The not exactly a holiday wrap-up.
Jan. 3rd, 2012 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marinessOk. It is fairly clear by now that I'm not going to get around to writing up a summary of the past couple weeks, so instead, a bullet point list of various things:
1. Most unexpected theme of the holiday period: rubber duckies. Lots and lots of rubber duckies. First, little Christmas rubber duckies began appearing in unexpected corners of the house and unexpected corners of my bedroom. I have been assured that this was done by magic or by the cats, although given that the cats have more usually been known to attack my rubber duckies I am slightly skeptical of this second story. Then, by sheer coincidence,anaisis sent evil rubber duckies, and on my birthday, my brother surprised me with Wizard of Oz rubber duckies.
2. Greatest failure at teaching multicultural lessons: At Epcot, when a kindly woman in a sari and with a bindi on her forehead helped me with the door to one of the disabled stalls, drawing this comment from the crowd, "See, Nicki, not all Muslims are bad people!"
3. Fireworks. I'm honestly not sure why I love them so much. I mean, intellectually I know they are basically just sending piles of smoke into the environment and sending huge bangs everywhere for an effect that only lasts a couple of seconds.
But oh, those seconds. Those seconds when colored fire and stars shine against the night sky –
I love fireworks. This year I managed to see Epcot's twice, plus the overabundance of the neighbors, and it convinced me that next year I need to see more.
(I'm talking about the ones that actually send up lights. I could do without the things that just go bang! that are incredibly popular in my neighborhood and must just be endured. Fortunately the neighbors also sent up glittering lights.)
(I do, however, have to laugh at the way Epcot continues to hope for peace on earth by lighting up gunpowder. Yay!)
4. Tea. I realize, of course, that the high tea at Grand Floridian is an expensive, silly indulgence. But, oooh, I love that too. Little sandwiches and cakes and your very own fresh pot of tea….
5. Marvelously tacky holiday stuff: So, apparently deciding that the Osborne Festival of Holiday Lights is just not enough tackiness for our area, Seaworld threw up some artificial trees in their large lake area and set THEM alight and dancing to music as well.
I LOVED it. Ok, I am, I admit, a sucker for tacky holiday displays.
I'm going to try to drag my mother there early next December, before the hellish crowds hit.
6. Bears. Look, what can I say? I love bears.
7. The other holiday theme: So apparently everybody but me got to see false killer whales this holiday season, and by everybody, I include not just those who saw them at Seaworld, but a brother who got to see them in the wild in the Florida Everglades.
Years of looking for dolphins in Florida and all I see are bottlenose dolphins and unpleasantly stranded pilot whales and pygmy sperm whales, and my brother takes one trip out there and sees false killer whales. And bottlenose dolphins on another day. Sigh.
8. Last comment on Seaworld, I promise: I haven't seen the Shamu show for years, and I have to say that I found it a bit discomfiting. It begins with a general salute to our troops, thanking "Britain and other allies" (Seaworld, we do have a lot of Canadian tourists too, just saying, but moving on), and then moves on to suggesting that we are all one world, interconnected, blah blah.
I don't really have a problem with either message; it's the juxtaposition that I find a little – awkward? But more discomfiting is the fact that the next bit of the show is just the orca leaping around gloriously enough with colored lights and splashing water. It's gorgeous, and it goes right back to a growing tradition at Seaworld to dim the education in favor of the entertainment.
It's not that Seaworld ever went to huge efforts to teach people about orca, mind you, but in previous years they would add a couple sentences explaining something about these magnificent creatures, instead of just saying that water is lovely.
On the other hand, Seaworld now has adorable little monkeys. And I want one. That's saying a lot.
9. As it turns out, yes, I can go from Hollywood Studios to Epcot without having to take the boat or deal with the excitement of having to take the scooter on the bus. (That can be done but is a bit of a pain.) Downside: this method involves a lot of ducks. Upside: this method involves passing a place with fudge. That is always a positive point.
