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

Looking for the Old Stuff? Visit the Archives here.
Jan 2010	Feb 2010	Mar 2010	Apr 2010	May 2010	Jun 2010
July 2010	Aug 2010	Sep 2010	Oct 2010	Nov 2010	Dec 2010

 

January 31, 2010

9:26 p.m. - A brief update to bring you up to speed, since there is nothing of any particular interest in the last few days. Friday evening, quiet. We stayed in and watched Julie and Julia, which Jennifer rented on cable. Meryl Streep's Julia Child was spot on! It was actually an enjoyable movie, though it lacked a certain something in aliens, lasers, chases, and explosions.

Saturday, quite pleasant. We went to see Avatar at the new Marcus Theater. I may write a review anon, but at first blush the movie was no more spectacular than any other movie. I'm not certain it deserves all the accolades it has received. To apply the patented Beavis and Butthead Theory of Binomal Opposition, it surely did not suck worse than anything has ever sucked before, but neither did it totally rule. Jennifer went to work today, and I spent the morning finishing our 2009 taxes. I love living in the not-too-distant future. I simply downloaded my Turbotax software from Amazon.com, filled out my numbers, e-filed my returns, and I was done within the hour. Any easier, and my taxes would be done for me! Then I e-filed my State returns, and I was done with the entire afternoon ahead of me. So I took a brief nap. We watched TV in the evening, and then Jennifer went to bed. I'm going to brush my teeth, grab a book, and follow suit. More as events warrant.

January 26, 2010

10:07 p.m. - Not only is it biting 15° outside, but New World has declined back to early-November values. On the plus side, tonight was my first committee meeting for the Omaha Home for Boys. We reviewed a great deal of information, and I am proud to serve an organization that is providing incredible services to kids who need it. I'm looking forward to really getting involved. Quiet evening - Jennifer went to bed early.  I talked to my mother for a while, and she is heading to Dallas to be with my grandmother who is back in the hospital. More updates as I hear from family in Texas.

January 25, 2010

10:24 p.m. - We've had intermittent snow all day, with minor accumulation. I had to shovel this morning before heading to work. And my car does not handle well in the snow at all; I'm convinced I need new snow tires, a $400 or so expense I really don't need right now. At any rate, I lugged the garbage out when I got home and have been fortunate enough that the 26 to 32 mile per hour winds haven't blown away my recyclables and garbage can. We'll see if they last the night on the curb. Quiet evening otherwise. I spent some time working on the Florence Lodge February newsletter. In the process of writing about the Lodge's 100th anniversary, I learned that we're not two years away from celebrating our centennial. We're three years away. Everyone thought the Lodge formed in 1912 and operated under dispensation until 1913. Turns out that the Lodge did not begin to operate until June 1913 and only worked under dispensation for about a week or two, before a Master was elected and regular business could begin. That rewrites the Lodge history! Fascinating stuff, that. But the downside is that it puts our centennial three years away, in 2013.

6:51 a.m. - Once more we find Monday at our throats. There is a fair two inches of the white and fluffy outside. I should shovel before work, but it will be easier for all parties (except me) to tackle it after work. Sigh. . . We really were teased by clement weather on Saturday only to be reminded that we're still Winter's bitch for at least another month and a half.

January 24, 2010

9:02 p.m. - Quiet evening. After a great deal of melting snow yesterday, it has been cold all day and snowing all evening. What a tease! We've spent the afternoon lazing around the house, channel surfing and playing with the dogs. I've tackled a bit more laundry and swept up downstairs a little, but otherwise, no adventures today.

Conan's publicity stunt has indirectly raised my cost of living. I never found him extraordinarily funny, and now he's less so.

2:28 p.m. - Ahhhhh, just took a nice 20 or 30 minute nap. My kind of Sunday. So several Facebook friends have posted the video clip of Conan O'Brien spending $1.5 million dollars of NBC's money - for no reason other than to waste money - on his last week on the air before he gets fired to make way for Jay Leno. He has been freely using Rolling Stones and Beatles music, which apparently costs among the most for royalties and is on some network blacklist. Charming. While everyone has been applauding his giant extended middle finger at the NBC executives, I have been thinking the reverse. Sure, NBC pays the bill but they simply pass the expense along to advertisers who pass the expense along to the consumers. So Conan's publicity stunt has indirectly cost me 32¢ for some future widget I might buy. Thanks for nothing, you Harvard-educated bastard. And now future networks might chuckle at his whimsy, but they will keep in the back of his mind that he's a vindictive SOB and will be a little more reluctant to hire him. I'm sure he's not doing himself any favors, except that the simple-minded public roars with hilarity at his phenomenal waste and will forget about him 15 minutes later.

