Althouse: At the Chrysanthemum Café...

October 31, 2011

At the Chrysanthemum Café...

... you can talk all night.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...: Lovely, I hope we don't have any hard freezes for a while yet, my mums are looking so pretty and fresh in their pots. I'm always happy to get one last chance at some color in the patio pots before winter come roaring in.; 10/31/11, 8:59 PM
Sue D'Nhym said...: Mum's the word.; 10/31/11, 9:00 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Those flower bumps are lully.

Would you like to see a pile of peanut butter cookies in the shape of human fingers?; 10/31/11, 9:07 PM
edutcher said...: Found out I had an ancestor who fought in the War of 1812 in the 23rd Infantry. Also had a great-great uncle in the 109th New York during the Civil War. His brother, my great-grandfather, also enlisted, in the 13th New York, but was mustered out for disability, which apparently killed him 2 years later.

The best part is that I may have found the ancestor who fought in the Continental Army - no mean thing as New York was very Loyalist.

Very cool stuff.; 10/31/11, 9:09 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: I had no idea what a chrysanthemum looked like until this moment.; 10/31/11, 9:11 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: @edutcher

My mom's an amateur genealogist. She determined an ancestor fought at the Battle of King's Mountain, 1780, in South Carolina, based on the record of his application for a homestead in Kentucky almost forty years later. The deed of land was partial compensation for service in the Continental Army, but apparently he had to make his case that he was actually there.; 10/31/11, 9:22 PM
Irene said...: Chrysanthemums are the flowers Europeans traditionally place on the graves of loved ones on November 1--All Saints' Day.

When I considered adding mums to my wedding bouquet, my Mom's reaction was, "Oh no! That's the flower of the dead!!"; 10/31/11, 9:31 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Are those Chrysanthemum the same height as Irene's pet poodle?

Ooops.. did I say something wrong?; 10/31/11, 9:40 PM
Irene said...: Lem, they're probably the same height as our little one, Poppy the puppy (who now is twice the size of what she was when she appeared here in August).

The two boys are much taller.; 10/31/11, 9:42 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Something tells our little Yorkshire-Terrier would try to relieve himself of them Chrysanthemum.

Real harassment.; 10/31/11, 9:56 PM
Sal said...: Tried out a new yoga instructor tonight. At one point she handed everyone a tissue and said: "Go ahead, blow your boogers everywhere."

She was teaching us the Breath of Fire.

A nice, sincere young woman but too much New Age bullshit about auras, vibes and spirits. Or maybe it was just her Halloween theme.; 10/31/11, 10:06 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Chrysanthemum Throne is the symbol of the Japanese Emperor.

He had his big Chrysanthemum emblem on the bow of each of his great warships.

These can be seen today at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.; 10/31/11, 10:10 PM
pm317 said...: Irene said...
----------------

Yellow chrysanthemums are used in (hindu) temples and in homes on festivals for worship back home.. their fragrance fills the home on such days. Besides they are cheaper than jasmine. I have a jasmine plant for more than 15 years now. I grow it inside and keep it by a big window. It bears flowers, lots of them now and then and the whole house smells, especially at night as they slowly open up.; 10/31/11, 10:23 PM
pm317 said...: MarkG said...
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I don't trust the yoga instructors here at all. If it is not taught/done properly it can do more harm than good.; 10/31/11, 10:26 PM
edutcher said...: Tyrone Slothrop said...

@edutcher

My mom's an amateur genealogist. She determined an ancestor fought at the Battle of King's Mountain, 1780, in South Carolina, based on the record of his application for a homestead in Kentucky almost forty years later. The deed of land was partial compensation for service in the Continental Army, but apparently he had to make his case that he was actually there.

Something to be proud of. It's not a hard and fast rule, obviously, but it seems Loyalist sentiment increased the farther down you went in the Colonies.

Lem said...

Something tells our little Yorkshire-Terrier would try to relieve himself of them Chrysanthemum.

Real harassment.

Sherlock's motto seems to be, "If it doesn't move, baptize it".; 10/31/11, 10:30 PM
Irene said...: Oh. Happy Halloween.

I wasn't up for greeting the petites at the front door, so we left a large plastic bowl, filled with candy, on a tray table at the front door. Next to the bowl was an note written on orange card stock. The note read, "Happy Halloween! Please take up to three (3) pieces."

Earlier in the day, my wise Mom said, "Don't leave out a good bowl. Someone is likely to steal it."

By 7:00 pm, the bowl, the candy, and the note were gone.

The good news? They left behind the tray table.; 10/31/11, 10:44 PM
Sal said...: I don't trust the yoga instructors here at all. If it is not taught/done properly it can do more harm than good.

I'm learning that good form is essential. I'm currently icing a shoulder I messed up somehow.

But overall, for me, it's good exercise, particularly for balance and flexibility, and complements other stuff I do. It's also generally fun and a good place to meet middle-aged women that are still in good physical condition. I wouldn't give it up.

