holiday music

My top 10 holiday songs in my iTunes playlist right now, in random order.

A couple of them are songs I don't usually like, but I really like this version. Others are childhood favorites that I just can't resist. And Chiron Beta Prime and The Holly King are songs I admit to listening to year round.

• Chiron Beta Prime by Jonathan Coulton
• Carol Of The Bells by Angels Of Venice
• The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams
• A Winter Wassail by Faith And The Muse
• The Holly King by Lady Isadora
• The Holly & the Ivy by Loreena McKennitt
• God rest ye merry Gentlemen by Loreena McKennitt
• Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht by Andrea Bocelli
• Do You Hear What I Hear? by Duels
• White Christmas by Amazing Pilots
• Sleigh Ride by The Late Greats

Piratey splendor

Arrrrrrrr ye ready fer Talk Like a Sea Dog Tide?

The Official Site for International Talk Like A Pirate Day has great gobs o' goodies, including pirate pickup lines, songs, photos, games and even piratey knitting patterns. Arrrrglye socks anyone?

Pop o'er t' their links page t' use some mighty swell translators that'll add some piratical splendor t' yer own words, or translate a web page into properly piratified lingo. Even a Post Like A Pirate thingy (for twitterers) and an Aye Phone App.

By Dave Barry's bones! They've got it all! Don't believe me? Take a gander at the guide to pirate-speak auf Deutsch. Helpful if yer a monolingual Landratte like me, and ye be needin' to know what the Irrlichter might be, or how t' order the Smutje to be sent t' the sharks fer spoilin' the Käpt'n's Schillerlocken.

* * *

For I dream of the skull and the crossbones,
I dream of the great day to come,
When I dump the mundane for the Old Spanish Main
And trade my computer for rum! ARRR!

T' me,
Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho,
It's "Talk Like A Pirate" Day!

--from the official Talk Like A Pirate Day song, by th' swashbucklin' songsmith an' filker, Tom Smith

Jolly Pirate Fish image c/o the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

TLAPD Tomorrow

Gearing up for International Talk Like A Pirate Day (September 19) by browsing through some of Cap'n Slappy's words of wisdom in the Ask Cap'n Slappy archives.

Dear Cap'n Slappy,

Do you have to have a Parrot to be a pirate or talk like one??

- Anon

Ahoy Parrot-head!

It's "Talk Like a Pirate" day, NOT "Talk Like a Parrot" day! The parrot is as much a part of Talk Like a Pirate Day as it would be at a Jimmy Buffet concert. Nice set dressing, but it doesn't make the songs any sweeter! The best parrots are the "stuffed/dead" ones. Unless you like to dress in newsprint.

Could you imagine "Talk Like a Parrot Day?" People would be gutting each other in the streets. "STOP REPEATING WHAT I SAY IN THAT HIGH NASAL VOICE! YOU #*#@($)#@!!!" people would say just before slitting you open with their cutlass.

Now, if you have a parrot, that's great! Treat them with care and they will be great gifts for your great grand children, but for the love of Neptune, leave them in their cages on September 19. And for Jimmy's sake, don't take them to the concert!

- Cap'n Slappy

Happy Newt Day!

Expat Newt Dreams of Home

Yes, it seems unlikely, but by my calculations Newt Day has reached the 15 year mark, which is worth just a little more attention than we usually give it. So, for a Leave It To Me challenge at TWTME I just couldn't resist doing a newt related image.

And I say to the lowly newt: Woot woot!

4 out of 5 Pirates and Pastafarians I've polled about Newt Day approve of this holiday for their compatriots who celebrate holidays.
(Poll was not even vaguely scientific)

Disclaimer: This holiday is not acknowledged by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (but a couple of us think it should be). No newts were harmed in bringing you this holiday. Some restrictions may apply. Newts may not be available nor interested in sharing the holiday in your area. Not affiliated with that other popular holiday that also falls on February 14th. No cherubs, cards, roses, chocolate or sparklies necessary to celebrate.

Credits:
The original background photo belongs to ☼ Helder.
The original newt can be seen here on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website,
and is listed as public domain.

