the DronesClub	the smackdown	Fierce Creatures	Little Blenheim	Barmy in Wonderland	the dernier cri

The unpleasant, acrid smell of burnt poetry.
Young Men in Spats, 1936

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December 31, 2009

Marcus and Mark at the Christopher Columbus statue in Boston, New Year's 2000

10:45 p.m. - Here we are at the end of the decade. Who'd've thunk it? 10 years ago, Mark, Marcus, and Self were tearing up Boston at First Night, and it was damned cold outside. I remember staggering home around midnight to the train station at Copley and being dead tired by the time we got off the train in west Natick. Fun times!

Tonight Julie, Jennifer, and I went out for our traditional sushi run at Matsu Sushi downtown. Everything was so tasty, we ordered a little (or a lot) of everything. They came out with miso soup, salad, some kind of dumpling, and then four trays of sushi and a bento box for Jennifer. Oh my God! How did we order so much sushi? Jennifer's interpretation is that I paid no heed to quantities or price, and ordered too much of everything; hence the staggering tab. My more honest interpretation is that she did not perform due diligence about keeping the menu away from me, so my lack of restraint was really her fault; hence the staggering tab. But it was mind-blowingly good sushi, well worth said staggering tab, and a great dinner enjoyed by all. I walked back to get the door, and watched the downtown fireworks as I hobbled through the -7° windchill to get the car. So many people came downtown that we should have all gone back together. As it was, Jennifer and I played phone tag and finally met up at the corner of 13th and Howard before heading home. I got to see most of the fireworks en route to the car, and they were incredible! Fortunately, they launched at 7:00 rather than 11:30 or 12:00.

Afterward, we watched Star Trek (again) at Julie's house, for the dozenth time. And it was fun for the dozenth time! Old fogeys that we are, we were home by 10:30 and I reckon we'll be in bed by 11:00. Happy New Year!

Little else to report for the final day of the year. I spent some time at work, finishing a project, and then ran errands around town. Had to go to the Target at the Crossroads Mall, and it was horrible. Otherwise, this has been an interesting year, with hopefully good things to come in 2010.

December 29, 2009

9:13 p.m. - Miz J has taken to the bath and has taken to bed with Gryffindor. I spent some time re-reading Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet for about the dozenth time, and now I'm taking some time to play on the computer while listening to music. Tonight's lineup, a dram of the Ramones, a sampling of the Sex Pistols, and a big helping of the Dropkick Murphys, with a bowl of Flogging Mollies for dessert. Makes me want to set up my stereo, wire up the speakers, and crank it up to eleven. . . .Reading about William H. Seward on Wikipedia, and thinking about the Gilded Age.

7:39 a.m. - Made it to the gym this morning with no mishaps. I did my usual 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and called it good for a day. First time in at least 2 weeks I've done a good 30 minute cardio-workout! Back to the YMCA tomorrow, and if I'm feeling saucy, Thursday. The only fly in my spiritual ointment was that I found my favorite pair of warm black socks has been chewed up by Percy. I pulled on my sock only to find there was no heel whatsoever. One more pair in the garbage. . .  Fortunately, I long ago learned to carry an extra pair of socks in my bag, for just such an emergency.

December 28, 2009

9:21 p.m. - My Facebook status amused me so much, I post it here for my continual enjoyment.

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5:07 p.m. - Nothing quite like returning home to find the detritus from the city's snow shovel in my freshly-shoveled space. Back-breaking work ensues, and our space is again cleared out for another day. These side streets are still an utter mess, so I am convinced that the city is taking the snow cleared from major streets and quietly scattering it about the residential neighborhoods in an effort to get rid of it. I found a small, lightweight shovel and will secrete it in my car, so hopefully tomorrow's trip to the Y will be much less eventful.

7:44 a.m. - I am having a very, very bitter morning. Woke up at 4:30 and could not get back to sleep. Or rather, I kept snoring myself awake and then couldn't get back to sleep. Up at 5:30 for the gym, and was out the door shortly after 6:00. Made it a whole block before I see a car sitting in the middle of the road, waiting for co-workers to come out and go to work. They make no effort to move, so after waiting a reasonable period of time, I tried to head east down Marcy Street. And of course, I get stuck in the snow which the city has in no way bothered to clear. I probably shortened the life of my transmission squealing the tires in reverse, in drive, in reverse, in drive. I could smell the rubber burning. I finally called Jennifer, and course she was half way down the street  when my car finally squealed free. I owe her big for coming, and I probably raised the bar for the amount of cursing and shrieking I laid on the corner of 33rd and Marcy Street. 

At any rate, I made it to the Y, and had energy enough for 20 minutes on the elliptical. I suppose, if I had more time, I would have forced myself to do the entire 30 I usually do. By force of habit, I turned up 33rd Street on my way to work. And wouldn't you know it? Another truck parked in the middle of the street waiting for friends or co-workers. If these people would bother to shovel - or at least shovel and not fling their snow back into the street - there would be plenty of room for cars to pass one another. By the time the truck and the cars behind it rolled past me, I was stuck again and had to do the front, back, front, back dance before my car slowly rolled up 33rd Street. I made it to work by 7:30, which is early, but that is not a commute I ever care to repeat. My blood pressure is in the red zone, and I am feeling exceptionally bitter today. 

