GRANDMAS TOASTED BY AN OPEN FIRE

Sunday, December 14. 2008

GRANDMAS TOASTED BY AN OPEN FIRE

I’ve returned to Domain, and I made all As this semester. (Again) My first night back, Fenton’s family sang Christmas carols for me. While I couldn’t hear anything, the canines in the house certainly could!
We had a holiday party for just the family, and Gran made up a batch of her legendary carrot-nog. I had just a sip, and boy did it clear the sinuses. Gran and Elanor both had more than they should and they ended up sharing confidences. I wouldn’t say that it brought them closer together, but they did drop their reserve and were more brutally honest than usual. I’d say they now understand each other a little better.
Elanor went upstairs to her room afterwards and slept it off. Meanwhile, it was up to me to walk Gran back to George and Danielle’s place. I was worried that we might encounter predators while Gran was in no condition to defend herself. I was fully prepared to use my quills but fortunately it was a silent night.
I considered giving out the recipe for Gran’s carrot-nog, but as I know from experience humans have a different physiology and I don’t want anyone injured by it.

So, instead I’ll just list the ingredients:
carrot juice
vanilla soy milk
egg substitute
heavy cream
sugar
nutmeg
brandy
Kentucky bourbon
(These are not listed in relation to the amount used!)
Finally, I’d like to really, really thank Terri the Tiger for answering the question about porn last week in the Comments section, thereby sparing me the embarrassment of doing it!

Posted by Lindesfarne at 12:00 | Comments (26) | Trackbacks (0)

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Glad your g-mothers are getting along better.
With Christmas coming up, what species were Christ's parents? IIRC, he appeared as the species of whatever person was viewing him to that person. Here, of course, he was human...specifically a Jew. Jews have been persecuted for almost 20 centuries, and in living memory most of their population was killed by a national leader named Hitler (did this horror happen in your world? If so, what species was Hitler?)

#1 Thomas Mazanec (Link) on 2008-12-14 12:18 (Reply)

On this side of the portal, domesticated felines are thought to 'play' with their food. That is, letting it escape so they can capture it again. Some people regard it as a form of sadism. I'd never suspected Aby of it until the day after the carrot-nog incident...

#2 CharlieG on 2008-12-14 12:36 (Reply)

Sadly, the Holocaust did indeed take place here. The definitive history of that was written by the Pulizer Prize-winning documentarian Art Spiegelman. Hitler and the Nazis were feline.

#3 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2008-12-14 12:52 (Reply)

Would the title of that history happen to be "Maus: A Survivor's Tale"?

#3.1 Dani on 2008-12-14 13:06 (Reply)

Over here we have a rather bizarre "controversy" most people ignore called the "War on Christmas," primarily revolving around the use of "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"; yes, some people have no lives.

These people also speak of the secularization of Christmas, usually choosing to ignore the pagan roots of most Christmas traditions, and even Christmas itself (no coincidence December 25th used to be Roman Saturnalia, the Romans being the first to try to mainstream Christianity); heck, a little research points to Jesus Christ's birth happening in the Spring (Biblical scripture), or Summer (star alignments).

In the end, most people just exchange gifts, get together, enjoy company, and just have fun!

#4 ReFlex76 (Link) on 2008-12-14 13:18 (Reply)

Yes, that's the title! A work of incredible power.

#5 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2008-12-14 13:43 (Reply)

Heh... Come now, Lindesfarne, what happened to you asking a question for us every week? Forgot about that already? =P

The Carrot-nog sounds... good, actually. I'm going to have to base that around traditional eggnog and whip up a batch. Maybe. Depending on if I can ever make it to the store. But if I do, I'll let you know how it holds up on this side of the portal.

#6 S c y t h e on 2008-12-14 14:45 (Reply)

I'm still getting settled in from returning from college, and we've been busy decorating and throwing the party. So, my question for you humans is to ask you about your holiday plans.

#7 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2008-12-14 14:51 (Reply)

Holidays don't mean to much for me anymore, especially since my Ma passed back in '05. I'll go over to my Sister and her family's place for a couple days. For New Years, I'll probably spend it with a couple friends of mine. For the remainder of my vacation, I'll probably just hang around the house.

