Merry Christmas

December 24, 2005 5:01 PM

At the risk of offending a number of people:


Merry Christmas.


Hope things are going well where you are at.
posted by edgeways to etiquette/policy at 5:01 PM (108 comments total)

Merry Christmas.
posted by zanni at 5:07 PM on December 24, 2005

Right back atcha. I'm at work, leaving in 5 hours to eat some likely fantastic Mexican food with strangers. Merry Christmas all.
posted by donpedro at 5:10 PM on December 24, 2005

Feliz navidad y prospero año nuevo a todos.
posted by kjh at 5:13 PM on December 24, 2005

I got an eviction notice for christmas. Merry New Year.
posted by IronLizard at 5:18 PM on December 24, 2005

Nutan Varash Abhinandan....
Happy New Year
posted by darsh at 5:20 PM on December 24, 2005

posted by gramschmidt at 5:23 PM on December 24, 2005

Bah Humbug.

Have a nice day x 365.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:23 PM on December 24, 2005

I'm at my dad's place in Delaware. He's fallen asleep on the couch and has been carrying on a 'conversation' very loudly for the past hour after a bout of drinking.

Happy holidays, all.
posted by moonbird at 6:39 PM on December 24, 2005

M. R. E. Christmas
posted by ColdChef at 6:42 PM on December 24, 2005

For an early Christmas present, my lovely web host has given me massive hard drive failure, and I'm about 17,000 miles from my nearest backup.

Maligayang pasko po sa inyong lahat.
posted by brownpau at 6:48 PM on December 24, 2005

christmas was a saturday morning three weeks ago. was at work, got called overhead to a code blue for a 90-something yr old lady who was in for pneumonia. she had complained of chest discomfort, and her nurse went to get a machine to take some vitals down, when the patient's eyes widened. she yelled out, "THIS IS IT!" then she collapsed back.

when i got there, she had no pulse. she wasn't breathing. there was a question of whether or not she was DNR: while it had been expressed by the patient herself, as well as by some of her family that she did not want to be resuscitated, there was no official code bracelet on her wrist or DNR sheet in her chart.

a quick look at the heart monitor showed that she was in torsades, which turned into v. fib. her heart was going bananas, but wasn't really making anything close to a unified attempt at pumping blood. so i cranked up the juice and shocked her. she was intubated and preparations were underway for a transfer to an ICU bed. i called her main physician, who was outraged that i coded her patient. i called her daughter and granddaughter, who were equally upset that she was resuscitated. i felt like shit. the family was on their way in.


just prior to running to this mess, a 40-odd-yr gentleman was brought to the ER after being found unresponsive by the police. his heart was going bananas. his blood pressure was practically nonexistant. he wasn't responsive. his chemistries were all out of wack, and his core body temp was 84 deg F. i told some folks to warm him up and get some meds started.

went back downstairs to check on him, and pressed on his nails and pinched his skin, rubbed his sternum. still not responding. his vitals were better. his brain might've suffered some damage. so i yelled at him. "HEY MAN, YOU HEAR ME?" he face grimaced a bit, which was a good sign. so i yelled again, "HEY! MR X! OPEN YR EYES!" nothing.

i checked his vitals. i looked at the heart monitor, and i kept yelling at him. and you know what this guy does? he mumbles something about "shut up" and "ain't fucking deaf!"


the old lady turned out to do ok. as it turns out, her family was divided on the whole DNR issue, as was she. she was hurting from the shock, but was grateful. she was extubated very shortly after her transfer, as she was breathing well on her own. her heart rhythm normalized, and her vitals were great. in the morning, she was telling dirty jokes to the nurses and pretending to be unresponsive. she and her family were glad at the prospects of her spending the holidays at home, which she should be doing. her name isn't in the hospital census tonight, anyway.

the guy, too, did well. he was homeless, and it had been a cold night. he got set up with all sorts of social services.

the air was crisp and cold that saturday morning. certainly more xmas-like than it is now. and all i could think about was how i felt like it was christmas. this feeling, of course, dissipated in the weeks that followed, and was replaced with feelings of loneliness. i'd like to blame it on the fact that i have to work xmas day, as well as new year's, but if i were honest about it all, i'd say: well, look: you're sitting at home on the computer on xmas eve, posting a stupid story to a website of people who won't care in an attempt to remind yrself that you felt pretty damn good mere weeks ago.

still, i like being wished a merry xmas by a complete stranger, and think of what it'd sound like coming from that yak. or buffalo. cow. thing. moonbird's comment is also sweat. so merry christmas, mefi! and thanks for being a constant source of amusement!
posted by herrdoktor at 6:49 PM on December 24, 2005

Happy Holidays!
posted by amberglow at 6:53 PM on December 24, 2005

IronLizard, fight it in court. : >
posted by amberglow at 7:05 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Chris Moose.



