Yikes. This sounds terrible. Maybe if I can disconnect the “But—PRATCHETT” part of my brain I could watch this as its own thing, but if it is even a failure at that.... Maybe I’ll just go reread The Fifth Elephant.

Emmet Otter is absolutely my favorite Christmas special, there is not even a contest. Such fantastic music. I had “When the River Meets the Sea” running through my head pretty much constantly from age 7 to age 17, and when I finally watched the special again as an adult with my own children, I cried like a baby. 

I always say the “fall off the dock” line when I watch it with my kids. I mean, why would they cut that? I loved it, gave Ma Otter just enough of an edge, otherwise she just feels like a doormat. Too meanspirited, I guess?

Yes. I have no intention of watching this and just want to know what the heck happens!

Enjoy this Christmas Carol from the geniuses behind Adventcarolndar. There’s no escaping Christmas!

We played an April Fool’s Day “prank” on our kids once, where instead of taking them to their Saturday morning language school, we took them out to breakfast instead. Totally backfired. My middle child was so confused she started crying. No more pranks for us! 

The phone scene is there, but it is all from Beth’s perspective, so a lot quieter and not that “The gang’s all here!” energy. Just support from across the sea. And she goes to the chess park and sits down across from an old man, says “Would you like to play chess?” and that’s it. No recognition or anything. So yes,…

It has the same basic plot beats, but the weird inclusion of the “love interest” is entirely fabricated for the show. The book ending is beautiful and introspective and perfect, and I thought it was far superior to the show in that regard. Less about the acclaim and more about Beth finally feeling like a full person.…

Not sure? I read the book before I watched the series, and it felt like a bit of a waste of time to watch, honestly, because all of the major beats are there. But as I said, I enjoyed it much more, just because TV always glamourizes things in a weird way, and the book is very detached, in a way. Beth in the book feels…

Yeah, you beat me by two. I only have ever heard of 6 of the people on this list. I am so old. 

I also read Sword of Destiny this year, and it was indeed amazing. I started the one following that, Blood of Elves I think, but felt bogged down by the plot and missed the light feeling of the previous book, with every chapter being its own story. I might try it again, though.

Also, two other people have mentioned Lonesome Dove in this comment section! Must be something in the water...

Oh man, that’s one of my favorite books. Just wonderful.

Okay! Made these! I actually bought an air fryer because I wanted to try this recipe so badly! If we go by my kids they were a complete success. Even my extremely picky son’s eyes lit up when he took a bite. I was a little underwhelmed, and felt like the dough could use more flavor. I did have to substitute a bit…

I realized years ago that I hate candles because if one is lit my mind is constantly thinking, “There’s a candle burning there’s a candle burning there’s a candle burning there’s a candle burning...”etc. I have an inordinate fear of house fires, and when we bought our current house there was a completely charred…

Yep, I am much more freaked out by huge numbers of fruit flies than spiders. Eeeuugh.

This looks, I mean, what, I can’t, but all I can say is

“When the rockets go up, who cares where they come down?

Bienenstich is my favorite German cake, and I always have way too much when I visit my in-laws. I never considered making it, and the recipe here looks a little much for my rudimentary skills, but it is so delicious I might have to give it a try. This version looks a bit darker than I’m used to, but it sure does look…

My mother and I always pronounce “picturesque” as “picture-skew”, with a heavy Ohio accent, just for funnsies. That is until my German husband, not realizing we were mispronouncing it, pronounced it that way in all seriousness to a third party and we had to jump in and correct him, apologizing and laughing in…