This is my first "solo," non-travel Christmas in many years, but really, I need a break. I'm taking a day off from moving and painting and going to see a movie. Hopefully I can arrange for a Skype session with family back East.

I hope you all like it, or at least see it as an antidote to the radio's thirty-seventh version of "Sleigh Ride." (Which I like, but not in mass quantities...)

Merry Christmas!

To quote Warren Zevon:

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right;
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight.

Blessings all around, and life and light and love.

1   O günlerde Sezar Avgustus bütün Roma dünyasında bir nüfus sayımının yapılması için buyruk çıkardı.

2   Bu ilk sayım, Kiriniusun Suriye valiliği zamanında yapıldı.

3   Herkes yazılmak için kendi kentine gitti.

4   Böylece Yusuf da, Davutun soyundan ve torunlarından olduğu için Celilenin Nasıra Kentinden Yahudiye bölgesine, Davutun kenti Beytleheme gitti.

5   Orada, hamile olan nişanlısı Meryemle birlikte yazılacaktı.

6   Onlar oradayken, Meryemin doğurma vakti geldi ve ilk oğlunu doğurdu. Onu kundağa sarıp bir yemliğe yatırdı. Çünkü handa yer yoktu.

8   Aynı yörede, sürülerinin yanında nöbet tutarak geceyi kırlarda geçiren çobanlar vardı.

9   Rabbin bir meleği onlara göründü ve Rabbin görkemi çevrelerini aydınlattı. Büyük bir korkuya kapıldılar.

10  Melek onlara, ‹‹Korkmayın!›› dedi. ‹‹Size, bütün halkı çok sevindirecek bir haber müjdeliyorum: Bugün size, Davutun kentinde bir Kurtarıcı doğdu. Bu, Rab olan Mesihtir.

12  İşte size bir işaret: Kundağa sarılmış ve yemlikte yatan bir bebek bulacaksınız.››

13  Birdenbire meleğin yanında, göksel ordulardan oluşan büyük bir topluluk belirdi. Tanrıyı överek, ‹‹En yücelerde Tanrıya yücelik olsun, Yeryüzünde Onun hoşnut kaldığı insanlara Esenlik olsun!›› dediler.

--Dave

Greetings of the season to everyone at ML, especially our gracious hosts, and may the weather be kind to you no matter what the season.

(This has probably happened at least five times in my lifetime, but possibly not more than ten.)

(And, btw, I somehow wandered into the 2011 Xmas thread without realiing it, and boy was I confused when the dates started clicking over beyond Dec 25th....)

(No, I'm not short on sleep. Why do you ask?)

This Amharic translation may challenge your browsers:

1 በመጀመሪያው ቃል ነበረ፥ ቃልም በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ነበረ፥ ቃልም እግዚአብሔር ነበረ።

2 ይህ በመጀመሪያው በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ነበረ።

3 ሁሉ በእርሱ ሆነ፥ ከሆነውም አንዳች ስንኳ ያለ እርሱ አልሆነም።

4 በእርሱ ሕይወት ነበረች፥ ሕይወትም የሰው ብርሃን ነበረች።

5 ብርሃንም በጨለማ ይበራል፥ ጨለማም አላሸነፈውም።

6 ከእግዚአብሔር የተላከ ስሙ ዮሐንስ የሚባል አንድ ሰው ነበረ፤

7 ሁሉ በእርሱ በኩል እንዲያምኑ ይህ ስለ ብርሃን ይመሰክር ዘንድ ለምስክር መጣ።

8 ስለ ብርሃን ሊመሰክር መጣ እንጂ፥ እርሱ ብርሃን አልነበረም።

9 ለሰው ሁሉ የሚያበራው እውነተኛው ብርሃን ወደ ዓለም ይመጣ ነበር።

10 በዓለም ነበረ፥ ዓለሙም በእርሱ ሆነ፥ ዓለሙም አላወቀውም።

11 የእርሱ ወደ ሆነው መጣ፥ የገዛ ወገኖቹም አልተቀበሉትም።

12 ለተቀበሉት ሁሉ ግን፥ በስሙ ለሚያምኑት ለእነርሱ የእግዚአብሔር ልጆች ይሆኑ ዘንድ ሥልጣንን ሰጣቸው፤

13 እነርሱም ከእግዚአብሔር ተወለዱ እንጂ ከደም ወይም ከሥጋ ፈቃድ ወይም ከወንድ ፈቃድ አልተወለዱም።

14 ቃልም ሥጋ ሆነ፤ ጸጋንና እውነትንም ተመልቶ በእኛ አደረ፥ አንድ ልጅም ከአባቱ ዘንድ እንዳለው ክብር የሆነው ክብሩን አየን።

It is a lovely script, I think.

Merry Christmas. If that's not your particular celebration, then I hope whatever yours was/will be was/will be joyous.

In the spirit of that, merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a joyful late December to you guys, my untraditional and non-standard Internet family. Much love.

Merry Christmas everybody.

(With razzleberry dressing.)

I'm a bit surprised no-one's given you a Welsh version before now, so here are three!

