Sad news about Betty White, who died at the age of 99, but it looks like the rest of us have (fingers crossed) made it through another year.
I know the pandemic and the chaos and upheaval has made the last year super difficult for everyone, but notwithstanding those things, it was a good year. Getting rid of Trump, the covid relief bill and infrastructure bill were both massive, as well as the denazification of many federal government positions and approving judges are very big things. On a personal note, Rosie has finally found some piece after two years of not really being tip top, Lily and Steve are doing well, and my family, of course, is doing well.
On the blog, things are going very well, and in large part much of this is due to the women of Balloon Juice. Beth did an absolutely splendid job with the calendar for the tenth year in a row and there are a lot of animals out there who are much better off because of all her labor. Thank you, Beth.
I don’t remember if you all remember the commericals for Dunkin Donuts in the late 80’s, with Fred the Baker, but here is a refresher for the old and maybe something new for you god damned kids:
The reason I mention that commercial is because Anne Laurie has, for another year, been our resident donut maker, reliably posting threads at all hours of the day, particularly her covid updates, which have provided a reliable structure and framework for the blog. When there is no one else around, there always seems to be Anne Laurie picking up the slack. And I just wanted to say how much I, and the rest of us appreciate that.
Another thanks to Betty Cracker, who on many days is my sister from another mister, because she writes with a style I just love and I have YET see her post anything I disagreed with, and is just a rock star and I am so grateful she is here.
And of course, Watergirl, my taskmaster, who is constantly getting me to do the things that need to be done but I don’t want to do, and always thinking about new and exciting features for all of you. I am glad she has her velvet fist pointed at me because otherwise this place would fall to pieces.
So thanks to all of you, and to the rest of you jackals, and Happy New Year.
Also, I called Watergirl and had her set up a zoom meeting for tomorrow from 5-7pm EST. We had them for the Holidays last year and they just sort of slipped through this year, but I would like to have one to ring in the New Year. The details will be in the comments.
Mousebumples
Happy new years, Juicers!
Baud
Hear, hear, JC.
Alison Rose
Bitches get shit done.
PsiFighter37
We made it indeed. Got our two year-old daughter down to bed, got the dishes in the dishwasher, and am now sipping on some champagne in a fancy flute someone got us years ago but that I just rediscovered while doing a deep dive in the closets this past week.
This coming year will be a bit more challenging professionally, a bit different personally (we bought a condo in NYC and will finally be moving in April, once the kitchen is fixed up), and hopefully it brings the end of pandemic with it (my personal take: Omicron will finally usher in the endemic nature of COVID-19, but as a mild cold/flu in the vast majority of cases. NYT has a good piece about initial research done on this point). Our democracy – definitely a bit more worried about it. November’s results were not good; Democratic messaging from the campaign arms (especially the DCCC and the DNC) is abjectly terrible. That said, I also remind myself that I never had terribly high expectations of a Biden presidency to begin with, and that I thought he was an absolute tool of a senator 15-20 years ago when I first got into following politics more closely. But if we turn the corner on the pandemic, the poll numbers will go up, and we will have a fighting chance of retaining the Senate. The House is gone IMO, but redistricting has also not panned out as badly as it could, and I think it is extremely likely that both Ohio and North Carolina state courts redraw what are blatantly gerrymandered maps in violation of recent laws/amendments passed. But it has limited what ground we could pick up down the road, especially in a state like Texas, where the GOP didn’t dummymander itself but instead made it near-impossible for Democrats to pick up any more seats this decade, regardless of demographic shifts.
Here’s to 2021 pissing off, and to hoping that 2022 is the year that we find true footing on a new normal that is better in all aspects. Cheers to you, Juicers!
PF37 +3
Aimai
Love to the whole crew! I don’t often post but I never miss a day with you guys!
JanieM
Seconding the recognition for AL, BC, and WG. AL’s COVID posts have been a lifeline for me in terms of information i can trust and pass on, and i have never seen or known anyone so indefatigable. I haven’t even been able to muster the heart to read them through some days, so that fact that they keep on coming has me in awe.
eclare
Big thanks to everyone who keeps this place rolling along. Happy new year!
ThresherK
Tidings of the season and bonne annee to all.