#7.1 Mortar on 2008-12-15 23:05 (Reply)

Being on the level of the food chain can really make some see the real value in the season. One always hopes to see another. Yet...'life' is always too unpredictable to set in stone that there will be another tomorrow.

Yes. The passing of a loved one is always tragic. Perhaps, you just need to find something for today to find the joy in the season, once more. What that is, nobody but you can truly say. But, holiday sadness was exactly what the big three holidays were intended to counter. I hope that in whatever reality you live in, you can find a cause to celebrate in the future. Still, I am aware that there are those that go jumping right into the mouths of the predators to escape the blues of things gone wrong in their lives.

For me, it's pretty easy to be cheered up, this time of year. When ole Saint Nick has set up December to be the season of giving, my mere presence can cause erruptions of song and meeting new folks. I try not to mind being called Rudolph a bazillion times over. It's all the spirit of things. Still...I have to wonder if all us reindeer look alike to other species?

#7.1.1 jup-reindeer on 2008-12-21 04:10 (Reply)

My family's plans for food are very strange for over here. We plan to eat lasagna, garlic bread and a very nice salad for our holiday dinner, watch "A Muppet's Christmas Carol," "It's A Wonderful Life," "Scrooged," and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and maybe a non-Christmas movie that one of us received for a present. We usually open presents when everyone else wakes up.

I remember when my sister and I would both wake at about 5 AM-not unusual for me, but it was for her- and climb into bed with each other until Mom and Dad were awake. We don't usually have family over because my grandmother doesn't like driving in the snow anymore and my Aunt prefers to spend Christmas with her kids, especially since she only has her son for Christmas every other year.

#8 Selina Grace on 2008-12-14 15:51 (Reply)

It's a Wonderful Life. Best. Movie. Ever.

#9 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2008-12-14 15:56 (Reply)

"Maus" was published over here too as a graphic novel, also showing the Germans as feline, the Jews as mice, and American GIs as dogs. He also depicted the Poles as pigs, and often had problems with them (to be called a "pig" over here is quite an insult).

My workplace will be having a small holiday party. There are also some Christmas events in Second Life that I'll be going to. Christmas Day will probably be fairly simple for me with dinner with family and neighbors.

#10 Bixyl Shuftan (Link) on 2008-12-14 16:17 (Reply)

That's interesting about "Maus" on your side. Here, of course, not all citizens of any nation are of one species; every country has a diverse population of fauna; some more diverse than others!

#11 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2008-12-14 16:47 (Reply)

I never quite understood why the human world's "Maus" used animals to stand for people -- it seemed to create more awkwardness than it avoided. Maybe Art and Vladek Spiegelman were channeling their counterparts imperfectly. I wonder how that might work. (Uh-oh; I'd better advise you not to think too hard on that.)

#12 Classic Steve (Link) on 2008-12-14 20:51 (Reply)

Well, I'd tried carrot nog before, but never developed a taste for it; too thick for me (although I never tried Mrs. Kindle's recipe). I generally prefer my carrots neat..... especially when stuck in a mug of mulled hard cider. Now there's a drink to put a shine on your coat and a curl in your tail..... 7@=Q

#13 Lucius Appaloosius on 2008-12-14 21:59 (Reply)

You're quite welcome, Lindesfarne! Glad I could help.

#14 Terri the Tiger on 2008-12-14 22:31 (Reply)

Holiday plans?

Christmas: Work as usual.

New Year's: The norm here in Japan is for two parties: The "bo-nen-kai", in December, and the "shin-nen-kai", in January. In most cases, hosted by your employer.

Although it looks like I won't be attending either one of those, this time around...

#15 Rob in Japan on 2008-12-14 23:08 (Reply)

Well, my family is rather spread out, so we're planning to go down and visit my two branches of my family over Christmas (about 3 hours apart, 7 from here). This actually means two separate Christmases per year, but it usually works out pretty well that way, since most of the families tend to go to see the other side afterward anyway.

