.
And after the funeral, the survivors need feeding and the dishes won’t wash themselves…
The people who came to this boarded-up downtown on Thursday morning knew they could not do much to salve Ferguson’s wounds. But it was Thanksgiving, and they felt they could not just sit home, either. So they brought paint brushes and prayers, thermoses of coffee and trays of drop biscuits, hoping to counterbalance the arsons, angry protests and racial strife.
“This is a really small thing,” said Darcy Edwin, 26, as she painted a pastel oak tree onto the plywood boards covering an optical shop on South Florissant Road. “It’s not going to fix any big issue.”
It was cold and gray outside, and the streets that had overflowed with demonstrators for the past few nights were eerily still. Into this stepped Ms. Edwin, a Ferguson resident who works as a teaching assistant. “It’s harder to stay in,” she said….
***********
What’s on the agenda for the day?
Betty Cracker
I’m heading up to the Suwannee to visit my old grandma, just as soon as I can pry the spawn out of the sack. We’ll stick to back roads since the interstate traffic will be horrendous. After the old lady turns in for the night, my aunt and uncles and I will drink bourbon around a campfire and tell funny stories. At least, that’s our usual pattern.
Mustang Bobby
I’ve been invited to some friends’ house for a leftover party tonight: bring whatever and make it a potluck.
I have a screaming headache because it’s after 5:00 a.m. and I haven’t had any coffee. My body doesn’t know when I’m on vacation. But I hear Mr. Coffee burbling in the kitchen so I will soon find relief.
Keith G
In a few minutes, I will go in to our little pâtisserie and chocolate shop and begin planning out our final assault on Christmas.
Keith G
@Mustang Bobby: Move to my time zone. It’s not quite 5:00 yet. You still would have some time to head off the headache. That’s how it works, right?
delk
Relaxing, Netflixing Southcliffe,eating leftovers (we dined out yesterday, the restaurant sent us home with 2 turkey legs, a pile of stuffing, and some green beans all in an unexpected doggie bag!), and attempting to knit my first pair of mittens.
raven
Headed to Destin for an offshore trip in an hour.
NotMax
@raven
Every fish you remove from the water mitigates sea level rise by just a teensy bit.
/Archimdes ad absurdum
NotMax
Dang it.
Archimedes
Schlemazel
back to work today, with the last two jobs being retail giant & government I have not had a 4 day weekend in over a decade. But I suppose I shouldn’t complain, I do have a job.
raven
@NotMax: xin loi
Tim in SF
It’s 3AM here. In my half-sleep state, I took 2 tablespoons of Robitussin DM instead of 2 teaspoons. (god damn PLETHORA of fucking little cups in medicine cabinet dammit dammit dammit). Called poison center in a panic. Apparently I will be fine. I won’t even get high. I will just have an elevated chance of stomach cramps and nausea. FML!
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Speaking of jobs, I got mine back. It only took the network engineer’s father dying and an issue arising in his absence, but a light bulb went off over somebody’s head, so I’m back in place. For that, I am thankful.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: Tight lines, raven.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: Here’s hopin!
NotMax
@raven
Don’t begrudge you your pleasure (indeed, celebrate it) but the only fishing I tend toward is either in World of Warcraft or opening the cooler chests at the fish market (there’s one particular one here which is open 365 days a year, so never unable to get a scaly fix).
Diff’rent strokes and all that. :)
JPL
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Good news except for the father of course.
Baud
Getting my new car today.
JPL
@Baud: nice
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@JPL: Indeed. Death around the holidays, in my experience, are harder. Going to make sure that he isn’t pressured to come back before he’s ready.
Baud
@JPL:
Can’t wait. My old car is a jalopy.
PurpleGirl
@delk: Nice of the restaurant to give you a doggie bag of food. I crochet, I don’t knit, but I wish you much luck in making those mittens.
satby
Happy day after the feast. I’m continuing my tradition of not stepping into a retail establishment on Black Friday that started when I left my last retail manager gig 27 years ago. It’s a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season.