(And us damn Yankees still harbor some dislike for Dunkin’ going back to when they stopped baking goods onsite. I can go into a Stop & Shop and get a muffin warm out of the oven nowadays when I can stir my butt out of bed.)
Since we’re staying home tonight, I’ve played around with a few nice cocktails using honey as a sweetener. Adds some character.
debbie
@Alison Rose:
Always. ?
zhena gogolia
I second all john’s comments, and add appreciation for Adam and David and bginchi
realbtl
Agreed and thank you John for keeping this place going for what 18 years? Happy New Year all.
mrmoshpotato
Happy New Year everyone!
Also, don’t get tackled by a helmeted wheel of cheese.
WHO’S THE CHEESIEST?!
FelonyGovt
Happy New Year. I second your thanks to Anne Laurie, Betty Cracker and Water Girl, and thanks to you for this great place, John.
zhena gogolia
Kind of sad new year’s for me as healing seems far off and I don’t feel like drinking or eating and I can’t work with my left hand, but bj keeps me amused
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Congrats to JC and company for keeping us (relatively) sane during Phase 2 of the Covid Cinematic Universe. Hope 2022 brings better material.
mrmoshpotato
@zhena gogolia: The healing process always sucks, especially because you can’t rush it.
Be easy on yourself and stick with the PT exercises.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@mrmoshpotato:
I WAS BORN THE CHEESIEST!!
schrodingers_cat
Happy New Year to everyone. Thanks for all the kind comments you left for me after I lost my cats, one in June and the other one last week
jnfr
Thanks John. Happy New Year to you too! And to all the Balloon Juice residents and visitors. This is a good place.
Ken
Adding my thanks to those already expressed. If I had to say which of the three named women of Balloon Juice is most important… I’d take a lesson from mythology and keep my mouth shut.
trollhattan
Sending thanks and good new year wishes to blogdaddy, all front posters and jackals everywhere.
We chose Dec 31 as the bestest day for the furnace to break, but Lowe’s presented a gaggle of space heaters so we’ll get by. And the rain stopped.
Chris T.
@schrodingers_cat: BTW what worked for me (accidentally, I swear) was fostering kittens after I lost my best-ever-kitty. I ended up adopting the kittens… (what they call a “foster fail”, but here it is more than 10 years later and they’re such good kittens, all grown up and lazy snugglers now)
Baud
@Ken:
I initially read that as the three naked women of Balloon Juice…
Dan B
Many thanks to everyone who keeps BJ wonderful. All the front pagers are awesome! And the comments are the best of any site. More please and Happy New Year!
SiubhanDuinne
@Aimai:
We miss you, Aimai! Glad you lurk and would love if you commented more. Happy New Year to you!
eclare
@schrodingers_cat: Love the colors in that drawing.
Chris T.
@Baud: There was the Naked Mopping Incident, but that was the blogmeister, not the blogmistress.
mrmoshpotato
Forecast is still for 7.5″ of snow tomorrow for Chicago.
Who wants some?
Denali
Happy New Year to all Balloon-Juicers! You are the best!
Tony Jay
We’ll believe you fully value and respect your own Dora Milaje when you give them that long promised raise. Yes, each must have two sealed jeroboams of pickled lemons this year, not just one!
I keed. We know one is your limit.
H.E.Wolf
Thank you for spotlighting the 3 awesome women you mentioned – they’re all great!
I’ll add a cheer for ruemara, whose posts, though infrequent, are always worth waiting for. (And for Cheryl Rofer, and Angry Black Lady, and other female former front-pagers who are now posting elsewhere on the web.)
Posting while female can be a rough road in many parts of the internet. Thank you to John for making this a place where women’s voices are heard, and their contributions celebrated.
zhena gogolia
@mrmoshpotato: not I
surfk9
Just want to thank JC for maintaining this zoo. Anne is like a machine giving us the good, the bad, the ugly, Betty is like a Ginzu knife , slicing and dicing (Joy Reid refers to Chump as the Mango Mussolini which I know is a Cracker construction), Adam cuts the shit like no one else, WaterGirl works to bring out the better angels of our nature in all of us, that David/Richard guy has taught me more about medical insurance than I ought to know ( that subject comes up and I can talk about it and people look at me and say how do you know that shit?) Mx4, mistermix, DougJ, Tony Jay, TaMara all of you have helped me keep my sanity in a sometimes fucked up world.
