• 06:32 seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010386387_webleschihome29m.html Suspect in police shootings wounded, possibly dead. #
• 06:57 @bloisolson Probably customers. Booksellers tend to be used to selling books by folks they disagree with politically. #
• 08:22 @bloisolson Almost certainly. Would the Democrats fail to do the Willie Horton thing? #
• 08:42 @bloisolson Well, yeah. But, assuming that they didn't, you don't think the Democrats would give him a bye on it, do you? #
• 09:13 @detroitccw That's about what it is here. Priority One calls well into double digits. #
• 09:29 @bloisolson Don't know much about esteeemed, but I will cop to "reasonably prolific." And thanks. #
• 09:39 @SCartierLiebel You're very nice person. I'd be very nervous about buying from a place named "Hooker Furniture." #
• 09:47 @JeenaBelil I've no reason to doubt the quality of their merch, honest. I'd be nervous about eating Uranus Fruit Preserves, too. #

/tweets

So, this morning around 8:30 AM, thinking, "Hey, it's Cyber Monday, I should post more stuff to my Etsy shop," I went out on the balcony with some jewelry to photograph--best light there. Sophie comes running out onto the balcony behind me. I still don't trust her not to so something stupid out there, like lean too far out and fall off. I scooped her up threw her back inside and shut the balcony door behind me.

And then I hear knock. I turn around to discover that the security bar has fallen into the track of the sliding door. I'm trapped on the balcony--no coat, no phone.

I tried everything before I started calling for help--dislodging the bar (no luck), shifting the door (too heavy), opening a window (locked). Finally, I start to call for help in earnest. My next door neighbor's step-son stepped out on their balcony and I explained my predicament. He called his mom and she called our management company. Fifteen minutes later they arrive and we discover their key to my front door, for some reason, didn't work.

We eventually had to call a locksmith. So there I am, on the balcony, in jeans, shoes and a sweater, and it's 49 degrees out, waiting for a locksmith. I try to remember all the words to "American Pie" (it's the first thing I do when I'm in a situation like this; it's a great distraction). I sing "Thunder Road." I pace back and forth to keep warm. Neighbor's stepson pops out onto the balcony to check on me. Locksmith arrives.

The door locks on this building, it turns out, are very, very good. They're so good that the locksmith has to remove the lock entirely, cut a new key, replace the lock and open the door. $120 later, I'm in the house warm and comfortable again. I've lost two hours to this escapade.

All of which is to say that I'll be posting new stuff to my Etsy shop within the next half hour or so, pretty Christmas tree-themed earrings. I'll note it when the stuff is up.

::sigh::

bookfails
Planning to do your part to help boost the declining publishing industry this holiday? Better check here first. Sure, there are plenty of folks who post glowing reviews of their favorite books. But what about the epic fails? Compose and/or discuss snarky, incisive critiques on the books you despise most.

foundphotos
Ever stumble across a frayed photo in your grandmother's attic? How about a faded picture tucked in the sleeve of an old novel at a used book sale? This is the place to post them. An amazing, eclectic collection of photographs sure to delight anyone with a penchant for history or nostalgic memorabilia.

note_to_cat
Having trouble conveying the concept of accountability to your cat? Now you can share letters to your significant felines and give public witness to your declarations of love and domestic negotiations. Whether you want to publish an apology for falling short on your cat-nip obligations or you need to raise a delicate hygiene issue.

jackwilliambell is back in Japan on business, but has tacked a couple of days on either end of the trip to do a little sight-seeing. He's just posted a detailed description of his climb up Mount Takao that's a nice read if you want to enjoy his trip vicariously. Go, have fun!

• 08:46 @tman065 There are few guilty pleasures guiltier than cold pizza. #
• 12:42 www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/29/washington.police.shooting/ four deputies apparently ambushed, murdered in Seattle. #
• 12:45 @ScottGreenfield Yup. #

/tweets

Well, the usual LA radio station's playing the usual "holiday" songs. OK, some of them are Christmas carols, but an awful lot of them could be played pretty much any time instead of being relegated to the after-Thanksgiving-before-Christmas ghetto.

