Alpha! FitZED!

Umbrella drinks!

Good morning, egregious!

This was weird. I tried to register but apparently FDL kept my old registration. Hi egregious, nice to see you at the top today!

Hooray! I’m finally up in time for Pull Up the Chair!

I just don’t have the cash to make a big deal out of the holidays. So, for Christmas, I settle for getting a gift for GoodMrsPuma and making up a big old crock pot full of Christmas stew. For New Year’s Eve, it sounds like it’s going to be a party at my folks’ place with hats, noisemakers, and all of my under-seven nieces and nephews.

Darn, I would have been first, but I just had to stop to read first.

Egregious, I’m making all the gifts I’m giving this year. I’m working on a table runner for my sister (lacy crochet work), scarves for the teenagers in the family, some jewelry, and photo prints that I’m framing. I’ve found it to be very therapeutic too. I sit outside in my yard with my feet propped up when I work on the crochet. The dog and the cats love this time, and I sometimes have to backtrack on my stitches.

Welcome to the new house, everybody!

The new house is going to take some getting used to, though….

Hey egr!

Man, this is messed up today.

Good morning egregious.

Anyone notice that the colors of the site logo are patriotically Red, White, and Blue?

Oh, Hi Egregious. Thanks for the swell welcome!

Good morning (again) scarecrow. Can’t wait to see what picture you put up when your turn comes :~)

and to egregious and the rest of the gang!

Good Morning egregious, what a treat!

egregious-a force to be dealt with. Good to see you girl.

Slooooowwwww, this new site. My guess it’s from all us pups registering like crazy to get low user numbers….

Hey, egregious!

Finally managed the log in. New format kinks will work out before we know it, I have no doubt.
Site looks kick ass, great new features, & a great a.m. post, egregious!

Hello, eg! Nice gig you got going on here…

Holidays? oh yeah… better get started on that…

Lovely picture. I’m currently in the tropics (Singapore…it’s nearly 2AM) and it’s actually bloody hot and humid…and there are really loud Aussies shouting outside.

BTW My nomination for the Image of the Wingnut of the Week

More of an orange, white and blue on my screen.

Now wait a minute Mad Dog. I’ve been practicing DogS in my head for two days. Where’d your S go?

I’m not sure….I discovered when I tried to register that I already WAS registered (from the old site, I guess).

As several of us mentioned on the bottom of the last thread, Charlie Savage has a new piece up in the Globe on 43’s continued use of signing statements.

Whew! It took a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of persistence, but I finally jimmied the door open and made it in here!

Looks very nice!

I’d like some ocean breeze and palm tree about now.

Been pulling steady 16 hour days lately.

Mornin’, egregious!

Love the palm trees, faraway places. Each Christmas Eve we do a different country theme for dinner. This year, Bhutan. The menu selection is a tad limited. Apparently chili peppers heavy in everything. Who knew?

And each recipe seems to start with, first get a yak….

So good to see the best of FDL is blending nicely into the new FDL2.0. or is it FDL 3.1 or…. whatever. Lookin’ great!

Christy, how can you stand not to be here! See you soon, and thanks for leaving us in such good hands this morning.

I was remarkably relaxed doing the turkey day dinner & pies for a dozen people so I hope I can stay just as mellow for the Christmas day dinner. I have hosted both holidays for many years. I wouldn’t mind being a guest for a change but having possession of the leftovers is a big plus.
OT: I think I was having a hallucination yesterday. I could have sworn I heard on the tv or radio that Campbell Brown was fired. I think I need to have my hearing tested.

Too many folks had trouble calling single ol’ me plural. *g*

I still am Mad Dogs everywhere else, but I thought I’d give everyone here at The Lake a break.

Low user numbers? How do you know your user number?

It only took me 45 minutes and 6 attempts to register and now I have a password generated from the site that I will not remember 30 seconds after I leave it. There does not seem to be a way to change a password either. Oh well, one of the things that I liked about FDL was its easy accessibility. Those days seem to be over or perhaps I am merely resistant to change.

Where’s selise?

I’m going to that hammock for Christmas!!!