(No offense that way.)
posted by Shane at 7:42 PM on December 24, 2005

Too broke to pay rent, no defense there. Wife lost her job two weeks ago and I've been unemployed for longer than TWC will send me a check. We're screwed, but thanks. This is the worst christmas ever. Oh, and my birthday was yesterday.
posted by IronLizard at 7:59 PM on December 24, 2005

merry christmas.
posted by shmegegge at 8:00 PM on December 24, 2005

posted by darukaru at 8:03 PM on December 24, 2005

Iron, go to legalaid and fight it...at least you'll stall it so you can get things together. Also find out about emergency rent assistance in your area. Get yourselves a social worker or caseworker immediately.
posted by amberglow at 8:04 PM on December 24, 2005

Fight it in court? I mean, you have my deepest sympathies IronLizard, but.. I mean.. eviciting people is not automatically illegal.
posted by Count Ziggurat at 8:22 PM on December 24, 2005

Captain America's argument has always bugged me. Really. It implies disbelief in Santa is the same as disbelief in ideals of faith, fancy, poetry, love and romance. Ugh.

Merry happy and all that anyway. This thread is pointless. Bah. Grinchness.
posted by mediareport at 8:25 PM on December 24, 2005

fight the power! resist the man! up against the wall running-dog capitalist slumlord pigs! eviciting people is not automatically illegal, but eviscerating them can be. some restrictions may apply in california, michigan, ohio and puerto rico.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS (HOLY DAYS?) TO ALL!
posted by quonsar at 8:28 PM on December 24, 2005

evicting people is legal, but you fight in court as a delaying tactic so you're not thrown out on the street with nowhere to go. It gives you a few months.
posted by amberglow at 8:32 PM on December 24, 2005

Captain America's argument has always bugged me.

You can tell it's not heartfelt, anyway. He's clearly a little dazed and unfocused as Spiderman steadies him on his feet at first, and remains on point to keep him from toppling over backwards. It's hard to tell, comic frames being a static medium, but if you look at his expression in the close-up, his eyes are blearily trying to follow a teleprompter. He knows if he stops giving speeches, they'll take away the only thing that makes the pain go away.

More disturbing than Cap's downward spiral, though, is Wolverine's gleeful expression. Cap just wants to go home, shoot up, and drop out to comfortable numbness for awhile. Wolverine, he's hoping she rejects Santa even after his speech, so he can carve her up. Guys like him, who really enjoy the nastier black-ops wetwork, they're part of why Cap doesn't recognize his own face in the mirror anymore.

Everyone have a savory Saturnalia!
posted by Drastic at 8:35 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas, everyone. herrdoktor, thanks for the story. I was interested, at least. IronLiz, here's hoping yours has a happy ending as well. And as for the comic... "wtf?" adequately expresses my take on it.

Meta Christmas to all!

Oh, Merry, right. My bad.
posted by SuperNova at 8:41 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas, Metafilter.
posted by LeeJay at 8:43 PM on December 24, 2005

Thanks amberglow.
posted by IronLizard at 8:47 PM on December 24, 2005

definitely call or go to social services on Monday--they can help. There's ways to make this not horrible. : >
posted by amberglow at 8:57 PM on December 24, 2005

And as for the comic... "wtf?"

It's from this year's Marvel Holiday Special, SuperNova. And yeah, that story really is as bad as it seems. At least Roger Langridge's art on another story is fun, as ususal.
posted by mediareport at 9:02 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas everyone. It's 5am here and I can't sleep because I'm too excited.
posted by chrismear at 9:20 PM on December 24, 2005

I got to talk to my Dad for the first time in months and months. Merry Christmas! Happy Saturnalia! Happy Solstice! And here we go on one more giddy, miserable, bewildering, breath-taking whirl around the Sun!

