Green Room - Week 1 - Extended Weekend Edition

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

It's "Black Friday".

This used to be a much bigger deal for me. But I haven't gone out to anything yet. I used to love just walking around in the mall or major store in the frenzy of the crowd. Most of the time I wouldn't even be buying anything. I just liked to people watch, to feel the energy coming off them.

Back when I was living on my own, a friend of mine would actually pay me to come with him to midnight sales and stand in line for him.

Last night and today? I've stayed home with my family. Which is an entirely different kind of people watching.

What have you been up to? How are you planning on spending your weekend?

***

I posted this in the Green Room yesterday, but as a comment, so it may have gotten lost in the shuffle:

If you are buying anything from Amazon this year - LJ Idol has an Amazon store. http://astore.amazon.com/li0cd-20 If you use that link to get to Amazon, it's an easy way of "giving back". More importantly though - the store has a lot of books and other projects featuring past and present LJ Idol contestants! If you want to support some of the other folks who have walked in these halls over the past 10 years, here is the chance to do so! Also, if there are anything I missed, or if the newbies have books available on Amazon, let me know and I'll add them to the store!

***

Of course, the way to "give back" right now is with your votes! Support the folks who want to see go further in the competition. Support the entries you enjoyed! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/953518.html Read, comment (who doesn't love getting comments?) and vote for your favorites!

***

I had my first LJ Idol dream last night. I guess that means the season is officially started!

Comments

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

Our family used to do that. Our Black Friday tradition was to go out to a big, bustling mall, hang out with each other for breakfast, break off into groups to go shopping in various places, meet again for lunch, go to different places with other folks, etc. We also liked being in that environment, but together. Most of us never planned to try and get a lot of actual Christmas shopping done that day, though sometimes we were able to cross some items off our list... mostly, it was about being in the hustle & bustle of the holiday season, in the company of loved ones. We stopped doing that as our respective splinter families got bigger and more separated. These days, we all sort of do our own thing on Black Friday, but then meet on Saturday to go pick out a Christmas tree at the local fir farm of an associate business owner within the family. We bring the dogs, roast sausages and doughnuts over a fire (I was the one who initially started the tradition of roasting the doughnuts... now everyone does it!), and then go off into the woods to come back with our triumphant "kill." ;)

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

I've never had fire-roasted doughnuts, but it sounds genius.

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

Agree, and that sounds amazing.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Just yesterday one of my friends decided to roast a doughnut while we were camping! I think it turned out alright.

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

Btw, what did you dream about?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I posted a picture in the Green Room, because I liked the picture, so a bunch of other people posted pictures too as a response.

The next thing I knew there were people who had gathered the pictures together in a list and growing insistence that there be a poll to determine which was the best picture/was going to become the Official Picture of LJ Idol. ;)

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

That seems very in the nature of Idol! XD

[messygorgeous.livejournal.com]

Perhaps this could become a prompt, lol.

[rayaso.livejournal.com]

I have always avoided Black Friday. Too many people crowding around. Shopping is bad enough as it is, but add a supercharged crowd and it becomes even worse. Today is for eating leftovers and spending time with family.

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

At this point, I'm with you. My husband and I have no plans to go anywhere or do anything today.

[uselesstinrelic.livejournal.com]

I'm hardcore anti-black friday. It's nice to hear some people say how it was a family event to them for being together because, from an outsider perspective, it looked like the worst of humanity. Like people punching and screaming and destroying each other for corporate fodder. (Yeah, I'm one of THOSE people.)

[wolfden.livejournal.com]

I've always avoided it as well. I used to stay up when T was very small to order the super discounted Gymboree clothes at midnight on Thanksgiving on the internet.

I'm very much not in a holiday spirit.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Leftovers! <3!

[lostin-thestars.livejournal.com]

I am not leaving my house at all if I can manage

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

I used to enjoy spending a day at the mall.

Then one year I was the manager of the Santa photo island.

::shudder::

[j0ydivided.livejournal.com]

oh my God. I'm glad you made it out alive!

[messygorgeous.livejournal.com]

I love kids but that would be Hell on Earth. I hate that mall Santa situation so much that, for the last 11 years, we go to the super richy-rich mall an hour from my house to see Santa because there you can make a reservation - in SEPTEMBER - for your 15 minutes with the man in the red suit at Christmastime.

When you arrive, there might be two families in front of you, but you get in and out, Santa is just lovely and so gracious with the kids and after, we go to this fun Italian restaurant where you get to eat in the kitchen and watch them make your meal! It's a tradition.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

This is how I observe Black Friday:

I went to the grocery store last night half an hour before they closed to avoid Black Friday.

