Well, everyone knows I just love Twitter. It’s exciting, annoying, fun, very diverse and if I can manage to avoid Donald Trump’s tweets, I’m OK. I am @petchary.
We had a moderately sociable Christmas – with family Skype sessions and friends for food and drink – but Twitter still kept me amused in between chatting and eating (I don’t drink alcohol but did indulge in a half-glass of pink champagne). I also kept receiving Christmas cards from people whom I had somehow omitted from my card list. Very embarrassing. This always seems to happen to me, and it’s hard to make up for it afterwards. You can’t send an “I’m sorry I forgot to send you a Christmas card” card instead, can you?
There’s plenty of Twitter drama this morning, with the tit for tat between the U.S. and Russia. This extraordinary “official” tweet came from the Russian Embassy in London (sorry, the embed didn’t work), with a picture of a “lame duck.” It looks like the kind of thing a diplomat’s teenage son might post.
“President Obama expels 35 🇷🇺 diplomats in Cold War deja vu. As everybody, incl 🇺🇸 people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm.”
Wow. On a par with TrumpTweets, I would say… What a crazy year-end.
Moving on from the madness, I did enjoy Christmas in Twitterland. Here is a quick, nostalgic look back at a few days ago… I am just going to share a few pictures with you to get a flavor
Palestinians watch a performance by Christian scouts at Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank City of Bethlehem, Dec. 24, 2016. (Photo: AP)
Tweeted by Elegant Resorts in the UK, here’s a Bajan Santa arriving by boat…I love the @ParrotOfTheDay tweets. Here’s a festive one on Christmas Day:Red-headed lovebird (Agapornis pullarius), Africa. (Photo: Kristian Svensson)
Here’s a beautiful Hanukah picture from the blogging site, Tumblr. (What happened to my Tumblr account? I must try to revisit it, it is now dormant!)
Portland, Oregon has a reputation for nuttiness. This was one of my favorite Christmas photos, frequently tweeted… a Santa on a unicycle (wearing a gas mask?) playing – yes – flaming bagpipes!In China, many human rights defenders, including lawyers and journalists, spent Christmas in jail. Christian attorney Jiang Tianyong, who has defended Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners, has actually been missing since November 21 after supposedly being released. (Photo:Ng Han Guan/AP)
And lest we forget…25th Dec 1831, Christmas Uprising, Jamaica: 60,000 enslaved Africans led by Samuel Sharpe resist British who responded by executing hundreds. (I am glad to hear the new Mayor of Montego Bay say that the anniversary of this historic event will be formally recognized in the city, in future).
A touching photograph illustrating an article about how Christians celebrate Christmas in Mosul, Iraq. (Getty Images)Here’s a bitter little parody of a German Christmas carol from 1934, with fascism on the rise – by John Heartfield. “Oh Christmas Tree in the German Space, How crooked are your branches.” I like to follow arty Twitter accounts too.I follow quite a few African Twitter accounts, and found a fascinating article about a sculptor named Sauveur Mulwana, in front of one of the monuments that he created in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo. (AFP)I follow several Twitter accounts that post nostalgic old photos and celebrity pics. Here is that ethereal-but-earthy 60s child Marianne Faithfull (1965) with the hashtag #WinterIsBeautifulFrom Christian Twitter friends, a beautiful silver Nativity with candles.
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