12:03 p.m. - The pancake breakfast with the neighbors never materialized, so we went to Louis M's at 10:00 or 11:00. Jennifer had eggs Benedict. I had the prosciutto and provolone omelet. Excellent as always! Afterward, we drove down to Wheatfields in the Old Market and picked up a couple of cinnamon buns for later. Jennifer is at Julie's playing, and I'm relaxing between various house cleaning projects. I've got my second load of laundry going, and I've mopped up the dust Victor's crew left after last week's house projects. I'll tackle some vacuuming and sweeping next.

8:43 a.m. - Little more to offer you this Sunday morning. At 6:15 on Friday, I went to Jennifer's annual holiday gathering. In deference to the economy, the Garden held their annual get-together at the Garden, but Jennifer worked hard all week to pull out all the stops and it was a great success. She had ordered tacos, freshly made tortillas, frijoles, toppings, seasoned beef and chicken, and we had a great dinner with Dos Equis or margueritas. The employees duked it out over a piñata full of candy and prizes, and a good time was had by all! I somehow got drafted into kitchen duty with Jennifer, which was okay because she'd otherwise have been there until 3 a.m. doing it all by herself. After clearing and washing dishes, glasses, and cooking utensils for 50 people, I was beat and headed home by 11:00. I think we both crashed at about midnight.

I slept in until 8:30 Saturday morning and then headed out for my biannual haircut, picked up dry cleaning, and bought a few new slacks and socks at Kohl's. Afterward, Jennifer and I went back out around noon for lunch at the Dundee Dell and then headed home to relax. I don't think we did much of anything the rest of the day other than spend some time shoveling slush and scraping ice off the street to facilitate the flow of melting snow down the street to the sewer. Somewhere along the way, I snuck in a nice hour's nap with Gryffindor and Arabella.

Today, no plans. There is a rumor about breakfast with the neighbors, but I am waiting for it to be fact before I count my bacon.

January 21, 2010

5:44 p.m. - Victor came by today and drilled a few holes for various electrical wires and put a coat of paint on the closet/desk. Looks fantastic, and I can't wait for Jennifer to decorate the unsightly bottom with the skirting.

The market went down another 213 points, with New World losing yet another 85¢, closing at $46.71/share. We've lost a month of gains in two days. Yikes! I don't know if I can stand more of these kind of staggering blows to my retirement.

Last night, quiet evening. I caught up with Tuesday's episode of Better Off Ted, which was possibly one of the funniest episodes this season.

January 20, 2010

8:57 p.m. - Victor and Mario were here all day, repairing and repainting the walls downstairs which had some minor cracks. And they nearly finished converting the closet upstairs into the computer desk. I'll post a picture tomorrow when he's finished painting it. Jennifer bought a bolt of cloth this evening to skirt the desk, and it will look fantastic when she is done!

Of greater pitch and moment, as Shakespeare would say, is the fact that the DJIA plunged some 122 points today, and New World tanked 89¢ per share, falling to $47.56. I am greatly disturbed. When, oh when, will it cross the $50 mark again?!

6:57 a.m. - Jennifer & I spent an hour or so with our neighbors yesterday and met their newborn boy. He is the most beautiful little guy I've seen with the thickest crop of hair on his head. Normally, I'm like Franklin from Peanuts, and nobody lets me hold the baby (even Pig Pen gets to hold the baby, but never Franklin), but I held the little guy half the evening until he soiled himself, in which case I happily passed him back to Dad. He cried only once, and spent the rest of the evening peacefully snoozing in everyone's arms.

January 19, 2010

The Dude abideth 7:09 p.m. - Today has been a long day, and an exhausting day. I left a meeting at 5:15 at 133rd and California and had to be at the Scottish Rite for the Lininger Lodge officers installation. And of course it was rush hour traffic and a car running on empty. So I pull off the West Dodge overpass and fight my way across traffic to fill up and head back on my merry way. I got home by 5:45 to let the dogs out and rushed down to the Scottish Rite, just in time to hear the newly installed WM of the Lodge rap the gavel and thank everyone for having attended his installation. I was supposed to present him with a certificate, which I did not get to do, but fortunately someone covered for me. To make it worthwhile, Jeremy sent me The Big Lebowski, written in the style of Shakespeare. Hi-freakin-larious! That makes it all better. I feel happy already.

