It's not a very bad cold. In fact it's one of the milder illnesses I can remember... My sinuses are about 40% stuffed up. My throat is just vaguely scratchy. I'm more tired and achey than usual, but not by much. Nonetheless I am taking the cue and lounging on my couch for the 2nd day in a row, swaddled in blankets, books, and handkerchiefs.
Sometimes when I'm sick I will do a juice & tea fast for the day - to keep myself hydrated and let my body concentrate on killing the virus, rather than digesting complicated foods. So today I've had emergen-c, water, yerba mate, and vegetable juice. And I really must not be all that sick, because I am STARVING. I think I will get some extra-spicy thai food for dinner.
And then perhaps I will watch the Dr. Who xmas special AGAIN! I can't believe it's the 2nd-to-last episode starring David Tennant.
I got a copy of The Talented Miss Highsmith for xmas (Patricia Highsmith's new biography). It's sort of fascinating, especially considering that the author seems to hold a certain amount of (justified) disdain for Highsmith. Apparently she was a racist and anti-Semite. Her personal life was chaotic, despite her solipsistic tendencies (it is even referred to on the inner flap as a "Pandora's Box"). She was an obsessive list-maker and left behind 8,000 pages of journals when she died. Her life is a rich territory. Still, this bio is a bit cumbersome... Mostly I'm interested in reading about writers' writing habits.
Being sick is dull. More tea!
It's the time of year when everybody publishes their best-of-the-year lists, and since we're at the tail end of the aughties, some are opting to anoint the best of the decade. I gave up on doing that years ago when I decided that keeping track of everything new was impeding my enjoyment of music, but I still reserve the right to comment on others' lists. Music business guru Bob Lefsetz has chosen James McMurtry's "We Can't Make It Here Anymore" as the best song of the decade:
It probably is the best musical observation of America's decline in the last ten years, but that is not what I would choose as my favorite listening, especially considering its bare-bones structure and lack of any melody. I don't know about the whole decade, but my pick for favorite song of the year is easy: "Resistance" by Muse, the title track from their 1984-based concept album and a celebration of the power of love in the face of oppression, with a soaring chorus that is nothing short of inspirational:
See you in 2010!
I thought I'd get Christmassy with my silly little game of the week. I haven't done one for a while. Apologies about that.
Anyhow, to make up for it, I bring you Santa, haplessly brought down in mid flight into zombie land.
Help him save the reindeer!!!
It's been a weird year. I put together my photo "yearbook" in iPhoto yesterday and titled it: The Waiting Area; 2009 never happened. Because that's what this year has felt like. Limbo. I don't know if this feeling is specific to the year - will things suddenly start moving again when I peel open this year's wall calendar from my uncle? Probably not. But that's what we always hope for, right? That the new year will change something, and we can simply leave behind the things we don't want.
- President Barack Obama. Although I'm a bit non-plussed with the Copenhagen agreement, I am still SO GLAD he got elected. I trust him to make good decisions even if I may not agree 100% of the time, and it has been a long time since I trusted a president. I think I felt pretty good about Jimmy Carter when I was 6.
- Expanded unemployment benefits. If this money weren't available I would likely be homeless by now. That may sound a bit dramatic, but I have now joined the ranks of those just a couple of steps from financial disaster, and once you're on that ledge it's easy to slip off of it.
- Infinite Summer. I joined the ranks of David Foster Wallace fans who read or re-read Infinite Jest over the summer. I'm glad I finally read it, but it really needs a 2nd or 3rd reading...
- I went to San Francisco and finally met Patty, Laurel, Deborah, and karen. It felt like I've known them for years! I'm still kind of amazed by the connections I've made through Vox. It doesn't seem to happen anywhere else on the interwebs...
- My cousin bought a lake house. It's more of a "cabin" really... but it is a place I can stay on Lake Coeur d'Alene in the summertime for free.
- The birth of anemone. I don't really know where it will go at this point, but it has been an adventure planting the seed.
- I've made progress on my memoir and other writing projects. Not nearly as much progress as I wanted to make... but everything slows down in Limbo.
- I'm getting used to a healthier, simpler lifestyle. More cooking, less eating out, and simpler meals to boot. Less compulsive buying, or spending money on things like haircuts. It's really kind of nice.
- I was able to wean myself off antidepressants without major setbacks.
Well, it's Christmas at last, and from the sound of you all on Twitter your cards are sent, and your presents wrapped. It's been great hearing all your cries of delight recently, as your poor postmen and women have struggled with packages through the snowy weather!
Hope those of you who have time off over the festive season get everything you wish for, and those who are working have more fun than you might be expecting. We've published the dates we're working over the holidays, so if you find yourself in the office, you might well have company here in the UK, or over with the MOO Crew in the US.
We've had a great few weeks spotting unique gifts and ideas created with MOO, here's a few of our favourites:
A tetrabox advent calendar, by Bcome
Also by Bcome, this lovely looking memory game, complete with a great pattern on the back:
This super-cute Mosaic Frame, created by thisiswoly. Filled with 20 Minicards, it features the beautiful baby Sarah.
These wonderful looking alphabet game cards, by taraghb, which look like they were as fun to make as they will be to use!
And last but not least, look at this! another entry into our MiniCard Gift Box competition! Created by emusing-emma, it's really bought an extra flutter of Christmas cheer into MOO Towers. We love his little sledge!
Fancy joining in the fun? Closing date for entries to our competition is midnight PST 28th December 2009. Why not grab some festive paper, and see what you can do! More competition details can be found right here.
And now all that remains for me to say is a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from everyone at MOO!
If you could kiss anyone under the mistletoe, who would it be?
Tim Pagnotta or the aussie ha
I decided to stay in Seattle for the holiday after much hemming and hawing and then more hemming and a little waffling. I feel bad about it. I would like to see most of my relatives, but not in conditions that are hostile to sanity. So I'll be spending a quiet week in (and out of) my quiet apartment. Here's what I plan to do:
- Catch up on laundry
- Read Proust, Rorty, and Murdoch
- Write my year/ decade - end lists, analyses, etc.
- Find some new music to listen to
- Clean the bird cage
- Vacuum
- Go to a movie (which one? dunno)
- Watch the 2 Netflix I've had for 6 weeks
- Re-order my Netfilx queue
- Send a holiday letter to my uncle Phil in Sweden
- Drink some brandy & eggnog
- Do yoga
- Sell some books
- Make a mix CD to give to friends
- Plan a quick trip to Portland next week
- Go to my ex-husband's xmas-eve punch party
- Go for a run or 3
- Make myself a nice meal
- Figure out what I'm doing with my life
Well, that last one may extend past this week...
Sometimes I get a silly idea that I have to carry through to completion. I thought it would be fun to isolate non-words and nonsense words from popular songs and string them all together, so I did (spending way too many hours with Audacity in the process). Thus I present "Na Na Woo Woo," 76 samples from about 70 songs:
Can you identify them all?