You can change your password in the Profile thingee…just that it is achingly slooooooowwww.

Hmmm? I picked my own password, the site didn’t generate it.

Hello

egregious! good job holding down the fort for CHS….

Hi Gang!

The site is very slow right now because the servers are swamped with everyone registering – and trying out cool new features and such all at once.

But is sure is good to see everyone here!

My old password worked and got me in right away. I’ve been swimming and floating and splashing! I guess some people just have the touch!

No change like this is going to happen without a few hicupps, relax.

Would it help if we who have successfully registered logoff for a while to let those who slept in register?

Test

MadDog – thanks. I’m not sure it would since I think a lot of the load is just traffic and trying all the different pages …

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes – esp since Jamie also needs to get the next surprise ready! – so patience is the best thing for now.

But doesn’t it love pretty!

It took me a bit of a struggle to register…and it does seem very slow. Linky function doesn’t seem to allow embedded titles.

But I love the relaxing photo and hope to find a nice beach to get to where it’s sunny. It’s actually the Monsoon season here, so it rains about three times a day…and is frequently cloudy. So enjoying that wonderful Native American invention, the hammock, is likely to be intermittent.

BTW#1 The word “hammock” is supposedly from the Caribs, one of the groups that were almost exterminated by Columbus. I recently discovered to my surprise, that they actually have a small group that still lives on the island nation of Dominica…which would be a great place to put a hammock up on a beach. Despite the name, it’s not Spanish speaking…they actually speak English and a bit of Creole.

BTW #2 Is it just me or has the Republican Party started to go crazy into internecine warfare with itself? Someone has to be behind all those push-polls, and now we find all this stuff about Rudy-Judy emerging..along with Anglo versions of “Willie Horton” being in the closet of both Romnulan and Jebus (or is it Huckabus).

I think the best of the wingnuttery is going to be related to this self-immolation of the party. For example, here is something from the Flag Lovin’ Descendants of Confederate Veterans who didn’t particularly appreciate how Romney and Giuliani didn’t pledge allegiance to the Stars ‘n Bars at the debate. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers!!! Maybe there should be a “Talk Like a Confederate Day” Li’l Dawgies!

And McCain has been already thrown out of their Klaxon…or is it a Kluegel…or mayby a Kliff Klagen ? I’ll really have to hone up on this “Rebel Yellin’”

Hello everyone. Just when I was about to give up after clicking on the email link to complete my registration at FDL and receiving site failure each time, I got a second email from FDL congratulating me for completing the registration.

For anyone else having trouble registering, keep trying. Persistence (or better yet patience) pays off.

Site looks good. I’ve been checking out the ski slope ads instead of the beach and palms (I don’t tan).

Well what happened with me is that I filled in the registry boxes and then it (whatever it is) told me that my name and email address already existed. I tried this various times and ways with no luck. I eventually clicked the Forgot your password thing and got sent an email which got me back to something or other which finally let me in. Meanwhile I am trying to access the change your password option though the administrative tools but so far I being timed out on it. So we’ll see.

Hey folks sorry it’s a little slow today. Did you know that you can see new comments by hitting [New Comments] “Click here to load them!” at the bottom of the page?

No need for anybody to log out. We want you here :)

Thanks for your patience. What an interesting day!

I tried to send money to by a faster rat for the FDL squirrel cage, but get an Error 404. Anyone else having trouble with the support link?

That should read BUY a faster rat.

You know, I was just saying to myself the other day: The one thing this site really needed is a bunch of active ads and flashy banners in the margins. This new “look” will undoubtedly lower your server load …though probably not the way you intended… Yikes!

The Support Us page should be going up soon, hopefully. Thanks for your generous intent!

Gee, and why would they need ads?

eGreg, I will take your suggestion. And one of the joys of the season for me has always been your caring nature. I can always count on you to inspire me when I’m feeling all used up.

