Like I Said: Scorpions

Yes. This.

My friend Gabel's daily paint studies. Like any reasonable person, her posting probably won't be daily during the December holidays, but check them out. She does beautiful work.

But Not This.

The jackwagon who stole my scooter helmet last night. I'm staunchly pro-helmet (because I'm staunchly pro-brain function), so that ride home wearing a crocheted hat blew.

Mayor of Nerdville

Preparing lobby displays for Magik's next production, Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly. Today I'm compiling info and photos about this summer's spidernauts.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but not all arachnids are equal. While spiders live in my midst happily, scorpions quickly find themselves dead.

Question of the Day

What gives you the wooblies down your spine?

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Adults

Yes. This.

Dark chocolate anything.

But Not This.

White "chocolate" anything.

Mayor of Nerdville

Spent many minutes looking up synonyms for "middle" for a class title, then went a different direction with "apprentice." We'll see if it sticks.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I used a stool at my stand-up desk yesterday. *old and tired*

Question of the Day

Are there more kids or adults on your holiday gift list?

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Hot and Humid

Yes. This.

Paul Fleischman's Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. I'm not a poetry lover. I find the cadence with which many modern poets read their work to be stilted and too easily parodied. Most of my admiration in the world of verse goes to Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Jon Scieszka. What I like about Joyful Noise: all of the poems are about bugs! And the two-voice delivery is cool; some lines come together, some are spoken apart, and some overlap. A lot of the poems are cooperative, but "Honeybees" presents a fun dichotomy between a queen bee and a worker bee, who have very different levels of enthusiasm for being a bee. I'm making the book a Magik Must-Read for our January production of Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly. I'm also going to buy a copy for Magik's library because the poems would make great stage dialogues. And then I'm going to bribe two kids to do "Honeybees." :)

But Not This.

Waiting till tomorrow to eat the chocolate-cherry bread that's about to emerge from the oven.

Mayor of Nerdville

The intro from the most recent Freakonomics podcast:

"My eleven-year-old son, like every eleven-year-old boy in America, has the same three posters on his bedroom wall: Peyton Manning, Barack Obama, and Kai Ryssdal."

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but when I went running at lunch and it was pouring rain and I passed two other runners huddling under a bridge, I felt superior. Real women run in the rain.

Question of the Day

xWhat kind of weather, if any, would keep you from exercising outside?

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This year, I at long last achieved time travel. Before I went back, you were king of the world. Sorry 'bout that.

Yes. This.

Marzipan stollen, a sweet yeast bread filled with dried fruit and almonds, with a marzipan core, and dusted with vanilla sugar. It's usually a touch dry, so it's great to eat with hot tea or coffee. It's also usually only sold here around Christmas, so I stock up. This year, I'm going to finally come up with a recipe so I can have it whenever I feel like making it.

But Not This.

Author Russell Hoban passed away yesterday. Bread and Jam for Frances is one of the earliest books I remember reading on my own (I think I had a read-along record of it) (blog post). He also wrote Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas, later adapted by Jim Henson for the Muppets. Don't my childhood influences know they're not allowed to die?

Mayor of Nerdville

Spent part of my lunch hour looking up info on Mozart. Just because. Also, he's part of a planned book project I want to start next year. But mostly he's just fascinating.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I recycle Christmas cards as soon as I get them, unless they're funny or homemade. I still have Mig & Gabel's homemade card from last year. Couldn't part with those sweet zigzag stitches.

Question of the Day

If you were to send out a fictitious year-end brag letter, what would you claim to have done in 2011?

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Artificial

Yes. This.

USAA auto and property insurance. If, at year's end, they have funds left over from premiums after paying claims, USAA refunds a dividend to policy holders. I think you need to be military or a USAA employee to get their insurance (Dave's insurance is a carry-over from when he was a minor and his mom was a USAA employee). But USAA's bank and investment company are awesome, too, and open to the general public.

But Not This.

(Nothing. Life is swell today.)

Mayor of Nerdville

Excited about putting up our tree tonight. Making soup with homemade stock, lighting the new fireplace, then trimming the tree to Christmas tunes. Musical highlights will include John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas, John Denver and The Muppets' A Christmas Together, Jewel's Joy: A Holiday Collection, with a little Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachan, Amy Grant, and Michael Bublé on the side.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I'm a nonbeliever who loves traditional Christmas carols, especially those written in a minor key (or which sound minor to my untrained ear): Carol of the Bells, Coventry Carol, What Child Is This? It's mostly a musical thing -- I love hearing them sung in a cathedral -- but I like some of the themes, too. Hope, in particular.

Question of the Day

Holiday tree: real, artificial, or none?

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Anchovies

Yes. This.

In looking for sentences that put vocabulary words in context in Stevenson's Treasure Island, I found this gem:

I had not then seen a coracle, such as the ancient Britons made, but I have seen one since, and I can give you no fairer idea of Ben Gunn's boat than by saying it was like the first and the worst coracle ever made by man.

But Not This.

The Stamps.com commercial in which the guy says, "There's nothing worse than going to the post office and standing in line." Really, guy? There's nothing worse than that?

Mayor of Nerdville

Made a digital grocery list and put it in the Dropbox folder I share with Dave.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I looked through ESPN's Bodies We Want 2011 photo gallery (safe for work if you work around naked people). Yeah, there are a few bodies there to aspire to.

Question of the Day

What's the first item on your current grocery list?

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Mulled Cider

Yes. This.

Began installation today on a gas fireplace. Will build a surround, but for now, we're enjoying comfy temps and the way it reflects in the hardwood floor (the flame's high here -- we've had it on low most of the evening)...

But Not This.

The fireplace is missing its fan and a front plate that would hide the inner ceiling. Gotta go claim those at the shop.

Mayor of Nerdville

I'm starting to dig into my nonfiction to-be-read list, mostly memoirs about cooking and farming. As Dave said a few days ago, "As soon as the weather gets cold, you turn into Laura Ingalls Wilder." I guess all the arduous work of self-reliance is more attractive when it's not a billion degrees outside.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but Dave and I got the dancing started at a friend's birthday bash last night. Possibly, others took to the dance floor to hide our outdated gyrations. OR WE ROCKED. Either way, we boogied, and it felt good.

Question of the Day

What's your favorite fireside drink?

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