I spent some money on Amazon.ca, and Christanbooks.com.

I probably spent too much on the first site, and could have spent a little more on the second.

This way, I actually enjoy Black Friday. By the by, this is only the second year I recall Black Friday in Canada. But, I might not have been paying attention.

[j0ydivided.livejournal.com]

I don't go out on Black Friday, mostly because I used to work retail, and after having worked on Black Friday, I don't want to torture anyone.

I might have to go to the grocery store, but that's the extent of my plans today. I finished reading Wednesday night (and thank you for all the people saying to read before the poll went up), so I'm all set to be lazy.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

Hi. I wrote following on Facebook about my Black Friday feelings.

Don't need books. Got three blu-rays on the way (2 on early Black Friday sale), one from a 4 year old Kickstarter. Have plenty video games on my computer. Plenty kitchen stuff. A new fridge (and I checked before buying, one I wanted that would work in my kitchen wasn't getting a sale). So unless there's a place to get an XBoxOne and a Playstation4 + tons of games for $100 I don't need Black Friday.

To add to that though I have experienced what it's like to be on the other end of a Black Friday sale... the selling side. It was not fun. So I can relate the changes of life from wanting to be on top of Black Friday to not caring.

Weekend plans? Well... still planning to go to the movies Sunday night to an exclusive screening, although right now I'll be by myself. Which is fine.

[messygorgeous.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. I have everything I need. And the things I'll be getting the fam for Christmas aren't your usual Black Friday discounts anyway. We are too geeky for that!

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

We cooked Tues night and Wed AM, ate "the bird" w friemily on Wednesday and lazed around with our cats and watched the parade and dog show yesterday. We didn't get up off our asses till like 7 PM when we decided to go see a movie: INFERNO. (Not the best-not the worst). Today we ran a bunch o errands like going to the nursing home to see Hub's mother, (Alzheimers sux). Said nursing home is by the mall and a First Watch, which is a fab little breakfast-n-lunch place, so we did that and ended up in the mall after lunch just to walk off food, people watch and buy Xmas cards. We ended up also buying a mattress. (It's been 20 years), so Merry Xmas to our backs! LOL




AW

[fading-light.livejournal.com]

I worked after Thanksgiving last night. Thankfully, I'm not in the retail business, so I didn't have to deal with the Black Friday people. Instead, I had to deal with the casino crowd and their families. The typical casino crowd is bad, but their families make it worse.

For example, my night (graveyard shift). I had an incredibly drunk guy stop in front of me as we were walking to ask me if I was following him. When I told him that I wasn't, he argued with me, and then asked if he could give me a hug. Since he was a nice looking guy, I decided to give him a hug. He then went on a rant about he was a pretty good guy, gave me another hug, and then left.

Later on that night, I was doing my rounds when another guy stopped me. He told me that he had something to give me, so I held out my hand. I thought he was giving me change (random Thanksgiving tip maybe?). He gave me a Jalapeño, and then walked out the door.

[messygorgeous.livejournal.com]

That would be an interesting crowd to deal with, lol! That combo of downtrodden gamblers and belligerent drunks and partying people...I'm sure you have some terrific stories!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

If my numbers are right - we are now 9 new contestants short of hitting the 1,000 mark.

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

You'll have to go pimping at SCI time.

[messygorgeous.livejournal.com]

Early mornings and crushes of crowds are really not my thing. We stayed in for Black Friday although I was a little tempted by the 50% off everything coupon I got in my email from my fave thrift store!

I wore pajamas all day on Friday. We slept in, played some games - Forbidden Island and Zombie Run - and ate turkey sandwiches with mayo AND gravy for lunch.

Then we watched two episodes of our old favorite family tv show, The Goldbergs. If you are a child of the 80's, so much will ring true about the family not to mention it's funny as hell. Then we did two episode of our new fave, Timeless, and threw together some homemade pizzas for dinner.

I have to work this weekend, thankfully not in retail. My husband and kids are at HIS family Thanksgiving today though (And, while I won't get fresh turkey and dressing...I totally dodged a bullet there, lol!)

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I am proud to report that I managed to remain entirely ignorant of the very existence of "Black Friday" until I was around 20 and a girlfriend clued me in. This is a testament I suppose to how completely uninterested in the phenomena my family is.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

Spent all Black Friday to and from a family meal. I have to say: when everyone's at the mall, the highways are really calm.

... until everyone leaves the mall drunk on lack of sleep and starts swerving in between lanes like they're trying to make their SUVs pirouette.