Y'all, I had a lovely smonster + amyth + Calli + non-buffista but buffista-adjacent and of-the-nerd-tribe friends!

It was awesome! And I'm just thinking belatedly that we should have taken the opportunity to take a group heart picture. WITH SUSHI. Alas!

Kate, I think that's a lovely gesture as well. But I'm all about the created family.

Anyone for some schadenfreude, fresh out of the oven?

PR man to find out if what they say about "any publicity" is true

After weeks of promises, a game controller company failed to deliver a long-placed order in time for Christmas. The customer complained, carbon- copying his email to industry bloggers and luminaries. The company's representative not only threw abuse back at the customer, calling him a "bitch", but boasted abut his relationships with the CCd editors of Kotaku, IGN, Penny Arcade, and so on. Can you guess how that worked out for him?

Second link goes to Penny Arcade, where the emails are. This PR guy is almost in "My marketing efforts will dominate your face" territory....

Burrell, many glass places allow for a 30 day return period so don't fret too much. Research your options, go forth w/ glasses and if you hate them, exchange.

That sounds like a lovely gesture, Kate.

Rainy here. Brought my mother back from the hospital today, and all is well. Oral antibios. Gotta say, for a hospital over the holidays stay, it was very non-traumatic, thank goodness. Thanks for all the kind words.

My older sister is here today for our final leg of Christmas. They're upstairs making food. I'm hermiting in the basement for a bit as I have been the primary logistics arranger and visitor at the hospital (my sister and her partner went up to her parents for their Christmas on the 26th). I need my quiet time!

My found family and my blood family are all lovely people, and I am, therefore, incredibly lucky. And I am so very glad I clicked on whatever link it was that lead me to this place those many years ago. Can't imagine otherwise!

PR man to find out if what they say about "any publicity" is true

Whoa.

JenP, I'm glad to hear your mother is home from the hospital! May her recovery continue to go easily.

Yes, Jen, glad your mom's back home, and things were non-traumatic, all things considered.

Wow. Well, as expected, my cancer pharmacology workshop was the best-reviewed it's ever been, averaging a 4.91 out of 5. I got 100% 5s on "Knowledge of subject" and "Willingness to respond to questions." Here are some highlights from the evaluations:

Sunil is a born teacher. I hope he continues to teach this course and perhaps develops others. He is an excellent lecture and understand show to use metaphors, graphics, and even class participation to enhance comprehension.

Sunil is a great workshop leader—very knowledgeable & very funny & engaging. I think he is Dimitri Martin’s “evil twin” & I mean that in the best of ways.

Please do more workshops. Very engaging

Fabulous! I loved it! So much work went into this—thank you so much for your hard work & humor.

This is the best AMWA workshop I’ve taken! I learned a lot. Sunil is an engaging and enthusiastic workshop leader. He made complicated topics easier to understand.

Best workshop EVER! Entertaining and informative

The instructor hit that perfect balance of being both entertaining and relevant. He was organized, and he could explain complex concepts in a way I could understand.

Sunil is a gifted teacher—I hope he’ll keep doing it. Outstanding workshop

Bifocals and progressive are cheaper than separate pairs

Normally yeah, but I have good enough coverage that I could get glasses this year and a new pair of lenses next year, so I could turn an old pair of glasses into my reading glasses. That would save about $100 on the fancy pants progressive lenses. Which is probably what I am going to do, if only because I haven't heard strong enough praise for the progressives to justify the added cost. But it's hard to decide.

Thanks everybody for such helpful input!

Also, I was never baptized, so I am not sure how I have a godmother.

I'm certain that Princess Tickybox wasn't baptized, and my religious beliefs can be labeled "Other", but I am her godmother. I'm also her fairy gothmother, but in my head, that is different than godmothering.

I am glad your mother is home and in good spirits, jenP!

I have a weird mother story- apparently my mother goes through the holiday wrapping trash, takes off the tags, and shreds them because she "doesn't want anything with her handwriting on it" in the garbage. I am talking tags that say "To: Sophia From:Mother."