This is the colloquial version of Luc 2:1-20 on beibl.net, which is a version people would actually speak, rather than the very literary register of the 1588 Bishop William Morgan or the 1988 Beibl Cymraeg Newydd versions:

1 Tua'r un adeg dyma Cesar Awgwstws yn gorchymyn cynnal cyfrifiad drwy'r Ymerodraeth Rufeinig i gyd.
2 (Hwn oedd y cyfrifiad cyntaf, gafodd ei gynnal cyn bod Cwiriniws yn llywodraethwr Syria.)
3 Roedd pawb yn mynd adre i'r trefi lle cawson nhw eu geni, i gofrestru ar gyfer y cyfrifiad.
4 Felly gan fod Joseff yn perthyn i deulu'r Brenin Dafydd, gadawodd Nasareth yn Galilea, a mynd i gofrestru yn Jwdea — yn Bethlehem, hynny ydy tref Dafydd.
5 Aeth yno gyda Mair oedd yn mynd i fod yn wraig iddo, ac a oedd erbyn hynny'n disgwyl babi.
6 Tra roedden nhw yno daeth yn amser i'r babi gael ei eni,
7 a dyna lle cafodd ei phlentyn cyntaf ei eni — bachgen bach. Dyma hi'n lapio cadachau geni yn ofalus amdano, a'i osod i orwedd mewn cafn ar gyfer bwydo anifeiliaid. Doedd dim llety iddyn nhw aros ynddo.
8 Yn ardal Bethlehem roedd bugeiliaid allan drwy'r nos yn yr awyr agored yn gofalu am eu defaid.
9 Yn sydyn dyma nhw'n gweld un o angylion yr Arglwydd, ac roedd ysblander yr Arglwydd fel golau llachar o'u cwmpas nhw. Roedden nhw wedi dychryn am eu bywydau.
10 Ond dyma'r angel yn dweud wrthyn nhw, “Peidiwch bod ofn. Mae gen i newyddion da i chi! Newyddion fydd yn gwneud pobl ym mhobman yn llawen iawn.
11 Mae eich Achubwr wedi cael ei eni heddiw, yn Bethlehem (tref y Brenin Dafydd). Ie, y Meseia! Yr Arglwydd!
12 Dyma sut byddwch chi'n ei nabod e: Dewch o hyd iddo yn fabi bach wedi ei lapio mewn cadachau ac yn gorwedd mewn cafn bwydo anifeiliaid.”
13 Yn sydyn dyma filoedd o angylion eraill yn dod i'r golwg, roedd fel petai holl angylion y nefoedd yno yn addoli Duw!
14 “Gogoniant i Dduw yn y nefoedd uchaf, heddwch ar y ddaear islaw, a bendith Duw ar bobl.”
15 Pan aeth yr angylion i ffwrdd yn ôl i'r nefoedd, dyma'r bugeiliaid yn dweud wrth ei gilydd, “Dewch! Gadewch i ni fynd i Bethlehem, i weld beth mae'r Arglwydd wedi ei ddweud wrthon ni sydd wedi digwydd.”
16 Felly i ffwrdd â nhw, a dyma nhw'n dod o hyd i Mair a Joseff a'r babi bach yn gorwedd mewn cafn bwydo anifeiliaid.
17 Ar ôl ei weld, dyma'r bugeiliaid yn mynd ati i ddweud wrth bawb beth oedd wedi digwydd, a beth ddwedodd yr angel wrthyn nhw am y plentyn yma.
18 Roedd pawb glywodd am y peth yn rhyfeddu at yr hyn roedd y bugeiliaid yn ei ddweud.
19 Ond roedd Mair yn cofio pob manylyn ac yn meddwl yn aml am y cwbl oedd wedi cael ei ddweud am ei phlentyn.
20 Aeth y bugeiliaid yn ôl i'w gwaith gan ganmol a moli Duw am bopeth roedden nhw wedi ei weld a'i glywed. Roedd y cwbl yn union fel roedd yr angel wedi dweud.

Here's the 1588 version by Bishop William Morgan, which is the version I was brought up with:

