I used to love holidays and weekends

[Syrinx]

Weekends and holidays were once times for fun and relaxation and parties.

Saturdays and Sundays, Thanksgiving and Christmas were for debauchery, feasts, Arlo Guthrie, and (in my imagination) orgies.

The down time, in those earlier days, was a period to be anticipated and savored and relished.

Those were the days.

Nowadays, the weekends and "special occasions" are annoying speedbumps on the road to justice. Newsrooms around the country, such as they are, are eerily silent. We have only the ghost of a runaway bug-eyed bride and the media-abused memory of a pretty, dead teenage girl to comfort us. And it's not enough. I want meat with my pudding.

Sources inside the administration go home to have their own feasts and parties and orgies and assassination plans, and the drip drip drip suddenly dries up, and there are no more leaks to lubricate my crying bloodshot eyes. What shall I do?

I guess I'll curl up for a few days and invent invective. Or maybe I'll try to wipe it off my windshield. Maybe I'll curse out of the window at speeding cars hoping the drivers can hear, or at least that they can read my lips.

Whatever those drivers do, I hope they can realize what is happening without running dangerously off the road. I don't want anyone to be hurt. But I fear that there's some serious pain coming around that curve, and that tree ahead looks awfully big.

[LunaC]

1. Take a nap and rest

The most grueling part of the journey still lies ahead.

[Syrinx]

6. true

Grueling. But it will be tastier than the best Christmas ham or turkey. :thumbsup:

[meegbear]

2. The runaway bride was THE story of the year, thank you ...

why Bono and not her was named "Person of the Year" is beyond me.

[Syrinx]

7. I know

I wanted to mock up a Time cover with her picture, but I'm just too tired. And photobucket has been acting up for me lately anyway. But I know what you mean.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. On holidays and weekends

turn off the TV and radio, and make your own fun.

Jump into the fray again on Monday morning.

[Syrinx]

8. Good advice

Though I'm on DU here in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Thanks!

[Vinca]

4. Thanks for your post. I thought I was the only one.

Except for the Sunday morning talk shows - which this weekend will probably be replaced by dancing reindeer - the weekends and holidays are a black hole of noninformation. MSNBC runs neverending celebrity stories - who cares about these people? CNN drags out their old CNN Presents shows and runs a few health scare pieces. In between it's a body count for number of shoppers and delayed flights. I can't stand it. I'm trying to keep myself occupied this weekend by learning something new: sculpting with papier mache. Anyone interested in a giant cat?

[Syrinx]

5. papier mache sounds pretty good, by comparison

MSNBC is the absolute worst during the "downtime," though I like Countdown very much during the "uptime," and Hardball is sometimes interesting, even though I'd like to throttle that weasely Chris Matthews.

Check out the planning on MSNBC's latest "documentary."

Love and Marriage in the 21st Century

MSNBC is producing a documentary series, “Love and Marriage in the 21st Century: How Men and Women Get Along”. We are seeking couples at significant moments in their relationships in the following categories:

— A couple having problems, seeking therapy or going through a divorce, willing to share their past and future hopes.

— Couples that are representative of a “successful” marriage where each individual recognizes the other as an equal and both are determined to make their union work.

— Couples just “starting out”, either thinking about moving in together, or living together and thinking about marriage.

Calling Oprah!

Their homepage calls the MSNBC Investigates the "best doc unit in TV." Sadly, they may be right.

[Vinca]

9. Back to my papier mache.

I learned something new yesterday: why they charge $7.50 for little blocks of "instant" papier mache. In a process that took most of the afternoon, I shredded newspapers, put the shreds in an old pillowcase, ran the stuff through the washer, then put the results - bit by bit - through an old blender to FINALLY get papier mache "clay." I spent the next hour and a half scrubbing newspaper ink out of the washer. Happy Holidays. (P.S. The cat's looking pretty good!)