January 18, 2010

Always look so goofy. . .

9:16 p.m. - There is nothing quite like being fêted as a leader and a doer and all that kind of gooey stuff, only to come home to take the dogs out, scoop the litter, and take out the trash. It's always kind of a let down after a somber and ceremonious evening. What, says you? The Scottish Rite installation of 2010 officers, says I. Feels good to be out of my tux, which seems to get tighter and tighter each year (I swear those things shrink each time you dry clean 'em - yeah, that must be it), and relaxing before going to bed. Tomorrow, officers installation at Lininger Lodge, and I get to go purely as a spectator. Yay!

January 17, 2010

7:09 p.m. - Little to report, True Believers. Yesterday: cat to vet, picked up tux, and quiet literally did nothing the rest of the day. I was bored out of my wits, and went to bed at 10:00 purely as something to do. Today: Jennifer went to work, and after I looked in on the green grocer for the week's noms, I spent the day cleaning, tackling laundry, scouring the kitchen, cat litter, and toil. I roasted chicken and carrots for an excellent dinner. Jennifer is splashing about in the tub now, and I'm watching the dogs sleep on their little pillows. Back to the grind tomorrow. . .

January 15, 2010

5:11 p.m. - I stood on the porch and smoked a really nice briar pipe. It was cold outside, but I enjoyed a nice black cherry tobacco and surveyed my kingdom. It is good.

Chav. An English term, but an example of the archetype with their baggy clothes and hats tilted sideways.

12:13 p.m. - Grabbed a bite to eat for lunch. I'm standing in line and the menu is right before me with all my options. Pulled beef sandwich with au jus dip. Spare ribs. Brisket and mashed potatoes and gravy. Choice of mashed potatoes, cole slaw, mac & cheese, or potato salad for sides. Prices listed. And the two chavs in front of me, having stood in line for 10 minutes, only ponder the menu when they get to the front of the line. Now I admit some guilt in this area myself, but very minor guilt. Quite forgivable to pause before ordering, but I don't linger over my choices for more than 10 or 15 seconds. I've carefully weighed my options and choose. I suggested that Marty install an electrified grate on his store floor to zap 20,000 volts through these indecisive gits.

7:34 a.m. - Delicate ice crystals formed on every surface outside last night in the cold. All the trees have what look like tiny thorns on every branch and limb, which are actually amazing ice structures. It was extraordinary, and I wish I had a really good camera to take some close ups of them. It was really quite beautiful. [Editor's notes: my pictures didn't come out this well. This picture is from today's Omaha World-Herald.]

7:02 a.m. - Small luxuries. I slept in today, enjoying the sybaritic comfort of lying in bed until 5:45 a.m. I wish I could do that all weekend, but alas, no. Crookshanks has a vet visit tomorrow at 7:30, and I have a day of errands to run and projects to do.

January 14, 2010

9:07 p.m. - Bored. Quiet evening here. We had take out from Greek Islands which is having a violent disagreement with my internals right now. J has taken to bed, and I'm watching Bridge Over the River Kwai with the dogs. It's a long movie, but a great one.

Pimpin' ain't easy. . .

5:32 p.m. - I've been thinking about Kermit, wearing his tux, and looking so debonair in the backseat of a limousine. What a gentleman! What fashion sense! Lady Gaga really could learn from this frog.

Then again, maybe not.

From today's New York Times. . .

9:53 a.m. - Okay, newsflash for the singer whimsically known as Lady Gaga, who may be gaga, but according to Debrett's, is no lady. Just because you have a talented set of windpipes, a lot of money from your recording contract, a really silly set of fashion instincts, and handlers who won't tell you 'no,' it that is no reason to dress like you've been rummaging about at Elton John's yard sale.  You look re-freakin'-diculous! At least Kermit has the common decency to wear a traditional tuxedo, not a feathered boa, a Phantom of the Opera mask, and pink hair. Really it comes down to her handlers and the studio muckety-mucks, who in fact, own her like Silas Legree owned Tom. As long as she keeps bringing in the bucks, they will let her indulge her wierdness unfettered and let her pretend that it is "fashion."

