---
title: "What I’ve Been Up to Lately: Holiday Edition"
description: "Some things I've been doing in the lead up to crimbo."
date: 2025-12-22
tags:
  - Life
synopsis: "Some things I've been doing in the lead up to crimbo.."
imageURL: /img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/christmas-wreath.webp
imageAlt: "Some fake red berries on branches with false pine-cones and needle-like leaves, mounted on a gold mesh with yellow fairy lights. Some moss is visible on the bottom right corner."
mastodon_id: "115765976616748230"
---
## Christmas time
Sol sneakily decorated the apartment while I was busy earlier in the month, with two wreaths they made a year or two ago with parts from a trip to [Michaels](https://www.michaels.com/), and some paper chains we made last year (?) out of cardstock printed with plaid patterns and gold foil. They also left some of those tiny fake presents on my desk that I bought because I thought they were cute.

[![Some fake red berries on branches with false pine-cones and needle-like leaves, mounted on a gold mesh with yellow fairy lights. Some moss is visible on the bottom right corner.](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/christmas-wreath.webp "A closeup of one of the wreaths.")](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/christmas-wreath.webp)

I got myself, Sol, and Davey an advent calendar each earlier in the month. I couldn't believe the advent calendars they have available these days. I was still under the impression that your options were either little holiday-themed pictures or wee pieces of waxy chocolate. Sol's contains a bath bomb for each day leading up to Christmas, Davey's has a series of magic tricks, and for myself, a traditionalist, I purchased an advent calendar containing wee pieces of waxy vegan white chocolate. But one year, when I'm feeling flush, I think I'd like to get myself a [Nippon Kodo incense advent calendar](https://nipponkodostore.com/products/advent-calendar).

[![A closeup of a paper chain. Several links are shown, with varying plaids.](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/christmas-paper-chain.webp "A paper chain.")](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/christmas-paper-chain.webp)

I sent out some holiday cards too. It's a tradition that I think needs a resurgence—people ought to get something nice in the mail now and then besides an Amazon package.

## The trombone doctor
The F-valve on my Conn 88H trombone seems to be prone to sticking. The other day, after being left alone (and in cold weather) for a few days, it became stuck so badly that I couldn't loosen  it myself. Davey kindly agreed to drive me up to Des Plaines to see [Dana Hofer](https://www.danahoferbrassrepair.com/), a well known brass repair technician. I'd been meaning to see Dana for some time to have the thing cleaned professionally, but I just never seemed to have $320 lying around to put towards trombone maintenance. Alas, the situation had come to a head. On Saturday, I grabbed my Conn and my old Benge 165F (a little worse for wear as a result of a couple unfortunate marching-band accidents while in the care of my younger brother), and Sol, Davey, and I headed up to Des Plaines.

[![The bell section of a Conn 88H trombone in a bath with suds and a yellow rubber duck.](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/conn-88h-trombone-in-the-bath.webp "Proof positive that I do maintain the thing!")](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/conn-88h-trombone-in-the-bath.webp)

Dana was very friendly and conversational. Turns out, in addition to being the go-to brass instrument repair man for all of the pros in the [CSO](https://cso.org/), he played the tuba on the 2004 album [*Cathedral Brass* by Cathedral Brass](https://open.spotify.com/album/5kZDcoigkQgcI3hcb5r2x1), and he does a bit of recreational blacksmithing. (We came away with a hand-forged coat hook and an indestructible iron bottle-opener!) We struck a deal in which I traded in my old Benge trombone for a free service on my Conn plus a modest sum on top, which I'm really happy about. Firstly because I was nervous about the price of the cleaning and repair, and secondly because, after serving me and my brother faithfully through high-school, the battle-worn Benge had been sitting around unplayed for years. I'm delighted to see it in the best possible care until it can move on to a new home. Billed as a transitional instrument between a student and professional model, the Benge 165F was basically a budget Conn 88H. With a closed-wrap F-attachment and a beautiful rose brass bell, it's a great horn that can absolutely hold its own against professional models. They don't make them anymore, so someone is going to be really glad to get to use it once Dana performs his craft.

