No Forum for Ruffled Feathers

[BrotherMan]

:shakeliv:

My second season of Sekrit (shh!) Santa has come and went. Though my giftee has yet to report in I rest assured that s/he (I know, but I'm keeping you in suspense) won't hate me forever - and that livius drusus maximus knows what she's doing. From my vantage point it looks to be a pretty smooth white elephant gift exchange this year. In no small part due to the loverly folks here at :ff: and most importantly the hard work and dedication to :glare: us into submission by :livius:.

I would be remiss if I didn't take time out of my slacking on the internet busy day to thank her. She would certainly appreciate a PM about it, but I have a hunch I'm not the only one who has thanked her or who wants to thank her this year.

Again and again, dear livius, you show your true :superchicken: feather colors by being the hostess with the mostess.

Thank you for being you. And for not eating us like you did that other guy.

:livglomp:

[livius drusus]

You are too kind, BrotherMan. Thank you and all Santas for participating, but the season isn't over yet. We'll still have delights to ooh and aah over in the next days. :hugs:

Thank you for being you. And for not eating us like you did that other guy.

Ohh, but he was so sweet and tasty! :pout:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/ichbeinberliner.gif (http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season5/thohd5.mp3)
click me

[Farren]

Just so you know, I'm tough and fibrous and smell like rotting fish. Also, I have a salmonella infection.

[JamesBannon]

You do a fine job, Livius!

[biochemgirl]

Thank you again liv!

I just want to say I think it's really cool to see who all was paired up with who. At first it may or may not be who you would expect but when you reflect on it you can get a peak into the secret santa evil genius.

I'm so glad I let liv take my virginity this year! :wriggle:

[Pan Narrans]

:livglomp:




Don't eat me
:scaredbaby:

[Watser?]

I have not received my present yet, but :superliv: came to the rescue as the backup :secretsanta:

Yay for liv! :mvp:

[Watser?]

:dddp:

[BrotherMan]

Ohh, but he was so sweet and tasty! :pout:

:berliner:

:zomg: My favorite Homerism!

Don't worry boys, he's gotta come out some time.
:wiggum:

[Sock Puppet]

Just so you know, I'm tough and fibrous and smell like rotting fish. Also, I have a salmonella infection.
You do a fine job, Livius!Anybody else raise an eyebrow at this?

Her Royal Livness already knows that I think she rawks Secret Santa better than anybody else in the world, on the Intarweb or off, but I'll say it again anyway.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

Okay, people, cut it out. Sure, liv does a super faboo job with the Secret Satan thing, going so far above and beyond that it's awe-inspiring. But you'll give her a big head.

So...uh...she has to push the pram a lot!

Balance achieved. :unnod:

[livius drusus]

:pram:

[beyelzu]

You are too kind, BrotherMan. Thank you and all Santas for participating, but the season isn't over yet. We'll still have delights to ooh and aah over in the next days. :hugs:

Thank you for being you. And for not eating us like you did that other guy.

Ohh, but he was so sweet and tasty! :pout:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/ichbeinberliner.gif (http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season5/thohd5.mp3)
click me

yeah, I hear that rape is teh tastiest.


:shakeliv:


for eating my sock

[beyelzu]

I'm so glad I let liv take my virginity this year! :wriggle:

Like you ever had an intact hymen.


:tmgrin:

[freemonkey]

liv, you always do such a wonderful job with this, and it's always so much fun. YOU are a Festivus Miracle.

[Legs]

I would also like to thank liv, especially for not making lisarea making Sharon Dee my Santa!

[Farren]

I hesitated to post this but this is a thank you thread and I can't say why my thank you is a serious business thank you without a little detail, at least.

I've spent a bit of time on Liv's metaphorical therapist couch in PM recently and although the contents of that dialog are private* it just evaporated a mass of tension I'd built up about shit, because Liv actually, really, really cares. I mean, I'm waaaay happier than I was yesterday because of it.

So I'm feeling rilly, rilly sentimental about Liv right now and wish she were right here in front of me so that I could just hug her for half an hour.

:snuggles:

Thank you

*not forum-related, for the record.

[Legs]

Wait. liv has a couch in PMs? she has only ever offered me a hard stool :brooding:

[Farren]

Wait. liv has a couch in PMs? she has only ever offered me a hard stool :brooding:

I hope it was from a vegetarian.

[Watser?]

:rofl:

[slimshady2357]

I'm pretty sure liv knows that I think she's totally the bestest, but it is hard to convey just how much she's the bestest, so here goes again.

liv is the bestest, of like all. :yup:

It's true, really.

[LadyShea]

Secret Santa is always fun*, and livius is a damn fine festivities coordinator.

I still wonder at her pairing process, as from what I know of her she probably has spreadsheets, pages and pages of specific post links, and a whole big ledger with all the cross references to use as data points on a full color graph.

*To my poor giftees. Way back when liv approached me about a SS exchange I was all over the White Elephant thing specifically for the Fabulous Crap opportunities. Don't feel bad, you'll get different Santas in future years.