December 27, 2009

Watson (Jude Law), Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.), and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams)

3:51 p.m. - We went to see Sherlock Holmes at the new Marcus Theater at Midtown Crossing. Great fun! We had an overpriced lunch there, and I was unimpressed with the state of my patty melt. The bread was soggy, and they served the sandwich over the pickle, accounting for the sogginess. We had nachos beforehand, and they possessed the culinary might of an order from Taco Bell. Not that I anticipated much at movie prices, but I had thought it was have real cheese rather than that cheese whiz stuff from a can. As nachos go, it was uninspiring. But to the point: the movie. I enjoyed it, and thoroughly! Robert Downey, Jr. is truly a talented actor, though this athletic, derring-do Sherlock Holmes was not a purist's Sherlock Holmes. As long as the basics of Sherlock Holmes are maintained - 221B Baker Street, the pipe, and the violin, we're okay with his new spin on the character. He can riff on the rest, and we love him for it! Thankfully, they lose the deerstalker hat in favor of the porkpie, a bowler-like hat. If anyone can pull off a convincing Sherlock Holmes in this steampunk London, Downey does it very well. Jude Law makes for an equally great Watson, and I appreciated his character far more than the bumbling fool Nigel Bruce played. Law closely fit the "thin as a lathe and brown as a nut" description of Watson in Doyle's A Study in Scarlet rather than Bruce's fat clubman. Law's Watson is certainly no coward, and grabs his gun and goes when Holmes needs him. Law plays Watson as Holmes' equal capably making strong deductions and taking no guff off of Holmes, who shows ill-concealed disdain for Watson's impending engagement to Mary Morstan.

The plot is a bit far-fetched, but they give us the privilege of having Holmes work through the logic of disarming or stalking an opponent, and we can re-live his thought process in slow motion. Evil Lord Blackwood has been hanged for ritualistic murders (a la Jack the Ripper), and appears to have returned from the dead to lead an ancient secret society to overthrow Parliament and take over the government. Sounds like Dan Brown lent them the plot from his rejected novels pile. I've read there will be a sequel, which makes the entire movie a two-hour trailer for another Sherlock Holmes movie featuring his old nemesis Dr. Moriarty. Will I be there? You bet!

I enjoyed the plot in spite of the ridiculousness of it, and it allowed Holmes to solve the case using Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated technique of dredging up some insignificant detail that happens "off-screen" 14 chapters back. The killer glues a snake in the shower head, and the heat from the water melts the glue. The snake falls out, bites the Duchess, and slithers down the drain leaving nary a wrack behind. And Holmes deduces all this because of some faint odor of lavendar on Sir Gaspard's boots way back in Chapter 3. Riiiiight. . . 

Rachel McAdams makes her appearance as con-artist or jewel thief Irene Adler. Whether Irene Adler was an "adventuress" or not is immaterial. I am willing to accept her character as presented. The real issue is that Rachel McAdams is miscast as Irene Adler. In this role, she kicks plenty of ass to serve as Hollywood's need for a feisty girl archetype. She also shares enough décolletage to both dispel any lingering questions over Holmes and Watson's close relationship while keeping the fanboys engaged. The problem is that all the bustles in the world can't help McAdams act her way out of Southern California, to say nothing of a wet paper bag for this particular role.

In the end, Sherlock Holmes is a great deal of fun for both the Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes fan and the novice alike, and the fun outweighs the flaws. The movie is well-worth a Christmas weekend movie fling!

11:07 a.m. - More snow. Not much, but enough to merit an hour of shoveling. The inch or so accumulation is no big deal, but the drifts of 5 or 6 inches are the real pain. Hopefully we're done for a while. . . weather.com says there will be intermittent snow showers every few days for the foreseeable future. The Day After Tomorrow appears to be today.

A ferocious Silky Terrier battles and defeats the hapless doggie toy.

Meanwhile, Julie gave the dogs a squeaky toy. Percy loves to tear them apart and chew up the plastic squeaky. It probably reminds him of his ancestors, the ancient Silkisaurus Rex which thundered across the plains of pre-historic Europe, ferociously devouring any creature unfortunate enough to get in it's way. Percy managed to get ahold of the toy and after savaging it for a few minutes, he went straight for the jugular. The toy let out a death rattle squeak and was a goner. Within 10 minutes, the stuffing had been torn out and the plastic squeaky removed from it's poor innards. We had to forcibly take the squeaker from Percy so he wouldn't choke on it, but with the poor toy dead, he had lost interest in the carcass. Ten-thousand years of selective breeding and interactions with mankind have not dwindled the savage nature that still lives within the wild breast of the Silky Terrier.

December 26, 2009

9:31 p.m. - Probably another inch or two of accumulation since we last shoveled. I'll tackle it. . . later. Maybe. Quiet day otherwise. We haven't done a diddly-damn thing all day. Naps earlier. Light dinner. A little too much snacking on holiday leftovers. I can't wait to dump every single piece of chocolate at the office, and damned if I ever want to see it again.

Meanwhile, Jennifer is in bed playing on the computer. I'm watching the Harry Potter movie I gave J for Christmas, and it is just awful. It bears passing resemblance to the book, I suppose. Percy and Arabella are both fast asleep, and Arabella continues to snore like a demon. She's been sleeping on this absolutely filthy pillow which I flung upstairs in the TV room for our party a week ago, and it's been lying upside down ever since. She loves it, and it is her little place.

Arabella is fast asleep in her new favorite place.

Still no major plans for my last day of holiday freedom. We've talked about going to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie at Marcus Theater over lunch, which could be fun. The movie looks so horrible that it's going to be enjoyable. Otherwise, more laundry and cleaning and steeling myself for the return of Monday.

1:40 p.m. - Surprise, surprise, more snow. Jennifer was up and out by 8 a.m., out shoveling her car and helping Julie dig out so she could get to the airport, by the time I got up and joined her about 30 minutes later. We probably spent at least another hour digging out the cars, re-shoveling the steps and front walk, and the back. We've had intermittent snow all day, but nothing more than a dusting so far, thankfully. I don't know about Jennifer, but I'm tired of shoveling.

