We've come to December again, that season of lights and holidays and goodies we know we shouldn't eat but do anyway. As I've done in years past, I'll be exploring a variety of seasonal topics over the next three weeks, leading up to December 25th, the Seasonal Holiday celebrated at Casa Brillig. I'd love to say I have the series mapped out, but... isn't part of the Season of Wonder, well... wondering what comes next? :) Follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold after a word from our sponsor...
Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group dKosemailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
This past weekend, Casa Brillig took stock of their holiday lighting situation. We've been converting from old-style lights to LEDs over the past several years, and this year we agreed it was time to ditch every last non-LED holiday bulb. Of course, this meant a Saturday trip to Target, where we chose wisely and got out before it got dark (more on why this is important in a little bit). The following day we decorated the outside of the house. Of course, by we I mean in the sense of "I participated in spirit from the couch where my hurty ankle was elevated and encased in ice packs, while Mr. Brillig and the K's strung lights."
This is the earliest we've EVER had our house decorated. Usually we talk about it at Thanksgiving, really mean to do it the following weekend, and get the lights up somewhere after December 15th and before Christmas Eve. This year, between my broken ankle, Mr. Brillig having some impending knee issues, and K1 having an intense 3 day swim meet this weekend (Teams from all over the region send their best swimmers, with prelims Friday - Sunday AM and finals/supporting teammates in finals each evening) we knew we had to act early. Our candles are in every window, although a glitch on the electronic circuitry keeps foiling the plan to have them lit sunset-midnite. The icicles and little decorated tree-things are on a different circuit and are turning on and off beautifully.
The house looks great, if I do say so myself... cheery, tastefully lit, energy-conscious... what more could we want? Well, we could have the inside decorated and our tree up, but that's impossible even for us. Our trees barely survive two weeks inside without leaving every needle on the floor, so we hold off until mid-December to get that up and decorated.
Remember I mentioned being done at Target before dark? Here's why it's important - the direct route between this Target and our house goes past several of the most highly decorated houses in the area. The houses that make the local and national news every year. The ones that would make Baby Jesus and jim in IA cry. There's an entire circuit that holiday lighting gawkers drive, clogging the road and making what is usually a 5' drive run anywhere between 6-30' depending on the level of stupid. From Thanksgiving until New Year's Day, we avoid travelling that route after dark unless we're not in a rush. I can't find pictures of these houses as they're done up this year, but here's a sampling of previous years' layouts:
The house known to Casa Brillig as "The House With Too Many Lights":
The original house everyone used to drive to see, still pretty impressive:
My question to everyone tonight: Do you decorate for the holidays? If so, when and how much? Candles in the windows, or enough lighting to see from space? Would you do it differently if your living circumstances permitted?
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything
without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do
not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From cohenzee:
From yesterday's yummy Top Comment diary by Noddy is this comment from Railfan continuing a running gag of puns from Sunday's Top Comment diary.
From Noddy:
happymisanthropy calls it on StellaRay's diary AGEISM: The biggest bigotry in America today. Someone, please pay attention.
From Steveningen:
In Chrislove's diary Pat Robertson: Robert E. Lee is "rolling over in his grave" because of lesbian West Point wedding, eataTREE gives us an important little history lesson.
From Yours Truly, brillig:
In jim in IA's diary Turn OFF Your Stupid Lights!, theKgirls took the diarist's idea and adapted it to their kids.
Hunter's diary asks what does it take for FOX to be embarrassed? ontheleftcoast says it's not embarrassment; it's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
Top Mojo for yesterday, December 3rd, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic!
1) Thank you for doing this. by Onomastic — 152
2) Here's what he said by Rich in PA — 150
3) Tom Jackson of ESPN handled this well. by Rich in PA — 142
4) My prediction? by litho — 116
5) btw - if you want an invite to by Denise Oliver Velez — 112
6) Since seems to be clearest on Sunday talk by eXtina — 110
7) The thing I like by AZphilosopher — 105
8) How to lose elections and alienate people by MinistryOfTruth — 102
9) It's barely even discussable here. by Cartoon Peril — 101
10) You mean by Oyibowoman — 100
11) Four people at work have received by Fiddlegirl — 99
12) The tradmed becomes increasingly by TomP — 97
13) True, but nevertheless, by StellaRay — 96
14) Don't look now, but conservatives are busy by filthyLiberalDOTcom — 96
15) I think it may be even simpler. by TomP — 95
16) The problem is gun-worshippers who refuse by freelunch — 92
17) The working elderly have become the norm. by Otteray Scribe — 87
18) They're A Trade Group by Johnny Wendell — 83
19) I love your new sig line. by blue jersey mom — 81
20) Black Kos is one of my favorite features by Grassroots Mom — 77
21) They'll be saying the same thing by litho — 76
22) Time to bring it back by MinistryOfTruth — 73
23) Robert E. Lee committed treason, sedition, and by eataTREE — 73
24) A large, well-known company removed my pension by wader — 72
25) I've said pretty much the same thing about... by rserven — 70
26) You have been one of the strongest by Denise Oliver Velez — 68
27) I agree. Notice how being 55-plus is never a by SoCaliana — 68
28) But...but... by political mutt — 67
29) They don't know what hit them by elmo — 67
30) Yes, the need for "content" and their egos by TomP — 66
31) the attacks on tenure and seniority by leftangler — 66
Top Pictures for yesterday, December 3rd. Thank you
Jotter!