1 Bu hefyd yn y dyddiau hynny, fyned gorchymyn allan oddi wrth Augustus Cesar, i drethu’r holl fyd.
2 (Y trethiad yma a wnaethpwyd gyntaf pan oedd Cyrenius yn rhaglaw ar Syria.)
3 A phawb a aethant i’w trethu, bob un i’w ddinas ei hun.
4 A Joseff hefyd a aeth i fyny o Galilea, o ddinas Nasareth, i Jwdea, i ddinas Dafydd, yr hon a elwir Bethlehem (am ei fod o dŷ a thylwyth Dafydd),
5 I’w drethu gyda Mair, yr hon a ddyweddiasid yn wraig iddo, yr hon oedd yn feichiog.
6 A bu, tra oeddynt hwy yno, cyflawnwyd y dyddiau i esgor ohoni.
7 A hi a esgorodd ar ei mab cyntaf‐anedig, ac a’i rhwymodd ef mewn cadachau, ac a’i dododd ef yn y preseb; am nad oedd iddynt le yn y llety.
8 Ac yr oedd yn y wlad honno fugeiliaid yn aros yn y maes, ac yn gwylied eu praidd liw nos.
9 Ac wele, angel yr Arglwydd a safodd gerllaw iddynt, a gogoniant yr Arglwydd a ddisgleiriodd o’u hamgylch: ac ofni yn ddirfawr a wnaethant.
10 A’r angel a ddywedodd wrthynt, Nac ofnwch: canys wele, yr wyf fi yn mynegi i chwi newyddion da o lawenydd mawr, yr hwn a fydd i’r holl bobl:
11 Canys ganwyd i chwi heddiw Geidwad yn ninas Dafydd, yr hwn yw Crist yr Arglwydd.
12 A hyn fydd arwydd i chwi; Chwi a gewch y dyn bach wedi ei rwymo mewn cadachau, a’i ddodi yn y preseb.
13 Ac yn ddisymwth yr oedd gyda’r angel liaws o lu nefol, yn moliannu Duw, ac yn dywedyd,
14 Gogoniant yn y goruchaf i Dduw, ac ar y ddaear tangnefedd, i ddynion ewyllys da.
15 A bu, pan aeth yr angylion ymaith oddi wrthynt i’r nef, y bugeiliaid hwythau a ddywedasant wrth ei gilydd, Awn hyd Fethlehem, a gwelwn y peth hwn a wnaethpwyd, yr hwn a hysbysodd yr Arglwydd i ni.
16 A hwy a ddaethant ar frys; ac a gawsant Mair a Joseff, a’r dyn bach yn gorwedd yn y preseb.
17 A phan welsant, hwy a gyhoeddasant y gair a ddywedasid wrthynt am y bachgen hwn.
18 A phawb a’r a’i clywsant, a ryfeddasant am y pethau a ddywedasid gan y bugeiliaid wrthynt.
19 Eithr Mair a gadwodd y pethau hyn oll, gan eu hystyried yn ei chalon.
20 A’r bugeiliaid a ddychwelasant, gan ogoneddu a moliannu Duw am yr holl bethau a glywsent ac a welsent, fel y dywedasid wrthynt.

And here's the 1988 BCN:

1 Yn y dyddiau hynny aeth gorchymyn allan oddi wrth Cesar Awgwstus i gofrestru'r holl Ymerodraeth.
2 Digwyddodd y cofrestru cyntaf hwn pan oedd Cyrenius yn llywodraethu ar Syria.
3 Aeth pawb felly i'w gofrestru, pob un i'w dref ei hun.
4 Oherwydd ei fod yn perthyn i dŷ a theulu Dafydd, aeth Joseff i fyny o dref Nasareth yng Ngalilea i Jwdea, i dref Dafydd a elwir Bethlehem,
5 i ymgofrestru ynghyd â Mair ei ddyweddi; ac yr oedd hi'n feichiog.
6 Pan oeddent yno, cyflawnwyd yr amser iddi esgor,
7 ac esgorodd ar ei mab cyntafanedig; a rhwymodd ef mewn dillad baban a'i osod mewn preseb, am nad oedd lle iddynt yn y gwesty.
8 Yn yr un ardal yr oedd bugeiliaid allan yn y wlad yn gwarchod eu praidd liw nos.
9 A safodd angel yr Arglwydd yn eu hymyl a disgleiriodd gogoniant yr Arglwydd o'u hamgylch; a daeth arswyd arnynt.
10 Yna dywedodd yr angel wrthynt, “Peidiwch ag ofni, oherwydd wele, yr wyf yn cyhoeddi i chwi y newydd da am lawenydd mawr a ddaw i'r holl bobl:
11 ganwyd i chwi heddiw yn nhref Dafydd, Waredwr, yr hwn yw'r Meseia, yr Arglwydd;
12 a dyma'r arwydd i chwi: cewch hyd i'r un bach wedi ei rwymo mewn dillad baban ac yn gorwedd mewn preseb.”
13 Yn sydyn ymddangosodd gyda'r angel dyrfa o'r llu nefol, yn moli Duw gan ddweud:
14 “Gogoniant yn y goruchaf i Dduw,
ac ar y ddaear tangnefedd ymhlith y rhai sydd wrth ei fodd.”
15 Wedi i'r angylion fynd ymaith oddi wrthynt i'r nef, dechreuodd y bugeiliaid ddweud wrth ei gilydd, “Gadewch inni fynd i Fethlehem a gweld yr hyn sydd wedi digwydd, y peth yr hysbysodd yr Arglwydd ni amdano.”
16 Aethant ar frys, a chawsant hyd i Fair a Joseff, a'r baban yn gorwedd yn y preseb;
17 ac wedi ei weld mynegasant yr hyn oedd wedi ei lefaru wrthynt am y plentyn hwn.
18 Rhyfeddodd pawb a'u clywodd at y pethau a ddywedodd y bugeiliaid wrthynt;
19 ond yr oedd Mair yn cadw'r holl bethau hyn yn ddiogel yn ei chalon ac yn myfyrio arnynt.
20 Dychwelodd y bugeiliaid gan ogoneddu a moli Duw am yr holl bethau a glywsant ac a welsant, yn union fel y llefarwyd wrthynt.

For your joy, a morning carol: listen to the angels sing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-SkLHQmh6Y

Arwel, people in England may remember 1588 for the Armada, but in Wales it will always be the year of Bishop Morgan's Bible. How nice to find another one I can read.

Also, the Quenya is really really well done and lovely to see.

The only nominal Christian in our household has gladly adopted our Jewish cultural ways, so our plan for the day is Les Miserables at 3PM (we have laid in a good supply of tissues, as we know we sob all through the second act, and don't expect that to change for the film), Chinese food at the place with the extensive vegetarian menu after, followed by the Downton Abbey special through the magic of convincing iPlayer we're in the UK, and then the Doctor Who Christmas special on BBC America.

