randomduck

virtual advent 2019: macy’s windows, utah style

19 December 201919 December 2019 by randomduck

randomduck

Last Friday, sprite wrote a post about the wonderful windows at Macy's flagship store in New York City. They are truly awesome. But if you grew up in Salt Lake City, the store now known as Macy's was once the Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, or ZCMI. Founded in 1868, it…

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virtual advent 2019: merry little (melancholy? celebratory?) christmas

12 December 201912 December 2019 by randomduck

randomduck

This holiday season is shaping up to be a challenging one for me. I'm currently underemployed (read: no budget for holiday shopping), and I'm dealing with family issues that have me traveling regularly across North America. It's draining and defeating. But I still have hope. And that's why the song…

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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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