*tips a measure of spirits out (but only in spirit) for those who've lost, those who have none, those who have some, those who are naught but spirits, and all of them yet to come*
posted by loquacious at 9:23 PM on December 24, 2005

50% done with a bottle of Branca Menta merry Xmas all.
Mentafilter!
posted by hortense at 9:31 PM on December 24, 2005

Sitting here with a can of Diet Coke with Lime, which washed down a handful of homemade chocolate covered pretzels. Wrapped a crapload of presents. Did laundry. Cooked dinner. Did dishes. Made previously mentioned pretzels.

But this is the first happy Christmas I have had in years.

Merry Christmas to all you scamps.
posted by konolia at 9:34 PM on December 24, 2005

Gleðileg jól. And Herrdoktor, I really enjoyed your story. Christmas is can be a very lonely, stressful time. I'm just glad that it's allmost over, and I hope that next year it will be a bit more enjoyable.
posted by svenni at 9:37 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas everyone!

(I got offered a job on Thursday, and I start two days before my 24th birthday. Happy everything to me :) )

Ayibobo!
posted by kalimac at 9:49 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas to all, thanks to herrdoktor for the fabulous story and to darukaru for the comic, good luck to Mr & Mrs Iron Lizard and to all, a good night!
posted by Lynsey at 9:56 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas to one and all.

Visions of candy canes dance in my head.
I think St. Nick just broke the south tab off of my weather vane with his sled. I hope he likes the Krispy Kreme cookies doughnuts.

MeFi was great this year. Thanks all.

God bless you all and may the spirit of Christmas bring joy to you and your families.

(By the way, did you all get a bunch of wrong number Merry Crhistmas calls from Italy today, and at this time every year, or is that just a Jersey thing? ) Buon Natale!
posted by caddis at 10:01 PM on December 24, 2005

God Bless Us, Every One.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Happy New Year.
posted by yhbc at 10:13 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas and my sincere wishes for a better new year.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:35 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas to everyone from me too. It's 5:30 PM here in Australia. What a day! Really great.
posted by sjvilla79 at 10:41 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry War on Christmas, everybody! I made two kinds of cookies to take to family Christmas in Connecticut tomorrow - the chocolate peanut-butter-chip cookies are good but nothing beats traditional chocolate-chip cookies. Now it's 2 AM and I've just finally had dinner and still have one present to wrap...
posted by nicwolff at 10:50 PM on December 24, 2005

Someone I know died this morning. My wife is 14 weeks pregnant today with our first child. My family never did anything nice to each other for Christmas. Their gifts were always intended to make the giver feel better, not the recipient, and my mother guilted me more this year about having not spent Christmas with family since 1986. And by next year I will have my own child to wonder about how badly I'll fuck up their Christmas. I'll continue to wonder about how long I'll have in this life to make sure they don't end up feeling cheated like I do.

I feel heavily impacted by my own mortality.

Merry Christmas, all. I do mean that, and I hope that you will accept it even if it comes from someone who doesn't quite understand what a Merry Christmas is.
posted by Kickstart70 at 10:59 PM on December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas to all.
Herr Doktor, if I fell ill tonight, I would be glad such a competent medic was on duty. Someone has to take care of us. Thanks.
Good luck to the Iron Lizards. Wherever you are may not allow eviction in winter. Take amberglow's advice.
posted by Cranberry at 11:01 PM on December 24, 2005

My daughter is one week old tonight; I'm exhausted, my wife is recovering from the C-Section and needs me to do everything for her, as does our baby. They're both currently catching a couple hours of sleep in the other room, and posting on metafilter is about the only thing I've done today that wasn't in immediate response to a request from one of the two women running my life this week. Please let me wish everyone reading a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate Christmas), and the most sincere hopes for IronLizard, kickstart70, alumshubby (see dash_slot's thread on the blue) and anyone else who is facing adversity this winter to prosper & overcome in 2006; life can take dramatic turns for the better just as it does for the worse.
posted by jonson at 11:17 PM on December 24, 2005

Best wishes to all MeFi'ers -- what a bizarre, wacky, often-lovable, sometimes-infuriating, but always entertaining community. To those in need: I hope 2006 kicks 2005 in the ass for you. For those who are doing well: carry on.
posted by davidmsc at 11:54 PM on December 24, 2005

Feliz navidad y prospero año nuevo a todos.
posted by kjh at 5:13 PM PST on December 24 [!]

¡Feliz Navidad y un próspero año nuevo para todos!... (7/10 - could do better...)
posted by benzo8 at 11:59 PM on December 24, 2005

Happy Winter solstice.

You're half way there.

Now check your provisions to see if you'll live to see Spring.