Thank you and lets hope for a better 2022.
phdesmond
@Ken:
a wise precedent to bring up! i say Betty Cracker, WaterGirl, and Anne Laurie each deserve a gold apple, and so do John Cole, Adam, and BG in Chi.
Feathers
I am convinced Betty White realized she was fading and decided not to let 2022 start on a downer.
My main memory of her was from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Golden Girls ran during my college years, when I was watching very little TV. It really is amazing how good she was at popping up on talk shows and guest appearances. Never phoned it in, always brought some joy. And bawdiness. Sad there will be no more.
And thanks to everyone here for making this year a bit easier to bear.
HumboldtBlue
Pretty impressive crew and so well done, youse rock.
Unlike Michigan who has quick;ly learned just how wide the gap between the top of the SEC and the rest of college football is.
Starboard Tack
@mrmoshpotato: Getting our own in Denver, at last.
Mike in Oly
Happy New Year to all the juicers, and I will also echo the thanks for the front pagers who keep this such a great site to visit everyday. All of your hard work is so appreciated in these uncertain times. BJ keeps me grounded. So grateful for it. Have a wonderful 2022 y’all. Keep fighting the good fight.
HumboldtBlue
@H.E.Wolf:
Hear! Hear!
mali muso
Huzzah for the women of Balloon Juice! Happy new year to all jackals.
Watching a Netflix documentary about Betty White tonight in honor of her magnificent life.
ThresherK
(Wink!)
phdesmond
@H.E.Wolf: so true!
Noskilz
It is important to keep in mind 2021 wasn’t all bad.
Happy New Years to all, and best of luck in the coming year!
raven
For Momma Cole, GO DAWGS!!!
NotMax
Luscious nap stretching from 10 until 3:30. Brain still firing on enough cylinders to remember to pop the bottle of Prosecco into the fridge.
Priorities.
;)
Weather has that incipient rain feel, which would be nice if it manifests in that it serves to tamp down tonight’s neighborhood boomies.
Newly installed county police chief has promised to “strictly enforce'” rules on illegal fireworks. Yeah, right; pull the other one.
raven
@HumboldtBlue: Speed kills
Dan B
@H.E.Wolf: Thanks for pointing this out. It’s probably one of the reasons I like BJ. What a world where diversity is not valued and women end up in a lower status. We all suffer for it.
It’s great to experience the brilliance and perseverance of the women of Balloon Juice!
SiubhanDuinne
John, I’m glad there will be a Zoom meeting tomorrow. It will be my second Big Zoom of the day — a good friend* has her 82nd birthday tomorrow. She’s just come through a year or more of battling ovarian cancer, during a global pandemic, but she seems to be doing very well and is throwing herself a virtual birthday party tomorrow to celebrate her trip round the sun, her recovery journey, and 2022. So I’ll be doing that, then calling brothers and cousins, and then the BJ Zoom.
And with that prospect, I think I’ll head to bed in a few minutes. I stopped waiting up to see the new year in many decades ago. I hope 2022 brings health and peace and sanity to all of you and the people you love
*For years, she was my ex-husband’s girlfriend. They even had a godchild together. He insisted, despite scepticism on both sides, that the two of us would hit it off, and he was right — we’ve been friends for 45 years.
WaterGirl
@Ken: I take it that you are married, also? If done correctly, one learns when to shut the hell up. :-)
dmsilev
Happy New Years to all, as we bid a not so fond farewell to 2021.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
As someone with recent experience, I can say that the healing process doesn’t move in a straight line but takes its own course with each case. All I can say is to try not to set yourself up with expectations that could be disappointed and to let things unfold at their own rate. And it will probably always feel like it’s taking longer than it “should.”
HumboldtBlue
@raven:
Speed and size, the Georgia front is absurdly athletic and huge and I look forward to a rematch with Bama.
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
Happy New Year! ?
raven
@HumboldtBlue: Here’s hoping! Nakobe Dean is awesome too.
WaterGirl
I will put the zoom link in the comments of a thread tomorrow. We definitely don’t want to get zoom bombed, so I hesitate to give them something to work with overnight. :-)
So look for the link tomorrow!
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: Was it not just last week we were lamenting the lack of snow ? Be careful what you wish for? ?