PurpleGirl
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Congratulations. I hope all stays well at work.
PurpleGirl
I have to run the errands I didn’t get done on Wednesday… mainly because I fell asleep after breakfast and by the time I woke up, it was rainy/snow slush and I don’t walk too good in that stuff. (This problem predates my back troubles by two decades or so and more related to anxiety.)
Any stores I go to will be for quite mundane things like dressings tape and cotton gauze. Also food. First though, the hospital pharmacy for my meds.
This evening I’m meeting some friends at a local pub for dinner. If they are still serving the T-day meal, I may get that.
PurpleGirl
Why is my comment in moderation?
Interrobang
My kitty Izzy has a bad corneal ulcer (the vet called it a “melting ulcer”), with underlying bacterial and viral (herpes and mycoplasma) infections, so I’m medicating him round the clock, trying to save his poor eye. He’s been having issues with conjunctivitis for months now. He might lose the eye, not sure. (It’d be a real shame, because he’s white with absolutely gorgeous blue eyes, but yes, he can hear.) He’s also 10.2 pounds at 7 months and a week, and pretty much all muscle, so kind of hard to medicate.
I’ve got a wicked cold or something myself — went to the doctor and he said it was just a virus but I’m not so sure. We Canadians had our Thanksgiving back in October, so I didn’t have to go be social or anything.
I also still don’t have a job after getting laid off beginning of October, and I’m worried I won’t find anything now until January.
To say I’m depressed and pissed off at the world would be an understatement. Thanks for helping me stay mostly sane, if only by putting my BS problems into perspective.
satby
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): @Baud: Congrats to you both.
PurpleGirl
@Interrobang: I hope you and the vet can save your kitty’s eye. And I hope you get a new job soon.
satby
@Interrobang: good luck with Izzy and hang in there.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Glad you’re back onboard the Defiant! Best of luck going forward.
Cheers,
Scott.
bemused
One of our two kitties and my husband have a morning ritual. As he tries to drink his coffee and read the newspapers, kitty settles herself deep into his left side, paws on his arm with her big fat tail curved gracefully over. Right now she has her head planted happily in his armpit. It makes all the hair and litter box cleanup well worth the trouble.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Interrobang: :-( Fingers crossed for the kitty. It’s good you’re able to care for him. Keep warm and keep slogging away on the job search – you never know when the stars will align.
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
Brad, however, has decided to remain an asshole.
NotMax
@PurpleGirl
The whims of FYWP are not meant for us mere meatsacks to fathom.
Thunderbird
Part of the skeleton crew at the cube farm today. In a room where there are normally 13 people, today there’s only four. Might actually get some work done for a change. That annual performance review isn’t going to write itself.
OzarkHillbilly
Heading up to STL to do some work. Certainly don’t feel like it.
the Conster
@Baud:
Got my new car last weekend, and of course the fancy electronics that tracks me everywhere I go on earth and tethers me to the mothership somewhere in the bowels of Sweden with a phone app doesn’t work right, so, I just got back from the dealer with a loaner because they need the car all morning. It has 72 miles on it. When I saw that the service appt was with an old guy and not a 15 yr old, I knew it was not gonna get fixed while I sat and waited.*
*First world problem
MomSense
Kitchen is finally clean but there are still extra chairs and tables to put away once everyone wakes up.
I’m going to make a soup and do some knitting by the fireplace. Yesterday was really busy what with cooking and dealing with snow and fallen trees. We will probably watch some movies and just be.
Baud
@the Conster:
I’m waiting for cars to start coming with Ctrl-Alt-Delete buttons.