It has been a quiet afternoon thus far. She made spaghetti and pasta for lunch, and scoffs at my desire to consume the sauce on the side, not touching the spaghetti. That's the way I like it. I had a good hour's nap, though I kept snoring myself awake, and she's having a nap now. Percy and Arabella are also both asleep, and Arabella is snoring like a little banshee! Quiet afternoon - aka a boring afternoon - ahead.

December 25, 2009

Glad CNN noticed there was a blizzard in the Midwest.

9:51 p.m. - Christmas Day 'n' all that jazz. There's only one thing worth reflecting upon on this day. The weather. When they get a few inches of snow "back East," the national news slobbers all over themselves to report about the effect of the weather on the economy. Flights cancelled. Lives changed over the holidays. Businesses crippled. Blah blah blah. We're enjoying white out conditions, cancelled flights, closed interstate, family holidays cut short, the city's recurrent inability to get snowplows out to residential streets until "at least" Sunday, and it merits a tiny article buried half way down the CNN home page today. Gee, thanks. Someone farts on a street corner in Manhattan, and it's stop the press!, but short of murder and mayhem, we in the Midwest can barely get a byline. Heck, even bobblehead toys that look like the President get more press than blizzards in the Midwest!

Snow. Lots of it. And more snow. That's our Christmas present. Technically, Christmas begins with our traditional Chinese take-out dinner on Christmas eve, which we enjoyed with Julie. After way too much dinner, I lugged the snowblower out last night, a feat of heroic strength and endurance. Up the back steps, through snow drifts, over frozen three or four foot banks of semi-frozen snow from the last snowfall, and out the gate, down the front walk. I blowed the sidewalk in front of our house, and the neighbors on both sides of the street for about half the block, and then lugged the snowblower back up the front steps, through the front yard, back through the gate and over the snow drifts and banks, down the steps, and back into the kitchen. Took 90 minutes, and it was exhausting!

This morning, Jennifer tackled the snow while I watched from behind a glass of the last of the Glenmorangie. She did a great job, and dug a path down the front steps, and met up with Tim. Then the two of them dug a path to Julie's house. I was busy making bacon, and at 10:00ish, I met up with the neighbors and Julie's for a Christmas breakfast that couldn't be beat, featuring toast, bacon, spiced apple sausages from Stoysich, scrambled eggs, apples and honey, and a cake Jennifer baked for Julie. Afterward we watched an English movie, which was mildly amusing. We got home around 2:00 and spent some more time shoveling and digging out, since the snow continued to fall all morning.

By the time we were done digging, we were exhausted and we both took a good solid nap - about an hour and a half for me, and slightly longer for Jennifer. Left over Chinese for dinner for the two of us (blech), followed by. . . you guessed it: more shovelling! Jennifer took the lead while I tackled the dishes. About thirty minutes in, I came out and helped dig out the cars and the front walk again. The sidewalks are surrounded by 15 to 20" walls of snow, perhaps even more in some places. The roads are impassable except for the heartiest 4-wheel drives. I don't even know how Jennifer will get to work tomorrow, and I rather hope she can't go. Or won't.

And of course, the weather has more snow in the forecast. The tendonitis in my right elbow is not pleased right now.

But what of Christmas, says you? I have no particular interest in holidays one way or another. Our party last week was our gift to each other, and a great present it was! But I also know better than to show up on Christmas with no present in hand, so I found a few simple items. Entered into evidence: a set of tools for Herself alone, in a "cute" tool bag. The latest Harry Potter movie. Slippers (because she couldn't find her slippers at the point when I was at Wal-Mart, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Can you really have too many slippers, anyway?). Sharpies in many colors. Pinking shears (whatever those are). A single-hole punch for crafty projects. And the pièce de résistance, a table-top ice maker because Jennifer loves herself some ice. And lots of it, too. It's hard to gauge whether she likes it, but she says she does, and I had fun getting it, which was the important part. Except for the pinking shears, which was a tragic and miserable tale, and I hope never to buy pinking shears again in my life.

On that note, I shall tuck J in bed and take the dogs out, and then retire myself.

December 24, 2009

4:10 p.m. - Between bouts of watching the Star Wars trilogy on cable, another semi-decent nap, and general loafing, I've done a bit of cleaning around the house and spent two hours emptying all the junk out of my rolltop desk and organizing it, so that I can actually sit down and work should the need arise. I really ought to have spent the last two days categorizing my maps, but I need to steel myself up to that kind of mammoth task.

Meanwhile, it's a bitter 14°, with a windchill of -4°. I was outside for a few minutes to snap a picture or two, and I believe it with those winds! I can't believe Jennifer is toiling at the Gardens! Who the heck would come to see the poinsettias today?!

10:10 a.m. - Told you so. I knew that glass of hot chocolate would keep me up all night. I think I fell asleep around midnight and slept less-than-restfully until 8 when Jennifer clomped and stomped her way down the hallway. I was just sitting down to my morning oatmeal and Star Wars on cable (my kind of morning!) when Herself called and asked me to bring down her keys to work. My car practically slid right down Leavenworth, at one point sliding through a red light at about 16th and Leavenworth in pursuit of my sacred duty. I risked life and limb, and my reward? Bring home some giant table clothes to wash.

Meanwhile, that commercial showing the abused animals and sad music is on TV. I'm all teared up. Poor little critters. If that were Arabella in the horrible cage, I'd have an all-star crack team of commandos spring her and somehow leave the abusers in a pot of boiling oil or in some horrible but amusing situation.

December 23, 2009

9:51 p.m. - I had taken a great deal of effort to write an update, and got to the very end when my computer froze up, and I lost it all. Well shucks. I am tired and cranky and have the beginnings of a first class headache, so I'm not going to re-create my slings and arrows. The gist of it all was that I had taken today off and spent the day finishing up holiday shopping, intermixed with a solid nap, a bit of daytime TV, and some old-fashioned puttering around. We were promised bad weather, which fortunately has by-passed the River City, but we've had a good dose of freezing rain and drizzle. I think we'll get a few inches of snow tomorrow. I'm ecstatic. This evening Jennifer, Julie, and I had dinner at Crescent Moon, and I've been kicking back watching District 9 on DVD, a reasonably decent alien movie that brushes the edge of social commentary and then retreats into a frenetic shoot 'em up movie. Not that I object, mind you.

