Ah, the holidays. They are oft greeted with clenched teeth while, at the same time, eyes grow misty with sweet memories of days gone by and those yet to come.
Miss Dotty had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Mrs.MaryMom had us over for dinner. All of the BrilliantEditor family was there and we brought the ThaiPrincess, too. My friend OuchyKim came over for dessert. We had pumpkin pie and apple cake. Dinner was so good. Dessert was so good.
The dogs liked it too.
Our most enduring conversation topic was that of alcoholism. While avoiding the true and honest difficulties that can be associated with "alcoholism" we also discussed the slippery slope of defining such a thing.
In high school we had to take a quiz (puritanical me (how fitting on Thanksgiving day) hadn't had a drink yet) to determine if we were alcoholics. One criterion was if you'd ever had a drink alone. Yes, one. Ever. In your life.
Sign me up for alcoholism.
Another series of questions was explained to me by the GirlWithTheHair. She's mathematically inclined and also quite clever. She told me about a study/survey type thing where there was a list of ten questions to determine the likelihood/prevalence of alcoholism. The data was less than ideal, however, since the doctors who were meant to ask the ten questions truncated the list to about three.
Depending on the questions, sign me up for alcoholism.
Then there are all the books on addictions, dependencies, and a whole bunch of other words related to such things. Nobody can really put a label on a behavior that is socially acceptable in one place, taboo in another, and tolerated in yet one more location.
Thus, we, being a highly scientific panel, decided that alcoholism is determined by answers to these questions:
1. Do you often drink liquor out of a paper bag?
2. Do you stand on street corners begging for money so you can buy a drink?
3. Did you choose your living/working location based on proximity to a liquor store?
4. If you buy a large quantity of alcohol and then drive home, how many miles per bottle would you say you average?
5. When you grow older and need a walker, will you use going to the liquor store as your method of exercise?
6. Do you drink alone often enough to have a special pet name for each bottle/can/wine opener?
So there's still room for interpretation here, but I think if you talk to the GirlWithTheHair you'll find that our questions are pretty much the same.
discovering conspiracy
I got a job decorating a bank for winter holidays. I much prefer to just do Christmas (because I know what it's supposed to look like) or winter time, but we're trying to try a little bit of each. (Yuck) So I'm making Christmas-type baskets and a fruit garland thing for Kwanzaa.
Then there's Hanukah. There are seventy-five ways to spell the word, not all of which are correct, but all of which have been used. The word is that blue and white are the colors, yet silver and gold seem to work their way in, too. I can find only three symbols (dreidel, menorah, and star of David), but can't find any attractive representations of such.
For Kwanzaa, I don't exactly expect to find a lot of decorations. It's a recent-ish holiday and I live in a very white part of the country. I would, however, expect to find Hanukah decorations. But, at our three craft stores, the only things I could find were three bolts of material and some Christmas tree ornaments with dreidels and menorahs on them (why?). At one grocery store, I found some ugly dreidels made of clear plastic with white paint. I did find attractive candles, but to go with what?
Thus, the conspiracy. BrilliantEditor has threatened going from store to store and spray painting, "This store hates Jewish holidays!" I think I'll interfere with his plan, but I do wonder, where have all the dreidels gone? And where do Hanukah supplies come from? It's so mysterious...
Posted by dotty at November 28, 2003 09:41 PM