full bottle of chambord down the sink to prevent it destroying other drinks. A shame as I really like chambord especially for use in desserts, but this stuff was vile.
I was really worried about my mental health because last year’s winter break plunged me into depression and my son was away with my ex and i worried I’d go into myself and not see anyone. Which I mostly didn’t – mostly hung out by myself, but did some crafts and it was fine. I feel pretty rested.
Back to work tomorrow. And travelling this week to a place I’ve never been before which I think has a nice cathedral, gonna try to make time to visit. Bizarrely in the UK, museums are free, but churches often cost money to visit as opposed to Europe where it’s the other way around. I’m Very happy for the deal here, but it’s kinda funny. (just checked and this one has free entry and is open ridiculous early, which is awesome – since I have an early business meeting)
@dikdik
Thanks. Right now I’m half excited, half scared. I’ve never moved country before.
It is January 2nd and I have to get my ass back to work. Happy some-modicum-of-normalcy everyone.
Currently at work, but I had A Thought on the walk to.
It amuses me when people (Christian people mostly) say things like “Paganism is devil worship!” because how self-absorbed do you have to be to assume that because Those People don’t worship the same deity as you, they must be worshipping your religion’s representative of evil?
I just found that to be kinda silly and had a giggle at it.
I read some pretty tough stories, I guess 2016 had a little left in it. Here’s my hope that 2017 is a better year for everyone! We’re going to have to fight for it, but there’s a joy in that, too. Good luck and Happy New Year, everyone!
2016 was an okay year for me. Finished up one job that I was really enjoying, working with people that I liked in a really great space. Luckily I was able to get another job right away, with a bit of a break in between that I could use to just recharge. The problems I was worried about at my new job didn’t happen, because luckily they realised that the person they wanted to be the lead of my team was in no way suited to be so. PHEWPH.
Still trying to figure out my own personal stuff, and I’m hoping to continue with that this year.
I need to figure out how to be more involved with local things here. I know a lot about what’s happening in the states, but not nearly as much locally. Which is a problem that I need to fix. I’m thinking maybe I should get a subscription to a reputable (read: not the Sun) local paper.
I just got back from a week or so back home, and it was… Interesting. It was exactly the reason that I get so annoyed reading articles saying “Went to the heart of Trump country, surprisingly they didn’t all eat babies!!!”
Of course they don’t. Of course they are perfectly nice people, providing you fall into some categories they like. Of course they can be fun to be around.
Doesn’t change the fact that they will throw specific people under the bus, and that they have done it.
And I’m hanging out with family members who would do the same… Kind of thing, maybe a little less obvious, because they were all pretty shocked and upset when the tangerine actually won. But they still do the “gay people shouldn’t get married” but “I would go to a gay wedding, so I’m not homophobic, don’t call me that!”
Blah.
And a story I wanted to share: I was reading a book to my niece about the Emperor’s New Clothes. My nephew and one of his friends wandered over, to hear the story as well. We saw the back of one character with long hair, and they asked “Is that a boy or a girl?” I told them I wasn’t sure yet. We flipped the page, and the character had a little beard. “A boy!” My nephew yelled. They then proceeded to laugh about the idea of girls with beards.
“I know a girl with a beard.” I said, matter of factly. “She’s getting laser to have it removed, but she did have one.” They asked why she couldn’t just shave, and I told them that she’s got pretty dark stubble, and doesn’t like it.
Then we moved on.
Later, the adults were talking in the kitchen. I don’t remember how the conversation got there, but my niece was asking why some things were what they were. My sister asked her “Why are you a girl?”
She loudly proclaimed “BECAUSE I HAVE A VAGINA.”
I interjected “Not all girls have a vagina.” Her mom (my sister) said “I think she’s a little young for that.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah?” She answered. I didn’t mention that I had already talked about this to the other kids, a little.
So hopefully they heard, and will think about it. Hopefully the one (and a half) conversation is enough to offset a bit of whatever they hear in other places.
I hope everyone’s 2017 is a good year.
I also wanted to thank all the commenters for the discussions that happen here. I always have things to think over, and I appreciate the different viewpoints.
I introduced Captain Marsh to Life Is Strange and now he’s obsessed with it. He’s spent the past couple days playing it – on my computer!
If you ever play pokelon doubles, always have an Oranguru with you. Any pokemon that knows discharge/surf/rock slide/earthquake/etc. paired with Oranguru is an auto win. Oranguru learns instruct, which makes your pokemon use the last move they did again. Oranguru also knows telepathy, so he doesn’t get harmed by moves like Earthquake. In short Oranguru doubles the damage you can do in one turn and can KO twice as many pokemon in a turn.
I just saw this, and how could I resist?
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm177/riverhouse9/Looks/15822732_1618594894824637_5492098140155030189_n_zpsxxs6g5ac.png
Have you seen this?
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/british-singer-agrees-to-trump-inauguration-but-only-if-she-performs-protest-song-about-lynching/
Now that’s some grade-A #ResistTrump -ing.