[godfry n. glad]

Wait. liv has a couch in PMs? she has only ever offered me a hard stool :brooding:


I hope she doesn't do that very often...that can lead to a need for Preparation H.

Sphincter bleaching can be impeded.

[livius drusus]

I still wonder at her pairing process, as from what I know of her she probably has spreadsheets, pages and pages of specific post links, and a whole big ledger with all the cross references to use as data points on a full color graph.
It's not full color! Jeez. Whaddayathink I'm crazy or something?

In all srsness, the spreadsheet is simple. It's just a list of names. When I'm actively matching, I have a "no" column (people who were previously matched with the person in some arrangement), a "caveat" column (various shipping/time/geographical limitations people have told me about), a "notes" column (likes and dislikes, subjects of interest, etc.) a "possible" column and a "yes" column.

I start off having all kinds of ideas of whom to pair with whom; those go into the "possibles". Some people I am sure I want to match, so I lock them in right off the bat. This is usually a really small number, like 1 or 2. The more people in the "yes" column, the more you restrain the overall geometry, so it's important to be as flexible as possible up until the end.

Then I go down the names and search for recent posts and recent threads. If something leaps out at me, I do a keyword search to see if it leaps out for any other Santa. Then it's sort of a domino effect. As I follow links and read posts, I keep adding to the "caveat" and "possible" column.

Once the "yes" column is full, I has a first draft. I do something else for a while, then dig a little deeper into matches. I keyword search a pair's posts for specific likes and dislikes, for mentions of each other's names, geographical proximity, anything else in the "notes" and "caveats" columns.

Then I just do that again until I'm satisfied. I usually go through 4 or 5 drafts, with fewer changes each time.

This year was surprisingly difficult. We have lots of lovely repeat Santas (love you, regs!), but as time goes on, that means the "no" column gets increasingly populated. I can't tell you how many times this year I had a great idea for a pairing pop into my head only to find I had already matched them in the reverse 2 years ago.

So that's the SECRET ALCHEMICAL PROCESS, folks. Okay there might be one or two secrets I'm keeping to myself, but that's the price you pay for magic. :santa:

[Dingfod]

That reads like the ingredients for gunpowder but without listing the quantities and proportions.

[livius drusus]

Exactly. Like when Kirk when nailed the Gorn.

[slimshady2357]

Okay there might be one or two secrets I'm keeping to myself, but that's the price you pay for magic. :santa:

For such powerful magic, I am willing to pay this much:

:spend:
:spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend: :spend: :spend:
:spend: :spend:
:spend:

[Farren]

Just by the by this thread title is gonna get added to what is already a bumper crop of best thread title candidates, guaranteed. Could this be the month that fuck, shit, piss and meeeee get barely a mention in the top 20? Here's hoping. December has brought out the poet in everyone, it seems.

[godfry n. glad]

I'm definitely voting against the screaming meme crowd of thread titles.

I'm going to take more into consideration what is actually in the thread this time around.

But that's just me.

[LadyShea]

I can't tell you how many times this year I had a great idea for a pairing pop into my head only to find I had already matched them in the reverse 2 years ago.

After 2 years I think a reverse match would be okay.

[Ensign Steve]

I'm sure you know what you're doing, but as a regular I'm just going to toss out that I wouldn't mind a repeat pairing, especially not a reverse repeat pairing. I'd love it if wei, Kevlar, or Chris had the opportunity for a revenge gift. :muahaha:

[Ymir's blood]

I just want to thank livius for the work that she's doing on my melting horror smilie. :yup:

[livius drusus]

After 2 years I think a reverse match would be okay.

I'm sure you know what you're doing, but as a regular I'm just going to toss out that I wouldn't mind a repeat pairing, especially not a reverse repeat pairing. I'd love it if wei, Kevlar, or Chris had the opportunity for a revenge gift. :muahaha:

Hmm... Revenge Santa. There might be something there. I shall think on it.

[Ensign Steve]

Think fast! Only 11 months to go before ... SECRET SANTA! :zomg:

[livius drusus]

:freakout:

[Plant Woman]

Yes thank you Liv, you do such a great job of this and I'm sure if you were older you might be getting a few gray hairs keeping everything straight. That's a lot of people to coordinate and from this end you make it look easy; however, I have a feeling there is a lot of work behind the scenes. How you keep track of everyone to match them up is mind boggling.

ETA: OOPS, I see liv posted her behind the scenes work. LOL!

[godfry n. glad]

I don't know about anybody else, but I had no problem whatsoever thinking of a gift, once my gift victim had been assigned. I didn't even have to search the lists for ideas....I had too many from the beginning.

I could be perfectly happy with a reverse, but I think Kono would've gotten the short end of the stick with me. I'm glad that Kono has been appropriately tiggerfied.

[Crumb]

I'm already excited about next year! :cheersanta:

livius drusus is the reason the :ff: is the best place on the nets! And that guy she et.

:livglomp: