Morning things

I went to bed cranky and woke up the same way. But then I did some random web drifting and things are starting to feel better. I stumbled, once again, across Neil Gaiman's blog. It's comforting that famous authors also worry about things like missing their favorite tv shows (Dr. Who, for instance) and the lack of internet in the hinterlands. The fact that they have paintings of their dog by famous artists seem amost normal in that light.

Remember, even here in the dead of winter, as your football team is tanking horribly and laundry sits for days at a time, things are generally pretty good. Except if you're flying. The normally douchy Christopher Hitchens seems to be asking all the right questions. Too bad there aren't any good answers.

Good news for books.

If you read this article, it says Americans love their tv. Okay, so it's pretty much a worthless article that tells us nothing we didn't know before. But buried in here is a mention of books as a popular 'media source', which I find interesting  - they're the fourth most popular form of 'media', after TV, movies, and the Internet. Good news, book lovers! Books are hanging in there! They're more popular than other forms of media, like, um, cave painting, or smoke signals!

Happy end of the year

Happy Holidays, everyone. Nordeast is snowed in, but we're making the best of it with some hot cocoa and a warm dog. Best to all of you.

Santa Tragedy

Don't let the heartbreak of Santa Dysfunction ruin your holiday season. If your yard ornaments remain deflated for more than four hours, please seek professional help immediately.

Something about food

Ah, food. The other night, hungry to the point of exhaustion, I settled for an Archer Farms Turkey Club with a side of Archer Farms 'touch of Jasmine Plum' unsweetened water beverage.A good rule of thumb is to stay away from drinks whose name is longer than a twitter post. Oh, it wasn't bad water or anything, but they could have just stopped at 'water'. Why's everything so upscale?

This was the Target Deli section. We were shopping for Christmas, and time just got away from us, and I was ready to eat anything. Taco John's, air-dried peanut butter, railroad ties, microwave scrapings. Luckily my girlfriend was there to talk me down, point me towards something vaguely healthy in the big refrigerated case. There was yogurt, go-gurt, orange juice. Oh, look -- Turkey Club, I said. I could go for that. She looked at it and shrugged and left me to my fate.

The sandwich was not a club sandwich by any definition of club sandwich. It had turkey and a sad painting of lettuce, but the bread was not toasted, nor was it even bread. It was a pasty thick wrap of dough flecked with cheese that fell into my mouth and dissolved there, churning into the turkey flesh like a cheap cobbler might. I don't know how anyone could think to call this a club sandwich. I don't know why I took a picture of it, or why three days later I'm still thinking about it.

I may go back for another. You can't tell about these things.

Winter Haiku

Bare branches clawing
Against chalky frozen sky
Scrape out only snow

Northeast - I love the way the neighbors decorate for the holidays. Pure Minnesota cheese.

Sometimes you're walking along, and you look up, and then bam you see it. This is part of the moon drifting along above the bare oak and catalpa trees.

This is a neighbor's shoe. I've been seeing it in this exact spot for months now. It's gone from curiosity to eyesore to treasured landmark. The Golf Shoe on the Picnic Table. Interesting fact two is that this shoe resists being photographed. I've made about ten attempts, and been thwarted by dead batteries, a tugging dog, low light, and strange shutter settings. There are currently two photos that show the shoe in a recognizable state, and this is the better of them. I will report on the shoe as time and fate allows.

We had the first storm of the year a few days ago, and everyone had to remember how to drive on black ice. The thing is, there is no way to drive on black ice. That's what people forget. This was taken from the bus on my way to work, and it captures a little bit of the joy of the season Arizonans are missing out on.

Neighborhood Deer

Oh it's been a while and we're a long way from Spain. I live in Northeast Minneapolis, a nice little neighborhood, where neighbors decorate their lawns with fake deer and gnomes and statuary of saints. It's been getting cold, and the deer are bedding down for the winter. I hope to put up more picks as time goes on.