If so, celebrate by bringing the only thing green around into your home, to remind you of real leaves.

Best wishes to the whole community. I'd like to be stuck in a cabin with all of you.
posted by Dag Maggot at 12:42 AM on December 25, 2005

*cues dueling banjos, whips up a batch of eggnog*
posted by loquacious at 12:50 AM on December 25, 2005

Happy holidays, you magnificent bastards!

I'm genuinely sorry that some of you are having a hard time (particularly IronLizard). I myself have a problem, but nothing that can't (hopefully) be worked out. You just have to remember that everything is relative, and that there are people who would give their right arm to have your problems. I heard a corny little spoken word thingie on NPR a few weeks ago, and the two things that stuck with me from it were: 1) I will not live a beige existence. And 2) I will draw inspiration from what would break other people. Corny, sure, but also inspirational. I know it's easier to say such things than actually live them, but eh...
posted by Devils Slide at 12:59 AM on December 25, 2005

May each Mefite share in the hope of good tidings the season brings.

Have a glorious and reverent Kwanzaa, one and all!

(Merry Christmas, too.)

Drastic elucidates "More disturbing than Cap's downward spiral, though, is Wolverine's gleeful expression. Cap just wants to go home, shoot up, and drop out to comfortable numbness for awhile. Wolverine, he's hoping she rejects Santa even after his speech, so he can carve her up. Guys like him, who really enjoy the nastier black-ops wetwork, they're part of why Cap doesn't recognize his own face in the mirror anymore."

Wow. Captain America has really let himself go.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 1:38 AM on December 25, 2005

IronLizard, do you guys have any family or friends who could put you up for a while until you get back on your feet?
posted by Devils Slide at 1:46 AM on December 25, 2005

Here's to the hope that you got what you wanted.
posted by crunchland at 3:14 AM on December 25, 2005

My family and three others got together again last night for Christmas Eve dinner, for the 12th or 13th time — no one could remember. It was bittersweet because the family that has hosted the dinner most of the time is moving to upstate New York soon, so it was likely the last time all of us would be together for a Christmas Eve dinner. Bittersweet also because just my brother, his girlfriend and I were representing our family last night. Just out of the hospital last week after some heart trouble, my dad had to go into the emergency room late yesterday and my mother and sister stayed with him. My parents had presents to deliver to everyone and were bringing hors d'oeuvres and dessert, so I was sent to pick up all of that at my parents' house and bring everything to the party.

No worries, though. Dad's OK, it turns out. Not the heart this time, but asthma triggered by something the doctors and family haven't figured out yet.

Merry Christmas, MeFi.
posted by emelenjr at 5:06 AM on December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas, all.

I know some of you are having a hard time and holiday wishes sound like little more than platitudes and don't exactly resonate like the bells of St. Mary's.

I know how you feel -- this is my first Christmas as a single father, in a new city far from family, dirt poor. This is the first Christmas I have had to primarily rely on the charity of strangers to provide for my children. It has been a long strange year, a year filled with once unimaginable fears and a year that taught me a lesson of humilty.

The only advice I can give is to just ride it out -- this day, like every other day, will pass. In the meantime, try and take pleasure in the joy of others. Look at a child's face while they stare in awe at decorations or a model train in a shop window. Go to church (even if your not religious) and take solace in the company of others. Go to a mission or local soup kitchen and give of your time. Buy -- or make, if you have no money -- a small gift and give it to a stranger.

Whatever you do, never, but never, forget that no matter how terrible things may seem there are countless others who are worse off. So get on up, get on out, and use this day to commit a few random acts of kindness. Your life isn't going to be all better tomorrow but maybe you can make someone elses life better today. That's not a bad gift to give yourself even if it's the only one you get.

Most of all, remember that somebody, somewhere, loves you and is thinking of you Christmas morning.
posted by cedar at 5:41 AM on December 25, 2005

I've been exiled by my insane stepmother from the family abode for Christmas. The bright side? She never made me get a lobotomy , plus I get to have Christmas this year with an old friend arriving from out of town as we speak. We're going to eat prime rib and pumpkin pie.

Happy holidays. Make the best of it! (And merry christmas to my MeFi siblings and friends -- you know who you are. I'm glad you escaped being lobotomized too.)
posted by footnote at 5:56 AM on December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas. Seven fishes last night, pork roast today with 'the moms.' Life is good!
posted by fixedgear at 6:19 AM on December 25, 2005

I slept at my fiancée's parents where I enjoyed massive allergic reactions to the pets. With my pump miles away I ended up driving home all by my lonesome at 4am so that I could breath properly in bed. Let's hope the rest of the day goes better.

