I'm back from Christmas, and it went much better than I had anticipated (assorted kinks, of course, but all in all pleasant). I have more pictures to touch up and post (and a longer entry to write), but I wanted to get the first batch out so my mom can snag them for prints.

I hope everyone else had a good one as well. :)

Labels: family, holiday, photography

I hope it's filled with cheer, goodwill and joy (and maybe wagons). :)

Labels: holiday, twins

Rep.-elect Keith Ellison of Minnesota (the U.S.'s first Muslim congressman) took the ethical high ground by not calling Rep. Virgil Goode of Virginia names for his recent comments about Muslims being elected to public office. Others haven't been so kind. If you want to write a letter expressing the belief that "if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office" and then co-sponsor legislation to end a visa program for people "not from European countries," expect suggestions of bigotry and racism to follow.

Labels: politics, religion and atheism, social commentary

The sporting goods store at Westroads has a climbing wall! Who wants to go climb it with me? :)

Labels: amusement

My mom called today to advise that my hometown has a foot of snow and counting and the Interstates in all directions are shut down (leaving my dad and brother holed up in Wyoming). My mom and Haley were even without power for about 8 hours (leading Haley to declare that she'd never have made it as a pioneer; apparently playing cards by candlelight didn't really thrill her). Omaha is wet but not cold (yet), so we'll see what the situation looks like over the next two days. I really don't feel like driving six hours on ice. :(

Labels: family

I knew that God was a voyeur (why else create naked humans?), but now we find out he's a stalker, too. That's just creepy and wrong.

Labels: funny, religion and atheism

Cris: but after that... it's naked christmas
Cris: OOPS!
Cris: Wrong window!
Jay: *lol*

Labels: cris, friends

Although hardly a revelation to certain people, I've been out of sorts lately. I don't think "combative" is the right term, but perhaps the shoe labelled "less understanding" would fit; I've been told what I call an "argument" is to most people a "squabble," but the fact remains that I've been in three of them lately, a bellwether of my recent petulance. To put it in better context, one of them was with Lisa. Lisa, the person with whom I have not seriously argued in 8 years. Over, of all things, a newspaper article of no importance to either of us. Said arguments have not been an active pursuit on my part, but rather an uncharacteristic unwillingness to be sympathetic when challenged (and all other abandoned traits aside, I certainly inherited the stubbornness that characterizes so many of my family). In any case, I've apologized in person and offered recognition of my childishness, and submit this as a public apology to anyone else with whom I've been short.

My mood didn't go unpredicted. I can't go so far as to lay claim to phrases like "I hate Christmas" or "holidays suck," but those of the inner circle are well-aware that this is not my favorite time of the year. Lisa expects the malaise like clockwork, although it has seemed in recent years to be cumulative rather than episodic, something I admit concerns me. Christmas lost any religious significance to me a decade ago, and quite honestly that aspect doesn't even register with me except when chastised for using "holidays" instead of "Christmas" (as has been done once this week), so I'll admit up front I don't have any serious attachment to these holidays. But on top of that, I think there is a handful of ingredients that bake up into the Fruitcake of Despondency(tm).

The first ingredient requires a mild disclaimer. If you feel the holiday spirit, I'm happy for you. :) This isn't meant to bring you down and don't take it as criticism. I hope to be there someday. For the time being, though, I find myself increasingly annoyed at the commercialization that seems to paradoxically bring out the worst in people in what is supposed to be the brightest season. Irritability and short tempers draped on shoppers looking for $600 gaming systems for 10-year-olds who equate Christmas with "I want it and if I don't get it I'm going to pout." For that matter, the whole idea that a 10-year-old needs a $600 gaming system more than he needs a $200 gaming system and $400 to give to a coat drive for underprivileged children. The perception that asking someone exactly what they want, going out and buying it and giving it to them somehow shows thoughtfulness, when in reality it's merely the fastest way to comply with a social expectation. The universal condemnation of anyone who points out that a great many people treat Christmas shopping as an unpleasant chore rather than a free act of love. (Cris and I had it out over this topic last week; I concede I may tilt toward "grinch" due to my mood, but really, I can't help but see the web of obligation and commercial pressure that underlies what should be a celebration of sharing and togetherness. In all seriousness, I'd be thrilled if my Christmas consisted of a peaceful dinner and an exchange of cards showing which charities we donated to in each other's names.)