((eGreg)) ‘Tis the season! HoHoHo.

s l o w but trusting this is temporary. SO, since I am mainly a lurker and have been lured out into the open by this splashy new change, exactly WHAT does Firedoglake mean and where is it or is it in the real world? Is TRex’s treehouse ON Firedoglake. Seriously, I need some points of reference and definitions here.

well there’s Joy! here egregious.

and this morning shows the virtue of patience. And I’m just not a good waiter myself. But it’s worth it to be in new diggs with all our friends — and a few tantalizing new ones.

Hi egregious! Registration was easy, but the site is sure slow at the moment. Growing pains, I guess.

Every year for the last, oh, at least sixteen, our family writes individual “Love Letters” to each other, one for each person (not that hard, just the two of us and our two daughters.) We write them on handmade paper we get from the craft store (or the specialty store where Trex would probably hang out lusting after fountain pens.)

On Solstice night we read them to each other by candle light in front of the wood stove, one at a time. We speak of our love, of our appreciation for the person, and our wonder and thankfulness they share our life. No presents until the love letters are made, read, and cried over. Hugs and warm tea rule the evening.

It’s about the coolest thing we do all year.

OT the House and Senate have agreed to increase fuel standards to 35 mpg by 2020.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12…..ref=slogin

Curiously, 35 is also the number of dollars it will likely take in 2020 to buy to buy a gallon of gas. The Congress will now move on to make deals with global warming and peak oil. So far, however, neither peak oil nor global warming show any interest in compromising and are holding out for skyhigh energy prices and global devastation. Nevertheless, Nancy Pelosi still feels confident that they will come around.

Jane likes to sit by the fire with her dogs and watch the Lakers!

The site is horribly slow. If it isn’t fixed it is not a site I can visit. The old one loaded like lightening.

The tools don’t work… can someone lend me their tools.

I don’t care about the colors (of the site) but the content (of the site)… channeling Dr. King.

This should have been done in the middle of the night and the bugs worked out.

Hi egregious! Registration was easy, but the site is sure slow at the moment. Growing pains, I guess.

Every year for the last, oh, at least sixteen, our family writes individual “Love Letters” to each other, one for each person (not that hard, just the two of us and our two daughters.) We write them on handmade paper we get from the craft store (or the specialty store where Trex would probably hang out lusting after fountain pens.)

On Solstice night we read them to each other by candle light in front of the wood stove, one at a time. We speak of our love, of our appreciation for the person, and our wonder and thankfulness they share our life. No presents until the love letters are made, read, and cried over. Hugs and warm tea rule the evening.

It’s about the coolest thing we do all year.

that’s really beautiful!

It wasn’t a Christmas letter, but when going through my mother’s things, I found a coming of age letter from her father to her older sister. You have to understand that I never had a grandfather (that I knew) so that letter was such a find! All of a sudden I knew what a wonderful man and father he was! He came alive for me — even tho just words on a page.

wow, what a wonderful idea!

My biggest stress relief on Thanksgiving was handing over the turkey to hubby and son-in-law to deep fry.

SanderO, you’re certainly not in the spirit this morning… `~(

Ecahn and selise, where are you?

No different than his grumpy ass ever is. I stayed away forf 2 weeks and he’s about to help me split again.

Just an observation from a web design point of view. It’s a balance, the site has good web visibility and content but usability and appearance has taken a severe hit IMO. Jane asked for a critique, here it is, take it or leave it.

And as for the forced registration: If you are shooting for a dry cloistered little club, registration will certainly accomplish that.

No different than his grumpy ass ever is. I stayed away forf 2 weeks and he’s about to help me split again.

oh please no! raven, the morning crowd really misses you!

Michael Gordon has a piece up at the NYT under the heading of News Analysis showing that irony is not dead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12…..ss.html?hp

He’s saying that the US military intends to move from its crap data on Iraqi casualties to the even crappier data that the Iraqi government keeps. To people like Gordon, this is, of course, progress.

Raven, please stay, as a personal favor to me? Thanks.

Spirit? It take 20 min to load a comment… Took 1/2 hour to register and the same to log in.

This is worse than dial up.

What’s up? Is this just a bunch of bugs?

You have always had to put in a name and email address to comment, what’s the big deal?