The only Christmas tradition my housemate has retained from childhood is Cinnamon Buns For Breakfast. We've eaten those, accompanied by peppermint hot chocolate (or a peppermint mocha, in my case) topped by whipped cream and festive red sugar sprinkles.

I hope all your Christmases are as relaxed and satisfying as ours.

(Now, back to the War on O'Reilly.)

Best wishes for the day -- and every day -- to all.

I got here kind of late for the carol thread. Hope your holidays are all full of happiness and free from familial discord.

I haven't yet got my hands on Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment and thus don't have the text from Luuk to add to this. However, I do have access online to the parallel text from Matyu.

(Matthew 1. i-xii)
Jiizas did baan iina Betliyem, wan toun
iina Judiya. Dem taim de, a Erad did a
king iina Judiya. Nou, iina dem siem taim
de, som waiz man fram di Iis said did kom
a Jeruusilem an a aks, 2
“We di pikni de we
baan di ada die, we fi kom ton king fi di Juu
piipl dem? Wi si im staar iina di Iis, we shuo
se im baan, an wi kom fi shuo im nof rispek.”
3
Nou wen King Erad ier dis ya, dis bada
bada im ed, an it bada uol iip a piipl iina Jeruusilem tu. 4
Erad kaal evribadi tugeda iina
wan miitn — aal a di ed priis an di man dem
we tiich Muoziz Laa — an im aks dem a
wich paat di Krais — di king we Gad pramis,
fi baan5
Dem ansa se, “Iina Betliyem, kaaz a dat
di prafit did rait dong:
6
‘An yu Betliyem we iina Judiya,
wen yu luk pan aal di ada toun dem we a
liid, yu no wot no les dan dem — yu op
de mongks di tap-a-tap toun demkaaz a fram outa yu wan liida a-go kom
we a-go protek an liid mi piipl dem we
iina Izrel.’”
7
Den Erad sen kaal di waiz man dem fi
kom kom chek im anda di kwaiyat, an fain
out fram dem a wa taim dem did si di staar.
8
Im sen dem go a Betliyem an se, “Gwaan
go luk fi di pikni. Luk gud gud, an wen unu
fain im, kom tel mi, so mi kyan go shuo im
nof rispek tu.”
9
Afta dem don lisn di king, dem lef go we.
Az dem a go bout dem bizniz so, no di sed
staar we dem did si iina di Iis said kom bak
agen! It galang infronta dem til it riich wich
paat di pikni did de, an a uova de-so it tap.
10Wen dem did si di staar agen dem glad-bag
bos! 11
Dem kom iina di ous an si di pikni wid
im mada, Mieri, an dem go dong pan dem
nii an priez im. Dem tek out di prezent we
dem did bring, an gi di pikni — guol, frangkinsens an mor. 12
Nou, chuu Gad did don
waan dem aaf, an tel dem iina wan jriim se
dem no fi go baka Erad, dem tek wan neda
wie go baka dem konchri.

['Twas a common contraction (I'm) without its apostrophe. Spammers seldom use quote marks or apostrophes appropriately, hence the filter. -- Ashteeh Malloren, Duty Gnome ]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/8307543594/in/photostream

If you venture to Kirkuk, one of the first things you may notice is that the public buildings, like the cultural center, and the government buildings, have their names inscribed in five different languages: Sorani Kurdish, Turkish, English, Arabic, and Syriac. (Another Duh! moment: Kirkuk is a lot more diverse than those news reports about car bombs let on.)

The Chaldean Christians, part of the Church of the East, are in communion with Rome, and so they have mass just as a Roman Catholic church would. I confess I'm not Catholic, and I still find mass somewhat mystifying. It's even more mystifying when it's all in Arabic, and Syriac. But also really, really cool.

I couldn't find an online translation of the Gospel into Syriac, although of course there are Syriac bibles. You can see an example of what the language looks like here, if you want. (Really, really cool!)

It's pretty easy to find Luke in Arabic, though.

And, because it's Christmas, here is a hauntingly beautiful carol in Arabic.

TL;DR: I see a lot of Western languages represented here (sweet!), but because I'm in Iraq I'm thinking about the Eastern Church, and wanted to add that to the discussion.

Our "midnight" mass began at 10:00 PM, with carols at 9:30. It was celebrated by the new assistant pastor, who was ordained in June and was an adorable combination of nervous and joyful at his first Christmas mass from the other side of the altar. He threatened, in jest fortunately, to make his homily long enough to make it a true midnight mass.

We (myself, the OtterSpouse, and our 18 and 20-year-olds) got up in a leisurely fashion this morning, opened gifts, and went out for a late breakfast at IHOP which seemed to be the only place open for less than a $50/person brunch. We are headed out to see The Hobbit in an hour or two.

And there was much rejoicing.

Made a omlet of egg, oil, and shrimp tails for the dog; had waffles for myself.

I'm off to The Hobbit in a few minutes; Skype with family will have to wait until afternoon. (They're going to Les Miz.)

Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐξῆλθεν δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην· (αὕτη ἀπογραφὴ πρώτη ἐγένετο ἡγεμονεύοντος τῆς Συρίας Κυρηνίου·) καὶ ἐπορεύοντο πάντες ἀπογράφεσθαι, ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πόλιν. Ἀνέβη δὲ καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἐκ πόλεως Ναζαρὲθ εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν εἰς πόλιν Δαυὶδ ἥτις καλεῖται Βηθλέεμ, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐξ οἴκου καὶ πατριᾶς Δαυίδ, ἀπογράψασθαι σὺν Μαριὰμ τῇ ἐμνηστευμένῃ αὐτῷ, οὔσῃ ἐγκύῳ. ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ τεκεῖν αὐτήν, καὶ ἔτεκεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον, καὶ ἐσπαργάνωσεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἀνέκλινεν αὐτὸν ἐν φάτνῃ, διότι οὐκ ἦν αὐτοῖς τόπος ἐν τῷ καταλύματι.

Καὶ ποιμένες ἦσαν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ ἀγραυλοῦντες καὶ φυλάσσοντες φυλακὰς τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν ποίμνην αὐτῶν. καὶ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐπέστη αὐτοῖς καὶ δόξα κυρίου περιέλαμψεν αὐτούς, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγαν· καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ ἄγγελος· Μὴ φοβεῖσθε, ἰδοὺ γὰρ εὐαγγελίζομαι ὑμῖν χαρὰν μεγάλην ἥτις ἔσται παντὶ τῷ λαῷ, ὅτι ἐτέχθη ὑμῖν σήμερον σωτὴρ ὅς ἐστιν χριστὸς κύριος ἐν πόλει Δαυίδ· καὶ τοῦτο ὑμῖν τὸ σημεῖον, εὑρήσετε βρέφος ἐσπαργανωμένον καὶ κείμενον ἐν φάτνῃ. καὶ ἐξαίφνης ἐγένετο σὺν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ πλῆθος στρατιᾶς οὐρανίου αἰνούντων τὸν θεὸν καὶ λεγόντων· Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας.

I have been spending the last week at the hospital with my aged mother (97), who despite (or perhaps because of) her ailments and medication, has been relating to me Discworld themed dreams.

Not the best way to spend Christmas, but I passed last night listening to wonderful and sometimes quirky Christmas music like this.

Having a very low-key day. Slept in, opened presents; my partner is listening to his new Tangerine Dream CD as I type this. Dinner will probably be some of the smoked ribs he did yesterday. I hope everyone's day is as un-fraught.

The bells are ringing merrily
this special time of year
and we who give citations
are filled with joy and cheer.

We want to make you happy
and to make your season bright
so this time we'll give you a card
and a ticket we won't write!

And, yes, they were parked a few blocks from Powell's Book Store.

Happy holidays, every one!

Tamales for lunch; spouse went out into the blowing cold front, gusting at some unholy level (nearby construction area has porta-potties blown over, a chain link fence blown down, and various detritus sailing about).

Now we wait about until after sunset, when we head over to see old friends for supper, bearing gifts of books, tiramisu, and prosecco.

[*] One spool of ribbon will not be invited again; what I had thought was woven-in metallic thread turned out to be somewhat weakly-applied glitter, and it got all over me, my desk, and ultimately everything else upstairs.

¹ What do you call a meal at 3:00 PM?

² Traditional Christmas diner for Jews, don'tcha know? ;-)

My browser won't do Amharic (which I'd already had a look at) but it will do Armenian, also for Firefly:

1   Այն օրերին Օգոստոս կայսեր կողմից հրաման ելաւ՝ ամբողջ երկրում մարդահամար անելու համար:

2   Այս առաջին մարդահամարը տեղի ունեցաւ, երբ Կիւրենիոսը կուսակալ էր Ասորիքում:

3   Եւ բոլորը գնում էին արձանագրուելու մարդահամարի՝ իւրաքանչիւրն իր քաղաքում:

4   Յովսէփն էլ Դաւթի տնից եւ ազգատոհմից լինելով՝ Գալիլիայի Նազարէթ քաղաքից ելաւ գնաց դէպի Հրէաստան՝ Դաւթի քաղաքը, որը Բեթղեհէմ է կոչւում,

5   մարդահամարի մէջ արձանագրուելու Մարիամի հետ, որ նրա հետ նշանուած էր եւ յղի էր:

6   Եւ երբ նրանք այնտեղ հասան, նրա ծննդաբերելու օրերը լրացան,

7   եւ նա ծնեց իր անդրանիկ որդուն, խանձարուրի մէջ փաթաթեց նրան ու դրեց մսուրի մէջ, որովհետեւ իջեւանում նրանց համար տեղ չկար:

8   Եւ այդ շրջանում բացօթեայ բնակուող հովիւներ կային, որոնք իրենց հօտերի գիշերային պահպանութիւնն էին անում:

9   Եւ Տիրոջ հրեշտակը երեւաց նրանց, Տիրոջ փառքը ծագեց նրանց շուրջը, ու նրանք սաստիկ վախեցան:

10  Եւ հրեշտակը ասաց նրանց. «Մի՛ վախեցէք, որովհետեւ ահա ձեզ մեծ ուրախութիւն եմ աւետում, որը ամբողջ ժողովրդինը կը լինի.

