23andMe offers ridicu­lously low cost, private geno­typing to just about anyone. They take your spit and use it to test your DNA for hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide poly­mor­phisms (SNPs). Many of these SNPs are reliable predictors of gene sequence, and 23andMe can tell you tons of inter­esting stuff about tote traits, disease risk, heredity, and more! I’ve found out all sorts of really inter­esting stuff, like the fact that my father’s father’s mother, who was half Cherokee, could not have actually been my great-​​​​grandmother, or that I have a rela­tively rare inability to produce an enzyme called adenosine monophos­phate deaminase, [ . . . ]

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I just received this photo from my mother, showing the method presently in use for the removal of her tree.

I really enjoy Garmin’s Christmas adverts. They’re clever and make me want to buy a Garmin. I already have a Garmin, though, and I love it. I’m taking it on my trip to Italy. Which reminds me I need to buy the maps for Italy for it before I go. Enjoy!

I like most of my family. I do not waste my time on those family members whom I do not like, their pathetic attempts to induce holiday guilt notwith­standing. Funny, I haven’t spoken to some of these people in over a dozen years and they still think they can guilt slash bribe me into calling them. Or visiting. Or even acknowl­edging their existence. They just don’t get it. I really like Christmas. I’m not going to spoil it by concerning myself with unpleasant people. On a marginally-​​​​related note, has anyone had any pleasant expe­ri­ences with any of the various gift-​​​​card exchange services on the Internets? Most [ . . . ]

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