Category: Random

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Today I learned: Ded Moroz

This afternoon one of my friends started talking about Ded Moroz and Ukrainian tree traditions and anyway my mind is blown.

My Jewish Family Always Had a Christmas Tree — But Not for Christmas

I had no idea about ANY of this.

We just had Santa/Saint Nicholas, and another one…Black Piet, I think? Not the weird Dutch blackface one, but just a second Santa Claus figure who followed along dressed in black robes (not red) and had the job of handing out the coal to the bad kids (presumably so that Santa wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty, literally or metaphorically).

(Side note: Stardew Valley has made me see coal as a good present.)

I’m not sure if this was just my family’s adaptation of Krampus or what. But anyway, just wanted to share!

Have an amusing meme

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A NSFW neologism

When you take precautions so that other people can’t hear you going at it, that’s called OPSEX.

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I’m still planning my retirement

See, I’m happily planning for mine

I’m fairly certain the optimism/pessimism thing is about mental health, not cold hard facts? Because the future is SO uncertain in the exact degree of suckitude it’s gonna entail.

And even though I generally agree with Tolkien’s Long Defeat philosophy, that the world is getting steadily worse, I also agree with Tolkien’s point that the stuff we’ve got is pretty damn good.

And I know saying that doesn’t do shit against clinical depression, I’m not trying to cure anybody, you know? It’s just. That’s where I’m at.

I started drafting this post in October of 2023, apparently? Wow. Anyway, here it is.

I am still planning my retirement.

Hold to hope, friends.

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Luxuries vs Necessities

Saw this video today, and thought it was worth sharing. Tl;dw : in the past, luxuries were relatively much more expensive than they are now.

This also reminds me of how, when I was a high schooler (late 90’s) making a prospective budget for when I moved out, I put down $2500/mo for food and $500/mo for rent. My mom saw it, laughed, and told me to swap those two numbers. Rent wasn’t $2500 bad at that time (my first crappy apartment was $1000/mo in 2006) but it wasn’t $500, either.

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Avocado baby

When I was pregnant, I followed a calendar (Alpha mom, it’s linked in the Extra Crispy Baby section of this website) that would tell you what size the baby was each week. Usually it was compared to a fruit, but not always.

Anyway, today someone posted “The FBI reward for the shooter is now up to the cost of one (1) C-section birth” and the parallels really hit me like a truck. Anyway, someone should make a graphic of reward levels and which medical procedures (without insurance) they would cover.