There's an incredible amount of variation in the instructors. I see that as feature, not a bug.; 10/31/11, 10:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Now that you mention it.. We didn't get anybody knocking on our door tonight.

Its probably weather related.. the snow storm Saturday knocked down trees and some sections are still w/o power.; 10/31/11, 10:54 PM
Petunia said...: That stinks, Irene. Five years ago I went inside for a few minutes, came back out, and someone had stolen two unopened five pound bags of candy.

So I boycotted the next year.

This year was fun. I had lights everywhere and played music. Witchcraft, Monster Mash, I Put A Spell On You, Don't Fear The Reaper, etc. My white cat was decked out in a Halloween collar and I dressed as a witch.

The boy across the street decorated their entire yard, with graves, an axe murderer mannequin, a coffin, a zombie, and an electric chair.

He lay in the coffin and sprang out at people and his friends operated the electric chair, which had a belt-sander motor that vibrated the entire chair and made a horrific noise, and a bright light that came on.

One of them operated the thing and the other sat in the chair and shook and shrieked when it was turned on. Got lots of screams.

It was a lot of fun. Bought too much candy though.; 10/31/11, 11:26 PM
pm317 said...: I got Swedish candy from IKEA called Daim. It is caramel with light chocolate coating. Between my husband and me, we finished the whole bag barring two or three groups knocking on the door and they didn't take much -- I wish they did.

MarkG, good luck with the middle-aged good looking women, ;); 10/31/11, 11:26 PM
pm317 said...: Irene, I had that happen to us also.. we left a tray with candy and went out to dinner and took bets about what would be left and the tray was still there but no candy.; 10/31/11, 11:29 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: traditionalguy said...

The Chrysanthemum Throne is the symbol of the Japanese Emperor.

Japanese WWII firearms were stamped with a chrysanthemum signifying the emperor's ownership. Most guns brought back by GI's had the mum ground off. Guns with an "unground mum" bring a premium.; 10/31/11, 11:30 PM
Psychedelic George said...: Watched "The Exorcist" last night, having not seen it in many years.

Truly, a creepy movie and more so today because the medical tests to which Regan is subjected seem barbaric by today's standards.

I also noticed many unsettling lines of dialogue and visual bits (yes, there are subliminal flashes) that I had never recognized.

Also, never name a daughter after a villain in one of Shakespeare's plays....; 11/1/11, 6:27 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm sure this point has been made- but Bob Scheiffer should perform his anti-smoking nannying to a politician who actually smokes, i.e. Barry O.; 11/1/11, 7:00 AM
ooonaughtykitty said...: I had 3 little kids come by.

They were a Princess, Gypsy, and Batman <-- a really good Batman if I do say so myself.

Last year I had no Treaters. That was really depressing.
I went all out with the gifts and toys too!

This year ... just candy.; 11/1/11, 8:05 AM
john said...: My Wii Fit yoga instructor is pretty good, especially the girl. Good encouragement and nice to look at in an amine sort of way.

So far it hasn't been all that good for meeting attractive middle age women. But I won't give it up.; 11/1/11, 8:06 AM
KCFleming said...: Last night at class I was the turd in a punchbowl.

We were discussing the awesome glory that is diversity in the workplace, and how actively discriminating in favor of women and non-whites will let a thousand flowers bloom for business.

The theory proposed was that if you are selling to black women, you better have the perspective of black women working for you.

Fair enough. So I asked if that meant if one is selling to white straight males in Wisconsin, that no women, blacks, Asians, gays or lesbians should be consulted because they wouldn't know anything about that group.

More, if the diversity approach is true, how could Japan, China, and India possibly succeed in the marketplace, given their race and often gender monoversity?

Silence.
Crickets.
Turd in the punchbowl.

Again.

The answer then hurriedly given was that I was just wrong and diversity is awesome.; 11/1/11, 8:30 AM
ken in tx said...: edutcher,I have an ancestor who fought in two Indian campaigns under Andrew Jackson in the early 1800s. He received two land grants in Alabama as veterans benefit. As a result, I was born in Alabama. Otherwise, I would probably have been born in South Carolina where he originally settled in 1788—not far from where I live today.; 11/1/11, 8:38 AM
madAsHell said...: Lots of comments here about ancestors dodging bullets in service to the country.

I honestly believe that everyone should have 10 weeks of basic training after their senior year of high school.; 11/1/11, 9:38 AM
MadisonMan said...: My great-great-grandfather stormed through the south. He was in Georgia when they received news of Lincoln's Assassination (his one word note in diary on hearing the news: Doubted). Saw Jeff Davis' wife. Received flowers when he entered Montgomery. His diary and letters are fascinating to read.

His grandfather fought against the Brits in the Revolution.; 11/1/11, 10:05 AM
Linda Seebach said...: My son posted on his blog his solution to the problem of not being able to answer the door: A bowl of candy on the steps, containing a sign: “Goblins ate us. They left candy. Take one.” There was still candy after an hour or two, eventually it ran out.

Of course, we're in Minnesota.; 11/1/11, 10:59 AM