Joyeux noël et bonne santé!
posted by furtive at 6:24 AM on December 25, 2005

"A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall all be. If it brings us continued struggle we shall remain undaunted."
posted by orthogonality at 6:26 AM on December 25, 2005

i wish santa would fix my apache config problems.
posted by andrew cooke at 6:33 AM on December 25, 2005

never, but never, forget that no matter how terrible things may seem there are countless others who are worse off.

I must be the only person who does not find it remotely helpful or comforting or bolstering to be told "There are people worse off than you" when I'm struggling, especially when I'm struggling with things that the speaker knows nothing about. Other people's suffering doesn't seem to have lessened mine at all. Funny, that.

Merry Christmas, all.
posted by Gator at 6:36 AM on December 25, 2005

I must be the only person who does not find it remotely helpful or comforting or bolstering to be told "There are people worse off than you" when I'm struggling, especially when I'm struggling with things that the speaker knows nothing about.

For me the awareness that, in comparison to others, my problems may not be all that terrible is a source of comfort in that it reminds me to be grateful for what I do have. I find inspiration in watching others prevail against adversity and have found heroes in some of the strangest places.

Other peoples tribulations may not lessen mine, but they can certainly impact on the way I perceive and address my problems.
posted by cedar at 6:50 AM on December 25, 2005

Merry xmas, MeFi.

I'm merely hoping the rain will stop. Nothing metaphoric, or fancy like that: just, it's raining out and I have a dog who needs walking.
posted by cmyk at 7:02 AM on December 25, 2005

Hang in there Jonson, it gets better after about 4 weeks. My daughter is around 3.5 months and we've been (mostly) sleeping through the night for about 5 weeks now!

Merry Christmas!
posted by sic at 7:08 AM on December 25, 2005

cmyk writes "I'm merely hoping the rain will stop. Nothing metaphoric"

I'm merely hoping the reign will stop.
posted by orthogonality at 7:29 AM on December 25, 2005

Thanks for the story, herrdoktor. I'm having a difficult Christmas myself, and it's good to hear things like that. I hope if the need arises I have a doctor as dedicated as you.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Grumpy Grinchdom to all (check any that apply).
posted by languagehat at 7:31 AM on December 25, 2005

I'm merely hoping the reign will stop.
posted by orthogonality

Aww orthogonality, must you bring your political grinding to every part of metafilter and every website you post? You're the closest I've ever seen to a real life scrooge. If you got coal in your stocking, just be a better boy/girl next year you poor miserable thing!

An extra very special merry christmas to you!! ;) Here's hoping christmas carolers follow you everywhere you go today.

=)
posted by justgary at 8:33 AM on December 25, 2005

Does this mean the war [on Christmas] is over?

I got to spend Christmas Eve with my girlfriend, and had the warmest Christmas Eve ever (though I also confirmed yesterday that my apartment has mice and that I might have a tumor of some sort on my thigh). Today it's going to be spent with my parents.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukkah, or bask in the glow of post-Festivus.
posted by drezdn at 8:35 AM on December 25, 2005

My loved ones and I bought our first house a few weeks ago. It's an old fixer-upper, and it sat vacant for more than a year before we bought it. A few days before we closed, the next-door neighbors broke the basement window, ran in an extension cord, and had power in our house turned on under a false name so they could steal it.

We couldn't turn on the water until we had heat. We couldn't turn on the heat until we had power. The electric company turned off our power as soon as they found out about the theft, and refused to turn it back on until we brought the rest of the house up to code.

For Christmas, we got an electrician and a workman from the gas company. They came out on short notice and did good work when they could have stalled for weeks. Last night, our house was warm and well-lit and the toilets all flushed.

Now we get to exchange presents in our own new home. Thanks, Santa.
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:36 AM on December 25, 2005

That too, orthogonality. That too...
posted by cmyk at 8:38 AM on December 25, 2005

IronLizard: Modest Needs.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:04 AM on December 25, 2005

justgary: Here's hoping christmas carolers follow you everywhere you go today.

Gitmo called; they're looking for "interrogators."

Kidding! Season's holidays, everyone.
posted by hangashore at 9:09 AM on December 25, 2005

Hugs, languagehat, I sincerely hope that things improve for you.