7:27 a.m. - Today has been a curious morning in a whiskey-tango-foxtrot sort of way. I went to Breugger's for a morning bagel, and met all manner of jerks along the way. It was kind of like Alice in Wonderland: curiouser and curiouser. I saw repeated examples of the jerk on the highway, making a point to speed past me at 45 miles per hour to get to the stoplight half a block ahead. I saw repeated examples of the guy who had to run the yellow light. Not the front end when it just turns from green to yellow, but the tail end, when it turns from yellow to red. There was the swerver who weaved his truck in and out of traffic lanes to get to his destination 5 minutes before me. At Breugger's, there was cell phone guy, who was holding his utterly inane conversation, forcing all the clerks to wait for him to chat/think about bagel/chat/think about cream cheese/chat/think about coffee/chat/think about payment options. I could have beat him to death with his cell phone. Hey, thanks for slowing up the line for what should be a reasonably simple operation of smearing cream cheese on a bagel! Then, of course, there were the medical students at UNMC who simply step out onto 42nd Street with the expectation that the universe will stop and bid them pass. No worries about cars slipping on black ice or dark early morning! I believe they teach med students arrogance as part of their introduction to medicine courses. And finally, when I reached the office, I come across the Curves members next door, who believe that their car is a one-of-a-kind classic and need to take two spots each to park. 

I have them on the list/I have them on the list
And they'd none of them be missed/they'd none of them be missed. . . 

January 12, 2010 

12:10 p.m. - A friend sent me reading on Kant's Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals. Makes my head hurt, this deep philosophy stuff. I'm having traumatic flashbacks to freshmen Philosophy at Boston College. Will have to ask my brother to summarize it, using words of one syllable. 

January 10, 2010

11:23 a.m. - I was watching TV around 10:00 or so with the blanket over my legs. Arabella jumped up and into the hammock of blanket betwixt my knees and fell asleep. What could I do? I couldn't disturb her utter contentment, so I simply fell asleep in a damned uncomfortable spot myself, and slept the sleep of the just until about 10:45. She's still fast asleep at my feet.

9:07 a.m. - My week of riotous living in Jennifer's absence has caught up with me. By the time I picked Jennifer up at 10:00 last night at the airport, rich and tasty noms were having a violent disagreement with me, and I've been up all night tossing and turning. It didn't help that Arabella started whining in her kennel at 3 a.m. I put her in bed with me, and she wanted to jump around and play, so I took her out to the front porch. Me, bare feet, pyjamas, and bitterly cold temperatures don't mix. She ran around on the porch and finally conducted her dirty, sinful business, so I took her in and put her back to bed where she went right back to sleep. Not so with myself. I probably didn't sleep a full hour the entire evening, and I'll pay for it later. Meanwhile, I'm in agony which is the surest and truest sign to get back to healthy living and eating right. Plus, Jennifer is here to cast her lorgnette on me if I step out of line. Incidentally, with Bellie-Monster no longer wanting to sleep in her kennel, I fear we'll never get the genie back into the bottle, and she has just graduated to the Big Girl bed. I may have to take a hard line and force her to sleep in her kennel, whining or not.

2010 Florence Lodge officers plus installing officers and GL dignitaries.

Yesterday was a busy day, more or less. I was at the Florence Lodge installation by 9:00 a.m. which went off without a hitch. I'm serving my third tour of duty as Senior Warden but I have no particular desire or intention to serve as W.M. again. Hopefully Dave will serve at least two years, if not three. Having served in one capacity or another since 2003, I'm ready to sit on the sidelines next year.

Afterward, I went out to 108th and Center to rustle up a tux for the Scottish Rite installation on the 18th. When I got home I had a huge lunch, a deep nap, and puttered around the rest of the day until it was time to pick up Jennifer.

January 8, 2010

6:35 a.m. - Arabella whined last night when I put her in the kennel for bedtime. I should have left her there, but I let her sleep in bed with Gryffindor and myself. Gryffie simply curls up at the foot of the bed, but Arabella wanted to play. I finally got her to settle down, and she sprawled out luxuriously on my thick memory foam pillow like a princess on her throne and went to sleep. None of the dogs were wild about going outside this morning at 5:30 a.m. Right now, it's -6°, with a windchill of -27°. Can't say I blame them.

January 7, 2010

Not that you can tell from these pictures I took as I passed by in the car, but the city has been dumping massive dumptruck after dumptruck full of snow in Leavenworth Park. What should be a gentle hill is a huge mountain of snow extending the entire length of the park!