11  որովհետեւ այսօր Դաւթի քաղաքում ձեզ համար ծնուեց մի Փրկիչ, որ օծեալ Տէրն է:

12  Եւ սա՛ ձեզ համար նշան կը լինի. խանձարուրով փաթաթած եւ մսուրի մէջ դրուած մի մանուկ կը գտնէք»:

13  Եւ յանկարծակի այդ հրեշտակի հետ երեւաց երկնային զօրքերի մի բազմութիւն, որ օրհնում էր Աստծուն ու ասում.

14  «Փա՜ռք Աստծուն՝ բարձունքներում, եւ երկրի վրայ խաղաղութի՜ւն եւ հաճութի՜ւն՝ մարդկանց մէջ»:

Oh, and belatedly 'Happy Christmas'; and thank you to Teresa and Patrick, and to Abi, Jim amd Avram for their continuing luminificence.

[Actually for oddly-spaced punctuation. -- Mororix Teoris, Duty Gnome]

"...belatedly 'Happy Christmas'...."

Here in California it's not yet quite sunset on the 25th, so we're still within the first day of Christmas -- with eleven left before the Christmastide ebbs.

Our was blissfully quiet. We got all the family obligations done yesterday and spent today lounging around followed by dinner at the Chinese buffet - a new one for us, most years we are up at my in-laws, but things got moved around this year.

Now the hard part is going to be getting up and going to work tomorrow and not worrying about the storm that's supposed to hit here on Thursday. (This is the system that's wreaking havoc from Texas to Ohio tonight.) Mainers are so cheap, we even get our weather second-hand, when everyone else in the country is done with it.

We brunched at my parents', exchanged gifts there, then went over to my in-laws' (2 miles away). Usually, the in-laws go to see a movie on Christmas. But this year everyone was extremely tired from the pre-Christmas rush at their various workplaces, and the movies we'd wanted to see were all 3 hours long, and various people feared they would fall asleep in a 3-hour movie. So we just chilled out instead and played with the various dogs. (They foster for a local rescue, and always have a houseful, though the cast rotates.)

My father-in-law had a wild desire to bake bread today, so we snacked on freshly made pita bread and crusty rolls, which were delicious. Then we returned to my parents' house to eat the traditional Christmas lasagna. (My parents started making lasagna for Christmas a few years ago, out of a desire to simplify the celebration, and it's become a delicious holiday habit.)

The best part this year: My grandma was here! She recently moved into an apartment in a very nice retirement community close to my parents. (Previously she was living in a rural area 3 hours away from everyone.) It's wonderful to spend time with my grandma; she's so sweet and so much fun.

Wishing you all love, joy, and peace, now and in the New Year.

It is here.
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/23/3977168/bill-vaughn-a-story-of-christmas.html

We combine traditions, so we dined on Chinese food last night, followed by a small gift exchange, and an assortment of movies. Tomorrow the son goes with the ex to her family for additional gifting, while the FG and I pay a visit to her physical therapist, and then dine with friends for Boxing Day (with Christmas crackers, if I can find any!).

(I used them to make up a "hamper" for a college friend and his family, in lieu of individual gifts. I love putting those together.)

We had a 25% books overall gathering, although 75% books in my new stash (Books! How is it that everyone always gets me such lovely books? How do they always know?). Of the 23 people gathered, at least 12 are SF readers, so dinner and gift-giving had much discussion of Banks & Bujold and scene-by-scene critiques of The Hobbit.

Wishing folks pleasantly useful levels of peace and excitement...

Lee @ #47:

Our family hasn't quite got to the point of eschewing wrapping paper entirely, but we have established that we don't mind if previous years' wrappings return for encores. I nearly got through this year's wrapping without resorting to new paper.

Glad to hear most everyone had an enjoyable day! Happy upcoming New Year!

--Dave

One of the remarkable things about the Archbishop of Kirkuk, with whom my team and I are cheerfully acquainted, is his dedication to bridging the divide between Muslims and Christians in his diocese. Just last week the Cardinal for the Eastern Church visited Kirkuk, and Bishop Sako had him visit a local mosque, which was kind of a big deal. Sako told us he noticed the imam of that mosque included the Cardinal's visit in his Friday sermon. Later he said (positively twinkling) that if he hears of imams speaking out against the Christian community in Kirkuk, he calls them up and tells them to knock it off.

We hear a lot of doom and gloom about the Christians in Iraq, and with good reason. But that's not the whole picture.

A friend of mine and I did a large chicken which, unfortunately, dropped off the bottom left of  Jon Singer's  Mike Fellinger's turkey roasting algorithm.

Fortunately, through my extraordinary powers of extrapolation, we calculated that a 6lb bird would take about 3 hours. (Neither of us thought to research this before we made our plans, oh no.) Sure enough, that's about what it worked out to. And, yes, I do still remember how to make trad stuffing.

Compliments of the caterer for our office Xmas party, I tried a new cranberry relish recipe: Take two parts dried cranberries, one part raisins, and one part chopped dried apricots, and soak in an equal volume of the smashed innards of a fresh orange. (I also added a generous splash of unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate.) Would have been better had it soaked overnight, but as I say, planning was not our long suit yesterday. In any event, we forgot to serve it with our meal, but it turned out very tasty, indeed.

(So what the hell is cranberry sauce for, anyway? I've never figured that part out.)

I don't see any italics. gd&r....

Jacque (76): My mother puts cranberry sauce on her turkey. I don't remember whether she also put it on the stuffing, or not.

It provides something sweet/tart (and often cold) to cut through the masses of brown-and-white calories. ;-) And sure, you can eat it with the meat, stuffing, or whatever else you like, even just between other foods.

David D., #73: Heartily seconding that opinion. The first time I ever came to the Knoxville contradance weekend there was a blizzard on Friday, and I had to climb that damn hill from the 17th Street exit. Fortunately it was late, and I could just cruise thru the traffic lights because there was nobody on the road!

Jacque, #76: So what the hell is cranberry sauce for, anyway?

Dessert! Serve with chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.

Oh -- you don't want the store-bought stuff for this. Use my ex-MIL's recipe:

1 bag fresh cranberries (you can use a bag that's been frozen, and cranberries freeze really well)
1 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
Juice and minced peel (not zest) of 1 small lemon

Rinse cranberries and remove any bad ones. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and stand over it, stirring constantly, until most/all of the cranberries have popped. Remove from heat; serve warm or cold.

This stuff will froth over and you looking at it, which is why you have to stand over it. But it only takes about 15-20 minutes. The lemon peel will candy in the hot sugar syrup, and IMO the lemon flavor goes a lot better with cranberry than orange does.

Also, Cranberries in the Snow:

1 bag fresh (never-frozen) cranberries
Karo corn syrup
Confectioners' sugar

Toss the cranberries in a bowl with enough corn syrup to get them wet, then roll/toss them in confectioners' sugar until well-coated; let dry. These are like tiny cranberry-sweet bombs in your mouth, and horribly addictive.

I hope it has gone as well for everyone else.

(I tend to make it like Lee, but without lemon. Instead: apple juice, or Marsala if I'm in a really good mood. I might put in ground cloves. I might put in black pepper. Or pink pepper. I aim to be unpredictable.)

I figure the instructions just said "you'll be counted in your home town. Be there," and Joseph (proud of his ancestry) decided Bethlehem was his home town, never mind that his family hadn't lived there for generations.

Ahh, we call that the Hogans Special Sandwich in our house, after a maternal ancestor. Turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce. But the dressing is a very, very sage dressing. Very. It's literally green with sage. It basically qualifies as a seasoning in its own right. It's also made with an egg as binder, so it's not fluffy; it's dense. You slice it with a knife.

The FG is now getting PT for her newly-diagnosed frozen shoulder. Computer work, stress, and lack of time to attend sooner to her shoulder has led to this, but at least she is going now. The TENS really helped a lot.

Cranberry sauce: another one on Jacque's side. Sweet anything in the savoury part of the meal is just wrong. Sweet pickles being the canonical case (because sometimes they lie about the cut and it looks like real dilled pickles, but cranberry sauce is a close second. Sweet glazes on ham, as well (it's supposed to be salty! Why does it taste like I've put some salt on ice cream? Ick!)

Yes, I'm a grump.

Also: waiting for Jan 6 (Gregorian) - well, we'll actually do the meal on the 7th, but still. When your (very British and urban) family marries farm-family Ukranians...

Also, I've been reading Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess, and I got to the footnote about Blank Peter the day after Christmas....

Generally speaking, I'm with you about savory + sweet; I don't like sweet-glazed ham* either, nor sweet-and-sour sauce on meat, and I want either butter or jam on my toast, but not both. There are a few exceptions -- my preferred BBQ sauce is sweet/hot, because I don't like vinegar-based sauces and the heat moves it far enough into the "savory" category to work.

* OTOH, ham should not be salty either; if it is, it's been prepared wrong. (This is why I'm dubious about "country ham", because it's often too salty for me to eat.) It's supposed to taste like meat.

I'm not fond of carrots except in vegetable soup, but I wouldn't consider them sweet either.

All: here is a gorgeous piece of writing about St. Margaret of Antioch, with bonus RPF that I'll leave you to discover.

However, the abuse of sweet potatoes with marshmallows &c. (Crushed pineapple? Really?) is just wrong.

I *love* cranberry sauce. This year, I portioned out some for Evil Rob to make some habañero additives. He liked it.

The only way I can eat carrots at all is cooked, so I can't comment on whether they might be sweeter when raw.

TexAnne, #97: I find my sensitivity to sweetness has gone WAY up now that I'm deliberately avoiding HFCS.

That really does make a difference, when you stop constantly overloading the sweetness receptors! Another thing I discovered was that after being completely off soft drinks for several months, a number of diet drinks became acceptable; prior to that, I absolutely could not stand diet drinks in any form.

If you like the mouthfeel of soft drinks but don't want to go the diet-soda route, try unsweetened flavored fizzy water. Polar and Wegman's are both good, as are the Trader Joe's house brand. La Croix is good too, but much pricier than the others.

I still eat chocolate and other candies, so it's not like I'll come down on anyone for drinking their sweets.

The variation between the different Welsh versions makes one realize how hard it would be to learn a language just by comparing an English text to a putatively parallel one. I know that some of the difference between the Welsh versions is historical, because Welsh has of course changed over the centuries, but some of it is purely stylistic: different translators making different choices in vocabulary, syntax, and grammar. Figuring out what means what, even with a thousand-page corpus to work with, would be ferociously difficult.

Oh, and of course, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the Fluorosphere.