TG it’s a Saturday and not a Monday.
scav
Happy New Year and a very Relaxed End of This Year to the irascible all of us.
Plus thanks to all.
Steeplejack
@mrmoshpotato:
Rainy and high 50s here in NoVA tomorrow. Hardly winter at all. But down to 40° next weekend.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@HumboldtBlue: Looking that way!
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@raven: It’ll be a good match I think
trollhattan
Oh look, handegg, Kid’s BF’s HS friend is the MI QB so am now required to root for the bestest comeback of the year.
Did I hit the acronym quota yet?
Sherparick
Happy New Year to you all & thanks for creating a community!
Ohio Mom
Hmmm…”Rosie has finally found some peace after two years of not really being tip top, Lily and Steve are doing well…”
And Thurston? His absence in this census is conspicuous.
A happy and healthy new year to all! My life would be much diminished without you, thank you for being you, every last one of you.
Brachiator
Popped in to say Happy New Year to everyone!
Especially with the pandemic still in full swing, the Balloon Juice jackals have helped me maintain some peace of mind.
persistentillusion
@mrmoshpotato: Me, Me. Please send some snow to Colorado’s Front Range. (Former Chicagoan, didn’t love the grey slush that was snow in the City.)
Mike E
Happy New Year to the entire Balloon Juice Nation, let’s all get after 2022 like an SEC football squad on NYE!
https://mobile.twitter.com/paulapoundstone/status/1477019567754866690
Dorothy A. Winsor
@HumboldtBlue: Mr DAW is watching that game. It isn’t pretty.
Albatrossity
Thank you all (especially WaterGirl) for all that you do to make this a great community.
Happy New Year, and I hope that there are many indictments, prison sentences, and gnashing of teeth among the Assholini cultists and family members!
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: I went through a long period of real despondency with my arm. It all worked out in the end, just took longer than I wanted.
HumboldtBlue
Gritty takes a look back at the tire fire that was 2021 in the way only Gritty can do.
Martin
Looks like my aunt and cousin both fared okay with the fire. They can’t return to their homes yet, but both structures still standing. Lucky. Houses burned a couple of blocks over.
Suzanne
Happiest of New Years to the best crew of brilliant crazy funny people on the series of tubes. I most assuredly echo Cole’s appreciation of Betty Cracker, WaterGirl, and Anne Laurie. I might join the Zoom briefly tomorrow.
This has been a rough spell, but this community has lightened the load.
HumboldtBlue
@Martin:
Good news. We’ll take all we can.
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
It ain’t at all. I was hoping for a contest.
Comrade Colette
Why did I stay up until 4 am watching K-dramas last night? The explosions have begun in my neighborhood, so there’s no way I’m getting to sleep before 1 am.
[ducks] Gesù, that one was LOUD. I guess that’s the signal to wish all of you a Happy (or at least Happier-than-2021) New Year!
geg6
@surfk9:
I second every word. And a very special huzzah for the ladies of BJ’s front page. A toast to each of them. Anne Laurie, without whom I think I may not have gotten through the last two years. Betty, who is an assassin with a wicked sharp pen. Water Girl, who has kept the place running and who got us an appearance from Adam Schiff?!?!?!?! Ruemaea with kitties and common sense. And TaMara, who has had an absolutely horrible year and who deserves all the huge puppy kisses that Scout and Tricia can dole out. Love all the guys, too. But it’s great to showcase all these awesome women that Cole has given a platform and who have run with it. Thanks to everyone here in the comments, too. You guys have (mostly) been my rocks through the last five years.
Happy (-er) 2022 to us all!
Mike in NC
Never gave a damn about New Year’s Eve when I was single. After getting married I was introduced to parties by her friend who lived in Herndon, VA. That was easily 45-60 minutes from our place in Alexandria and I dreaded the after-midnight traffic. Now they live two streets over from us.
Anotherlurker
Happy New Year to all Juicers, especially Anne L., B.C. and WG!
Also a big thank you to J.C for founding and maintaining this internet sanctuary of sanity.
I also want to say that I am bursting with pride that my beautiful Golden Girl, Addie is in this year’s Pets of Balloon Juice Calandar and I’m also Proud that my boy Buddy (RIP) and his big sister, Ginger (RIP), are also included on the calendar.
Again, thanks to all who make this place so enjoyable.
