disco pig
[Alt text: A decorative object resembling a silver pig with disco ball material boots and a pink felt Santa hat.]
I had every intention of getting back to a Wednesday schedule with this thing and then wham: My first cold in three years. Instead of tapping out for one day before hacking and honking my way back into the world, I spent four entire days in bed, double-fisting expired NyQuil and Mucinex and wondering who’d end up finding my body. What helped: Ricola honey-lemon-echinacea cough drops. What didn’t: The NYT’s quiz "Is It Flu, Covid or RSV?”
Because I was out of commission, I missed most of Holiday Spirit Week in my building. According to flyers posted in the elevators, Monday was Ugly Holiday Sweater Day, Tuesday was Holiday Hat Day, yesterday was Red & Green Day, today is Cookies & Cocoa, and tomorrow is Candy Cane Kindness Day, plus a visit from a José Andrés food truck.
Apparently I live in a dorm now?
If they were passing out cookies and cocoa today, I missed it. I was so excited by the freezing rain outside (snow is coming!!) that I went into full nesting and cleaning mode, puttering around my apartment like a happy ‘50s housewife. Wikipedia defines “hygge” as “a mood of coziness… with feelings of wellness and contentment.” There should be another Danish or Norwegian word to describe how cold winter weather energizes weirdos like me to suddenly pursue that hygge vibe.
I even busted out Disco Pig, above.
Last December, I had nothing to decorate because I was crashing with friends/quarantining in hotels while looking for a place to live, with all my shit in storage, plus worrying about my father who was in the hospital after a bad fall. The year before that, I was managing the aftermath of my grandmother’s stroke. And the year before that, all I did was wrap presents I’d bought for a family I didn’t know, people who were living in some kind of homeless shelter situation. Somehow I thought that would make me feel better after having lost my mother and dog. It didn’t.
This year is different: No major crises (yet), a comfortable apartment in a well-managed (if corny) building, and the end of a year spent removing things from my life: people, places, jobs, responsibilities, most social media, and in general anything that was not serving me well or making me happy.
I filled some of the resulting emptiness with tennis, volunteering, my friends’ pets, long walks in Rock Creek Park, and travel. Things I wanted to do, not felt like I was supposed to do. I wish I’d been able to make that distinction decades ago.
Holiday Spirit Week, and “the holidays” in general, is a weird mix of marketing, capitalism, and adult peer pressure. “C’mon, man, it’s the holidays! Be cheery! Participate!”
In the past I’ve bah-humbugged my way through the season, cursing the drunk white bros in Santa suits, thinking unkind thoughts about schmaltzy IG posts, wishing Mariah would just STFU already, etc., all while licking my own wounds — many of which were self-inflicted.
I’m just starting to realize that giving myself permission to say no, to opt out — plus avoiding all the contrived holiday cheer crap — gives me room for gratitude and even a tiny bit of Christmas spirit. BREAKING: Sleet thaws Scrooge’s heart.
Ace Hardware was all out of fake Christmas tree garland material, but the lady sold me the last 25 feet of it they were using as a display. Once I hit send on this, I’m cranking up the go-go version of the Mariah song (Audiomack) and turning Svetlana into Mrs. Claus.
Links
"If mental-health issues or drug abuse were major drivers of homelessness, then places with higher rates of these problems would see higher rates of homelessness. They don’t. Utah, Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, West Virginia, Vermont, Delaware, and Wisconsin have some of the highest rates of mental illness in the country, but relatively modest homelessness levels. What prevents at-risk people in these states from falling into homelessness at high rates is simple: They have more affordable-housing options." (Atlantic)
"A new non-hormonal drug specifically for hot flashes could be released in 2023." (Mental Floss)
They didn’t teach this stuff in the eighties. If you've got young kids, you might appreciate this. (MailChimp)
13 stranded strangers went on a road trip. I was expecting this to be about Keanu Reeves. It wasn't. It was even better. File this under feel-good read of the week. (CNN)
This poem: Grocery Shopping With My Mother. (LitHub)
A tool that lets you decide where to move based on the cost of living; terrain and weather; hazards; and politics. (MoveMap)
Fire sale at Twitter HQ. Someone get those Eames chairs. (Auction site)
Screaming hairy armadillo is my new band name. (Boing Boing)
NSFW headline of the week. (Boing Boing)