It's hard to resist a man in a fez.

Last night I looked in on Tangier Shrine to get photographed for the 2010 members' directory. The real object lesson of the whole dreary episode is that it's time to hit the gym again with a vengeance, as Jennifer has been gently reminding me the past week or 10 days. Monday - back to it, no excuses. I'll report back on my progress. . . The other lesson learned is that I need a new fez. The one I'm wearing was fished out of the spare hat bin, and was probably thrown there by a widow returning her late husband's fez. It is what is known as a jeweled fez, and if I were buying one today, it would be about $180. Perhaps it is a worthwhile expense. This sad specimen perched on my head - about a quarter-size to small - is for the Mobile Nobles. I am a member of this fine parade unit, but I consider myself an affiliate member with my primary unit being Motor A, those guys that drive the little mini-'57 Chevys. So add new fez to the list of things I'll get when my lottery ticket comes in.

It's not a surprise to Jennifer that I bought her a pair of pinking shears for Christmas. I have no idea what pinking shears are and what purpose they serve in the universe, but I have made it clear that finding a pair has been one of the most difficult challenges of my life, and if I can go the rest of my life without buying another pair of pinking shears, I shall be a very happy man.

December 22, 2009

7:26 a.m. – A recent CNN poll said that Tiger Woods’ popularity ratings had plummeted from 85% favorable rating in 2005 to 34% today, after his recent admission of marital infidelity. To that I add WHO CARES! For goodness sake, the man is a golfer not a politician. He doesn’t win games based on his popularity ratings! He’s not up for a People’s Choice award, whatever that is. Why does the gutter press feel the need to rank people or measure their popularity? Who is the best actor? George Clooney or Brad Pitt? The best beer? Sam Adams or Boulevard Wheat? The best transcendentalist poet? Emerson or Thoreau? This doesn’t even fall in the wise purview of the Beavis and Butthead Binary Theory of Opposition model in which something rules or it sucks. It just doesn’t matter! Maybe we can rank everything based on its favorability rating? I am not going to Scottish Rite tonight because I give it a 83% favorability rating, but I will have the veal because 784 out of 823 participants viewed it favorably.

Meanwhile, I was elected Orator last night for the Rose Croix officer line at Scottish Rite, finally putting me in the realm of elected rather than appointed officers for 2010. What does an Orator do? Orate, I imagine. No problemo. It’s getting me to shut up that may prove the challenge. [32 out of 40 polled viewed that statement favorably. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.]

December 21, 2009

6:41 a.m. - Ahhh, nothing quite like sitting quietly at the computer for a few minutes to read the headlines and hearing the dulcent tones of my neighbor's ride pounding on their car horn, rather than walking all of 15 feet to ring the doorbell. What a beautiful way to greet the day!

December 20, 2009

8:58 p.m. - We find ourselves on the end of Sunday. Where did the last few days go? I took Friday off to prepare for our annual get-together. In all honesty, I should have toiled Thursday night, but some movie or another on cable captured my attention so I put it off. For whatever it's worth, I did pick up soda and beer at the store, which counts for something. So the upshot is that we were up and at 'em at the crack of dawn on Friday to begin cleaning and preparing. Laundry. Mopping. Cleaning the bathrooms and bedrooms. Sweeping. Laundry. Cooking. Pouring M&Ms into a bowl and strategically placing it in the front parlor (that was my job, and I did it very well). Poor Percy and Arabella had to be kept upstairs, and they were not happy! The caterers showed up at 5:00, and since they couldn't get into the driveway, we had to carry everything up the steps into the house. I was exhausted by the time the party started!

For one day per year, a perfectly cleaned house!

At any rate, everything went off without a hitch, and the evening was perfect! We had beef tenderloin, crab cakes, Martha Stewart gooey bars (nom!) and pumpkin bars. fruits and vegetables, brie, and a mashed potato martini bar, with sweet potatoes and regular potatoes and all the toppings served in martini glasses. Of course, I was so tired, I could have fallen asleep by 9:00, but it was a perfect evening all the same with great people! Not that there are wild changes from previous years' pictures, but you can see this year's pictures here.

On Saturday, I was frankly too pooped to do anything other than a morning trip to the bank and a stop for supplies at the Big Box Mart. Otherwise, Jennifer and I did next to nothing until about 1:30 when our neighbor asked us to watch her 3 year old for a few hours. We were happy to do that because she's sweet as a button. Fortunately for me, Jennifer did the hard part and the girls watched Eloise at Christmas on DVD while I lazed in the other room.

Today, more of the same, except less of it. We started with a great breakfast with the neighbors and a friend from the down the street. Pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit! You really can't ask to start a day better than with good friends like our neighbors, who share intelligent conversation and wit in spite of a handicap of being Democrats. That's okay. I love 'em anyway. Afterward, we didn't do a thing. I watched Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds all afternoon, which was a lot of fun. No shortage of blood and gore. My kind of Tarantino movie!

Right now, Jennifer's in bed and I'm idly watching TV and watching the dogs sleep on their little pillows. Back to the same old same old tomorrow.

December 17, 2009

This could work at Casa de Evans

6:42 a.m. - Once again up at 5:00 a.m., with sleep impossible to come afterward. I feel like I could like down right now and take 40 winks, though I'm not certain I would feel refreshed.