9:46 p.m. - Weather.com claims the temperature is -3° with a windchill of negative thirty! Yikes!

Tomorrow's high will be -2° with windchills reaching thirty-one below. This is insane!

9:04 p.m. - The windchill has been twenty below all day. I have never known cold like this. With snow all day yesterday and all through the night, we had drifts ranging from a few inches to approaching two feet. I've never seen a dry snow this heavy. Even one or two inches of snow was like a heavy clay. The office was closed because of the weather, and I lugged the snowblower up from the basement. Dragging it up the steps to the kitchen was exhausting itself, and after catching my breath, bundling up in layers and layers of warm clothes, I plunged out into the arctic circle that is the Midwest. Once I got the snowblower down all the front steps, it took nearly a solid hour to blow the heavy snow from the front walk. I tackled the neighbors from Pacific to halfway down the street, and back along the other side. I'd've done the whole block, but that amount was exhausting itself. Pause to catch my breath again - not easy in this cold. And then dig out the neighbor's steps, while they are joyfully detained on family business out of town. After two hours of shoveling and digging, I had had enough and paused to defrost and warm up the cars. I took Jennifer's Smart car for a drive around the neighborhood to keep it warm. Short of the effort of bumping the snowblower back down the kitchen steps to the basement, it has been living in the kitchen all day, melting snow all over creation. Great. I've been mopping a small iceberg off my kitchen floor - at least the parts that haven't dripped through the floor into the basement. Be that as it may, the snowblower is in the kitchen until further notice.

After that I was beat and fell into a deep sleep for a good solid two hours. I was so groggy afterward, it was hard work waking up and focusing on work for a few hours. I went out again in the late afternoon to dig what the wind had blown back. You'd think there had been a fresh snow fall with all the snow that was blown back. And it was still that heavy stuff! Another hour outside, sub nulla! I looked in on Baker's for some victuals, and I have to reluctantly report that I didn't buy a single healthy thing. Never shop when you're hungry, they say, and by Jove, they're right.

Quiet evening again. I baked cookies for a meeting tomorrow and have been generally lazing around upstairs while the dogs sleep. There's nothing on TV and it has been utterly boring and quiet. I've got the sniffles flaring up, probably about to blossom into a bad cold,  and I'm rounding up the last half hour before bed listening to various arias from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

January 6, 2010

9:43 p.m. - It is beastly outside. It's been snowing pretty much consistently all day. While there's no more than a few inches accumulation, there's a high wind a-blowing, and it's not fit for man nor beast. The roads were horrible during my commute home. I didn't shovel when I got home, and I'm going to pay for it tomorrow when I get to the front walk. . . . It's been a quiet evening at home. I tackled a few loads of laundry and watched a few pre-recorded episodes of Better Off Ted. I have to watch it sparingly because it is so funny, I may hurt myself laughing. And for the last hour I've been sitting back listening to mp3s I've downloaded. Beethoven's Creatures of Prometheus lives in an uneasy truce with the Beastie Boy's Tricky, followed by the Jägerchor from Weber's Der Freischutz. Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio mixed in with Jay Unger's Ashokan Farewell, followed by the Rolling Stones Street Fighting Man. And lots of Gilbert and Sullivan in between, accompanied by the air piano. . . But on that note, it's bed time.

7:07 a.m. - It's snowing lightly outside, but it is a balmy 9°, with a windchill of -3°. Practically summer outside, compared to what we've seen. Today is the warmest day between now and next Sunday, when it is supposed to get to 29°. That sounds like a comparative heat wave!

Meanwhile, I slept horribly last night. I had dinner too late and too much caffeine during the day. It messes my delicately tuned system. I woke up at 4:30, and tossed and turned feverishly until my alarm went off at 5:30. Any normal day, I'd be out right now brushing snow off the car to head to work, but I am going to enjoy a quiet morning at home for another 15 to 20 minutes, and will sit peacefully with the puppies before plunging into the arctic to head to work.

January 5, 2010

8:42 p.m. - Quiet evening. All three dogs are fast asleep, and I've been playing on the computer or watching TV shows recorded on DVR. Quiet and peaceful here. I should be bone-tired, having woke up at 4 a.m., but no thanks to a late dinner, I am reasonably awake.