FSM Cookies

fsmcookies8
Originally uploaded by fsmcookies

There's a step-by-step how-to on making FSM cookies on flickr if you follow the link from the image. I MUST try this!

Holiday in Virginia

Holiday in Virginia
Originally uploaded by Pockafwye

Catching up.

A lot has happened since my last post. The Mister and I flew out to Virginia to visit my family out there over Christmas. We had a lovely time, and among others we got to visit with Niece C, Nephew P and my 90 year old grandmother.

Grandma is amazing. She may be more frail, and move more slowly than she did years ago, but she's still sharp and beautiful, and still has her sense of humor.

The fingerless gloves I knitted for her fit, wonder of wonders. My hands are so very much bigger than hers, and I didn't have anyone around who wears her size to try them on. They are wool, cashmere and silk, so they should breathe well and be warm and comfy against her skin. If I could wear wool I'd make myself a pair of them from the same yarn in a heartbeat. I'm just glad I can knit with it, even if I can't wear it.

My step-brother-in-law is Italian, and his family joined us for a sumptuous multi-course Christmas dinner, complete with a cheese plate, oysters Rockefeller casserole (which I forgot to take photos of... Doh!), ham, home fried potatoes, lasagna, and almost too many kinds of desserts to count. My step-sister made an amazing orange and cranberry sauce to go with the ham. I think I ate more of the cranberry sauce than the ham.

My step-brother was there for the weekend, too. I haven't seen him in ages. We've never been close, but it was good to see him, and he seemed to be doing well.

My Honey and I bought each other new Crocs. The kind with the fuzzy lining in them. That came in immensely helpful, because my foot started to swell up the day we were to fly out. It had been doing a little swelling for maybe two months before, but not like this. My foot was swelling too much to wear regular shoes, but Crocs are so loose and comfy I could still wear them even with warm, thick socks. So we opened the crocs as soon as we arrived so we could enjoy our comfy feet during the visit.

We flew out just in time, I'm told, because there were white out conditions the following day that would have made flying out much more difficult. They had chilly days at home, and snow, while we enjoyed temperatures as high as the 50's and 60's F, and a little rain. The locals in Virginia were quick to mention that it was getting cold at night (down in the 20's to 30's F) but it was still warmer than what we've been seeing the last few weeks in Minnesota.

While we were visiting we discovered a lovely local pear port, made by the Horton winery. It was tasty enough to buy some to bring home, which now-a-days means finding a way to keep it from being smashed in your checked-through luggage. Wasn't such a big deal back when you could still carry a bottle of wine in your carry-on luggage. But it made it home without incident.

My Mister and I don't celebrate Christmas left to our own devices (though we do observe the winter solstice and Pastafarian season of Holiday). But Christmas is a very big deal for the rest of the family, and we enjoy being able to share it with them. Our extended family is so spread out that we don't get to see more than a few of them at a time each year. But we try to at least make sure we call on the phone to touch bases. And this year a number of my family members have added Pastafarian Holiday to their winter celebrations, so there was an added level of cheer all around.

Ack, which reminds me that I still haven't mailed out my holiday cards. Good thing they are "season's greetings" cards (to cover the variety of holidays celebrated by my friends this time of year). Note to self: get that taken care of this weekend.

Any way, be brought games for all the adults in the house. We played several games of Settlers of Catan, and a card game called Fluxx. Dad hooked the laptop up to his TV and I showed the kids what the winter holiday in Azeroth (World of Warcraft) looks like. Niece C especially liked watching that, and perched next to me as I made the run through some of the seasonal quests. My Honey also demonstrated the PC game Portal for me and Dad. I couldn't enjoy trying to play a game with so many mind bending changes of perspective, but watching the Mister play it was a whole lot of fun.

Dad and Grandma took me to a wonderful little yarn store near (in?) Middleburg, VA, and let me pick out some yummy yarns. I picked all things I can actually wear. Recycled sari silk, bamboo, and soy silk. Grandma really liked a Möbius cowl that was on display, knitted of very fine mohair and sprinkled with delicate beads. After looking it over for a bit I offered to make one for her, so I got the yarn for that as well. I've never knitted with anything so delicate before, but I am really looking forward to this project. Just need to go out and get some beads and a beading needle to get started.

