From the land of misbegotten themes for your holiday tree:

We just finished the legal adoption for my friends’ teenage kid. We had so many people in the courtroom that there weren't enough seats, plus another 25 folks on Zoom. The judge cried when verbalizing the decree. She said she was so happy to see an adoption with so many family there to support.

For reasons I’m not sure I want to understand, I woke up a couple of days ago with “Here Comes Santa Claus” stuck on repeat in my head. I had to resort to “Tubthumping” to expel it.

I dropped my laptop on my foot. Broke six bones.

This movie is about the disappointment and regret of doing what society says you’re supposed to do instead of following your heart. George has no allies in this film. Even his so-called guardian angel isn’t looking out for him. Clarence focuses only on what other people have sucked out of George.

Wtf is this?

Who thought this was a good idea?

Achievement unlocked

I ascended to Whamhalla in Costco. I sang along, embracing my fate. An employee was also singing along softly when he noticed me. We joined our voices in a rousing chorus, laughing, as befits our ascent.

My useless superpower strikes again: i someone just grabbed my elbow to ask directions. I get asked for directions at least once per week. Borders and language barriers do not matter.

What I love about this cover is how absolutely none of the people on it are interacting with each other in any way. They're all up on that beam lecturing the pigeons.

On the streets of San Francisco. The signal fairies are pretty fickle.

Cookie Swirl was last seen in CLT. Help a stuffy get home!

For reasons I cannot explain, I woke up with Ruby Soho playing in my head. youtu.be/GeFr4_CADp4

In my inbox: I don’t want you to miss the debate on if Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Me: I do not, under any circumstances, give even one single fuck about if Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

I passed a car on the 101 with the license plate PPTJEDI.

My friend with a 6-year-old has just informed me that the Scholastic Book Fair has morphed from the cherished part of my childhood where I bought dozens of books to a monster that has little association with books but lots with cheap toys. My inner 6-year-old is about to have a full-on meltdown.

Current status after 2 weeks away from home and trying to get some work done

I do miss the LiveJournal days.

Of course my flight home is delayed. Come on, Chicago, get it together. I’m tired and I am ready to go home.

At this conference, someone is handing out badge ribbons that say “tired feet”. 😆

I deplaned at 10:15. It is now 11:20 and I am finally in a taxi to the hotel. If I am in a room before 1am, I will call it a miracle.

My delayed flight landed at ORD at 7:45pm. It is 9:15pm and there is nary a gate in sight.

At the gate for my delayed flight, there is a 2-row buffer zone of empty seats, with an elderly couple at the center. I sat in the buffer zone without questioning why it’s there. The couple are watching something together and loudly commenting on it back and forth. Now I’m wondering how to escape.

I am deeply annoyed by ads in the United app. Just let me see my delayed flight status without anything else to scroll past!

Snowed in! No Chicago for me tonight.

This hit me hard. I somehow survived the classic cutoff. It shouldn’t still be there for the next generations.

The Thanksgiving episode of WKRP gets better on every re-watch.

When I was looking for a house for my father a couple of years ago, my house inspector called me 10 minutes into the inspection on the house I’d put an offer on and said “we are NOT buying this”.

This is a thing of beauty.

A pallet of pumpkin pies at Costco

You can have the pies and the green bean casserole.

Whelp.

Cabi and Sauvi are purebred American Alley Cats. They were found under a car in a dentist’s parking lot in San José and they are perfect in every way.

I am SO BORED with constantly seeing cheap knock-offs of the Studio Ghibli style everywhere. Your conference registration page is not enhanced by a Ghibli-style image of the Golden Gate Bridge. Stop it.

United's text chatbot is about 10x less helpful than Clippy.

This is not conducive to completing the rest of my work today #catsofbluesky

This is political social media perfection. I hope someone’s writing a book about how this campaign has absolutely crushed its social media strategy.

Password reset day always appears at the worst possible time.

“I could smell the onions and mustard.” I bet this poor snowflake of a BP agent can’t walk down the condiments aisle at the grocery store without getting PTSD.

If you’ve also been feeling pretty beaten up about *waves hands at the universe*, check out the rescue operation for Cat’s new dog Velveteen. Strangers came together to save this dog. It’s heart warming in the best way possible. I needed the reminder that not everything sucks.

Cabi smooshed up in his desk nest

I would like to read this book.

On a light pole in Mountain View

Look at this perfect Sauvi loaf!

At the Apple Store, my tshirt is close to the official color. I’ve helped three people so far, but haven’t been able to get any help myself. Do I get a commission for the laptop and monitor I just sold?

@rougeforever.bsky.social The National Trust needs your expertise!

My stomach is upset. As a native Michigander, the only possible cure for an upset stomach is Vernor’s ginger ale. I used to be able to reliably get it at a couple of Safeways in the Bay Area, but now I can’t find it anywhere nearby. I shall die of upset tummy.

Today is one of my favorite holidays on my calendar: Hobonichi 2026 On-Sale Day. They are still shipping to the US from Japan. The base shipping cost is $47, plus I prepaid another $30 in tariffs. Last year’s shipping, on a much larger order, was $30, and of course there were no tariffs.

@nora.zone The little cat forgot to step on the wizard in the morning, so the charm that was sharing the wizard’s goings on has wore off. Maybe it needs some freshly ground herb?