If you have a Christmas tree, does it have a random ornament? My tree does. I’m not sure when I got it—perhaps when I was married. I’m not sure exactly where I got it, either, although something tells me it was somewhere in the Pentagon City Mall. Years ago there used to be a shop called The Christmas Store there, so maybe I got it there. It was Christmas year round in that store, although they did sell ornaments commemorating other holidays. Or perhaps I got it at The Nature Company, which was later converted into a Discovery Channel Store, which later closed. It may have been part of a series of ornaments that fit a Nativity scene, but knowing me, I would have gotten any accompanying sheep, too, although nothing else having to do with the Nativity because that’s just never been my thing. So I really can’t tell you why I have this, only that I’m glad I do because it’s just so random in a tree filled with birds, Snoopy, snowmen, angels, and traditional round ornaments, and I like random things.
So here it is: Two dromedaries.
Also, I don’t think I posted this anywhere last year but it has been sitting on my phone since December 12, 2022, so I’ll post it now. The image is from a Jade Summer coloring book called Intricate Patterns and I colored it using Tombow brush pens.
It took me something like eight hours spread out over three days, as it was the first time I used those brush pens–which also explains what a hot mess it is because Tombow brush pens are kind of big and I had no idea what I was doing or how to use them. I’m not an artist by a long shot.
In fact, I never expected them to be what they are. I had been using a set of no-name dual-tip brush/fine-point markers that I picked up at Barnes & Nobles in 2017 with a gift card from a former boss. I was new to using anything other than Prismacolor pencils and enjoyed using the no-name brand brush markers, which are about the size of a ball-point pen but thinner and more delicate, so when I saw the Tombow set of 96 on sale for half-off on Amazon, I grabbed it, thinking they might be similar. Well, they are a just a wee little bit bigger than the no-name brand. Just a tiny bit. Just a smidge.
In fact, they’re 7.5 inches, which means no man will ever be able to lie to me about that.
And on that tacky note, I will now post the penultimate entry for this year’s Holidailies, heh.
This is going around another website where I like to write.
What did you do in 2023 that you’d never done before? Taken a beloved pet to say goodbye. Go to Poland. Have a heart attack.
Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I mostly did. I will absolutely have a few resolutions for 2024, and will be revisiting a couple from 2023.
Did anyone close to you give birth? No.
Did anyone close to you die? This beautiful bird, Inigo the Nanday Conure, AKA The Nanner King. I’m still grieving. Twenty-one years together is a long time. What I wouldn’t give for one more day.
Nanner King forever, forever my best friend.
Did anyone close to you get married? No.
What countries did you visit? Poland.
What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023? Career fulfillment.
What dates from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 10, when Inigo and I said goodbye. September 4, seeing Poets of the Fall in Warsaw. October 25, when I had my heart attack.
What was your biggest achievement of the year? Surviving.
What was your biggest failure? I would have liked to have saved more money, but I guess I did that by default when I had to cancel my trips to England and Finland.
Did you suffer illness or injury? Yes. I’ve been through it.
What was the best thing you bought? The weekend in Poland.
Whose behavior merited celebration? My buddy Liz. I could not have gotten through this year without her. Also, all the friends who offered to help, send me food, bring me food, etc. after my heart attack. I was able to manage by myself, but it’s a balm to know that help is there if I need it.
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? No one could make me depressed, but appalled? “Miranda.” (If you know, you know.) I’m pretty disgusted by Elmo Muskrat, too. And most of the Supreme Court.
Where did most of your money go? Rent.
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Poland! It was a great time with great people.
What song will always remind you of 2023? “Through the Years,” by Kenny Rogers. Inigo loved country music and after we said goodbye that song came into my head and felt like a message from him. It still comes into my head at random moments, and then I feel his presence.
Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder: Sadder. Grief will do that to you.
Older or wiser: Older, of course. We all are. Wiser, yes. This was a terrible year.
Thinner or fatter: Slightly thinner, but not much.
Richer or poorer: The same.
What do you wish you’d done more of? Travel.
What do you wish you’d done less of? Work.
How did you spend Christmas? Chilling. That said, I had a more socially active holiday season this year than I’ve had in 10 years.
How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? Likely with friends, if I feel up to it. The last time I saw friends was a trivia night and by 9:00 I was feeling loopy and exhausted, so I hope I have the energy.
What was your favorite TV program? What We Do In the Shadows. I heart Nandor.
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Not hate, but I lost respect for a few people and no longer want anything to do with them.
What was the best book you read? I haven’t finished anything I started, so nothing.
What was your greatest musical discovery? Paris Paloma. Here’s my Song of the Year:
What did you want and get? Out of the United States, but not for long enough.
What did you want and not get? Six winning numbers. Or five.
What was your favorite film of this year? The only new release I saw was Barbie, so I guess that wins by default.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Got take-out in which the fortune cookie had no fortune.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Five winning numbers. I don’t even need the sixth. Just enough to get me out of the rat race. A million with a multiplier would be just fine.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023? I don’t have one, but click here to see my rather neglected URSTYLE profile.
What kept you sane? Friends.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I’ve lost my taste for celebrities and public figures, actually.
What political issue stirred you the most? Reproductive rights. Don’t believe in abortion? Don’t have one. Oh, you think it’s wrong but you couldn’t have one anyway because you’re male and can’t get pregnant? Then stay out of two things: Vaginas and the way.
Who do you miss? Inigo, with all my heart.
Who was the best new person/people you met? Aleks and Claire. Met them in Poland and they’re great ladies.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023: I’m at an age where pretty much it’s all just confirmation of what I’ve already learned, but for this year, will go with“Don’t forget to just fucking chill,” from Masood Boomgaard, AKA Self-Help Singh
A quote that sums up your year: The only way out is through.
The ornament below is the last of a set that my parents got back in the 1950s. I believe the filaments, called “angel hair,” are spun glass, or at least that’s what a seller on Etsy says about the ones they’re selling.
I remember being fascinated by these as a child. My parents had them in the round balls like the one above, teardrops, and bells. By the time they had given me what was left of the set when I was in my 20s, there were only three or four left, and the paint worn off or degraded to the point where the plastic underneath was brown and starting to crumble. Not sure how this one survived, but I’m glad I have it. (And yes, that is a flamingo photobombing in the background on the left, heh.)
When my parents gave me this ornament and its remaining companions, one of my sisters once said that they creeped her out, just because of the thought of them being angel hair. This was probably when the first inklings of my future atheism came out because I thought she was daft for even mentioning it or thinking angels were real. At that point I had long since shed any belief in angels of any kind, be they guardian angels, archangels, or fallen angels. The only angels I acknowledge are the human or critter kind here on Earth, the gentle people who seek to help and heal with no reward to themselves and the sweet, innocent birds and animals that seem to have a sense for when humans are in distress and arrive to comfort or assist. But the biblical ones? Right out.
In fact, when I look at modern renderings of biblically accurate angels, I tend to think that Ezekiel and the others who wrote about angels in the Bible were probably on some potent hallucinogenic mushrooms or plants at the time. Have you seen some of the images people have created based on biblical descriptions of angels?
Here’s a Seraphim:
And so much for Cherubim being cute little babies flying around pointing arrows at yer arse to make you fall in love.
Still not nightmarish enough for ya? Try an Ophanim.
Clearly if the ornaments had been made with angel parts, they would not have been made with hair, but with eyeballs.
Which actually would be pretty cool—as long as they didn’t blink.
zenzalei 