Dreambiscuit

I'm best at...using a calculator. (Assuming it doesn't have too many buttons).

There really isn’t any excuse for lip-syncing at concerts. These singers are making boatloads of money for these gigs and have the responsibility to provide a live show. They may be trying to preserve their vocal cords by faking it but that’s not a legitimate excuse. If they can’t do the job they shouldn’t take the money. If they announced in advance that they’d be lip-syncing, no one would attend their concerts, so they should respect the audiences that are paying their salaries and give them what they’re paying for. Lip-syncing to accomodate choreography onstage is understandable if it's the filming of a movie or music video, but live performances are supposed to be live and fans expect performers to deliver or change the routines if needed.

As much as I enjoy A-1 and stuff like that, I don’t mind a little barbeque sauce or horseradish sauce. I came across Blues Hog Raspberry Chipotle barbeque sauce recently and wow, yummers!

I don’t know if there is any such point in life where all goals are truly achieved. If all your present goals are achieved there are always new goals to aspire to, and that’s as it should be. I’d never want to live without something to motivate me to accomplish something else for myself or others. Most of my childhood goals have been more or less satisfied, but life constantly changes and brings new dreams every day. It doesn’t mean I live in a constant state of want; I just like new horizons to explore.

There are lots of charities out there but some are more effective and trustworthy than others. Personally I favor Worldvision.org, which distributes clothing, food, medicine, learning materials, disaster relief and even farm animals and other implements to make people self-sufficient in a huge list of countries worldwide. They are completely transparent so you know exactly what’s going where and how much goes to administration and stuff like that. Best of all they receive grants from government and businesses that multiply your donation up to 16X in some categories. I really love this organization because they not only send immediate help but make their recipients able to care for themselves through training and materials like livestock, plants and trees. And Worldvision even digs wells in some of the most desolate places in the world so people can have fresh water and bypass one of the biggest causes of disease. They’re a faith-based organization and serve anyone of any background or belief system, and it’s hard to find anything wrong with that. Personally I don’t give to medical research because I don’t believe they’re out to find a cure to anything. If by any miracle they actually make any discoveries they’re promptly smothered by the FDA and all those lovely big pharma people who don’t want anything to threaten their trillions of dollars made on the perpetuated sufferings of others. Medical professionals and companies have more money than anyone on earth and they don’t need my nickels and dimes to pad their pockets. But again, there are plenty of good charities out there, and common sense will lead donors to the right places.

My Christmas was good overall, with a few unexpected elements throughout the season. Christmas Eve/Early Yule was ethereal and defies all description as something profound and joyful on an otherworldly level.

How about Morning Mist, or Morning Frost?

This doesn't make me sad but I cry buckets everytime I watch this or listen to it.

This was my first Christmas with my newest daughter and my first without my (late) grandpa, who was a fixture of every Christmas since I was born. Otherwise things have followed the same general course, with many of the same joys and pitfalls typically associated with Christmas in my life. My brother-in-law brought the obligatory cold to my house and passed it around two days before Christmas, but he pretty much manages to do that every year; one of his amazing ‘talents’ I guess. I’m making the most of it though and making him the antagonist in a Christmas story I’m now writing. I’m still celebrating Christmas and will continue to do so well into January and possibly February. This is how we do it around here.

This is devastating news. I was friends with @strongwilled_pegasus for years and to hear of this so suddenly is a hard one to handle. I had no idea there was anything going on with him health-wise. I am so sorry for this terrible news and he will be sorely missed. We had been corresponding for a long time but in recent years it was mostly discussion of news and media topics and nothing really personal. I regret now that I wasn’t more attentive or timely with my correspondence, and that I didn’t make a greater effort to know more of his personal life. My deepest condolences go out to you @JusticeKyo and to all my fellow ponies here who will miss our very, very dear friend. God bless.

Santa Ana or maybe Fullerton. They’re both right on top of Anaheim and I can get to either by car in minutes.

I used to swear habitually (as mentioned in an older post here) but I broke that habit. I now swear a little here and there but only in front of those with worse potty-mouths than me, and never in front of kids.

Looks like @TheRockARooster already knows!

Don't worry, Travs. It's just a routine check as a precaution. It'll give me a chance to try out the new coffee bar they have at the hospital.

Nice, Ziggs.

There is a way. Just stand up as tall as you can and run really fast through a low doorway. It works every time (but waking up can be a little more tricky).

I try to think of other aggravating songs to push it out. The problem is that I get stuck with another aggravating song in its place. A flawed approach, I admit. Otherwise I have to ‘make friends’ with the maddening song and start singing along with it and forcing myself to embrace it. It sometimes goes away once it thinks I’m not annoyed by it anymore.

I always put up as many Christmas decorations as I can with an apartment. I still have mine up and they'll stay that way until late January (or later if I can get away with it).

I’m having a custom resin figure sculpted for me to give as a gift to my brother. I ordered one in early December as a Christmas gift but the seller shafted me so I have to give this replacement late. Freaking expensive, and I don’t even know when it’ll be finished.

@ZiggWheelsManningThanks Ziggy, much appreciated!

My hopes are that I can find a realistic way to send a certain negative aspect of my life far away, never to be a curse to my life again.

I was trying out my new Fire TV stick. It worked okay. Lots more to look at though.

I have an appointment first thing in the morning for a CT scan of my lung. Probably nothing but I'll get it looked at and that'll be that.

I live in Anaheim, CA, so yeah…I couldn’t begin to describe all the bad things that happen nearby, whether I end up hearing about it or not. They may have done a decent job of cleaning up the area for the tourist trade a few years back, but they can’t reach every dark corner and unfortunately, we have a lot of dark corners.

EXTREME conservative. I make other extreme conservatives look like liberals.