Queen Amaranthine

Love the logo! No pictures to share at the moment...although maybe later I'll scan one of my daughter with Santa. I think I mentioned somewhere in another topic here that my son isn't telling for sure, but he doesn't seem to believe in Santa anymore. However, he plays along for the fun of it, since it seems presents are at stake! May your dad have a swift recovery, Donna.

Very true. My husband and I have learned to keep the holidays festive yet simple, especially for the kids. I don't want them growing up with awful memories of the holidays as I have from my teens and 20s when extended family issues and unnecessary drama ran the show. These days, I make sure family get togethers are short and low key. My own little family enjoys simple things like making cookies and attending holiday lighting events to see Santa. I'm pretty sure my son no longer believes in Santa, but he plays along for the spirit of it, as well as his favorite holiday saying, "If you don't b

I've watched SNL on and off since I was 12 years old when the 1st cast was live. Overall, great show! It has indeed had its down years, though. I haven't been watching it lately and therefore don't know how good it is or isn't currently. Some gems: Emily Litella (Gilda Radner!) Sketch with Cameron Diaz, where a host of a children's show was trying to prevent the characters dressed as letters K, F, U, and C from organizing in a certain, um, order Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley as Chippendale dancers Church Lady got old, but she was funny the first couple of times

Love the wild west family photos! I am thankful for my wonderful family. And for my husband and me being in relatively decent health lately, a good long spell for us both. And, on a minor scale, the lovely weather we are having in the plains today, right before the cold blast forecast for tomorrow!

Bryson is hilarious! Recently I started listening to the audio version of his "At Home: A Short History of Private Life" and, being a history-of-daily-life-details geek, am finding it riveting. He has a wonderful reading voice.

Some enthusiasms have no business mixing.

IWas the Wilco coffee through Intelligensia last year a one-time shot? For some reason I was thinking it was to be an annual deal, but maybe I was confusing it with something else or just plain wishful thinking because I missed the deadline last year. It was about this time last year, wasn't it?

Not unlike a first experience at a Wilco show? Yes, no doubt those of us old enough do remember where we were when Challenger exploded. I was in the commons area of my college, chatting with a friend, when suddenly she was distracted and her face went blank. I thought for a second that I was yammering too much and should just wrap it up and shut up because she was drifting off, then looked over my shoulder to see what caught her eye, and saw the aftermath on the big TV screen in the commons. Chilling.

Great costumes and spooky house decor, timewasajoke! Same here--time is a major factor. We have some decorations up, but it's all piecemeal. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year--a lighthearted holiday that requires no social graces or get-together obligations with dysfunctional relatives.

I was just thinking about this band last week, out of the blue. Love them!

Great interview--thanks for finding and sharing! Best line: "We're like a boy scout troop." One of the many reasons I love this band.

I am not even going to try my kids on Wilco--just couldn't take the rejection from my own children! How's this for awful: Nick Jr's Fresh Beat Band is in my area soon, and I seriously considered taking them. However, the past few weeks their interest in that show and music has been fading as they're getting just a bit older, plus we have many other activities going on that same week, so we won't go. I'm not heartbroken.

At first, same here! Then after reading the "how high are you?" description I got curious and had to see what was going on here. (For the record, not high at all--I can barely handle sugar and caffeine, thank you very much). Sea level: 698 ft.

I go through near-burnout phases, at which point I have to put Wilco away for a spell. As much as I love YHF, I came so dangerously close to burning out on it years ago that I can rarely listen to it anymore. I've done that with a few other albums from other bands over the years, and even though I have fond memories of them, I can't bring them out ever. A few weeks or months ago (it all blurs together) I rambled on in some thread here about my long hiatis from Wilco. When I did finally cave in and come back, it was dizzifyingly sweet after such a long time. How's this for obsessed: Last we

I loved Undeclared! Too bad it wasn't on the air very long. I haven't seen Freaks & Geeks, at least not yet, but if it's the same style of humor it sounds worth checking out. Might hit a little too close to home about my own school days , though.

Maybe it was chosen for the radio-friendly factor, considering the media and audience for the interview.

The joy of passing along your OCD gene to your kids is that you watched this last night and look forward to your kids wanting to watch it again...and again...and again...

My brother and I do that too and can really get on a roll. There's a quote from Seinfeld for practically every occasion.

Ha, that is familiar in my house too--if my strategic-thinking husband would let me win once in awhile, maybe we'd play more board games. It's the flip side with video games, though--apparently my fingers are faster than my brain. We had fun playing a virtual pool 8-ball game until I mastered it rapidly and won every game, then, so much for that one! My favorite board game is Trivial Pursuit. I have a Trivial Pursuit book edition that I haven't played yet--kind of need the right audience to join me in that one. Pictionary and Uno are faves too. Best game app on my ipod touch is Firefly Her

Very cool. True, there are so many ways to catch up on the band's catalog now vs. a decade or so ago--YouTube, Spotify, etc. About 10 years ago I was a fairly avid Wilco show attendee, but having a family and the spike in gasoline prices slowed me down considerably! It's great to have access to the "after the show" thread and live vicariously.

Sorry if this derails too much--it's something I've wondered, but I didn't think it worth its own thread but not sure where else to ask this: Is there any member of this site who has not seen Wilco live?

Yes, The Simpsons! Other cartoons worth mentioning: Duckman Phineas and Ferb--although aimed at kids, it is genuinely funny.

Bryan Adams, 1984.

Lost X-Files Twin Peaks Sopranos Honorable mentions: 24. Lots of action and suspense, but some seasons the torture scenes were over the top. Picket Fences. 1st couple of seasons were top notch, but then it veered away from quirky and into soap opera-y with too much personal drama among the characters.

Oh yeah, how about health issues? Joint aches, close-up vision rapidly worsening... they're manageable, yet clear symptoms of aging.