My Christmas came on Wednesday. Last night, DaShiv, kenko and ooga_booga came over for food and drink. As usual, it was a very fun and relaxing evening with lots of laughter and meandering conversation (and yes, we talked about all of you.) Today, I rest and take it all in.

Regardless of what and how you choose to celebrate or ignore this month's activities, may peace, joy and happiness find you and your loved ones healthy and close to your heart.
posted by Frisbee Girl at 9:27 AM on December 25, 2005

I must be the only person who does not find it remotely helpful or comforting or bolstering to be told "There are people worse off than you"

I know what you mean, being told things doesn't do a whole lot for me. But seeing and doing things does help me. I have a friend that I do some volunteer work at a prison with. Whenever one of us wants to complain about our job / car / house / girlfriend (or imminent demise of one of the above), we say "Let's go tell the guys at the prison all our problems" and it puts it immediately into perspective.
posted by marxchivist at 9:35 AM on December 25, 2005

merry christmas (flash animation which isn't much, but the tune's cool done this way)
posted by pyramid termite at 9:37 AM on December 25, 2005

IronLizard: why not open up an AskMe thread? People here would be all over that, as amberglow and five fresh fish have shown (apologies if I missed anyone).
posted by hangashore at 9:50 AM on December 25, 2005

Thanks, pyramid termite, that made me smile.
posted by Frisbee Girl at 9:56 AM on December 25, 2005

nebulawindphone, do you have a harem, or are you part of some open relationship thing? The pluralization of "loved ones" in the house purchase made me curious.
posted by jonson at 10:14 AM on December 25, 2005

Happy Christmas, all 30,000 of you. May the next year be better than this one, regardless.

Fijne Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 10:19 AM on December 25, 2005

I drank a whole damn bottle of southern comfort last night.
posted by Dean Keaton at 10:50 AM on December 25, 2005

nebulawindphone, do you have a harem, or are you part of some open relationship thing? The pluralization of "loved ones" in the house purchase made me curious.

Spoken like a new dad!

I kid, I kid. Congratualtions on the spry, Sly.
posted by y2karl at 11:15 AM on December 25, 2005

Well, the nice thing about spending Christmas home alone is you can eat the whole pie yourself as you please and you never have to worry about turning to the person next to you and screaming YOU BITCH ! YOU RUINED MY LIFE ! when all you really meant to say was Could you please pass the mashed potatoes...

And tonight, I get to direct my friends Lisa and Jaya on my patented Seattle Christmas lights tour. You all should do the same--get thee out and look at some over the top Xmas display activity.
posted by y2karl at 11:25 AM on December 25, 2005

SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
SOCK IT TO ME!
posted by quonsar at 1:24 PM on December 25, 2005

LOOK MA, I'M NIXON!
posted by quonsar at 1:25 PM on December 25, 2005

a'bunadh
posted by 31d1 at 1:28 PM on December 25, 2005

"and thus, a star appeared in the heavens, announcing the undead birth of Zombie Nixon" ?
posted by amberglow at 2:02 PM on December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas. I think many of you are shrill and crazy and make mefi often unreadable, but I wish you all the best.
posted by kavasa at 2:27 PM on December 25, 2005

*socks it to quonsar, gives MeFi Kissmas noogies*

Happy whatever to whomever! (Personally, I'm celebrating Kissmas).

SWAK!
posted by taz at 3:00 PM on December 25, 2005

Merry Jewmas!
posted by jewzilla at 3:44 PM on December 25, 2005

It's Christmas?
posted by TeamBilly at 4:09 PM on December 25, 2005

Not anymore it isn't, here.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:09 PM on December 25, 2005

Joyeux Noel.

My greatest gift was watching my 2.75 year old with Trisomy 21 and stroke-at-birth induced hemiplegia tear open Christmas presents with both hands. That and riding the stuffed toy horse wearing a tiny cowboy hat. The video I shot of that is high on my list of "things to bring out on prom night".
posted by plinth at 4:51 PM on December 25, 2005

Kisses, most especially to mefites in sad circumstances, and most especially to my dear friend Languagehat, who was a faithful correspondent before I ever got here. Kissmas -- free for all, non-sectarian, devoid of merchandizing, 100% O'Reilly free, and 100% more endowed with rocking and rolling all night/partying every day -- may be extended to tomorrow and every day you can swing it. Smooch!
posted by melissa may at 5:02 PM on December 25, 2005

plinth : >
posted by amberglow at 5:14 PM on December 25, 2005

Drastically profound....

