This is where the party ends

Lovely party tonight, but of course it couldn't be without one or two reminders why I don't go out more often. I met a number of sweet-, attractive-, and intelligent-seeming men, but then a couple of them just had to run their mouths off until they erased that impression. Two of them fell into a discussion of the horrors of the South Side, concluding with the offhand remark, "That's why we live here, because they live there." Nice. Near the end of the evening, someone whose company I'd been very much enjoying until that point referred to a female politician as a "cunt". When I pointed out how unfair that was, he replied, "She's a woman, so she's a cunt." Have a nice life, dickhead.

Why can't every day be Buy Nothing Day?

Why am I so bad about buying things? monshu and I went to the local nursery today to look at Christmas trees. Since I don't have much in the way of either ornaments to put on it or presents to put under it, I figured a live tabletop tree that we could reuse every year was our best option. What I really wanted was a stone pine, since they are true pines, but they're native to the Mediterranean, so they can cope with being inside all winter. (Most conifers need a period of very cold weather to go dormant; being in a warm room in December totally messes them up.) I was surprised to find that Gethsemane, which stretches three blocks on Clark Street, didn't have any.

What I did find were ranks of dwarf spruce outside the entrance and rows of Norfolk pines in the greenhouse. In addition to the aforementioned issues, these little spruces also have branches too flimsy to support all but the tiniest decorations. The Norfolk pines don't have that issue, and as tropical plants, they love the indoors, but they just don't look very Christmas-tree shaped, know what I mean? One of the employees said we could have a look at the plants in the trees and shrubs area. Here we ran into a very helpful, knowledgeable man who gave us a full rundown of the ads and disads of junipers, hemlocks, arborvitae, mugo pines, and so on, after which we concluded that anything other than a Norfolk was going to be too fragile. So all in all, one hour of deliberation to make one $20 purchase. Go me!

Now I'm trying to do some gift-buying online. It should be the easiest thing known to man--a few clicks from the wish list and you're done--but I find the whole process stressful and draining. I really couldn't explain why. Everything is for someone I love--a kind, understanding person who will continue to love me no matter what I get. So why the anxiety? When does the fun part of tossing out a little disposable income kick in? Maybe I need another trip to Sam's Wines to raise my spirits.

WotD: Fireplace Vocabulary IV

French

• le foyer "hearth, fireplace, firebox"
• l'âtre "fireplace, hearth"
• la cheminée "fireplace; mantlepiece; chimney" ~ capucine "fireplace"
• le tuyau de cheminée "flue"
• le registre "damper"
• le hotte "hood"
• le manteau de cheminée "mantle"
• le dessous de cheminée "mantlepiece"
• la tablette de cheminée "mantleshelf"
• l'écran de cheminée "fire screen"
• le pare-feu, le pare-étincelles "fireguard"
• le contrecœur "fireback"
• la grille de foyer "fire grate"
• le chenet "fire-dog, andiron"
• la garniture de foyer "fire irons"
• le tisonnier "poker"
• le soufflet "bellows"
• les pincettes "tongs"
• le bois de chauffage "firewood"
• la bûche "log"
• l'allume-feu "firelighter, spill"
• la suie "soot"