Sander,
It’s the nature of making changes in the techno world; no matter how much planning and testing and such that is done, there are ALWAYS glitches and unforseen burbs. Give it a period of time. Miracles don’t occur overnight, no matter how much we may try to will that it be so.

Hello, all — Just got registered, and it wasn’t hard. Site is still a bit slow as we all jump into the Lake at once! Nice redesign!

SanderO:
Can’t you see? There are improvements and renovations being done. Be patient. I am sure things will be okay in a day or two. I have questions(and a problem), but that doesn’t mean I am going away. I’ll give it time.

FINALLY. I used to be known as Marion in Savannah, but was not allowed to register as such. Then the new registration seemed to bomb out. And it takes upwards of 3 minutes to load a page. This beyond sucks. I’m hoping it’s just bugs to be worked out, because otherwise I have neither the time nor the patience to put up with it. Is it just me, or is everyone having problems? I’m using the latest version of Firefox…

You have always had to put in a name and email address to comment, what’s the big deal?

The two systems are quite different for many reasons but privacy is the primary concern in this case.

Hi ya Egregious. It’s great to be back home at last. took me 6 times to register but well worth the growing pains.

Snow and sleet in NE Iowa… we are shut down.. shovelling snow and hot chocolate with my family an our 4 year old peanut who got a kittene last week. Let it snow!

Also the military is planning a new generation of spy satellites. The last effort in this direction sent billions to Boeing but had to be scrapped because besides the enormous cost over runs that Boeing managed it didn’t work. Many knew for years that it wasn’t going to work but somehow it never occurred to anyone that this constituted fraud.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22046019/

How many want to bet this puppy will come in on time and on budget? Yeah, me either.

Stprisca:
It’s bugs that come with the redesign. I used to be a name(that busted Joe Klein’s balls), and it would allow me to register that, or another one I wanted. I don’t know why you can’t even have spaces. Ugh!!

Hey that blinking thing at the top of the screen says I won a Nintendo. Is that luck or what? Probably what, I think.

test – am I here?

You’re here, jayt. Did you have trouble getting in?

test – am I here?

That is a very existential question. What is “I”? What is “here”? What is the nature of being? And who is “test”?

How sweet. I have missed lots of folks but the constant whining is really a drag. You know how the FDL “community” was supportive of me in a tough year and I appreciate it.

Two pieces going into my sermon tomorrow kind of fit the topic:

The late Rev. Clark Wells wrote a piece called “The Nicest Gifts I Ever Got”:

“During this season of gift giving, a good exercise is to make a list of the best gifts we ever got. That will tell us what is important, for ourselves and for people we want to give gifts to.

While I remember a Daniel Boone hat and a magician set with special affection, the nicest gifts I ever got are in quite another category: the carillonneur at Rockefeller Chapel who let me strike one of the largest tuned bells in the world during his playing of Ein Feste Burg; my mother giving me a complete Shakespeare for my 14th birthday; coach Al Terry saying “Little Wells, grab your bonnet,” and permitting me to enter as a freshman into my first varsity football game; a beautiful lady on a ship when I was still an acned teenager who kissed my face all over and told me I was handsome; Dr. Henry Nelson Wieman telling me he had thought for several hours about a question I had raised and respond[ed] with a written answer the next day in front of the whole class; night after night my father playing catch with me in the back yard until it got so dark we couldn’t see the ball; A Unitarian minister in Kalamazoo who put his arm around me after my father died and kept it there for a long time; a friend who flew several hundred miles to visit me when I was sick; a buddy who went to see three movies with me on the same day.

The nicest gifts people have given me have been enabling, confirming gifts, bestowing understanding and self-esteem, help in time of trouble, and delight for ordinary days.

May I suggest that you, too, draw up your list of the nicest gifts you ever received. I think it will give some perspective to the kind of gifts we really want to give to others, this Christmas or anytime.”

and

“Christmas Wants”

What do you want for Christmas? Of a truth, the answer to precious few questions serves so completely as a clue to the mystery of the human heart. At other times of the year we may dissemble and make-believe, but at Christmas our true nature reveals itself and we act from the hidden motives that dominate our lives.