The second major stressor for me is the fact that, though I dearly love my family, I am woefully unprepared to spend time with them en masse, a consequence of being out of sync with them (case in point, I'm used as the "it could be worse" example when someone is disapproving of someone else in the family; e.g., "Well, it could be worse. At least he's not an atheist/liberal/pavement head* like Jay."). There is a, shall we say, tendency toward displaying affection through criticism, amplified by the pack mentality, that is incompatible with me. I make an effort not to be overtly displeased about it, and in fact usually graciously decline to participate rather than take the bait, out of deference to family peace, but it's emotionally taxing nonetheless.

The final stressor, familiar to anyone single through the holidays, has its own shelf in the "self-help" section of the bookstore. I suppose (and in fact hope) that a few more attachments around this time of the year will eventually change my mood about it. Although I'm still not buying my kids a $600 gaming system.

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*"Pavement head," for those curious, is my brother's term of faux affection, a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that I have defected from my agrarian heritage to the great land of street lights and parking lots. It's usually accompanied with something of a chortle.

Labels: family, friends, holiday, humanity, introspection, me, social commentary

The new furnace is in and running (actually, it has been for awhile; I've just been lazy about posting the pictures).

Labels: house

Yahoo! has a new section called "Yahoo! Answers," which, in general, works as such: Person A asks a question in barely decipherable English, persons B-Z give equally cryptic answers relying on experience that ranges from "none" to "Look, I'm being a smart ass" and person A picks the best answer to be "the official" answer (whether it's right or not, eh, who cares?). To add to the appeal, you earn points for answering questions, and can use those points to then ask your own questions. I hear, apocryphally, that after you ask 10 questions Yahoo! sends you a plaque congratulating you on your inability to use a real search engine to find information and your willingness to wait 3 weeks to have a question answered.

The top question today (preloaded onto the main Yahoo page) was from a woman looking for hints to make Christmas special for her son, who is turning 10 . . . months.

I present Exhibit A: "have got him loads of great prezzies but want to do other things so he good xmas from the very 1st one. I just wanna giv my baby the best. and no the prezzies are all gr8 toys for him, i dont do things by half!"

The prosecution rests.

Labels: amusement

I spent the majority of the weekend at work, for a grand total of 13 hours. That more or less ruins a weekend, but it does provide a little boost to the paycheck; the grand game of trade-offs. That does mean I'll likely take a day off this week to do all the things I'd planned to do over the weekend.

I did babysit for a couple of hours on Saturday night (we watched "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree"). Then Lane and I tied five games to five on Soul Calibur (she's banned me from playing Link because I just sit across the arena and shoot arrows at her character - hey, if it works). I told her I'd bring MarioKart over next time. In the meantime she's almost finished with the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, a week after starting the first one . . .

Labels: miscellany

Lisa had me splash together some separate photos into a single entity for her Christmas cards (because, really, convincing Nick and two toddlers to cooperate for a picture is just slightly less difficult than licking your elbow). Despite portraying what many people would find to be an accurate representation of the mixture of emotions prevalent in the season, she passed on this picture and instead chose this one.

Labels: holiday, twins

Happy anniversary to my grandparents, who celebrate 60 years of wedded bliss today. I'm pretty sure they're unfamiliar with the concept of a "Web log," but I'll refrain from any sort of snarky comments anyway and just wish them many more. ;)

Labels: anniversary, family, grandparents

Amazon officially moved the shipping date on my family's Christmas presents from two days ago to February 5th. Bastards. But I guess my family can look forward to getting a second round of presents in May.

Cris and I stopped by Forest Lawn Cemetery to take pictures on Sunday, but I don't think he even turned his camera on and I only had two photos turn out.

These are absolutely fabulous. Although they get stale in a hurry. So, really, you *have* to eat the whole box in one sitting. Really.

Labels: miscellany, photography

Lisa is happy that Alec and Kyle play together so well. They're also developing a fondness for nursery rhymes (ignore the fact that my butt keeps swinging in front of the camera).

Labels: twins

We had enough fog last night for one-block-or-less visibility. It was very cool, in the "I can't see the stoplight; what color is it?" kind of way.

My family's Christmas presents still haven't shipped. I've been advised to have a backup plan, which I do. "Congratulations, you're all getting a second Christmas at Haley's graduation in May."

I have all of my other Christmas shopping done except for Lane (because someone bought her the book I was going to buy her . . . *grumble*). Maybe I'll get her a shirt that says "Wake me up when Spore(tm) is released." We've been having an ongoing dialogue about the proper term of reference to describe the two of us. She prefers the appellation "nerd," while I'm more inclined toward "geek." Given our respective family histories of stubbornness, it's not likely to end anytime soon.