Victor came over at 6:00 last night and swapped out lights in the living room and front parlor for dimmer switches. It vastly improves the quality of Jennifer's life, though it makes no discernable difference to mine. But if it makes Herself happy, then it makes me happy. Victor is going to bid on patching and repainting various dings and dents in the woodwork downstairs and turning the closet upstairs into a computer desk. That is another project that adds no particular years to my life, so to speak, though it would be nice to free up an entire quarter of the room and hide the ugly computer and the snarl of wires. Jennifer found a really nice color of blue called something-jade, but we'll paint the room and consider crown molding some other time. If we're freeing up this much extra room, I would ideally want to put a flat screen TV (yes, Jennifer, a big-ass flat screen television on the wall, measuring forty-two solid American inches of high definition flat-screeniness) in the west, a couple of comfortable chairs or that couch we admired at Wally World along the east wall, and really trick the room out for comfort. I could even imagine myself taking a nap on said couch like I used to on the old futon, with Gryffindor and Arabella curled up at my side.

Perhaps someday. . .

At any rate, after Victor left, Jennifer had me pick up Greek Islands for dinner. I had the spanokopita, which I probably ought not have had that late at night. Then Jeremy called from Austin, and I spent 45 minutes philosophizing with him about his theory that actions are not so much free will as they are logical computations of the brain based off of external influencers over which we have no control, and the impact this has over morality. I didn't agree, but perhaps I ought to have in the interest of time. That boy just ain't right. He might have been bringing down 85 large per year as a corporate muckety-muck, but instead he is seeking his Doctorate at some lonely intersection where philosophy, science, ethics and morality meet. At least I got to salt my conversation with salient references to movies including Blade Runner, Short Circuit, and War Games.

December 16, 2009

6:37 a.m. - Why even bother going to bed? I don't sleep worth a darn anyway. I could not fall asleep until about midnight, and I woke up around 5:00 a.m. There's so much to do before the weekend, I am probably too stressed to sleep properly. Ah well. . . Off to dry cleaners and thence to work.

December 15, 2009

6:49 a.m. - Meanwhile, I really worked a number on my elbow shoveling last week. This tendonitis, or whatever it is, smarts something fierce. I can't sleep in a comfortable position on my side without it throbbing. And I keep waking up at 4:30 a.m., and then I can't get back to sleep until right before my alarm goes off at 5:30. I think I'm swimming on about 5 1/2 hours of sleep, if that.

December 14, 2009

Yes Virginia, Omaha is as cold as it looks.

9:28 p.m. - Jennifer has retired for the evening. Percy and Arabella are fast asleep in the computer room with me, and 'Bellie is snoring like a banshee.

7:50 p.m. - First off, True Believers, I am exhausted. Beat. Tuckered. Pooped. The weather has been awful, and it's completely drained me today. I was up at 5:30, but with last night's and this morning's freezing rain and sleet, Jennifer and I were out at 6:40 chipping away a quarter inch of ice off our cars. I had to take my shirts to the dry-cleaners, and the two or three mile drive to Max I. Walker's, and the two or three mile drive back to work took a solid thirty minutes in this mess. . . I got home after work and had to shovel a disgusting wet, messy slush off the walk where the salt I threw down this morning melted it. My new shoes are already about ruined, and somewhere along the way today, I tore my slacks. By the time I got to the line officers meeting at Scottish Rite, I could have turned around and gone right to bed. Of course, I had to lug the trash out to the curb when I got home, which means dragging the garbage can through the house while Percy is busy barking and crapping underfoot, the little swine.

Someone wake me when it is Springtime.

During the gag gift exchange. Oh my, Pete!

The Durham decked out for Christmas.

This was a let down of a Monday after a nice weekend. On Friday, I volunteered to help at the Scottish Rite Chili 'n' Movie night. About 2 or 3 years ago, I managed to spill chili everywhere. No mishaps this year, but they'll never let me forget it! They were showing Angels and Demons, a dreadful movie loosely based off a dreadful book of the same name by Dan Brown. Jennifer enjoyed it, but I thought it was beastly. I had fun helping tend bar and serving, and when they got down to showing the movie, I made a bee-line out of there and went to clean in the kitchen and then called it an evening. Jennifer wasn't feeling too hot and went to bed about the time I got home, so I spent the evening playing on the interweb and reading articles about Omaha in the Time Magazine archives online, and looking up names online to see if they were Masons.

On Saturday, I went to the KSA meeting at the Scottish Rite in the morning. One hour for the meeting and another full hour afterward spent having members throw dues payments at me or answer this or look into that. Sheesh! I will genuinely miss being Secretary next year, in spite (or because) of it. I picked up lunch afterward for Jennifer and myself, and we spent a lazy afternoon making a feeble attempt to clean the house. I took a nap. Then Jennifer took a nap. In the evening, I went to the KSA members' appreciation dinner at the Scottish Rite while Jennifer looked in on our neighbor's wonderful Christmas party. Their house is beautiful, and I am always quietly jealous of John's taste. I teased Jennifer that if she picked the same thing it would look horrible, but if John put a dirty kleenex on his mantle, it would be the perfect addition to the motif. It's a skill I lack in spades. I met up with Jennifer at the party after the KSA dinner and had a nice evening hobnobbing with neighbors.

Quiet Sunday. We were supposed to continue cleaning, but we kind of puttered around. I napped. Then Jennifer napped. Then we went over to Mark's house, where Grant had cooked some incredible pizzas. We were so full from the appetizers I could barely eat the pizza. That man can cook! Mark's house is incredible, and I got to see it now that he has nearly finished moving in. Got to meet new friends and had an excellent evening. By the time we got home around 9:00, I was so tired I could barely stay awake and I was out like a light by 10:30. Of course, I managed to wake up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep until about 5:15, and woke up at 5:30 in time to start all over again!

. . .

