Normally, by this point in the winter, I have at least a couple of amaryllis going crazy next to my computer, and a couple of trios of paperwhites standing tall and displaying dozens of little flowers. This year, like just about everything else, I got a late start on the purchase and planting of the usual winter bulbs, and I've only just this week started the first set of those that need chilling doing their dormancy thing while those amaryllis are showing red and growing buds that should bloom soon...but not until the new year is a couple of days old at least, with the paperwhites about a week after that.
Today, at least, I finally was able to get to the garden center and pick up another bag of the good organic potting soil, so after I've finished my Top Comments duties, I'll be heading down to the basement to pot another couple of amaryllis and another round of bulbs that need chilling, but it's hard to pot up bulbs without any soil for them to live in. You might even call it counterproductive. Well, I would, at any rate, since I'm not as fond of paperwhites sprouting on wet pebbles as I am of them in soil. Just the way I am, I guess.
I'm in for a fairly short season of amaryllis this year. While I did pick up a nice group of bulbs, including a couple of my favorite varieties—all red ones, admittedly—they're all quite eager to sprout this year, and I'm guessing that the blooming season isn't going to last much past mid-February. I have one that's taking its time showing a bud stalk, so I'm going to hold off potting it for a few weeks at least, in the hopes of having at least one final beacon of red to last me through into March.
The major accomplishment of the day, even before I went out to score the soil, was to finish my charitable donations for the year. I left it until late, but fortunately more and more organizations offer the ability to make on-line donations (and, from the way they word their sites, seem to prefer them over mailed-in checks, all other things being equal). It's very satisfying, at this darkest time of the year—the absence of any appreciable snow on the ground at the moment makes it a bit darker, though I'm not complaining about that at all—to be able to send some light where it's needed. Never enough, but some, which is always a good thing.
It's good to be here among friends as the year draws to a close, and I imagine I'll be stopping in tomorrow night, since it's become my habit to stay off the roads on New Years Eve. I hope you all are well, and that you have a good 2012: better than 2011 in all ways. And that you find some winter flowers to brighten your life in the days and weeks ahead.
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There were a few comment nomination tonight, so a big thank you to those who remembered us before that daily deadline of 9:30pm eastern. Our email address is:
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
(change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to ".")
Anyone can send us great comments. Be sure to include the direct link to a comment—the URL—which is available from that comment's date/time; we need that to find your choice. Please always include your Daily Kos user name in the body of your message, so we can credit you properly. If you send a writeup with the link, we are able to include that, too, though we reserve the right to edit. Oh yeah: we do accept internal DKos mail to the Top Comments account, but we're still trying to remember to check it, so gmail is a tad safer, unless you plan to be visiting the diary to make sure we looked.
In a submission that arrived in that internal DKos mailbox minutes after last night's Top Comments diary was posted, ban nock provided the following (with extra explication by sardonyx):
In twigg's diary Cenk Uygur Broke my Firefox!, LaughingPlanet has the best comment on Cenk's stirring.
From therehastobeaway (writeup by sardonyx):
In priceman's diary Don't Pretend You Care About These Issues When Defending the President, zonk reminds us of the actions of past great presidents when faced with similar issues.
From bronte17:
JekyllnHyde shares a great sound bite 'toon in the post The Most Important Union Organizing Effort Since the 1930s by TomP.
From sardonyx (your what happened to 2011 Friday diarist):
In commonmass's tribute to his beloved grandmother, My Grandmother Has Died At 91, he adds this wonderful comment about how he wished he could have gotten her to blog...and why.
I had a lot of fun reading Bill in Portland Maine's year-in-review survey final installment, aka Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY—yes, even without any rum or coke—and typed up this intro on the assumption that I'd be able to find a top comment below. There were good ones, but nothing I truly feel I can nominate, so I urge you to read the many fine items in the diary itself. Barney Frank's always good for a top comment, or you can read this Charlie Pierce original, as channeled by Ed Tracey. Or you might find a comment you think is tops that my skimming eyes didn't appreciate as they ought.
Please add your own comment finds below!
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Top mojo is from comments made all day on Thursday, December 29, 2011. The listing is courtesy of the wonderful mojo generator created by mik, and only excludes tip jars and other first diary comments.
1) I'm committed to supporting Pres. Obama in 2012 by Adam B — 299
2) What Fox News Does Best by JekyllnHyde — 148
3) If I understand this diary by david mizner — 137
4) Libertarianism would scare its right wing by LaFeminista — 133
5) Hahahahahahahahahahahahah​a by TexDem — 128
6) I like it! Imagine the angst of millions by Clive all hat no horse Rodeo — 124
7) I'm always sort of at a loss to understand Obama by Pilkington — 124
8) It's too simple. by Adam B — 109
9) why does it take europeans to see this? by xxdr zombiexx — 107
10) So let me get this straight by nyceve — 103
11) What's that sauce covering the Santorum? by Dallasdoc — 101
12) The Mitt by Debbie in ME — 90
13) Don't worry, the IQ is still falling by Puddytat — 86
14) TY! One example, anywhere on earth, anytime ever. by genethefiend — 85
15) and as a convenient euphemism by limpidglass — 85
16) ? by david mizner — 80
17) I've had to stop trying to "understand" by trinityfly — 77
18) vote against Cenk right here: by G2geek — 77
19) And there's a Damn good reason why the watch Faux by dmhlt 66 — 76
20) Because we have a seriously ignorant, and dumbed by LamontCranston — 74
21) This diary makes zero mention by buddhistfist13 — 74
22) Thank you, Chauncey, for this by Ian Reifowitz — 74
23) Exactly. by googie — 73
24) Sometimes life just hands you a Mitt Sandwich. n/t by Dartagnan — 73
25) Libertarianism, like "Supply Side Economics" by eztempo — 72
26) You have to be outside looking in to get by LaFeminista — 71
27) The Mitt by Richard Cranium — 70
28) Santorum LOVES Groups Unfamiliar with Google by dmhlt 66 — 70
29) society is some kind of extremely tenuous balance by limpidglass — 70
30) The one common thing in all their sandwiches by dalfireplug — 69