Devore
Thanks for helping keep us sane
Starboard Tack
@Gin & Tonic: It always does. PT’s a necessary pain but it does seem endless.
geg6
@Ohio Mom:
Do not get me started on how he treats sweet Thurston like a jar of mustard.
James E Powell
@HumboldtBlue:
I’m enjoying the Schadenfreude Bowl. If TTUN was playing Satan, I’d be on the side of the demons. I love just about any game where a Harbaugh is losing.
geg6
@geg6:
Dang, the autocorrect is trying to kill me tonight. And I’m still only on my first glass of Pinot!
James E Powell
Happy New Year to our host, all the front pagers, and to all who comment here. You are all a regular part of my days and they are better for that.
Rusty
Many thanks to John, the front pagers and all those that comment. I mostly listen, and on tough days the general kindness, humor and pet pictures are a welcome relief. Every place has its moments of madness, but this place works. Thanks to everyone for another year. Love to all.
Kalakal
Happy New Year to you all. And many thanks for making the old one easier to bear. You’re great company
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Yeah, I don’t expect much sleep tonight and 6am arrives early.
HumboldtBlue
For the football watchers, I just switched to ESPN2 and it’s providing two alternate feeds and real time reaction from the coaches.
They are finally using the camera behind the quarterback — coaches cam — that allows you to see the whole play develop instead of losing the receivers from the traditional sideline cam.
Matt Smith
Happy New Year! Grateful for this community and everyone who keeps it going. I lurk more than I comment. I hope all the front-pagers especially feel the love, even when I’m not saying it, and even when I’m not saying anything at all.
Ruckus
@Chris T.:
Just because the kitties didn’t get placed where expected they got an obviously good and happy home so no foster fail.
raven
Just crush em Dawgs!
mrmoshpotato
@MagdaInBlack: Haha. My building’s management takes care of snow removal.
And my dad has it covered for my parents’ place.
Brant
@Aimai: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WE’VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!
HumboldtBlue
And I can’t state repeatedly enough, the Monty Python documentary on Netflix is a must-watch.
mrmoshpotato
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Better than this shit. This would be gross even if it was Michigan getting the touchdown. This game sucks.
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: Must be a very small place…..
Its the 25 mile commute that gives me shudders.
mrmoshpotato
@persistentillusion:
Two words – car boogers.
Ruckus
@Noskilz:
It is not easy to forget the 4 prior years to 2021 unless you are trying extremely hard to forget, because it was a mostly an insane time at the national bottom that was TFG and posse.
And while that wonderful escapade is behind us, at least for now, that does reenforce the concept that we can and have to do better. Our current president is, no matter his age, pretty damn good. That we have some on our side who seemingly would rather fail, we are still doing a hell of a lot better than we were. Our form of government was designed to convince us we were far better off, but enough land mines were installed to almost insure that the money always wins. Almost but not always. We need to insure that it is about all citizens, their health and freedom and that every citizen pays their fair share and gets a fair run at life.
A happy and better new year to all.
mrmoshpotato
@MagdaInBlack: Hehe, glad you could catch on to it being a toy.
mvr
Happy New Year to all. Hope to be asleep when it gets here, but there will be most of it left when I wake up. I hope this year brings some calm and happiness to everyone on here.
Ohio Mom
@geg6: Whoa.
SpaceUnit
Just popping in quick to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
See you jackals on the other side!
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: Thanks.
James E Powell
@mrmoshpotato:
My brother in law is Georgia born & bred. I’m a Buckeye Till I Die. We’re really enjoying this game.
Steeplejack
Quiet evening here in Threadkill Lane. Spooky quiet, actually—I haven’t even heard any cars down in the street. No parties on the cul-de-sac, I guess. Maybe that bodes well for no fireworks at midnight. I think it has been quiet the last year or two, but I don’t really remember.
I’m having a glass of red wine and a few pieces of dark chocolate. Might have the rest of the Mexican takeout later if I get peckish. No plans for tomorrow, which is fine.
I spent a little time doling out some last-minute contributions to worthy causes on line. Everybody seems to be doing the “We’ll double it! We’ll triple it!” pitch. Four Directions was on the list. Despite the madness of 2021, we accomplished a lot of good. Let’s roll into 2022 determined to build on the progress we made this year.