Somewhere along the way I notice I made no mention of the NAM holiday party last Thursday, hosted this year at the Durham. I didn't know anyone there this year, but I had a grand time poking around the Durham, taking pictures of the architectural details of Gilbert Stanley Underwood's Art Deco masterpiece.

December 11, 2009

It almost looks charming at dusk.

6:49 a.m. - I got home yesterday a little after 5, just a few minutes before Jennifer. As I was taking pictures of the house at dusk she pulled up in her tiny Smart car, and neatly fit into the area we had shoveled out on Wednesday for both cars! We wound spending about 15 or 20 minutes helping dig John's car out, which was stuck in the slush at the corner of Pacific Street.  The tendonitis in my right elbow still hurts, and was made none the better by yesterday's digging and pushing. But it's not completely immobile. Leave it to the city's "efficient subcontractors" to do an absolutely worthless job clearing the intersection. After a great deal of digging and pushing, we got his car out of the snow and he was able to park across the street from his house. The city's private subcontractors did plow our street, but they didn't do a great job. Really the best work is the hundreds of passing cars who have smashed down the snow enough to make the road passable. So far, the City's record of managing the wintry roads has room for improved potential.

In the evening, I grilled hamburgers on my father's old 1960s indoor grill, which is nothing more than a heat coil with a grilling rack above it. I cut the last two potatoes and made fries, and we had a fantastic feast. We watched Liam Neeson in Taken on cable in the evening, which was a dreadful movie, but it was fun to watch the bad guys get their comeuppance.

It's 9° with a windchill of -3°. Sigh. . . Time to go and scrape off the car and try to preheat it.

December 10, 2009

6:38 a.m. - Not making it to the gym today. Sigh. . . I slept poorly last night (again). My right elbow is so stiff from the heavy shoveling yesterday, I could not lie comfortably, and I kept tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position. It is obscenely cold outside - negative one degree with no winds. On the plus side, it looks like the city contractors finally made it to our street.

December 9, 2009

Arabella has handled the snow like a trooper.

A show down the street. You really can't get an idea of how cold and deep the snow is from the picture.

9:09 p.m. - I am utterly exhausted right now. Today was another snow day. I got up early and plunged outside to shovel. What a nightmare! We must have received well over a foot, with drifts as high as at least two feet in some places. And it was that heavy snow, too. I had to let the dogs out the front door (they couldn't run away because of the high snow drifts), but they didn't even know what to do. Finally they did their thing on the porch. Ewwwwww! But I really had no other choice.

The snow had drifted so high by the back door, I had to force the screen door open to reach outside and snag the shovel. I managed to clear the steps and front walk and then the sidewalk. Jennifer came out and did some serious yeoman's work clearing out my car and space around the car to get it out, and then to park her car (which she left overnight at the Garden). She went back in, but I came back out to start up my car and take a few pictures. The temperature was f-f-f-rigid! Windchill of seventeen below zero. I must have not noticed it earlier because I was working up quite a lather shoveling and digging. I got about three pictures before being too cold to continue.

Afterward I had a great breakfast - hash browns, oatmeal, and a bagel. Ahhhhh. After relaxing a little, I took a wee nap while Jennifer cleaned up around the house downstairs. Then she took a nap, and I continued cleaning and then went back out to dig out a path for the dogs so they could go outside. Then I went back out front and re-cleaned the walk where the high winds had blown snow. My joints and back are aching, and I can barely bend my elbow after all that shovel work.

In the evening, I made bratwursts and spanokopita for dinner, and we've been relaxing and staying warm. The dogs are all fast asleep, and I'm about ready to join them. It's been a long day, and I am read to get back to the routine after this. I always enjoy a day off, but this is not my idea of fun.

 

December 8, 2009

We are anticipating at least 8 inches of snow today, and still more tomorrow.

Why u put poor kitteh put out wif trash?

10:31 p.m. - Fun evening! To celebrate the Great Blizzard of '09, we baked two frozen grocery store pizzas and had Tim and John and Julie over for dinner. We hurried around the house straightening for guests, and by the time they came over, the house looked happy and presentable. Dinner was tasty, and we had a great evening. They are always fun dinner companions, and we really ought to do this more often. The sad part is that the boys had just returned home from the Carribbean to this. It's still snowing, and there must be a fair foot of snow piled up. The streets haven't been plowed, and I'm going to have the devil of a time digging my car out. I need to figure out how I can get my snow blower working, and if I can, how do I get it out of the back yard when the fence is held in place by foot high snow drifts? That, or be prepared to shovel a lot of snow tomorrow morning. Otherwise, I plan to stay warm, do some work I brought home, and otherwise veg with some good books or movies.

Meanwhile, Jennifer has retired for the evening and I'm watching City Hall on DVR.

3:35 p.m. - It's been snowing all day, and it's nasty outside. Work let out at noon because of the weather. I picked up provisions at Hy Vee to tide us through the mini-ice age, including a bottle of Evan Williams honey-infused bourbon. It is very mild, smooth, and sweet, and about an ounce is perfect to warm the blood after shoveling.

I did just that when I got home, and cleared out about 4 or 5 inches off the front walk and steps. I'll have to do it again once or twice before night, and again tomorrow. It's nasty out there. I spent a good hour shoveling and after enjoying a nice beaker of Evan Williams, I kicked back with an assortment of dogs to watch the snow fall. Afterward, I took a brief nap, and am spending the afternoon watching a PBS show about the French and Indian Wars. This is one of those perfect days to be home, except that Jennifer isn't here with me. I can't fathom why the Gardens are open when no one would conceivably visit on a day like this.

7:40 a.m. - Whew! Made it to the gym both yesterday and today, in spite of the cold and snow. The 30 minutes on the elliptical machine gets easier, though it gets harder and harder to get to the gym in this weather. Fortunately, we only had an inch or two of accumulation over yesterday. Had it been more than, say, 3 inches, I'd've shoveled the steps and walk in lieu of the gym, but I figured it was safe enough to drive and I can shovel after work. I am proud of myself for having made it, but I would be even more proud if I had made it last week and could point to an (mostly) unbroken month and a half's record of attendance.