Some white nationalist dipshit over on an Alternet comment thread just ignored my stated desire for him to leave me alone so he could plop this turd out: “Migrant rape epidemic is undeniable. It was not normal a decade ago for police to tell women to avoid going outside alone after dark.”
Alas the thread closed before I could ask him what planet he’s from and then laugh in his ignorant face.
I awoke New Year’s morning from an odd dystopian dream…I was visiting the small town I lived in back in the ’90s, catching up with friends, etc…but it was a scene not of reunion and joy, but of commiseration or grief as following a period of loss. A friend was telling of another, who had to sell all of her books…and I too, admitted I was at that point…(in my dream, I was thinking $100,000 for my library was realistic; rampant inflation, perhaps?)
It was a little jarring to awaken from….if I have awoken.
Late to the party, but I wish everybody as good a 2017 as possible.
My New Years’ Eve was spent working (from 9 PM to 1 AM) on my older novel-in-progress – I have two of ’em, but I decided to get the first in some sort of shape since I have more material to work with. It’d be good if I could finish another long prose project (2nd in life since master’s thesis) this year, at least for writing practice.
Yesterday my brother left for his new term at university. I won’t see him again until April. But first, we went with our parents to the Ecomuseum (an ecological zoo for animals that can’t be released into the wild) and I snapped a picture of their snapping turtle:
http://imgur.com/a/XE3sG
Late to the party as usual. :/ Need to more work on that more this year.
2016 wasn’t too bad for me overall, on a personal level. Got a second job to help with the bills, got my phone upgraded from an iPhone 4 to 5 (the bills on 6 and 7 are a bit beyond my means at this time) in part so I could play Pokémon GO easier.
(Yes, you could play PoGO on a 4, if you don’t mind it doing a freeze and/or crash every 5-10 minutes, or a 10 minute wait to log back in again. On the other hand, I got to Level 15 and ~400 Pokemons before upgrading, so there was that.)
And sometime this week I need to go see a couple of agencies to see who they recommend for debt consolidation, so I can start getting my credit history fixed again, so I can get a proper bank loan when I need to get one. (I was denied one last year because of those outstanding debts on my record. 🙁 )
And I need to see if there’s a decent budgeting app on iTunes so I can try and save up money for a doctor’s visit or two (plus school and stuff like that). I am finding myself getting grumpier than usual these last few months (that I’ve noticed, anyway) and would like to tease out how much is mild depression and how much is normal midlife crisis junk.
On the plus side of 2017, FullMetal Alchemist movie coming! Wooooohoooooo!!!!!! \o/ And done with the aid of Warner Japan, so there’s a decent possibility of a stateside release here!
New info here (including a full cast listing):
https://www.google.com/amp/movieweb.com/amp/fullmetal-alchemist-movie-photos-adaptation/?client=safari
https://www.google.com/amp/collider.com/fullmetal-alchemist-live-action-movie-trailer/amp/?client=safari
(Hope the links go where I want them to.)
I have a question for anyone who is still following this post. I’m asking because I know there are Mammotheers who knit (only reason I know about Ravelry).
Is there any source you can recommend that explains what is supposed to happen to the yarn during knitting? To be clear, I don’t mean ‘how to do a knit stitch’, but a description of what happens to the yarn that turns a single strand into a flat plane.
Based on my hard-won understanding of how I learn things, I believe that that is my chief obstacle in learning how to knit. E.g., I understand what happens during weaving, which my husband assures me is not significantly more complex; I can weave without confusion.
My research on the topic led me to the branch of topology that deals with knots. That was less helpful than I had hoped. Any guidance would be appreciated.
I think I understand your question,and I am knitting all the time, but I am not at all sure I can give a less than confusing answer without showing what I mean with real yarn, but let me try.
Essentially, the yarn forms a row of little hooks, like upside-down “U”s. At the end of the row the yarn turns around and goes back, above the first row. You then use this upper line to prevent all the little hooks of the first line from going back down (which would happen, because the yarn is soft), by putting a new hook thruogh the middle of each of the first line. (You can do this from the front or the back of your hooks, which makes the result look a little different. This is used to make patterns).
This sounds confusing, I don’t know if that is of any help.
Too late to edit, but let me add:
If you have any knitted item you can open, the yarn usually stays more or less in shape, so you could see what I mean. (without destroying anyones favourite pullover of course). The word “hook” is probably a little misleading. But if you tried to form one out of a thread without using either end of it, that is what you would get.
Sseba, thank you. I’ll try to apply that to the illustrations available to me.
Glad if I can help. Note that the very first line has to be made of loops rather than hooks, so that the whole thing holds together.
Because of the Trump regime, 2016 will be the least bad year for a long, long time.
Yeah, Trump just fired all the guys in charge of maintaining the nuclear arsenal! Woohoo, it’s gonna be awesome being ruled by a complete nincompoop!!!
I mean, come on, Ed. You KNOW Trump is terrible.
I think Ed was saying 2016 is going to look good compared to what’s ahead. I don’t think he’s being processed Trump. Auto correct foolery stays because it’s funny.
Oops, I’m sorry, Ed! Maybe I shouldn’t post while hungry.