Winter Wonderland
Let it Snow
Sleigh Ride
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Frosty the Snowman
Jingle Bells
My Favorite Things
Jingle Bell Rock
Deck the Halls

That's just off the top of my head. Any others to add to the list?

Happy birthday kythera!

mevennen reports:

"Robert Holdstock (1948-2009) died at 4am in the morning of Sunday 29
November, having been in intensive care since his collapse with E.
coli infection on the 18th . He was only 61 and will be much missed.
All sympathy to Sarah and the rest of the family."

Indeed. How sad.

...and you know it when you watch a kitten.

It was very windy this morning, and the wind brought to our balcony a large red-orange maple leaf. Sophie shot to attention right by the balcony door when the leaf landed, and she spent a good hour watching it twitch and slide and spin in the wind. She sat, lifted her butt as if ready to pounce, sat again, jumped up on the table to look down upon the leaf. She was, in short, fascinated. I wish the world would stay that fascinating for all of us every single day.

jackwilliambell is in Japan right now, and I wrote him a capsule review of this film which, now that I look at it, really doesn't need much embellishment for my LJ, so I'm quoting my e-mail to him on the subject:

Saw "The Men Who Stare at Goats" last night with markbourne, e_bourne, and E's son A. It's light and entertaining. Clooney's got a great touch for comedy. Jeff Bridges seems never to be so happy on screen as when he's playing a New Age hippy-dippy type (and is still hot after all these years). And Ewan McGregor is marvelous as the writer who inadvertently falls in with them as he goes looking for himself after the end of a bad marriage. You won't lose anything by seeing it at home rather than at the theater. It's entertaining, which was exactly what was called for. Recommended.

• 09:42 @gideonstrumpet My feelings are hurt. #
• 09:43 Going to have turkey with stuffing and gravy for breakfast, for some reason. #
• 09:44 @gideonstrumpet The Once and Future King is utterly wonderful. #
• 09:44 @windypundit I'm still coblogging, but am notoriously lazy. #
• 10:32 @heddahfeddah It is. Brined turkey is, IMHO, the way to go. Tastes much better than Bald Eagle. #
• 10:38 bit.ly/8tXmLO I don't see any picture of the heroine. Is she cute? #
• 10:45 @EdMorrissey Alas, in this economy, there's a lot of clerks happy for the additional ten-twelve hours of paying work. #
• 10:46 @heddahfeddah Taste is about halfway between a common loon and a whooping crane. #
• 17:12 There are things in the world tastier than leftover stuffing, but not many. #

/tweets

Today, every half hour to 45 minutes between now and noon Seattle time, I'll be posting or renewing items on my Etsy site for your shopping pleasure. Stop by and see what's up!

If I count Thanksgiving from sunset to sunset as we do days on the Jewish calendar, then my Thanksgiving festivities began with last night's excursion with oldmangrumpus.

OMGrumpus invited me to be his guest for his company's holiday shindig. It's a small company, maybe 7 people, and so the boss treated the whole team to a night out at Teatro ZinZanni, the one true dinner theater venue in the Seattle area--but don't be put off by the phrase "dinner theater." This isn't community theater with a cafeteria. This is caberet, comedy, and circus arts accompanied by a five-course gourmet meal created by Tom Douglas, the chef behind some of Seattle's most remarkable restaurants.

For my foodie friends, here's the menu we enjoyed. I also ordered the wine flight, a half-glass to accompany each course: ( Details, details... )

The entertainment was a sort of revue called "Beaumount & Caswell--Together Forever...Again!" Centered around the tempestuous, on-again off-again relationship between the flamboyant Clifton and the diva Vivi--a passionate, gender-confused pair if there ever was one, the show follows their negotiations for remarriage between outrageously, bodaciously costumed skits. They used audience members liberally (I'll never look at a panini sandwich the same way again). And between their skits, the audience was treated to songs performed by the smoky-voiced Francine Reed, contortions performed by Vita Radionova, arial gymnastics by Erika & Andrew (she'd had a baby in July and looked as lean as if the entire thing had never happened), and comedy and acrobatics by Les Petits Frere.