It was a plush toy Christmas for me. I fell in love with a stuffed toy manatee (I named him Hugh) while shopping for the niece and neffling, and my Honey bought it for me. And I was also given a plush turkey vulture, along with other lovely presents. Niece C and Nephew P drew us some very detailed pictures, too, which was delightful.

Most of the adults went out after Christmas dinner to see the Tim Burton movie Sweeny Todd (based on the Stephen Sondheim stage musical). Not a jolly, happy holiday film, but then we're not a "normal" family. I'd watch a recital of the phone directory if it was directed by Tim Burton. And I particularly enjoy Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman and my Mister especially likes nearly anything with Helena Bonham Carter in it. So we were all for my step-sister's plan to make that our post-dinner outing. The film was dark and disturbing, funny and touching, and the sets, costumes and visual effects were lavishly macabre. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Knitting and cake by candle light

Knitting and cake by candle light
Originally uploaded by Pockafwye

My Honey was on the party committee at his company this year, and the final big event was the holiday party. It was quite a nice event, good food, lots of people having lots of fun. They had a casino night theme, so there were lots of games for everyone to play.

Walking around the Eden Prairie Center shopping mall earlier in the day sent several of my muscles into an unhappy spasm, so I spent most of the evening at our dining table.

I generally try to avoid all shopping malls during December. I'm not an enthusiastic shopper at the best of times. But I've been doing so much better lately, and the shopping needed doing. So I made the trip, bought the necessary items, and paid for all the hiking through crowds a short time later.

At any rate, I finished the cuff on one of my grandmother's mittens while people danced and my Mister mixed and mingled, did his party committee duties, and won tons of raffle tickets at the Texas Holdem table. Even so, he came back to check on me frequently. I was in good company at the table, and was glad he didn't feel tied down because of my limitations.

Not surprisingly, someone knitting in the middle of a party with 600 attendees did draw some odd stares. Go figure.

Now I'm on the couch with the laptop, and the kitties are taking turns sitting with me and providing me with cat gravity.

I've got a bunch of work I brought home from the office that needs doing, so I'm going to grab a snack and make some progress on that.

The project, a label design, has been a poster child for scope creep for the last two weeks. We told the department in question before we started this project that the deadlines were contingent on my having what I need in the way of data, and not being showered with change requests during design and implementation. That being said, inflexible plans involving travel were made for testing based on those deadlines.

Of course, we're up to our eyeballs in change requests and data revisions. It's all things that can be handled except there has been no adjustment to deadlines in response to the changes, and now questions are dropping out of the adminisphere about why the project is behind. I'm too low on the totem pole to dictate deadline changes, so I need to adapt in response. Joy.

I'll be glad when I put this project behind me.

Caution Hot Surface

Caution Hot Surface
Originally uploaded by Pockafwye

We flew out to North Carolina for Thanksgiving this year to spend it with my cousins. The weather was lovely, the food was splendid, and everyone had a wonderful time.

We're still here (visiting) until day after tomorrow. One of my cousins has been back from an extended army deployment for only a few months, and I hadn't seen him in nearly a decade when he came back. So it's been great getting to introduce him and my other cousins to my husband, and having time to relax and get to know one another again.

We used a Char-Broil Big Easy infrared cooker to cook the turkey. The rim of the cooker was stamped "Caution Hot Surface."

There are more photos from the visit on my flickr page.

Call me Scrooge

Gray, foggy, drizzly day. NOAA says it's a 42°F (6°C) outside right now. But it's likely to get cold in a day or two.

Sometimes I'm reminded that I'll never be mistaken for a Minnesota native. I got an invitation through my employer to be in the Holidazzle parade as:

... a Jingle Elf, Toy Soldier, Holiday Light Bulb or one of many other storybook characters!

