No, this isn’t a Green Day-themed diary; rather, it’s a celebration of a 7th anniversary. Grab a cup of strong coffee and some popcorn, and join me below the fold after a word from our sponsor…
Seven years ago, I was in a hotel in Awassa, Ethiopia after meeting my son’s birth relatives at their house, which looked an awful lot like this one (linking because I don’t have permission to upload the image). Mr. Brillig, K1 and I met the fourth member of our family for the first time the day before, and then spent a week in Ethiopia before returning home on December 5th (the diary after we got home, with some pictures from that trip). It feels both like yesterday and forever ago since that time.
In these seven years we’ve watched K2 grow, flourish, stumble, and pick himself up again. Watched him embrace this life and make it his own, and enrich our family by his presence. Every year around this time, I think back to the early days when we met in a dusty courtyard at the orphanage in Addis Ababa, and learned to communicate even though we had no language in common. This year is interesting because K2 is the exact same age K1 was when we traveled across the world to become a forever family. I look at pictures and cannot help but go “she was 11, he’s 11 now”. Followed by “she’s 18 now, and the time went SO fast… in the blink of an eye, he will be too.”
Time marches on, and seems to fly ever quicker. I’m feeling it tonight, thanks to old memories and that now-constant dread about what the future holds for all of us. I never imagined this future fraught with uncertainty and chaos when I hugged that little boy for the first time and called him my son. I hope that together we can mitigate what damage appears inevitable and restore some of the promise we all held in our hearts way back forever ago in November 2009.
Oh, that coffee and popcorn? As part of the goodbye ritual at the orphanage before we headed to the airport, there was a coffee ceremony. A traditional snack food is popcorn. A good writeup of a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony can be found here.
Now that everyone is caffeinated, head down to what you really come here for, the trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures that keep this diary series running strong! Grateful as always to my collaborator BeninSC!
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.
Note: Especially during this passionate primary season, please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
Highlighted by TomP:
Is this comment by igualdad in a thread on Democrats, our base and white voters, in Gaytheist’s diary on the subject. The thread begins with TomP’s comment, here.
Was this comment by Besame with a terrific little video! In belinda ridgewood’s Kitchen Table Kibitzing diary tonight!
Is this video comment by TheGreatLeapForward featuring a very irreverent Patton Oswalt.
Highlighted by a gilas girl:
Is this fine comment by dcg2 on the Republican practice of making Democrats radioactive for electoral purposes.
From BeninSC:
Top Mojo ala mik!
For Monday, November 28, 2016, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on the subject.
1) If it’s pissing off cornyn, it must be right on … by LRT +154
2) He skips the intel briefings but doesn’t hesitat … by Torta +123
2) If CNN did their job, Drumpf would really be twe … by JeffW +123
4) None dare call it “deplorable.” by RoIn +121
5) In the past we have called…….. … by BlueDream +117
6) “Lying” implies that the person has internalized … by rugbymom +114
7) And Trump’s getting trolled by freakin’ CANADIANS: by Cali Scribe +111
8) That is disturbing. GW Bush certainly mangled th … by Krotor +110
9) “Prove that negative, journalist! Or should I sa … by The tax returns are in Kenya +109
10) Trump is Bannon’s useful idiot. by Magnifico +107
11) Zeleny’s response by MTmofo +104
12) After the fact, but I guess I’ll take anything w … by rreabold +100
13) I do. by gasorg +98
14) [embed] by annieli +96
15) good, … by John M Webb +93
16) Meteor Blades describes Putin’s Hall of Mirrors … by Colonel Rainsborough +92
17) Oh, those tweets are real. This is pathological … by ivorybill +89
18) I just tweeted this diary, then MinistryofTruth … by ericlewis0 +84
19) What Elizabeth Warren is talking about here, and … by puakev +83
19) I think “nazi” is appropriate. … by bill dog +83
21) I prefer the term Alt-Reich. by BillyElliott +78
21) They’re proud of the label. Seriously, they reve … by IndieGuy +78
21) I originally had the same thought that he may ha … by morris22 +78
24) Or better yet… Trump Trash by doingbusinessas +77
24) and more to the point, gerrymandered to a histor … by wu ming +77
26) The large corporation only stuck up for those va … by Brian Bell +76
27) I’m convinced, only British monarchs and psychop … by gchaucer2 +75
27) I’m sorry the employee had to endure such bad be … by 1toughlady +75
29) He’d be in a white collar prison. … by Had Enough Right Wing BS +74
30) I have been tweeting his HISTORICALLY LOW APPROV … by merrywidow +73
2016-11-29, courtesy of jotter!