gramschmidt: somewhere in IS? Or is that Scotland?
posted by lodurr at 6:22 PM on December 25, 2005

I dunno, jonson. You wanna join my harem?
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:29 PM on December 25, 2005

Christmas was going great until midway though dinner, we got a phone call that Uncle Vinnie died. No joke. That's gonna be a rough association for his wife & kids.
posted by jonmc at 6:53 PM on December 25, 2005

Someone fractured my jaw a week ago so I can't chew. And there is all... this... food.
posted by Sparx at 8:31 PM on December 25, 2005

footnote: I have a similar stepmother-in-law. I pray for her recovery. Merry Christmas to you -- also to all you other MeFites out there with crazy families -- and have a happy 2006!
posted by brain_drain at 11:04 PM on December 25, 2005

mediareport: thanks from the bottom of my heart for the link to Roger Langridge's site. I've been a fan since Zoot!, and I hadn't seen his work in so long that I had assumed that he had moved on to other endeavours.

And a Messy Kweznuzz to all.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:06 AM on December 26, 2005

Andrew: Ironicaly have been working on my linode this weekend (and eating steamed rice because all the takeout places in town are closed, and I didn't stock up on food. Fun "holiday" for me :P)

Anyway, in order to get SSLEngine to work, you need to have aditional config directives to tell it where to find the cert files. Have you done this? My config looks like:


SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache/ssl.crt/snakeoil-dsa.crt
SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache/ssl.crt/snakeoil-rsa.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache/ssl.key/snakeoil-dsa.key
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache/ssl.key/snakeoil-rsa.key


I'm not sure if the mod_ssl docs will tell you this, since I figured it by trying (and failing) to start apache and looking at apache's log file to see what failed.
posted by delmoi at 1:16 AM on December 26, 2005

Happy Boxing Day, yo.
posted by scarabic at 1:41 AM on December 26, 2005

fuck all y'all bitches.

Merry Hatem'ass motherfuckers.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:42 AM on December 26, 2005

delmoi - thanks, but i already have that. the problem isn't that i can't get ssl to work, but that php stops working depending on whether sslending is on or off.
posted by andrew cooke at 2:59 AM on December 26, 2005

delmoi, if everything is still closed (or as a reference for next time): you can make a nice savory peanut sauce with a little peanut butter, some rice or white wine vinegar and some soy or tamari. Makes that steamed rice a lot more palatable.
posted by lodurr at 4:53 AM on December 26, 2005

I had a great Xmas. I visited my parents, and we ate turkey and drank sangria. But that's not what I want to talk about.

What I want to talk about is my local paper's yearly Christmas puff piece. The rough outline of this year's is: A guy is at the hospital beside his dying mother's bed, and he pledges himself to Jesus. As soon as he does so, his left arm begins to sweat and he blacks out.

Power of Jesus you say? Actually, he has a brain tumor. That's right, Jesus gave him cancer. I read on for a few paragraphs, about how thanks to modern medicine he's fine now, and he's found peace, but .... Jesus gave him cancer. That's the story.

That made my Boxing Day. Well, at least compared to last Boxing Day.
posted by boaz at 8:58 AM on December 26, 2005

I had a nice, peaceful day of rest. It was a wonderful breather from the craziness I've been drowning in at work. I hiked out high in the old wash with the pup roaming around, checked out all the old shade trees and landmarks and alterations from the generations of kids that have adopted this little secret desert after I left. They'd widened the bridge to the east since the last time I've been out behind mom's, and the hundreds of yards of great concrete pillars and sandy expanse is still way cool. Someone'd had the sweet idea of hosting a paintball fight there.

After that, gin and family, food and presents. Then Trivial Pursuit with friends until the early hours. Slept, and I was plunged right back into retail hell.

Mefites, may your days be joyous and your nights peaceful. May the sun warm your face and the rain cool your neck. May your faith in whatever you find good be strong, and your doubts rest assured. Have a delightful year!
posted by carsonb at 7:07 PM on December 26, 2005

here's my phpinfo() on an SSL system, maybe that will help.
posted by delmoi at 9:10 AM on December 27, 2005

thanks.
posted by andrew cooke at 9:29 AM on December 27, 2005

i was away , but happy belated christmas !
posted by sgt.serenity at 2:16 PM on December 27, 2005