Happy New Year to the jackaltariat! In the words of the Buddhist prayer: “May all be happy. May all be healthy. May all be at peace. May all be free.”
opiejeanne
@H.E.Wolf: Everyone you mentioned and more, not to mention the jackals. Should we mention the jackals? I say yes, because they are diverse, opinionated, talented, entertaining, even the morally doubtful ones who sometimes appear sans culottes.
Thank you, John Cole. This place is a reliable refuge when the rest of the internet is too much to deal with.
Chief Oshkosh
Happy New Year, jackals!
mrmoshpotato
@James E Powell: Congrats. I would still be mad of it was Georgia who showed up to suck. I’d like to be watching a good game.
Tazj
Thank you to all the front pagers for keeping me informed and sane. Thanks to everyone who comments and keeps the blog going. I wish everyone a healthy and Happy New Year! Special thoughts for those that had a tough 2021 and are struggling right now.
WaterGirl
@Matt Smith: What a nice thing to say. Especially the part that I put in italics.
Steeplejack
@mrmoshpotato:
Fenderbergs was the sniglet.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: Ah, so you know of car boogers.
seefleur
Thank you all – John, the front pagers, all of the BJ jackals… just thank you from a daily lurker. May the next year be much better and full of blessings for you all. (I know that the bar is set really low, but I’m hoping for an exponential raising of that bar in the next couple of hours – Eastern Standard Time)
Brachiator
UK New Year Honors List
Damn. Didn’t get a knighthood again. Wasn’t made a dame neither (I ain’t picky).
Oh, well.
I do like that the UK Covid-19 advisors, men and women, received recognition.
Benw
Happy new year, everyone!
tom
raven
GO DAWGS!!!!!
H.E.Wolf
OMG, yes!
Thank you for the belly laugh with which to end the year. :) Yes – three cheers for each and every one.
Best wishes to all, for 2022….
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
For me, the year started on January 20th. Was there any chaos and upheaval in this country since then (aside from the weather disasters)?
Steeplejack
@mrmoshpotato:
I have lived in the frozen north at times.
Jean
I count myself among the number of jackals who are healing from injuries. I broke my right femur in a bad fall from my horse on Dec. 1. I am having in-home PT until end of January and then will go to out-patient clinic. Never broke a bone until now. I hate 2021. I am expected to make a full recovery IN TIME, but it was a bad break. I am grateful for my husband’s help–He does everything without the faintest sigh of complaint and is ever sympathetic. I am grateful for Balloon Juice–the front pagers and the commentariat. Here’s to 2022, may it be a better year for all of us!
HumboldtBlue
@raven:
I despise Alabama so much (and that started long before Saban’s dominance) that I immediately support whatever opponent is lined up opposite the Tide.
Georgia better not fuck this up.
BlueGuitarist
happy new year, juicers!
love y’all
Fair Economist
Just wanted to say I think all of you frontpagers are doing a great job. You keep this blog smooth, entertaining, and lively. Congrats to all.
Mike in NC
It will certainly never happen, but the best thing to hope for in 2022 is the entire Trump Crime Cartel being hauled off to life in prison.
smith
With all this talk about the big game, no one has commented on the very most important thing: Did Ron DeSantis make an appearance, as promised by his press office?
frosty
Happy New Year fellow jackals, and I’ll add my thanks to JGC and all the front pagers and commenters who keep this 20-year old blog afloat.
Here’s my advice for the new year, probably swiped from someone here: If you hear 2022 say “Hold my beer!” for the love of God, don’t do it!!!
eclare
@Jean: I remember you talking about that. That sounds awful…did you figure out what spooked your horse?
Glad you have support at home!
raven
@HumboldtBlue: It’s not a matter of “fucking” anything up. They are loaded and, as much as I dislike him, Saban is the GOAT.
Redshift
Happy New Year (almost, EST), jackals! Just stopping in for a moment; I have a few friends over and am also checking in on a zoom version of my usual NYE party. But I’m glad to have this community, front pagers and jackals alike.
Steve in the ATL
@raven: HBTFD!!!
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Awesome tilt! GATA!!!
Spanky
Well, I woke up in time to second the blogmeister’s thanks, and to wish all yinz a better 2022. And that’s even taking into account how much better 2021 was than 2020. And 2019, 2018, and 2017.