Come with me this blessed Yuletide season and let the heart confess those wishes it has ever longed for, but never dared express. Aye, what is it we truly want?

I want a few faithful friends who understand my loneliness and who make it less, not by what they say but simply by what they are .

I want a growing capacity to appreciate and respond to the uncomplaining suffering of others, knowing that they fight as hard a battle against odds as ever I do.

I want a mind unafraid to travel, though the trail is not blazed, and a heart willing to trust, even when faith seems the most unreasonable of efforts.

I want a sense of duty tempered with compassion; a conception of work as a privilege ; an instinct for justice tempered with mercy; and a feeling that responsibility is my debt for the opportunity of living in a day when great ends are at stake.

I want tasks to do that have abiding value, that make my life a lot better and the world a little brighter .

I want a sense of humor, including a sense to laugh much, often at myself; the grace to forgive and the humility to be forgiven; the willingness to praise and the capacity to respond to greatness and glory.

I want a glimpse of verdant hillsides, the never-resting sea, the horizon-seeking plains and the sound of a bird lifting my spirit higher than any bird can fly.

I want a few wistful moments of quiet amidst the raucous noises and feverish fret of the day , and when twilight descends like a benediction I want a sense of an abiding and eternal reality whose other name is God.”

— W. Waldemar W. Argow

Thanks everyone for your patience. We are gradually unfolding something really cool, and it’s going to take some time.

It reminds me of the first day of school, when you don’t know where your classes are, you forgot half your supplies, and the lock on your locker won’t open. The problems are not major, and will all be resolved soon.

It’s been fun to have an early thread on the new site. I appreciate your warm welcome and your ideas and your enthusiasm! This is gonna be good.

And while you are most welcome to stay here and chat, we have Jim Himes, who is running against Chris Shays, upstairs as our guest in Blue America.

thank you

Sorry for being cranky before, but I’m not good at handling separation anxiety! My main hope is that as everyone gets in and registered that it will no longer take forever and a week to load a page. /tantrum

RevDeb that was just beautiful. I’m going to print that out and save it.

well – testing again (I’m an all-things-existential junkie)

couldn’t get comment to go through upstairs…

Mine is orange, white and blue! Is it me or the site? Someone else mentioned the orange too, so I think it’s the site.

Just got registered. Hello, all.

Two pieces going into my sermon tomorrow kind of fit the topic:

The late Rev. Clark Wells wrote a piece called “The Nicest Gifts I Ever Got”:

“During this season of gift giving, a good exercise is to make a list of the best gifts we ever got. That will tell us what is important, for ourselves and for people we want to give gifts to.

While I remember a Daniel Boone hat and a magician set with special affection, the nicest gifts I ever got are in quite another category: the carillonneur at Rockefeller Chapel who let me strike one of the largest tuned bells in the world during his playing of Ein Feste Burg; my mother giving me a complete Shakespeare for my 14th birthday; coach Al Terry saying “Little Wells, grab your bonnet,” and permitting me to enter as a freshman into my first varsity football game; a beautiful lady on a ship when I was still an acned teenager who kissed my face all over and told me I was handsome; Dr. Henry Nelson Wieman telling me he had thought for several hours about a question I had raised and respond[ed] with a written answer the next day in front of the whole class; night after night my father playing catch with me in the back yard until it got so dark we couldn’t see the ball; A Unitarian minister in Kalamazoo who put his arm around me after my father died and kept it there for a long time; a friend who flew several hundred miles to visit me when I was sick; a buddy who went to see three movies with me on the same day.

The nicest gifts people have given me have been enabling, confirming gifts, bestowing understanding and self-esteem, help in time of trouble, and delight for ordinary days.

May I suggest that you, too, draw up your list of the nicest gifts you ever received. I think it will give some perspective to the kind of gifts we really want to give to others, this Christmas or anytime.”

and

“Christmas Wants”

What do you want for Christmas? Of a truth, the answer to precious few questions serves so completely as a clue to the mystery of the human heart. At other times of the year we may dissemble and make-believe, but at Christmas our true nature reveals itself and we act from the hidden motives that dominate our lives.

