Wish me Luck...I'm goin' in balls to the wall

[BrianNorth]

I wish I had the tenacity! We bought a $25 fake tree and used a tube of lights on it. Maybe one day where I dont work 60 hour weeks

[JackTX]

Fake tree with ornaments we've picked up over the years, real presents underneath. Neither are required to have a happy holiday season, however

[MikeW]

right now i smell all over like the guy i was with a few hours ago...

Ughhhh SO do envy.

[ShiftyNJ]

always had a fondness for those bubble light candle things precisely because they're so ridiculous.

I just saw those in a store today. I didn't know they still made them.

[ShiftyNJ]

Fake tree with ornaments we've picked up over the years

Including one slightly-mangled white cat?

[MikeW]

I just saw those in a store today. I didn't know they still made them.

They do, although I must say, somehow the newer ones seem even chintzier than their antique forbearers, and not in a good way, either.

It's all about what I remember from my childhood -- which was so long ago now it seems from another planet, not merely a lifetime.

ETA: I mean, seriously, people; how many of you can even *imagine* a world without the cell phones -- not to mention the internet. God damn, I'm so fucking old, I remember the invention of EZ-PoP!




But, for stringing with cranberries for XmusTree garland, it wasn't so great. We MUCH preferred the kind made in the fireplace:



Of course, it never came out looking like that; more charred and burnt but awesome none the less.

Which reminds me, I figured out how to make perfect kettle popcorn. You have to have a HUGE pot with lid. You set it on high and get the oil REAL hot, pour in the popcorn and STIR LIKE CRAZY. As soon as the popping starts, slam the lid on and shake the pan as it pops. As soon as the crazy ass popping slwos down -- usually about the time the lid starts getting pushed off the kettle with pop corn bouncing onto the floor -- take it off the heat. If you don't right then, the bottom kernels will get scorched and we don't want that now do we? Of course, these days, I'm too lazy for any of that. I just use the hot-air popper and it turns out perfect every time. It's great for garlands, too!

[ShiftyNJ]

I had an "aunt" (one of those family friends who somehow gets the same status as a relative) who once had a chandelier, the shade of which was a cylinder made up of what looked like harp strings. When the lamp was on, some kind of colored liquid would run down the strings. I have no idea where it went once it reached the bottom or how it got back to the top I know we weren't allowed to touch it. Her (at the time) husband also had a painting of a relatively satanic-looking guy (probably Pan or a satyr, in retrospect) on black velvet. Not sure why I associated with these just now; maybe they were the ones with the bubble lights on their tree.

[MikeW]

I had an "aunt" (one of those family friends who somehow gets the same status as a relative) who once had a chandelier, the shade of which was a cylinder made up of what looked like harp strings. When the lamp was on, some kind of colored liquid would run down the strings. I have no idea where it went once it reached the bottom or how it got back to the top I know we weren't allowed to touch it. Her (at the time) husband also had a painting of a relatively satanic-looking guy (probably Pan or a satyr, in retrospect) on black velvet. Not sure why I associated with these just now; maybe they were the ones with the bubble lights on their tree.

Oh, no, Shifty, it didn't dribble liquid. I know what you're talking about -- can't remember when I've seen one but what it is, is an optical effect. Two sets of light conducting filament set and different angles and rotating in opposite directions. Sort of like this:

[ShiftyNJ]

Maybe but it sure looked like melted wax. now I want to try to find one online.

That makes me dizzy if I stare at it.

[ShiftyNJ]

Oh, no, Shifty, it didn't dribble liquid. I know what you're talking about -- can't remember when I've seen one but what it is, is an optical effect. Two sets of light conducting filament set and different angles and rotating in opposite directions. Sort of like this:

Digging around it looks like they really do have liquid (mineral oil) and there is apparently still a bunch of folks out there who like 'em.