AxelFoley
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
LOL, sounds cold when you focus on these.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: James Bond’s cars always came with those, but back then the said, “Eject”.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
Mind you, that was before cars came with Windows.
kindness
There were no Black Friday things I have to go buy so I’m spared most the madness. I am gonna go get a concert poster framed. 1/2 off. I buy the stuff and put it together myself. Now my problem becomes which other picture I rotate out.
thruppence
6am kitchen cleanup and contemplating what to take as I move out of our house and into a rented room. I’m thankful that I found a place in Silicon Valley’s impossible rental market. My new landlady does animal rescue and it feels like I’ve found my new little cage complete with food bowl and litter box.
beth
@Baud: I’d like a car that, instead of a check engine/brakes/whatever light, displays the approximate cost of the repair on the dashboard.
Elizabelle
@thruppence: I am glad to hear that. Plz keep us posted. I hope you’ve found a haven, and perhaps your landlady has found an extra pet caregiver.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@AxelFoley: Wasn’t my point. Very saddened by the loss, and angered that it took that event to get people’s eyes opened. Thankful for not being out on the street, NOT for the death. “Cold” is best reserved for the geniuses who precipitated this to start with.
Joel
Tons of RW trolling over ferguson, I see.
the Conster
@Amir Khalid:
win
greennotGreen
Today I’m helping my 91yo mother put up Xmas decorations so the house will be ready for a church potluck on Monday. Myself, I keep seasonal decorations to a minimum: less to store, less to unpack, install, then put away again. Even my Xmas tree is a giant spring I hang from the ceiling, then weigh down with ornaments until it almost reaches the floor. After Xmas, once the ornaments are removed, I just mash it flat again and store it in the attic. With luck, next year I’ll be putting it up in my new house!
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Lots of things to look “forward to” in the coming months… NY Times Editorial:
They can’t cut the funding for the immigration enforcement changes because they’re self-funded (not a line item in the budget). But they can try to gum things up other ways…
While it’s true that the budget cannot be filbustered, they can filbuster bills that actually cause the budget to take effect… :-/
Clowns. Dangerous clowns.
Here’s hoping that Obama continues to troll them (as Kevin Drum said) as long as they keep pulling crap like this…
:-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Frankensteinbeck
No four day weekend for me. After a month of twiddling my thumbs (and the only vacation I’ve taken in two years, honestly) waiting for editing notes, they’ve arrived. I’ll probably finish the story level notes today, and get started on the line notes. It’s an annoying process, but despite the wonderful royalty checks I was starting to feel unemployed again, so it’s actually kinda nice to have work to do.
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Not really different from the last four years, alas.
glaukopis
Planning to walk over to the local stores to get the ingredients for fruit cakes, then macerate the fruit in rum overnight. Baking tomorrow. Also finishing up a knitted stuffed lion for the granddaughter.
Mike in NC
@Interrobang: Best wishes
adepsis
It’s not much, but even a small light in the darkness is welcome – “In Ferguson, Officer Defused Eruptions as Crowds Grew Tense”
Emma
Paying bills. Making turkey soup. Usual stuff.
In passing: If Governor Nixon ever becomes a candidate for the Presidency as a Democrat, I will sit it out. I can understand being fuxxed over by an enemy but my so-called allies are expected o behave better.
BruceFromOhio
Sleep in, leisurely breakfast, a homestyle haircut a bit later, courtesy of MrsFromOhio, then catch a flick at the cinema. Then leftovers, oh boy howdy, the leftovers. Thankful to have the day off, and avoiding anything remotely resembling a mall or a store.
Also this.
danielx
Since I had the absolute audacity to finish the approximately three square inches of apple pie left last night – that I made, mind you – I am faced with nonnegotiable demands to make another one today. Possibly it was the honeycrisp apples I used. Not going out shopping, thankyewverymuch – if I was forced to choose between spending several hours shopping today and spending a week locked in a room with an insurance salesman, I’d have to think hard about it.