As for my family's movies... well, it varies, but you can usually expect "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to show up at some point. My aunt also has this Christmas CD of a 'group' called "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (which is actually one person with the voice increased in pitch, then made to sound like a few different... well, singing chipmunks). She's quite fond of it, though I...um... am less so.

#16 Koronak on 2008-12-14 23:55 (Reply)

I didn't know humans could sing or sound like chipmunks! Here, Alvin and the Chipmunks are, well, chipmunks (what'd you think?) I think they're even less popular here, I don't know anyone who likes em (well a couple of my animation loving friends like the movie, and maybe the singing for camp value ... ) - well, anyone who isn't a 10 year old in the 1960s (note the present tense, the actual 10 year olds from the 1960s grew taste later ... )

#16.1 Ken D. Lion on 2008-12-15 17:16 (Reply)

Oh, I usually find them funny for about the length of one song, but then again I'm easily amused. No, really easily amused; I have some friends that I think have gotten into the habit of letting colorful yarn hang from their pockets when they're around me for exactly that purpose. ahem Oh, and for the record, I was born in 1965, so I wasn't 10 years old in the 60s.

#16.1.1 Terri the Tiger on 2008-12-17 09:27 (Reply)

Well, I'm not sure of their popularity overall over here. They did get a movie (computer animated), though I never saw the thing. They had a cartoon, too, but that was a couple decades ago. I wouldn't call them a major musical group, though.

Oh, and we can be quite good at mimicry when we want to be. 'Course, it doesn't hurt to have a bunch of sound equipment to ...erm... 'tweak' our voices.

#16.1.2 Koronak on 2008-12-19 01:00 (Reply)

Who's keeping them going? I haven't a clue. Though, it seems that they keep making music and movies that are available through some means. I heard that a long time past, some DJ pranked their reunion at a nocturnal hour and it maxed out the phone lines for news on their revival.

Their ever lasting christmas album is torture enough. Must we endure a theatrical revival, too? Besides, Jossie and her pussycat band could blow the 'munks off any stage, any day of the year.

Of course, movies will do just about anything if they bothered to recreate the image of Garfield into a computerized faux and filmed the rest of the world...twice. (Or, maybe the old kitty read the bad script and turned them down. But, why not sue for what they did, then?)

#16.1.3 jup-reindeer on 2008-12-20 05:46 (Reply)

My holiday plans:

On Christmas, I'll probably get up whenever my family wakes me up (I had to move back in with my parents due to financial issues). I'll probably get some coffee and smoke a cigarette (I know, bad for my health, my main New Year's resolution is to work towards better health) while my mother cooks, then once we've eaten breakfast (which normally runs somewhere from rolls to eggs to candy to cookies, depending on what we have lying around) we all open presents, one at a time, in a clockwise circle. Doing it like that, everyone gets to see what everyone else got, and it forces the family to spend more time together (hahaha...) After we're done with all of that, we usually try to catch the end of the Macy's Christmas Parade, then... we go back to our normal lives.

On New Years, I've actually have plans to go to my Sister's New Year's Party (she's not really my sister, but we have a very mutual sibling-love thing going on). Parties are a first for me, I've always been an introvert. The following Saturday AFTER New Year's, I've got ANOTHER party to go to, and the week after that, it's back to work as usual.

Basically, my plans are to spend time with my family and friends, which, in my opinion, is truely what this season is all about. ^_^

#17 S c y t h e on 2008-12-15 10:51 (Reply)

I will work Christmas, though I am trying to have as many winter outings as I can with family members. I was born in 1958, so I love the Chipmunks (although that may be my love of anthropomorphic animals, which is what led me to K&K initially...if they were human children, I would not care for them).

#18 Thomas Mazanec (Link) on 2008-12-18 13:34 (Reply)

Oh my... Whiskey & Brandy?

Well no wonder Elanor was tanked. I can't believe Gran would spike that stuff so much..., then again...

I guess it must also kill the taste of raw carrot juice and soy milk (bleh).

Whiskey or brandy alone is bad enough for us Human's, but both at once? I can only guess the type of Canine hangover Elanor had.

#19 J.J. on 2008-12-21 23:51 (Reply)

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