10. Yes, I am addicted to Downton Abbey. It's just one of those things.
1. Most unexpected theme of the holiday period: rubber duckies. Lots and lots of rubber duckies. First, little Christmas rubber duckies began appearing in unexpected corners of the house and unexpected corners of my bedroom. I have been assured that this was done by magic or by the cats, although given that the cats have more usually been known to attack my rubber duckies I am slightly skeptical of this second story. Then, by sheer coincidence,
anaisis sent evil rubber duckies, and on my birthday, my brother surprised me with Wizard of Oz rubber duckies. 2. Greatest failure at teaching multicultural lessons: At Epcot, when a kindly woman in a sari and with a bindi on her forehead helped me with the door to one of the disabled stalls, drawing this comment from the crowd, "See, Nicki, not all Muslims are bad people!"
3. Fireworks. I'm honestly not sure why I love them so much. I mean, intellectually I know they are basically just sending piles of smoke into the environment and sending huge bangs everywhere for an effect that only lasts a couple of seconds.
But oh, those seconds. Those seconds when colored fire and stars shine against the night sky –
I love fireworks. This year I managed to see Epcot's twice, plus the overabundance of the neighbors, and it convinced me that next year I need to see more.
(I'm talking about the ones that actually send up lights. I could do without the things that just go bang! that are incredibly popular in my neighborhood and must just be endured. Fortunately the neighbors also sent up glittering lights.)
(I do, however, have to laugh at the way Epcot continues to hope for peace on earth by lighting up gunpowder. Yay!)
4. Tea. I realize, of course, that the high tea at Grand Floridian is an expensive, silly indulgence. But, oooh, I love that too. Little sandwiches and cakes and your very own fresh pot of tea….
5. Marvelously tacky holiday stuff: So, apparently deciding that the Osborne Festival of Holiday Lights is just not enough tackiness for our area, Seaworld threw up some artificial trees in their large lake area and set THEM alight and dancing to music as well.
I LOVED it. Ok, I am, I admit, a sucker for tacky holiday displays.
I'm going to try to drag my mother there early next December, before the hellish crowds hit.
6. Bears. Look, what can I say? I love bears.
7. The other holiday theme: So apparently everybody but me got to see false killer whales this holiday season, and by everybody, I include not just those who saw them at Seaworld, but a brother who got to see them in the wild in the Florida Everglades.
Years of looking for dolphins in Florida and all I see are bottlenose dolphins and unpleasantly stranded pilot whales and pygmy sperm whales, and my brother takes one trip out there and sees false killer whales. And bottlenose dolphins on another day. Sigh.
8. Last comment on Seaworld, I promise: I haven't seen the Shamu show for years, and I have to say that I found it a bit discomfiting. It begins with a general salute to our troops, thanking "Britain and other allies" (Seaworld, we do have a lot of Canadian tourists too, just saying, but moving on), and then moves on to suggesting that we are all one world, interconnected, blah blah.
I don't really have a problem with either message; it's the juxtaposition that I find a little – awkward? But more discomfiting is the fact that the next bit of the show is just the orca leaping around gloriously enough with colored lights and splashing water. It's gorgeous, and it goes right back to a growing tradition at Seaworld to dim the education in favor of the entertainment.
It's not that Seaworld ever went to huge efforts to teach people about orca, mind you, but in previous years they would add a couple sentences explaining something about these magnificent creatures, instead of just saying that water is lovely.
On the other hand, Seaworld now has adorable little monkeys. And I want one. That's saying a lot.
9. As it turns out, yes, I can go from Hollywood Studios to Epcot without having to take the boat or deal with the excitement of having to take the scooter on the bus. (That can be done but is a bit of a pain.) Downside: this method involves a lot of ducks. Upside: this method involves passing a place with fudge. That is always a positive point.
10. Yes, I am addicted to Downton Abbey. It's just one of those things.