sraun | Reading

This past weekend was our seventeenth annual cookie baking. We were baking for nine households, and after so many years, we have the whole process down to a well-oiled machine. Each of us brought two batches of cookies, one already baked and the other baked that day at my sister's house.

As it was December 13, Santa Lucia Day, I also brought lussekatter, for us to have with our coffee as we baked. We spread the cookies out on a long table in my sister's living room. By taking up columns of cookies, we each had a nice mix.

M came along with Alona and Fiona, to the joy of all. Her first cookie baking!

Description: Background: a table covered with rows of Christmas cookies: bottom: a group of women smile at the corner. Top: three lussekatter

Celebrations

50 Celebrations

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

billroper

This is Chris Conway's fault. Sort of.

Chris has been working on his new album and has been posting about the various things that he has been doing to "Song 13". I finally asked him if that was the title of the song, or its position in the track list, or what. It turns out that it's "what", in that it's the thirteenth track that he's been working on in succession for the project.

I had an ulterior motive when asking: it seemed like "Song 13" was sort of a good title for a song. I wasn't sure exactly what the song would end up being, but it was a good title for a song. :)

And now I have a song to attach to the title, which you will find just below. Some things just get numbers, I guess. For Love Potions, it's Number Nine. Or maybe Ten...
( Lyrics inside... )

notalwaysworking_feed

Posted by Not Always Right

https://notalwaysright.com/the-wizard-behind-the-stacks/400163/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400163

Read The Wizard Behind The Stacks

That's how this librarian went into the secret room in the back to produce the item from thin air, just for me.

Read The Wizard Behind The Stacks

https://notalwaysright.com/the-wizard-behind-the-stacks/400163/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400163

davidlevine

I will be appearing in a short play as part of this "Mini-Play-a-Thon" at the Echo Theatre in Portland on Saturday January 3, 4-6 PM!

Mini-Play-a-Thon, Sat Jan 3rd 4-6 PM, Echo Theater Company

Mini-Play-a-Thon, Sat Jan 3rd 4-6 PM, Echo Theater Company

Tickets are $10 regular, $15 VIP: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/start-fresh-festival-mini-play-a-thon-2

notalwaysrelated_feed

Posted by Not Always Right

https://notalwaysright.com/this-story-starts-as-a-pile-of-crock-and-gets-worse/375589/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=375589

Read This Story Starts As A Pile Of Crock And Gets Worse

I'm not allowed to touch crock pots.
When I was a kid, I broke one. It was my night for dishes, and a heavy ceramic pot plus wet child-sized hands meant it slipped and broke. For Christmas, my grandmother bought my mum a new one, because my mum used her crock pot a lot.
I broke that one, too.

Read This Story Starts As A Pile Of Crock And Gets Worse

https://notalwaysright.com/this-story-starts-as-a-pile-of-crock-and-gets-worse/375589/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=375589

lsanderson

Analysis
Trickle release of Epstein files on a Friday signals move to bury Trump ties
Sam Levine in New York
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/20/epstein-files-release-strategy-trump

Analysis
Trump over-promises and under-delivers with heavily redacted Epstein cache
David Smith in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/19/doj-epstein-files-release-redacted-trump

Trump, tech barons and a title-less Andrew: how well do you remember 2025? – quiz
From pop to politics, it’s been quite the year. Were you paying attention? Let’s find out …
Will Dean
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/dec/20/trump-tech-barons-and-a-title-less-andrew-2025-quiz

I took my kids to Lapland on the Santa Claus Express – but would the big man deliver?
If meeting Santa is on your family wishlist, this trip on a festive sleeper train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, with reindeer and huskies thrown in, is Christmas with jingle bells on
Monisha Rajesh
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/dec/20/lapland-santa-claus-express-sleeper-train-family-trip

notalwaysfriendly_feed

Posted by Not Always Right

https://notalwaysright.com/wait-until-he-discovers-slaying/400208/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400208

Read Wait Until He Discovers Slaying…

We have a Korean friend in the group who moved to the US a couple of years ago. Their English is more than proficient, but they struggle with colloquial phrases and can't tell when not to take things literally.
Korean Friend: "What… is in that bread?!"

Read Wait Until He Discovers Slaying…

https://notalwaysright.com/wait-until-he-discovers-slaying/400208/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400208

samuraiter posting in

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rmjwell

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

alicebentley

That work thing I didn't much talk about: sales aren't as strong as they need to be at The Bone Factory, and as part of dealing with that they have pulled me out of my beloved Assembly area and put me on Shipping Support. Specifically, running the ink jet printer.

I don't mind doing it, and it's certainly a critical path task, but it's rather a step down from my previous position. Also, sometime in January they're going to drop me to part time. I'm guessing 20 hrs/week but they won't say and I suspect they don't know yet.

It will be a hit in the wallet, and a blow to my illusions of being a useful and valuable member of my work team. But I've never forgotten that Life Is Change, and I'll help it all come around right eventually.

Once I'm on part time I will likely poke around town for an additional part time job. There are a couple places I think likely. But I'm going to put that all aside until I return from my upcoming Friends and Family Adventure, which starts next week (flying to Chicago Wednesday evening) and runs through until past New Years (taking the train from Kalamazoo MI to Chicago IL, then Portland OR, then Seattle WA. That will be a three day trip and I'll be bringing lots of ebooks and audio books.