I know a lot of folks here are really excited by the Holidazzle tradition. And it does look (from what I've seen on TV) like an especially good parade. But I have just never been excited enough about any parade to sit outside on a December night in Minnesota to watch a parade go by. So I don't see myself dressing up as a giant light bulb to hike along with one any time soon.

Besides, when I figure in how excited I was yesterday to be able to go grocery shopping without pain, marching beside a float doesn't seem like a great idea.

Discombobulated grocery list

Catrina in the window
Originally uploaded by Pockafwye

Current temp outside: 36°F (2°C) overcast and calm.

Snowed a bit this morning. Just enough to make everything damp. The cats are flopped all over the floor, napping in the weak sun coming through the patio door. The exception is Catrina, who is watching the squirrel feeding station in case one of the chipmunks or squirrels should happen to come by. Of course, as soon as Catrina switches to a different window, one of the chipmunks starts raids on the seeds she'd just been watching.

Spent part of the morning figuring out the grocery list for our Thanksgiving in NC with relatives. My Joe and I are cooking the main dishes, and dessert is taken care of already. Keeping things uncomplicated, but yummy.

Here's what I ended up sending in my email.

2 medium onions. Sweet (i.e. Vidalia) onions if possible, else brown.

sage (dried)

salt

pepper

2 eggs

butter (unsalted) at least a couple of sticks

1 bulb of fresh garlic

rosemary (fresh, only need a few sprigs)

mild Italian sausage (1/3 lb or about 2 sausages worth)

Bag or box of dried bread cubes (or a loaf of bread to be dried the night before if no plain cubes are available). NOT boxed pre-flavored stuffing mix.

A red apple. Prefer one of the crisper brands, not mealy like red delicious. Fuji, gala, honeycrisp, or whatever is good in your region.

Turkey or chicken broth as available. Preferably one of the boxed "natural" brands like Pacific. 2 of the 1 qt sized boxes or cans. Will be used in gravy and dressing.

Non-stick spray. Preferably the "Mazola Pure" brand. Doesn't matter which "flavor". We usually buy the "butter" one since it's a better multi-tasker.

1 small jar/can of chestnuts (not water chestnuts) if you like them in your dressing. They're spendy, so consider them optional.

A 1/4 cup or so all purpose flour (for the gravy)

Salad (?) - whatever you like in your salad. Especially tomatoes if they're still flavorful where you live. Salad dressing.

We like green beans, steamed and then lightly tossed with olive oil that has been infused with a bit of garlic and a bit of caramelized onion. So a bunch of fresh green beans, enough for 6 adults. If you are from the "must have green bean casserole" tradition instead, get whatever is usually used to make that instead and we'll figure it out.

A wisk for the gravy.

Bread rolls if you want them. Believe it or not, the Pillsbury frozen dinner rolls are quite tasty.

We planned on doing savory chipotle mashed sweet potatoes. For that we'd need enough whole, raw yams/sweet potatoes (whichever looks better in your grocery store) for the 6 adults, figuring a half of a large yam for each. We figured it's more kid-friendly than our other favorite yam dish.

Tobasco brand sauce, chipotle flavor. Small size is fine. (http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_tent/pepper_sauce/chipotle_pepper_sauce.cfm)

I'm bringing frozen cranberry sauce in my luggage. Easier and tastier made ahead.

Potatoes for mashing if you want regular mashed potatoes along with the mashed yams. If we go this way, we may not need quite so many yams.

A strainer/colander for draining potatoes.

Either a bit of milk, or some half and half for the mashed potatoes, depending on how rich you like them.

Tupperware for leftovers =)

Turkey notes: I understand we'll be using an oil-free "fryer". Joe says this new fryer thing lets you collect the turkey drippings (?) That's good news for the gravy.

Needless to say, if you do any prep to the bird before we arrive, please make sure to save the neck and other bits inside for the gravy.

Joe would like to brine the turkey the night before. We'll bring the brining spices. He'll also need a clean, unscented plastic trash bag, an ice chest that the turkey will fit into, and about 10 lbs of ice cubes. For a more flavorful brine, a couple of extra quarts of broth would be a bonus.