Meanwhile, we're battening down the hatches in preparation for the 10 inches they say are coming. I don't imagine we'll get out of work any sooner today unless the snow really picks up, and being closed tomorrow is up in the air. The Public Schools are closed, of course. The moment that first snowflake fell, the kids were on their cell phones texting Mommy to call the school and excuse them for the day.  

December 7, 2009

7:40 a.m. - I lowered the bar for bad night's rest. I think I was up every 45 minutes or so to the bathroom, and the bedroom was almost unbearably hot and dry all night long, even with that puny little humidifier going. I need to break out a big humidifier. 

I got up a minute or two before my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., and was dressed for the gym by 6:15. The snow is about 3 inches, and it is cold out there. Not unbearably cold, but cold enough that the dogs did not want to be outside for more than a few seconds. It's going to be a long winter! The weather guy is already threatening several more inches by mid-week. Getting to the gym with any regularity is going to be tough!

I pushed off to the gym and did my usual 30 minutes. Not many people there, and I managed to get through my routine on the elliptical machine without any undue hardship, though I seemed to have been beat by the time I got to the weights. On my way back to the car, I noticed that I lost my front hubcap. Dammit! My car isn't half a year old, and I've already lost a hub cap. And to cap matters, I found my water had spilled in the fridge over the weekend, so I have no cold water waiting for me at the office. 

December 6, 2009

10:15 p.m. - Gryffindor and Percy both hate going outside. They demonstrated their disapprobation by walking over to the recycle bin on the back porch and peeing on it, and trotting back inside. Arabella, on the other hand, loves frolicking outside. I hope Percy will be warm enough in the kitchen tonight!

8:57 p.m. - Quiet evening here. I kind of puttered around making a half-ass effort to clean the house. I don't think I used even 1/4th of it. Jennifer made a nomful dish for dinner, which was shrimp sautéed in a garlicky butter sauce and then roasted in the oven under havarti cheese. Very good! Afterward, she furiously threw away stuff upstairs in the TV room while I vigorously protested the disposal of perfectly good things like business cards from Nat Sherman's tobacco shop in New York City or a dog whistle. No matter that I've never used nor needed either of those, but that's not the point. I might need or want them, and then where will I be?

Yesterday Jennifer downloaded some song or another from the musical combo known as the Black Eyed Peas. Never head of 'em. To demonstrate our utter and complete lack of musical agreement, I also downloaded a few hip and edgy tunes to put on my mp3 player and listen to as I work out. My selections: Papageno from Die Zauberflote, Kyrie from the Requiem Mass in D Minor, two catchy tunes from the Abduction from the Seraglio, and Kliene Freimaurer Kantate, all by Mozart. Well, maybe not the last piece because you can't dance to it. But great stuff all, and far more timeless than Lady Gaga, whoever the deuce that is.

It is still snowing furiously, and they're predicting 3 inches or so. I'm planning to wake up at 5:30 and hit the gym snow or not. Not feeling optimistic about this.

2:27 p.m. - It's snowing and it's nearly 2:30. And it's December! When did this happen?

1:39 p.m. - We went to Louis M's shortly after 11:00 for breakfast. Or rather, I had breakfast - biscuits & gravy with hashbrowns - and Jennifer had chicken fingers and onion rings. Excellent, as always. We ran into Mayor and Mrs. Boyle on our way out. I dropped Jennifer off at work, and then went to Bag & Save to pick up that gift card for that deserving senior I mentioned earlier, and thence to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get one of those "as seen on TV" thingummies that slide under the door to theoretically block the cold air from blowing under. It seems to work better on the commercial than in real life, but it looks like it will work well enough. Ah, the joys of a drafty old home.

Meanwhile, kicking back to relax before tackling laundry and cleaning.

10:08 a.m. - So we decided to be environmentally responsible, and I ran out a few weeks back and bought expensive biodegradable garbage bags for our household trash. They will decompose, and thereby the trash within will return to the dust of the earth. All very natural and wholesome, and we can all sit around the campfire singing kumbaya together, right?

In retrospect, these bags are a pile of 狗屎 狗屎 (gou shi - go look it up, Firefly fans). They hold about two kleenex before tearing. You can't pull the draw strings without the bags ripping. On the whole, you need to triple bag your garbage to get the bag to hold together during the 15 foot journey from the trash bin to the garbage can out back. No more! As an American, I expect my trash to last for 15,000 years. I am going back to those hearty Glad trash bags that can be packed full of my refuse, kicked down a football field by a 300 pound linebacker, compressed with tons of other peoples' trash, and survive for millennium in the intense pressure deep within Marianes trench. Or at least being able to pick up the bag without the trash spilling out all over the floor.

Yay! We went to see Santa Claws!

Meanwhile. . .  I just returned from a Scottish Rite Foundation annual meeting. Interesting discussion. I had intended to stay longer, but someone (I'm pointing at you, Miz J) suggested that if I were home by 10:00 a.m., we might go out for breakfast before she pushed off for work. So I dutifully sneaked out early, was home by 10, and she's still in bed watching some old-timey Jane Austen-ey movie on TV.

Herself has been at work all weekend, and I've been left to maintain hearth and home. Yesterday was a busy day of errands, including buying a few presents for a senior citizen we're supporting through a program hosted by Home Instead. The hard part was loading up three dogs, dragging them as they toss and tumble and wriggle around the car in a bid to all 3 sit on my lap all the way there, to see Santa Claws at Petsmart. What an ordeal. Then to get all 3 to sit patiently on Santa's lap. Santa held Percy and Arabella in the kung fu grip, and we tried vainly to get Gryffindor to sit patiently at his side. This was finally accomplished by having one of Santa's Little Helpers hold him with me squeezing a squeaky toy to get him to look. After a dozen outtakes, we got a good shot, and I spent some time editing out the Little Helper and Gryffie's leash. Not a bad shot, and it looks cute in their frame. . . . Taking dogs to see Santa is one of Life's Little Joys for people without children.

