randomduck

virtual advent 2018: festivus with a side of translation FAIL

23 December 201823 December 2018 by randomduck

randomduck

Welcome back to yet another installment of sprite's Virtual Advent 2018! Today we will take a quick journey to the land of Festivus, the anti-commercial made-up holiday that falls on December 23. It's the product of a 1997 episode of Seinfeld. It's best explained by watching this compilation clip from…

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virtual advent 2018: caja tio

9 December 20188 December 2018 by randomduck

randomduck

Catalan Christmas traditions tend toward the weird. With that may I introduce... CAJA TIO - the pooping log! Also known as Tio de Nadal, Caja Tio is a staple of Catalan Christmas tradition. The basic gist is that a household has this wooden log sculpture, typically 30 centimeters long, in…

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virtual advent: random christmas trivia

15 December 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

Christmas is a weird holiday for me. I’m not really in on the religious aspect. I like the fact that it happens around the winter solstice, which heralds the arrival of my favorite season of the year. It snowed this morning in New York City, where I happened to be…

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virtual advent: skiing santas!

7 December 20177 December 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

Welcome to another stop in sprite's Virtual Advent 2017! I love that sprite carries on this tradition every year - and I try to provide something unique to the mix every year. This year I'm sharing the tradition of the skiing Santas. Many ski areas kick off their season in…

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a quick #hip2point0 update

3 September 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

Yes, I said I'd give more regular updates about the new hip. And I've not done so - at least not on this site. Bugger. Sorry about that. I'll make it brief and bulleted: I made it through the high-risk for deep-vein thrombosis time without incident. Yes, there was a…

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a #hip2point0 update: two weeks on the new hip, and…

22 May 201723 May 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

Hey there! It's been a fortnight since #hip2point0 happened, and a lot has changed - primarily for the better! The surgery went well. My previous post was thumb-typed in the pre-op prep room on my smartphone. I hadn't yet had any pain meds or anesthesia, but I was confident about the…

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#hip2point0 – here we go!

8 May 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

Just checked in at the hospital. Old #projectfemur hardware is coming out, #hip2point0 hardware is going in. I'm at ease with this. It is time. Yes, it'll be a lot of hard work coming back to full strength, but I'm ready for the challenge. Game on! See you after surgery...

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six days left to go…

2 May 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

In six days, the new hip arrives - I can't wait! I have the clearance from my primary care doctor - my body is ready for new hip hardware. I have the surgical orders from my orthopedic surgeon - he's ready to remove the last vestiges of #projectfemur hardware and…

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only four weeks from today (doo-wah!)…

10 April 2017 by randomduck

randomduck

Four weeks from today, around this time, I should be taking my first step. On my new hip, that is. Yup: mark May 8th on your calendar, as that's the day I get #projectfemur a major upgrade. It'll come in the form of surgical steel, titanium, industrial-grade ceramics, polymers, and cement.…

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holiday traditions: family means something different to me

25 December 201625 December 2016 by randomduck

randomduck

Something has been gnawing at me this holiday season. I just don't feel very celebratory. I know there are many factors contributing to this, including my employment situation and the outcome of the election. But over the past few days, I’ve put a lot of thought into why things don’t…

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