May all you that are hurting be healed, and may the Fates protect us from the stupid and the evil in 2022.
HumboldtBlue
@raven:
Without a doubt, and we’re watching the two greatest football coaches of all time in Belichick and Saban real time, don’t mean I can’t spit every time I say their damn names.
Jean
@eclare: We’ll never know what caused him to fly off the ground and buck. That’s what has bothered me so much since the accident.
He has always been so good and sane when I’m in the saddle.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate 24/7 support at home. I don’t know how people do it who are alone. I am slowly transitioning to a cane so improvements are happening.
Lyrebird
@JanieM: Everything you said!
And I just sent in a little to help keep it ad free. Sorry to miss last month.
eclare
@Jean: That’s good to hear about the cane! I hope you continue to get better.
I had a broken leg many years ago, it is an ordeal.
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: Oh my, some diecast connoisseurs would take great offense at you calling that a “toy.”
eachother
All aboard. Leaving gate 2022 @ 12Am sharp.
Day one new calendar.
Love to all.
debbie
Well, the celebratory gunfire started at 11 pm. This is a new record, but probably not surprising since more people were shot and killed here this year. They really do need to make bullets very expensive.
John Revolta
God Bless the Master of this house, Front Pagers also
And all the little jackals that round the table go!
Love and Joy come to you, and to you your wassail too
And God Bless youze and send youze a Happy New Year
And God send youze a Happy New Year!
eclare
@debbie: Same here in Memphis, new record for homicides. Chris Rock had a funny bit about how bullets should be something like $10k apiece. As always, some truth to the humor
Eta> Google Chris Rock bullet control.
Kayla Rudbek
@Steeplejack: it felt colder than that on the bike ride today, but of course eating lunch outside does make me feel chilly in the fall/winter. So I will need to knit faster so I am ready for the next weekend…
Lyrebird
@John Revolta: Love it.
And joy to the setter uppers of the donation thermometers. Tonight I didn’t pitch in to that, but did send a few bucks to Sen. Warnock, Rep. Demings, and Judge Beasley.
Another Scott
Thanks for keeping the lights on for us all these years, JC.
Boundless thanks to the women who keep the threads interesting every day: Anne Laurie, WaterGirl, Betty Cracker.
And thanks to all the other front pagers – many who need to post more often, hint, hint.
John Cole
Tim F
DougJ
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Adam L Silverman
TaMara (HFG)
Major Major Major Major
ruemara
Best wishes for the new year for all of us, everyone.
Cheers!
Scott.
randal m sexton
Thanks everyone for all the good content in this place.
HumboldtBlue
Betty White leaves us laughing.
eclare
@HumboldtBlue: What great clips!
sab
Happy New Year from Ponyo and Dobby the demon housecat. He used to be a demon, but now he is just fun
ETA I hear firecrackers!
James E Powell
@mrmoshpotato:
That’s how I feel about every other game except this one.
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
Decades of that is almost too much. Not quite too much, just almost too good. It’s really nice to see a great human being a great human being.
Also it’s just midnight here and it sounds like a combat zone.
I never served in combat but I heard a lot of weapons going off and knew what they were for. I once was the safety guy on a 5in gun. Sitting about 25 ft away from a rapid firing 5in gun, wearing a oxygen breathing apparatus, with a charged fire hose, having to be the person to run in and cool off the gun if there was a misfire, to hopefully keep it from blowing up, scattering shrapnel in every direction.
Yeah, I can barely stand midnight on the 31st of December any more.
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
You say it best, when you say nothing at all.
(Sorry about the cheesy song lyric.)
Nancy
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I liked Cisco, best captain, next to Picard.
Nancy
@schrodingers_cat:
I like the flowers.
Miss Bianca
@Jean: Oh, man, that sucks. Hope you get better soon!
And Happy New Year to all you Juicers out there everywhere!
katdip
As a longtime lurker, I want to give a huge shout out to Watergirl and anyone else involved in the calendar production. I’m so thankful I could memorialize our dear cat Bunnie who passed this year (See January in Calendar B) – my wife cried (in a good way) when I showed her the picture, and all the Juicer pets are now gracing our kitchen wall. And thanks to all the front pagers and commenters who make this a great place to both activate, rage, chill and laugh – made the past several years tolerable.