10:46 a.m. - On the other hand, sometimes being home without much to do is a very positive thing. For example, enjoy this preview for Hot Tub Time Machine, due in a theater near you in March. Will I be there to see this movie? Hell, yeah! C'mon - hot tub and a time machine. What's not to love?

When she's not barking at the Thermal Services guy, she's fast asleep. Being a pampered maltese is a sweet life.

9:52 a.m. - I continue to potter around the house as the Thermal Services guy works his mojo in the basement. Poor dogs are so bored. That, or they just like to sleep all the time. Arabella is fast asleep on a dirty sock. I continue to tidy up around the lair and marvel at the vast quantities of dust that collect from this injudicious combination of three (3) dogs, one (1) cat, reams of Victorian and Edwardian wood furniture, no carpeting to collect dust, and electrostatically charged TVs, computers, and other gizmos. I dust, and five minutes later the dust reappears by magic. Swiffer pads - the best gift you can give to a Victorian home.

9:03 a.m. - You know why I like Thermal Services? Because they consistently do what they promise. We'll be here between 8:00 and 9:00, they say. And so they are. Usually at 8:01. Today it was a few minutes later because of traffic. I respect that a great deal. Most contractors show up. . . whenever. Thermal Services employees are always professional and neat, and I have always been happy with the work. I know I can find cheaper companies that will service my furnace, but why leave a company that consistently delivers what they promise? The fellow is working on the furnace downstairs, though Gryffindor and Arabella are none too happy with this situation. Every time he rattles around downstairs, Gryffindor has a fit, brining 'Bellie along for the ride with a great deal of barking. Meanwhile, I'm puttering around the house cleaning, hanging up clothes, and generally trying to put things away.

5:33 a.m. - Yeah, you read that date stamp right (if you noticed it at all). Five thirty-three ayem. And I'm up at 4:10 a.m. to get dressed and take Jennifer to the airport for Giftmart. She was at Eppley Airport by about 5:15, or so and off to Atlanta for a week of gift shop buying. Getting to the airport was easy, but getting back was the hard part. The trucks have been working through the night to (noisily) clear the streets, and the snow-filled dump trucks are literally parked up and down Leavenworth Street, from Park Avenue to 35th, making easy access impossible. They are filling Leavenworth Park up with snow. Imagine a one block by one block city park that is basically a giant depression in the Earth, filled with snow. It looks like a giant bowl of ice cream from on top of the hill at 33rd and Pacific.

With some difficulty, I managed to get across Leavenworth, but couldn't make it up the hill at 35th and Mason Street. So I backed down, and tried to get up to 36th to go around to Poppleton and then home. Couldn't make it there, either. So, back through the phalanx of parked trucks, down 33rd, and barely made it up the minimal incline at 33rd and Leavenworth (barely a 1% grade - I really need new snow tires). Finally made it home.

They had cleared the street, but completely blocked in the path I had carved with great difficulty last night, so I have nowhere to put my garbage on the curb. My garbage cans and two containers brimming full of the recyclables they collected last week are out in the street, which is the best I can do. Meanwhile, it is fourteen below zero, with a windchill of twenty-six below.

There's no point in going back to bed since I only have to wake up at 6:00 or so, and the dogs are clamoring for extra attention when Daddy only wants to be left alone with his caffeine.

January 4, 2010

This isn't quite the most representative picture, but imagine all this was buried under mountains of snow.

After Christmas, I hung this seed covered bagel up for the birds to nosh on. So they want it toasted or what? Not going to happen, apparently.

9:55 p.m. - The bobcats finally made it to the 'hood. They had a grand ol' time, heaving piles of snow from the side of the street into the middle of the street, and then the next bobcat would come along and take the pile of snow from the middle of the street and dump it back in the piles along the curb. Charming. So the curb I had very carefully and neatly shoveled for an hour after work was utterly ruined. My garbage and recyclables stacked neatly on the curb were thoroughly upset. They knocked plastic bottles and jugs all over the snow, crushed the box containing all my recyclable containers, and buried the path I had carefully carved betwixt the sidewalk and the street at great personal expense to my back muscles. I could have had them all put to the sword without a second thought.

Then they departed, leaving only their mess behind. Julie told me to move our cars, and they'd be back to neatly clear the curb. I'm not so sanguine about them either returning or neatly clearing the curb. I suspect my garbage cans will be so far from the reach of the garbage-wallah, they'll sit for at least another week. Jennifer asked if I was cold. Barely. I could have worked outside in a t-shirt with the steam I'm generating at the moment.