Come with me this blessed Yuletide season and let the heart confess those wishes it has ever longed for, but never dared express. Aye, what is it we truly want?

I want a few faithful friends who understand my loneliness and who make it less, not by what they say but simply by what they are .

I want a growing capacity to appreciate and respond to the uncomplaining suffering of others, knowing that they fight as hard a battle against odds as ever I do.

I want a mind unafraid to travel, though the trail is not blazed, and a heart willing to trust, even when faith seems the most unreasonable of efforts.

I want a sense of duty tempered with compassion; a conception of work as a privilege ; an instinct for justice tempered with mercy; and a feeling that responsibility is my debt for the opportunity of living in a day when great ends are at stake.

I want tasks to do that have abiding value, that make my life a lot better and the world a little brighter .

I want a sense of humor, including a sense to laugh much, often at myself; the grace to forgive and the humility to be forgiven; the willingness to praise and the capacity to respond to greatness and glory.

I want a glimpse of verdant hillsides, the never-resting sea, the horizon-seeking plains and the sound of a bird lifting my spirit higher than any bird can fly.

I want a few wistful moments of quiet amidst the raucous noises and feverish fret of the day , and when twilight descends like a benediction I want a sense of an abiding and eternal reality whose other name is God.”

— W. Waldemar W. Argow

Beautiful new site! Congratulations Jane, Christy and everyone. The colors (aqua, white and terracotta/sand) are perfect to dream about vacation with. The design is racy but warm. And, congratulations Jane on all the new advertisers. Good going! I thought for a bit about changing my name in honor of the new site, but, well, I decided not to.

Hi Thanks for the hard work on the firedog ‘freedom train’. Bring on the New Year. and Merry Christmas to all and please do keep up the excellent work

[tentatively poking toe in the water]

How about a PEACE budget to get the military spending under control. The miitary spending could have bought peace three times over. I am onto the Boeing scam there staff had zero experience and their technology did not work in space. no project oversight.

My sister is in Shanghai this week, heading to Vietnam for a week on the beach.

Does anyone remember when the switch from blogger to wordpress happened a year and a half ago? It was weeks before the site was even stable, couldn’t get into the old or the new and no treehouse. well, we had a catpond but I couldn’t always find it. This is a freakin’ breeze compared to that.

Chill, everyone. The transition is going better than anyone has a right to expect. (grumblegrumble should have been done in the middle of the night grumblegrumble) Even tech people have to sleep, sheesh.

/mommyrant

I lost count of the number of times I (re)registered. I finally registered under a different name because I thought there was something wrong with my email address or something else that I was trying to input.

Finally this account took. So now I have this account, which required umpteen attempts to register and login, AND I also acquired out of frustration for all my trouble, a double-secret-sock-puppet account too. Since the sock-puppet account is “CaoimhinVT” instead of “Caoimhin,” I can’t imagine having my cover blown, ever. ;-)

Enough of the logistical talk. Jane, thanks for the upgrade. My favorite website (yes favorite!) is just keeps getting better.

Well done!!! Bring on 2008.

sláinte,
cl

I registered once, and finally got in.

This is great. The old WP was sinking under its own weight. No problems signing in, still looking around.

Viva la Firedoglake!

It took me awhile, but got through. Surely we can assume things will shake out. I was really missing our morning, so glad to get on.

Quite OT, but Media Matters had quite a bit to say about insistence that
Carville should be outing his support of Clinton when he appears on the TV, while contrasting that Campbell Brown has quite a connection to the Bush camp, so she should out that if she is going to be doing the news.

I really have nothing much to say about that debate; we all know about Carville and his loyalty, I think, and I do not find Campbell quite interesting enough to talk about. So, that’s my bias. But I would like to know if you all have been listening to the voice of Angela Seabrook on NRP? She makes me turn the radio off, she has wrecked the Weekend Edition pieces on Sat. and Sunday. She always talks more than her guests, and emotes on the edge of hysteria at every item. Anyone else here listening? As a rule, I like NPR; they are losing me, and Im really sorry..That’ to say, I guess, good the Lake is back.

This is cool. I always thought egregious was a guy’s name.