Also, too – one of my sisters-in-law is a serious member of one of those nondenominational mega-churches, which is not an evangelical church but kinda over in that direction. She elected herself to say a pre-dinner blessing last evening and I’ll tell you what, those folks say the longest goddam dinner prayers I’ve ever heard. Went on for the better part of four minutes, thank you for this, that and the other while there are a dozen people waiting who have been slavering for the last hour and a half. If dinner blessings must be said, I’m a fan of the Catholic version –
“BlessusOhLordandthesethygiftswhichweareabouttoreceivefromthybountythroughChristOurLordAmen.” Rattled off so fast it sounds like one long compound word, naturally. Based on meals I’ve attended with them, neither Irish nor Italian Catholics let ceremony get very far in the way of feasting and good on ’em, says I. Listening to semi-evangelical Christians, including my sister-in-law and a couple of her spawn and their spouses, it’s a wonder they ever get around to eating dinner at all, like they’re gonna be penalized if they forget to thank the Big Guy Upstairs for something.
lamh36
@Baud: awesome. I’m going car shipping Monday.
If you don’t mind me asking, what kinds cat are you getting?
Emma
@danielx: my very Catholic friend has an even shorter version: rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub, yay God”. Works for everyone.
lamh36
@the Conster: wow is this just the time for people to buy new cars :-)
What car did you decide on?
lamh36
Morning. Today is the first of 4 days off for me and I plan to do absolutely nothing!
So yesterday after work I got to hang out with my family. Whenever I get a chance to hang around with my family I realize how glad I am that I moved back home to NOLA. It’s never a dull moment with the Evans clan!!! Plus I get to see my godkids. Check out Maddie.
She is such a ham…lol.
http://t.co/M6TaVV6YCM
http://t.co/dGCbVxdH9K
danielx
@Emma:
Hey, Catholics know what’s important at meal times, and especially on festive occasions.
So do cats, for that matter. I was awakened this morning by deafening purrs from Zoey the Menace, which translated to “I’m used to eating at six am, it’s 8:30, and I’d really like some more of that turkey with which I was ruining my figure last night.” Other felines of my acquaintance have resorted to more direct means of waking me – biting my fingers, raking a claw across my cheek (lightly), jumping on my feet, etc. Zoey just purrs a lot. Loudly. Like a chainsaw.
RobertDSC (Quad Intel Mac)
The new Star Wars trailer is really, really, really lame.
lamh36
@RobertDSC (Quad Intel Mac): saw it I’m freely admit to being more of a Trekkie than an Star Wars fan (btw, what do the SW fans call themselves?), but I’ve always found the light sabers awesome. So the light saber “sword” reveal was cool to me. The rest, I don’t know enough to be impressed
Steeplejack
@lamh36:
Hey, someone’s throwing gang signs in that second picture! LOL.
Mnemosyne
I’m hoping to get around to sorting through my excess clothes today and maybe do some online shopping, but I don’t have big ambitions beyond that. G had to work, so I’ve got the place to myself for most of the day.
Baud
@lamh36:
Truly awesome typo.
I got a Prius C.
ThresherK
After making a 4 1/2 year commitment (with a car repair) to our sedan, it turns out the heat isn’t working for two reasons. The best part is I got the cheap one fixed first, and they’ve cut me a great deal for their error.
At this point we have a posh new rental for a week more. Then I decide to put a chunk more into that car or I get another new, used car.
I can spend a few months in a car sans heat without much problem, but at some point defrosting and defogging is a safety issue.
henqiguai
@lamh36 (#64):
“Adolescents”? Sorry, purely snark; but while I enjoyed the Star Wars movies, I like my science fiction heavily biased toward science, not fantasy. Even with the current predominance of military science fiction.
SWMBO
@lamh36: Jedi. May the force be with you.
the Conster
@lamh36:
If you’re still around, I got the car of my dreams – a Volvo sedan with heated seats, heated mirrors, keyless lock/unlock and many other bells and whistles. I’m leasing it since I drive less than 30 miles/week, so I get luxury for half the price if I’d bought it. The New England puritan in me expects to be punished any day now for indulging my desire for comfort, finally, after a life time of owning used or practical bare bones cars.
Captain C
@Tim in SF: Take a few more, and you may just start Robotripping. Not recommended, mind you.
However, if you must, I have it on good authority that chasing it with chocolate milk is the way to go.