My mom had her first non-sedated MRI last week (an accomplishment for someone with severe claustrophobia). She's had some back problems, but apparently they're going with physical therapy and over-the-counter pain medication for now.

Alec's new favorite word is "apple" (because she likes these little freeze-dried apple pieces Lisa buys). Kyle's new favorite word is "tickle," which she employs liberally when she actually tickles Alec.

Labels: lane, miscellany, twins

I do so love it when I forget to turn off a program at work that necessitates a special trip back to the office at 1 a.m. I love it even more when I decide to use the trip to accomplish something else and drive all the way across town to my bank to use the night deposit, only to find when I arrive there that the pen in my visor is missing. I wonder how often people go into the Walgreen's across the street at 2 a.m. to buy a single pen.

Labels: amusement

One of the unfortunate drawbacks of a very public blog is the necessary censorship that accompanies it, the delicate phrasing and taboo topics that end up in back-alley IM messages under broken street lights. I was recently asked if, given the choice over, I would make this oddly uneven page of commentary public again; I didn't have an answer that satisfied any of the parties involved.

Perhaps for the above reasons I've written a long string of posts alternating between politics (a volatile topic, for certain, but one from which I do not shirk) and humorous observations, with a noticeable lack of memoir material. I may or may not work on that in the future. Suffice it to say the inevitable arrival of this most convivial of months, amplified perhaps by an event as unique as it is arbitrary, significant only because we evolved 10 fingers rather than 8 or 12, heralds yet another interval to be endured rather than enjoyed, another spectacularly brilliant mote of faceted quartz gleaming brightly as it descends the glass chute and vanishes into the past.

In less cryptic and somber news, scant feet from me, through plaster and brick walls, the 30-mph wind gusts have dropped the wind chill to -5 F. In short, it's cold.

Labels: introspection

iTunes update, for those acquaintances who mine my stream-of-conscious for new acquisitions:

I bought the new Sarah McLachlan holiday album; as much as I love Sarah, I have to give it an "okay" at best. Maybe it'll go up as the holiday approaches.

"The Mating Game" by Bitter:Sweet is very eclectic, in a jazz/techno way. "Breathless" has been done by several artists (I have a Corrs CD somewhere with it), but this is a very slow, moody version. The Killers and Augustana are on the radio and shouldn't really need an explanation. Cris sent me the recommendation for Helena Paparizou (good pick, Cris). Not quite Shakira, but close enough for comparison. "Mad World" is a slow, beautiful, almost-creepy remake of a Tears for Fears song that was done for the "Donnie Darko" soundtrack and recycled for an advertisement for the "Gears of War" video game (it's on Lisa's "banned" list now, due mostly to the line "I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I'm dying are the best the best I've ever had").

The Pink, Ben Folds and Feist songs are good for at least one listen. I found the Alanis songs on a compilation and bought them in a "college reminiscence" mood. "Breath Me" by Sia is probably the standout in this entry; if you only listen to one from this list, try that one. Gilli Moon's "Need You Tonight" is, indeed, a remake of the INXS song, although if you don't know that ahead of time it takes a few lines to figure it out (I didn't know that before I bought it). The Wired All Wrong song was free; I don't think I like it much. I found the Brett Dennen song in a compilation somewhere; he sounds vaguely like Tom Petty if you like that sort of song. I bought the entire Kate Havnevik album and have enjoyed it so far. She's something of an acoustic Imogen Heap ("Nowhere Warm" is my favorite), very good for background music when you're doing graphic design.

Labels: iTunes, music

American U.N. ambassador John Bolton announced his resignation today, something I believe to be for the best, but not to the extent of writing a lengthy entry about it. What I'm more concerned about is this one sentence, repeated in every news article I've read about the topic but not attributed: "[T]he White House was believed to be exploring other ways of keeping him in the job, perhaps by giving him a title other than ambassador." I haven't found any other information on it, but I'm somewhat concerned nontheless. It looks to be another attmpt at an "end run" around the checks-and-balances structure of the Constitution (in the vein of executive orders and Congress writing sentences into laws forbidding the Judicial Branch from ruling on them). I don't care which party is doing it; knock it off.

Labels: politics

[Warning: Depending upon your place of employement, this may not be work safe.]

These poor buttons tried and tried, but alas . . . (I have no idea who this is, but I'm assuming it's some celebrity.)

Labels: funny