In the evening, we met Mom and Mike for dinner at Outback. Yum! During the day, I had to wire a new light fixture in the bathroom, which I managed to do after a great deal of effort, false starts, and difficulty. But it didn't work. WTF? There are only two wires. One goes on one screw. The other goes with the other screw. Simple, yes? So Mike came over to look at my work and finds that I neglected to turn the little knobby thing. Click. There, now it works. Cue the jackass sound effects. That's not much better than the light not working because I hadn't turned on the switch.

Meanwhile, I still haven't shaken this damn cold, though it's much better. Against my better judgment, I've given up the gym and it will become too easy to fall out of the routine. Tomorrow, like it or not, I make my triumphant return to the gym. It's cold out at 6:30 a.m., but since it's not snowing I need to make it part of my morning ablutions.

So having leapt up for this morning's meeting, I am still sitting waiting for Jennifer. The question, as I wait with patience, is whether I should go downstairs and make myself useful by tackling laundry and cleaning, or whether I should kick back and reacquaint myself with an old friend called television.

December 3, 2009

Jennifer's Norfolk pine tree

7:40 a.m. - My readers begin to clamor for news, and I suppose I can delay no longer, in spite of being down among the wines and spirits. First off, it's snowing. Not a heavy winter wonderland snow, but a cold annoying flurry that won't really stick. There will be an annoying dusting by mid-day and I imagine it will melt or simply blow away by the day. But nevertheless, it's December and we can't put off snow much longer. I was hoping to avoid winter, but now I bow to the inevitable. 

Meanwhile, in spite of this cold, I put up the weather stripping over the kitchen transom window and the window in my bedroom closet. This makes a marginal difference, but at least it keeps Old Man Winter somewhat at bay. Any little bit I can keep out of the hands of the Metropolitan Utilities District is a little bit more for me and mine. And as my reward, I somehow slept wrong so my neck hurts.

Jennifer's pagan Yule wreath

Thanksgiving dinner. Nom!

But, says you, what of Thanksgiving? Tell the tale, omitting no detail however trivial. Not much to say, says I. I took Wednesday off and spent the day running errands. Dogs to groomers. Self to groomer. Grocery store, dry cleaner, and elsewhere about the planet as dictated by our needs. Thanksgiving Thursday was quiet. Jennifer was not feeling well with a raging sinus infection and cold and we spent the day quietly holed up at Casa de Evans. On Friday, she got up and went to work while I puttered around the house cleaning and doing projects. I spent about two hours boiling the hell out of various chicken innards for a stuffing. She got home and lovingly crafted a stuffing for our neighborhood Thanksgiving feast, hosted by Julie across the street. The stuffing done, the desserts prepared, we sat down to kick up our feet and take a break. In the meantime, the cat decided to sample the stuffing. He leapt on the stove and somehow managed to kickstart the burner under the stuffing. Next thing we hear is a loud bang! followed by the tinkle of glass. I got to the kitchen first to find pyrex and stuffing everywhere, with a giant pile of both on the stove burning along with the saran wrap covering it. We could have skinned the cat and served him as stuffing! Jennifer had to go back to the green grocer's for more ingredients (which they were out of everything, being the day after Thanksgiving) and I had to clean shards of glass and gooey, burnt, hot stuffing from every nook and cranny. It was horrible! It took me 3 or 4 garbage bags to contain the mess, mostly because the sharp, broken glass kept slicing (and melting) through those crappy, environmentally responsible biodegradable garbage bags we have. In spite of all this, Jennifer made another stuffing in record time and we had an amazing Thanksgiving feast at Julie's, with an assortment of friends and neighbors. 

On Saturday and Sunday, we didn't do much at all. I finally went out to Michael's to buy a frame for my KCCH letter of patent and to the Nebraska Furniture Mart to look around, and on Sunday, we went to Louis M's for lunch and then down to the Garden to look in on the Poinsettia show. By this point, Jennifer was on the downhill slope of her cold, and I had picked up the mantle from her, and my cold was blossoming into full blown awfulness. 

I felt miserable on Monday but soldiered on. Made it to the gym, though my work out was not the best. By 2:00 p.m., I had to be carried home on my shield. And I was down for the count on Tuesday. A day at home can be restful if there is stuff to do, but when you are feeling bad, the day is miserable. We had lent our DVD collection to a friend, so I had no movies. And they show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit ad nauseam on TBS all freakin' day long. I would have crawled back to work to alleviate the boredom!

I hate colds. This was the full smörgåsbord of msiery: the runny nose, the coughing, achiness, you name it. Death has practically bivouaced at my front door waiting for me. I don't think I've had a great night's sleep since Saturday night. Wise people have told me to go to the gym (so as A) not to lose the momentum, and B) to improve the body's resistance movement), and other wise people have said not to go to the gym to avoid weakening already tired red corpuscles. I've erred on the side of laziness, mostly to avoid infecting my fellow gym goers. Some of my co-workers are starting to come down with a cold, and my fear is that I'll get sick again when it comes back around. In the meantime, I skipped Lodge on Monday and my Neighborhood Center board meeting on Wednesday, and have been living on Vitamin D, elderberry, colloidal silver, and sleep. I am on the downhill side of this cold, but it has not been a fun week. 

December 2, 2009

7:09 a.m. - I've been sick as a dog for the last few days, so bear with me. Updates are coming soon. I promise.