Though I enjoyed the Beaumount and Caswell stuff well enough, I think I enjoyed the circus arts performances almost more. Some of the B&C stuff felt a little forced to me, though I'm not sure why. Francine Reed sang her guts out; she was marvelous. And Erika & Andrew and Vita were all captivating.

Today was Thanksgiving with jackwilliambell at DVE's place: turkey, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, yams, cranberry sauce shaped like cans, gravy, two kinds of pie, dark chocolate pudding--all homemade. That girl can cook! Lovely evening--lots of food.

And now, I'm for bed. It promises to be a busy weekend, and I have miles to go....

• 08:49 bit.ly/8SkyiH A nice treat for me this morning. #
• 08:51 @btannebaum Yup. Real risk that you've got a bot that's letting somebody else control your computer. #
• 09:01 SWMBO just came back from Walk to End Hunger, and brought Cinnabons. That's ending my hunger, for awhile. Yum. #
• 09:11 @heddahfeddah Okay, that's Jill -- what happened to Jack? #
• 09:14 @gideonstrumpet I'm trying, I'm trying. #
• 09:24 @btannebaum Then a scrape and restore is almost certainly the right way to go. #
• 09:36 bit.ly/7qx984 Ball Tapping Epidemic. #
• 12:13 @dsilverman Say hi to Jerry for me. #
• 15:14 Full. Brined turkey definitely a success. #
• 15:17 @EdMorrissey there is a mincemeat pie here. A slice is a certainty. Where is my perfumed feather? #

/tweets

Snurched from mysticalforest: Recipes are key on Thanksgiving, and regionality makes all the difference. The NY Times provides a really nifty tool showing what recipes are most commonly searched for in each state via a clever interactive map. What do people in your state typically search for most? Check it out.

Thanksgiving is a day when we express our gratitude for all the goodness in our lives. My brother, my friends, my kitties are my goodness. And as an expression of my gratitude, I share with you one of my top ten favorite sequences from Friends, perhaps the only time you'll ever see Courtney Cox with a turkey on her head:


Garrison Keillor observes that on Thanksgiving we gather among our kin who know us a little too well, and put civility to a true test. He also gives Sarah Palin props for encouraging the conservative right to join the book-buying public. Well, I'll give her that anyway, but no more--and neither will he.

And lest we forget, you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant (excepting Alice).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. So many of us are having a tough time right now, but having each other makes it all a little easier and for that--having each other--I'm truly thankful.

to decadentdave!

• 18:38 The turkey is in the brine. I say again: the turkey is in the brine.\ #
• 18:40 @colinsamuels I love "Cigarette?" "Yes, I know." #
• 18:42 bit.ly/6XcwrR Tasers? Bambi? Really? #
• 18:45 @Webster I assume the question wasn't: "You're kidding, aren't you?" #
• 18:46 @gideonstrumpet The show was better. #
• 18:53 @colinsamuels Yeah. Me, I've got the MPD. That's enough. #
• 18:53 @colinsamuels Alas. #
• 18:54 @jim7226 I know there's worse crimes in the world, but, well, sheesh. #
• 18:55 @gideonstrumpet Well, I like the very simple theme I'm using. #
• 18:56 @gideonstrumpet It's the well-named VeryPlainText. #
• 18:57 @gideonstrumpet I like it, actually, but it is a little busy. #
• 18:58 @Webster I was thinking of Marty running for guvnor. #
• 18:59 @jim7226 Understood. There's just nothing okay about it, at all. #
• 19:00 @jim7226 I feel particularly bad for the folks who were hunting that particular deer, for years. #
• 19:01 @Webster Seriously, it doesn't. Pro-self-defense Democrats are not a secret to me. I sleep with one regularly. #
• 19:02 @Webster That said, I'm not a fan of Marty, on many issues, including RKBA. #
• 19:03 @JeenaBelil bit.ly/3Z4jUj #
• 19:04 @jim7226 Alas, sometimes virtue is its own reward. Other than that, I got nothing on this. #
• 19:05 @ThatLawyerDude Well, I do try to keep it from her, but given that it's, well, her . . . #
• 19:06 @Webster Me, too, but I'm thinking that's unlikely. I think it's a done deal. Hope so. #

/tweets

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Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!