7:04 p.m. - So the city has been working around-the-clock, and bobcats have been making giant piles of snow at the most inconvenient places on neighborhood blocks. Then they consolidate those giant piles into larger piles and load them into trucks and cart them off to city parks or empty lots and make massive mountains of snow. Presumably these giant mountains of snow will sit until Spring arrives and the glaciers retreat. Why am I telling you this? Because during the pursuit of making giant piles of snow, some idiot in the bobcat decided to have a crack at snow piling where my driveway used to be. The theory was sound. The practice was a failure. He managed to push snow all over creation, namely into my freshly shoveled parking space in front of the house. He managed to utterly bury any path from the street to the house. I had to climb through about 4 feet of snow to get into the house, and then re-emerge, properly booted, and dig for an hour to carve a path through this mighty mountain of snow and ice. My back was killing me! No part of me was left without soreness and pain, but I managed to hew a walkway through the ice flows. All I can say is that they better not make a habit of this, or I shall be very irritated.

Twenty below? That's Stay-At-Home weather!

10:38 a.m. - Weather.com must be wonky. It was saying the weather was 19 below earlier, with a windchill of 36 below. Can that be right? Is that possible outside the empty void of deep space? Apparently so, because that's what others have been saying. Right now, weather.com claims it is negative 8, with a 20 below zero wind chill. Either way, it is what the meteorologists call damned cold out. I am wearing my fleece pullover, and I'm still chilly! No respite in the coming week: wind chills range from 3 degrees on Tuesday to negative 13 by Thursday and Friday, and the weather-wallah says we are due for another 5 to 7 inches of the white stuff Wednesday. Hooray. Fortunately, my wife has shrewdly arranged for someone to try to push the snow out to the back of the driveway, so she can park her car there. I'll have to figure out how to get the snow blower out of the basement so we can keep the driveway plowed. It's going to be an interesting week. What a way to kick off 2010!

7:55 a.m. - Made it to the gym. I guess I need to re-build cardio strength. 20 minutes on the treadmill was more than enough. So I was coming up St. Mary's Avenue when some jackhole starts backing down St. Mary's and backs into the Avanza grocery store. I pulled over to get out of his way, and of course my car loses traction. I couldn't go so much as an inch, and I was barely 20 feet from the top of the hill at St. Mary's Avenue and Park Ave. My tires squealed and I did everything I could as on-coming cars zipped past me. I remembered that I had a box of cat litter in my trunk, so I poured it under my tires to get traction, which was of minimal benefit. So much for $10 worth of cat litter for Crookshanks. After a great deal of squealing and burning rubber, frontward and backward, and a great deal of cursing, I did manage to make it - no thanks to anyone passing me by. I hope this doesn't set the tone for my day today.

6:03 a.m. - Why do I always sleep so poorly on Sunday nights? . . . Off to the gym shortly. It's f-f-f-reezing outside!

January 3, 2010

Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert (in a can).

Jim Broadbent as the nutty Professor Slughorn, I mean William IV.

3:22 p.m. - We went to see The Young Victoria at the AMC on a lark this morning. All in all, it was a nice movie, and well done historical piece. At least, it was enjoyable to two English history majors. The costumes were detailed, the sets were sumptuous, (Blenheim stands in for Buckingham Palace - I called the Marlborough's money whores for always renting out the ol' homestead to passing film crews, but Jennifer correctly noted how much it costs to run a palace nowadays, and who wouldn't pocket Hollywood coin if given a chance), and the facial whiskers were amazing.

In short, The Young Victoria was about Princess Victoria's ascension to the English throne in 1837, after the death of her uncle, King William IV whimsically played by Jim Broadbent. Her mother's advisor, Sir John "Sideburns" Conroy was scheming to have young Victoria appoint him Lord Regent, so he could control the throne. Meanwhile, the Princess's Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, schemed to have Albert Saxe-Coburg woo and marry her, so he could pull her strings and get Britain to be involved in European affairs. At the same time, Lord Melbourne continued to charm the young Queen for his own political gains. In the end, Victoria proved to be her own woman and married the German Prince Albert, who loved Victoria and refused to be a catspaw for the Belgians. Albert was the love of her life, her companion and inspiration for the rest of his life.

