Visibility...shite, add alcohol and simmer.

It's a snowy, blustery New Year's Eve in the rabbit warren. I've just watched the snow change directions a bunch of times, interspersed with gusts that make the street disappear from view. I LOVE THAT. A good day to stay in your pajamas with a good book, and a lap-cat. There won't be much in the way of New Year's Eve celebrations here - I view NYE and St. Patrick's Day as 'amateur nights' when people who normally don't drink and have no tolerance decide it's a good idea to go out and get polluted - making it an unpleasant night out for the rest of us. Not to mention expensive. No, our party happens tomorrow, when we've instructed all our friends to bring their hangovers here for a little 'hair of the dog' and commiseration, with football and music.

We're stocked with food and hooch, the house is clean, dust-free and vacuumed to near sterility in consideration of those friends who may be allergic to cats, and the entire gaff smells of lemon pledge. I haven't boozed at all since we got back into town from Connecticut - another spell of vertigo and a dull headache, like my brain has grown too big for its casing, has had me pretty much bombarding my system with vitamins, sleep, organic greens, and clear, non-alcoholic liquids. So I should be raring to go tomorrow, when I shall indulge in my New Year's Day ritual of the "ALL DAY MIMOSA" and destroy all the good my healthy living has done. It's all about balance, I find.

Let's hope 2009 brings better things. We have some things to look forward to, I think. A new president, with a functional brain and a higher-than-8th-grade vocabulary, for one thing. An end to the war on science of the last administration for another. I'm also daring to hope for at least some economic recovery - call me an optimist, if you will, but there it is. And the little things - Simon Pegg playing Scottie in the new Star Trek film (No, I'm not a trekkie in the least tiny bit, haven't seen any of the others and don't care much for the series, but that particular casting choice may be enough to get my arse in a theater seat.) The latest Harry Potter movie - don't take the piss, I think they're fun books and pretty damn good special effects films. The Bruins are going to do good things for the rest of this season and into the playoffs - looking forward to that. Plus a few home improvement plans - hardwood floors, some cosmetic stuff, some new furniture purchases when our finances recover a bit from the holidays.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve

Happy Holidays, kids!

We're on the road in a few minutes, just thought I'd pop in and put up this nice Maxfield Parrish winter scene, and say I hope everyone's Christmas is fun, warm, safe, and joyful. I'll update with something next week, once we're back in town. I'll be on vacation through January 4, so there should be plenty of time for blogging. I love the academic calendar, I really, really do.

Design thoughts.

I have one of those stereos that looks like a vintage radio - it has a turntable, cassette, and CD player, and it actually sounds pretty good. It looks great in my little study/library, along with some vintage prints and a Victorian looking loveseat and tiffany style lamp...you'd think you'd walked into a 1920's sitting room. With the exception of my desk and computer, there's nothing in the room that looks like it was made any later than 1940. And I've been pretty deliberate in decorating it that way - it's the only room in the house that I've bothered 'decorating' at all, since I spend most of my time in there.

But I was looking at some old TV's on line today, and I just wondered. Wouldn't it be cool if they would make some of these newfangled TV's with HD and flat screens and stuff with the awesome design features of old vintage TV sets? Or do you think I'm crazy? I don't know - I just think it'd be nifty to have a TV that looked like this in my living room, but when it's on, you get all the great picture reception and detail that comes with the modern HD technology. This isn't any bigger than the beast that's in there now, so even the big cabinet wouldn't take up any more space.



If your decorating is more in line with 50's kitsch, here's this little beauty. It would look great in someone's retro kitchen.


Maybe I'm the only person who would buy such a thing. But I don't think so.

When we were shopping for a new fridge I was disgusted to find that there are refrigerators on the market with TV's in the door. Now if there's a market for stupid shit like that, then surely...

Jack Black is Jesus.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

It's hilarious - too bad about all the singing and dancing though.

We're very popular with the neighborhood rodents.

Got up yesterday morning to discover this fat little bastard demolishing the pumpkins on my front porch. I don't think I'll be decorating with pumpkins anymore. This was a damn mess to clean up.

Cute as all-get-out, though.