[![Two thick, forged iron objects: a long bottle opener made from what looks like rebar, and a railway spike twisted into a decorative coat hanger.](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/blacksmith-forged-coat-hanger-bottle-opener.webp "These'll last a lifetime!")](/img/what-ive-been-up-to-holiday-edition/blacksmith-forged-coat-hanger-bottle-opener.webp)

After we saw Dana, we went for lunch at [*Boon Cafe*](https://www.booncafe.net/), a halal, vegan, Indian-Arab fusion restaurant featuring, to quote the restaurant's website: "A unique menu for Halal, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Pescetarian Individuals. EVERYONE enjoys a meal together." At the time, the place was pretty quiet, and staffed, it seemed, only by a single industrious teenager. Because I'm an absolute health-nut, I had the vegan Chana Chaat from the "Fry Bar" menu, in which various toppings (in this case saucy chickpeas and pita chips) are piled on top of a mound of fries, plus a side of vegan mac and cheese. Davey had the Sumac Clucker Vegan, and Sol had the Pulled BBQ Mushroom Burger with a side of mac and cheese. We all wound up having some of the Chana Chaat as it was a very large plate of food. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. The mac and cheese was solid (although salt levels might have been increased a touch). In my opinion it was neck and neck with *[Chicago Diner](https://veggiediner.com/)*, but below *[Alice & Friends' Vegan Kitchen](https://aliceandfriendsvegankitchen.com/)*, which I maintain makes the best vegan mac and cheese in the city of Chicago now that, heartbreakingly, *Upton's Breakroom* has closed.

## Incense samples
I've been having a lot of fun going through some of the incense samples sent to me by [Irene](https://blog.rauchfahne.de/en/). I predominantly burn Japanese incense, and some of the Indian style sticks she sent me have been a great change of pace. There were some really nice and/or interesting Japanese sticks included too, like Yamadamatsu's Hyofu, and Hikali Koh's Morikage. The latter was like a [Japanese Nag Champa](https://blog.rauchfahne.de/en/2024/11/27/nag-champa-tier-list/), which was wild to experience.

It was also a pleasure to try a stick she made with Atlas Cedar. Irene has been giving me advice for some time now, so I knew her work was going to be good, but _god damn—_ I see why people keep telling her to sell her work! Sol loved it too. I've been in a bit of a slump with my incense making recently; none of my experiments seem to be working. But I found those Atlas Cedar sticks quite inspiring, not only because they were good, but because the fragrance was so new to me, and it was so *clean.* It's easy to forget when you're experimenting with ingredients that simply do not want to smell nice in the burn just how good and clean a fragrance you can achieve with predominantly whole-botanicals. It's like a reminder that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

## Steam sale
Now that I have a good chunk of time off, I have also found myself taking advantage of the Steam winter sale. I immediately became hooked on [*Detroit: Become Human*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit:_Become_Human) (performance issues aside), which is a cinematic choose-your-own-adventure story where you play as three sentient androids in a world where androids are abused and enslaved. I keep wanting to play it on the couch, but with the stuttering ~~it seems like I'm going to have to~~ I am having to stream it from the beefier rig in my office.

I also nabbed [*Easy Delivery Co.*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Delivery_Co.), which is charming beyond words, *[20XX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20XX)*, *[Battlefront II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Battlefront_II_(2017_video_game))*, *[Breakout Recharged](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakout_(video_game)#Re-releases_and_enhanced_versions)*, *[Golf with your Friends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_With_Your_Friends)*, and *[High on Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_on_Life_(video_game))*. I had a quick go on *Breakout Recharged,* before quickly deciding that I needed to return to the game with a mouse and keyboard later. I haven't tried the others yet, but there's plenty of time ahead.