Since we've had movies in the last few years cover the private lives of Queen Elizabeth I and II, and Judi Dench seems to have covered the bases with movies about old Queen Victoria, we may as well have one about young (pardon me, "the young") Victoria. All very well done, though the story line lacked any particular complexity other than the various politicians or monarchs scheming to use Victoria for their own ends. Since the English only have a limited number of actors - which in my opinion is a good thing since it focuses on quality rather than quantity - Jim Broadbent takes a turn as the delightfully nutty William IV, who settles the throne on his niece, Princess Victoria, while taking the opportunity to publicly humiliate and denounce his sister-in-law, Victoria's mother. That scene alone makes the price of the movie worthwhile.

On the other hand, the movie could have used a few more knife fights, explosions, chases or karate fights high atop the roofs of London. And ninjas. It could have used more ninjas.

10:34 a.m. - We received about two inches of snow last night. I bundled up in layers of warmth and plunged out at about 8:30 this morning to shovel, and dug out the front walk and steps and the cars, and dug out some extra space as well to improve the parking situation on the street. Brrrrr. . .  The current windchill is -8°.

January 2, 2010

8:38 p.m. - Had three Cosmopolitans at the neighbor's cocktail/baby shower. The highlight was a giant rubber ducky cake with devil horns, which is one of the themes of the baby's room, and is cute as all git out. We gave them a gift certificate to Target tied to a similar rubber ducky with devil's horns! It was nice to catch up with other friends and neighbors we haven't seen in a while, while gorging on great appetizers. And, as I say, three Cosmopolitans. My head is spinning!

I watched Julie hold a newborn baby, which was cute as the dickens as she slept in Julie's arms. On the other hand, there were so many rambunctious nephews and nieces running around, I was exhausted watching them. Except for Jennifer's sister's girls (who are the cutest girls in the universe, I need to point out), I have no nephews and nieces. I have one newborn cousin whom I'll probably never see in my life other than Facebook. Seeing this many children was utterly disconcerting and scary. I can sense from a mile away sticky fingers and runny noses, and of this there was no shortage.

Meanwhile, it's snowing - again! - and the weather-wallah says we're due for another 1 to 2 inches. Hooray. Another round of shoveling tomorrow morning. My achy-breaky back is already rebelling against the notion of shoveling in sub-zero weather tomorrow morning.

5:28 p.m. - Watching a Travel Channel show about the Disney Cruise ship. While it would be really cool if I were 12 years old, I can't imagine a more beastly experience. Lots of screaming kids, everywhere. And they all have runny noses and sticky fingers. Dreadful!

4:42 p.m. - The last of my long holiday weekends slips away, with me enjoying a great deal of magnificent idleness. We had a quiet evening yesterday. I went to bed late, and slept until 8:00. Sheer luxury. That, or I'm getting older because I've probably never slept until 8 a.m. more than a handful of times in the last decade.

Today we stopped at Younkers for Jennifer to get some socks for her impending trip to the GiftMart in Atlanta, where she'll order stuff for the gift shop at the Gardens. Then we stopped for a really nice lunch at Ruby Tuesdays before coming home. We both decided to "rest our eyelids" after that magnificent and wholly unnecessary feast. I immediately zonked out for about an hour and forty-five minutes, having the most intense dreams. I have no idea what it was about, though a number of the fellows from Masonry were there, but it was absolutely intense. Jennifer is still snoozing in the other room, and Percy and Arabella are both with me now, resting. In about two hours, we'll stop by the neighbors for a baby shower, which will be a fun break from being lazy.

In the meantime, it is mind-numbingly cold outside. Weather.com says the weather and windchill are both 1°, but it feels so much colder out. Poor Arabella goes outside, runs halfway up the lawn, and then is so cold, it hurts her wee feet to come back in.

January 1, 2010

10:43 a.m. - Here we are in a new year and a new decade. What a ride it's been! 10 years ago, I was recovering from a night into town with the boys, still living in Natick. Here I am 10 years later, a prosperous burgher, living in the city of my youth, married to a great girl even though she crunches ice and lacks mad skills at loading the dishwasher, and the proud parent of three mostly good puppies. Who'd've thunk it? But you know me - I never dwell on the past, and am always looking forward to the future. Flying cars. Cities on the moon. Personal jet packs.

Meanwhile, Jennifer has gone shopping and I'm vacillating between reacquainting myself with an old friend called television, cleaning the house, or going to the grocery store. Why not all three?

Later.