It’s a center right never-trumpian group. If you’re the kind the person who seeks a range of views but doesn’t want to dive into cult fandom in the attempt then it’s a great site. Most people aren’t looking for a range of views, they’re looking for confirmation. So I only recommend it selectively.

@bernard It's Neo-Gothic. I love Neo-Gothic.

@jon-nyc I am so sorry to hear that! Air travel is so awful these days. Hopefully your new itinerary with UA wasn't too expensive, and suits your travel plans etc.

@wtg said in My "final exam" for piano class this semester: oh wait, you must mean links embedded in the posts in the thread... Yep! I was curious about the other arrangement I had linked, I might have it somewhere but I don't recall. But I'm pretty sure the Kaneyasu one I mentioned is (was) a piano recording of the exact arrangement that I have (and play in the video at the top of this thread). I got it from a Japanese music magazine and they had links to performances of the scores. But that link appears to be broken as well.

I'm voting with wtg.

Doug would do well with the chics if he had that.

My hair started falling out and I remember the moment I was looking in the mirror and noticed it. I shaved my head after that and never looked back. Four years later I moved to Hawaii where almost every man shaved his head. Lol. Now twenty years on in Florida and over 55 nobody gives AF if you shave your head. Of course, I'm an "average Joe" and not a "world leader" so I guess I have more freedom. So dumb. Shave your head and move on with your life.

That looks like a fairy land! Stunning.

@wtg Tin Can Knits does excellent patterns!

Dinner tonight. It’s just too easy to be this good. Chicken and bean chili. No recipe, Sharon made it up. Sweat mirepoix in a big pot with a sliced green chili and a couple of cloves of garlic. Melt a block of cream cheese on top of it. Add one can each of white beans, black beans, pinto beans, corn, and diced tomatoes. Add shredded Costco rotisserie chicken. Heat up. Season to taste - cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, pepper. It’s way better than it should be with those ingredients. Even for a no UPF warrior with a Mediterranean diet mindset it’s hard to fault it other than maybe too much cream cheese

They are good for small areas. I kept my insulated tack room above freezing in the barn in Maine. We have one near the desk at the gallery (plus several others that blow air) since the rooms in the lower level of our building have no heat. I like that they don’t make noise, and are so much safer than the ones that get red hot. They are easy to move around too. Just don’t get a cheap one. Our cheap one from Walmart quit working after the first winter.

Finally, a Peace Prize. Trump wins his peace prize from Fifa – any chance of a VAR review? At a gaudy and gauche World Cup draw, Gianni Infantino went all out to flatter the world’s most precious ego https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/05/trump-peace-prize-fifa-world-cup

@DougG said in The end of an era: wow, you must be really old. But congratulations. I have really enjoyed retirement the two or three times I’ve done it. Yeah, I get it. As an emeritus professor I still plan on doing stuff, just not in the classroom. I might even see if there is any need for an old curmudgeon in consulting!