For 2026 I plan to log all the books I read and/or listen to, even the ones I DNF (which happens rather a lot I'm sad to say).

ndrosen

There was a moving column in Wednesday’s Washington Post by Claire Lai, daughter of Jimmy Lai, who used to publish the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong. After spending years in prison awaiting trial, he has now been convicted and sentenced, and will most likely die in China’s prison system. Ms Lai reports that he is in poor health, probably suffering from vitamin deficiencies, and much thinner than he used to be.

Those who believe, or even hope that Someone may be listening, may be moved to pray for Jimmy Lai. All of us should also grasp the lesson that this is how China’s government treats truth-tellers, and be prepared to oppose Chinese aggrandizement, and efforts to export China’s values and kind of governance.

We should also keep in mind that the persecution of dissidents is a feature of the kind of government which President Windrip — excuse me, Trump — wants to establish. We who are still free have need to be strong and vigilant against the enemy within, as well as against China and Russia.

billroper

Julie has officially finished high school. I am impressed.

Today was my last day of work before Christmas break. This made it a bad day to break anything, so I wrote a little utility method that should be useful for several projects that we're working on. Since nothing is using it yet, it could be checked in harmlessly. :) I'm not traveling, so I have promised to show up if anything that I changed recently *does* decide to die horribly in the lead up to Christmas.

Now, I just need to finish my Christmas shopping...

azurelunatic

My hyperfocus does still work to the extent that when I was reading earlier today, I tuned out the various scraping and occasional hammering noises from the roof. I could not, however, sleep through the hammering.

Which is perhaps why Belovedest is on the shopping trip without me today. I was too cold and tired to get ready, let alone go out into the cold and dark.

kill6billiondemons_feed

Posted by Abbadon

https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/wheel-smashing-lord-5-159-to-5-161/

https://killsixbilliondemons.com/?post_type=comic&p=4156

Thanks for reading ya’ll.

KSBD will go on a short break until January 26th, 2025 with another multi-page update. In the meantime, I will be tabling at Super Magfest in early January, where I hope to see some of you there. Happy holidays!

– Abbadon

https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/wheel-smashing-lord-5-159-to-5-161/

https://killsixbilliondemons.com/?post_type=comic&p=4156

notalwaysworking_feed

Posted by Not Always Right

https://notalwaysright.com/shelf-destruct-sequence-activated/400088/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400088

Read Shelf-Destruct Sequence Activated

My coworker, who had only been in retail for two weeks at that time, was not a nice person.
Without warning, he stuck his whole arm onto the shelf and swept.
Every single yogurt, two hundred plus cups, exploded out onto the floor and across her cart.
Coworker: "Try looking through that, b****!"

Read Shelf-Destruct Sequence Activated

https://notalwaysright.com/shelf-destruct-sequence-activated/400088/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400088

sharonlee_feed

Posted by Sharon

https://sharonleewriter.com/2025/12/interview-link/

https://sharonleewriter.com/?p=14823

For those who consume podcasts, The Baen Free Radio Hour today features, among other things, Sean Hazlett and me chatting about I Dare and a buncha other stuff, too. Link

https://sharonleewriter.com/2025/12/interview-link/

https://sharonleewriter.com/?p=14823

rolanni

For those who consume podcasts, The Baen Free Radio Hour today features, among other things, Sean Hazlett and me chatting about I Dare and a buncha other stuff, too. Link

notalwaysworking_feed

Posted by Not Always Right

https://notalwaysright.com/theyre-dot-conning-themselves/399887/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=399887

Read They’re Dot-Conning Themselves

Employee #1: "Hey, I need access to [Project] portal."
Me: "Hi, [Employee #1], unfortunately, only [Manager] has this ability. He will be back on Monday."
Employee #1: "I need access today."

Read They’re Dot-Conning Themselves

https://notalwaysright.com/theyre-dot-conning-themselves/399887/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=399887

occams_pyramid posting in

girlgenius_lair

I can now kill that monster with my bare hands!

Uh-oh. She's given the Dreen her own coffee?

notalwaysworking_feed

Posted by Not Always Right

https://notalwaysright.com/water-we-even-doing-here/400049/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400049

Read Water We Even Doing Here?

Branch Manager: "Go home!"
Employee: "But, I…?"
Branch Manager: "No buts. I'll take care of the rest. Go home! You can still make it if you go now. I called the town about the bridge, and if it's drivable, it's still good, but they don't know for how long. Go. Now. I'll man the section."

Read Water We Even Doing Here?

https://notalwaysright.com/water-we-even-doing-here/400049/

https://notalwaysright.com/?p=400049

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sraun

November 2025

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Who I'm Reading Today

Reading

2025 52 Card Project: Week 50: Celebrations

Song Thirteen

The Wizard Behind The Stacks

Mini-Play-a-Thon, January 3

This Story Starts As A Pile Of Crock And Gets Worse

2025.12.20

Wait Until He Discovers Slaying…

20 December 2025: Humbug

Burlesque Picture of the Day, 2025-12-19: Eve Riot!

(no subject)

Jimmy Lai

Christmas Break

Deck the roof with loud repairmen

WHEEL SMASHING LORD 5-159 to 5-161

Shelf-Destruct Sequence Activated

Interview link

Interview link

They’re Dot-Conning Themselves

Friday's Comic

Water We Even Doing Here?

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November 2025

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