I once saw some new stuff called "Ice" down at Costco. Being Costco, it was only available as a flat so we got one. The taste was pretty vile, so I put a few bottles into the freezer on the grounds that cold stuff often tastes less vile, and then forgot about it. A couple days later I opened the freezer and found most of the bottles were still liquid, so I grabbed one and chugged it down.

Now I know you're a scientifically literate sort so you know what Phase Change means. I did too, but had never thought much about it until that damned hellbrew (presumably from the expansion in leaving the bottle) phase changed in my throat. I do not recommend duplicating the experience for fun or for toffee.

Bruce E. Durocher II #106: Yikes! Did that involve a doctor's visit?

In regard to combining sweet with savory flavors - for me this can work quite well. I often cook chicken, lamb, or pork with onions, apricots and dates. Brown the meat and chopped onion, then add chopped fruit (dried apricots and dates), broth, and spices - garlic, cumin, hot paprika, cinnamon. Simmer till done. The meat can start out in small pieces or can be pulled out when done, removed from bones, and rendered small. Serve over couscous. Pretty sure this came from a North African inspiration, though they wouldn't be doing the pork.

Well, we don't all like or dislike the same combos. De gustibus non disputandum est.

On a visit to the USVI, I had a different, much paler, sort of sweet potato, baked whole: these were pale yellow/white, with a slight hint of chartreuse, and they were DELICIOUS. I've since found similar but not identical ones here.

And I've discovered that I love sweet potato chips and fries, and black bean chili with chunks of sweet potato, and roasted sweet potatoes as part of a dish of mixed roasted veg, and I even like plain baked sweet potatoes (though I still prefer the pale kind to the orange kind. Or the purple kind, which taste just like the orange ones but are REALLY REALLY PURPLE. Like a purple crayon).

No, because I was drinking fast so the ice coating in my throat was thin enough that the throat muscles were able to break it and what made it down to the stomach was dealt with by the processes there. I stopped drinking as soon as I felt something strange going on, swore A LOT at VOLUME, and let the rest of the mess warm up before I drank it. (My family was very poor in the Depression. To a great degree, if you bought it, especially if it was expensive, you ate it, unless it was carbonated non-alcaholic Apple beer--that was so vile my mom and I both left cans from a vending machine on the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock sitting on the asphalt, mostly full. My wife is fortunately free from this madness.)

My parents used the garage as an extended refrigerator. Sometimes they'd forget that it sometimes became a freezer, and bottles of soda (or "pop" as we called it) would go off bang in the middle of the night.

In college I used my 7-UP vending machine as a cooler/freezer. My roommate once bought a flat of Coke and we put it in without adjusting the temperature. A couple of days later I pulled out a can, opened it over the carpet, and learned a lesson. The ice had frozen out, but not the syrup, so I had a can shooting carbonated Coke syrup at HIGH speed and pressure over a carpet I couldn't easily clean. The lesson I learned was that under these circumstances I could manage to swallow the canfull down, but just barely, and that my sinuses would really, really hate me. I turned down the temperature on the vending machine and went to look for my roommate to warn him.

Many, many years ago I was soda-machine officer on USS Hawkins.

So, there I was, buying my first lot of soda from the distributor, and the guy asks, "How many cases of Aspen do you want?"

I'd never heard of Aspen, but hey, this was the Pepsi distributor, what could go wrong? So I got a case of Aspen.

Aspen, you must know, was a carbonated artificially-flavored apple soda.

I put this stuff in the ship's vending machine ... and it didn't sell.

I set the price to the lowest number the machine would accept (I think it was ten cents). It didn't sell.

I ran through case after case of other sodas ... but I still had most of the case of Aspen on the deck in my stateroom.

I finally got rid of it by waiting until we were in drydock, there was no drinking water on board, and putting nothing but Aspen in the machine. We were still finding mostly-full cans of Aspen stuck in the angle irons for weeks afterward.

That stuff was vile.

Lee, David Goldfarb: it could be. This was a mixed case of whatever the original release was a decade ago, and I'm sure they changed the flavors available soon afterwards to avoid bankruptcy. If you want to know, you can try the inadvertent science experiment I outlined above: if it doesn't freeze in the freezer but freezes in your throat when you chug it down you've got the same thing. Having done it once, I don't intend to do it again.

I used to be able to get carbonated yogurt drink which was so aggressively carbonated that calming it down enough to open it safely took a number of loosenings and tightenings of the cap, or opening the cap just a bit so that the CO2 hissed out without the yogurt drink making a break for freedom.

This was single serving bottles-- 12 ounces or so.

Hard but possible, to an extent. In what feels like a previous life I once did fieldwork in the Bolivian Amazon. Our destination was a village of Tsimane speakers (a local indigenous language), but we had to wait a couple of days in a nearby town for the person who was taking us there by canoe to recover from a drinking binge. (He was the village schoolmaster, incidentally.) I found a translation of the Bible into Tsimane and amused myself by trying to make sense of the first few chapters of Genesis, and managed to learn a few words, including the word for 'snake', which was nash. When we finally made it to the village they showed us the hut they'd built for us, and going to leave my backpack on my bed I nearly put it down on a three-foot-long bright green snake. I shouted "Nash!", at which our hosts ran over, drove the snake away with sticks and killed it outside. Of course they would probably have understood equally well if I had said "Serpiente" or just "Aaaaaa", but I did feel rather proud of myself.