I want an alien for Christmas.

I had grand plans to take a picture of something wintery or Christmassy, stick it on the front of a piece of cardstock, and call it a Christmas card. These plans have been dashed by the memory of the last time I attempted to do this and wound up with a frozen camera, no Christmas cards, and a couple dozen annoyed people I'd promised really excellent cards.

I'm spectacularly bad at sending out Christmas cards. I bought some at the store this evening and have addressed about half of them, but if they actually get sent out before mid-March it will be a first.

So rather than look at a picture of something seasonal, look at this neat globe in the glowy library of the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts. It reminded me of being below decks in some kind of fancy old tall ship.

The fox went out on a chilly night...

I was talking to someone just the other day about how much I enjoy living alone. I do enjoy it, very much. On the other hand, one of the problems (one of MY problems, that is) is that it's very easy to think too much. You start thinking and you don't stop, and you go a little batty.

Another problem is that you get very good at talking to yourself. Sometimes you forget to turn that off when around Real People. Then they know you've gone batty too.

Sew, very old one! Sew like the wind!

I realize this doesn't look like much, but I think it's beautiful. Since this is my blog, that's all that matters. I think even linoleum can be beautiful in the right light. This is at my parents' house, sometime in the winter of 2004. Someday I'd really like to actually try piecing something together on the ol' Singer. It seems like it would be more Real.

I'm aware that's silly.

Tomorrow I'm going to the art museum, provided it isn't snowing. Maybe I'll be inspired.

Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?

To continue my mini trip down memory lane, this was taken shortly after I turned 21 at a bar on La Crosse's almost-famous Third Street (it's rumored that Third Street has more bars per block than anywhere else in the country, but I think that's a myth. The point is, it's The Place To Go when you're a college student in La Crosse, Wisconsin). I was having an especially bad day and some friends took me out to cheer me up. Nothing takes your mind of things like playing pool very, very badly.

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

My senior year of college (three years ago, now) I went on a Spring Break road trip down to New Orleans with two friends. We were driving from Mobile to New Orleans and decided we needed to stop along the way to take off our shoes and sit on a pier. Just our luck, we found a pier on our first try!

I believe this is a county park on the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, but I couldn't recall the name if you offered to take me there again, which is a real shame because it was lovely. Very bayou-like.

In other news, I had a very strange dream in the wee hours of the morning before my alarm went off that involved me marrying Clark Kent and smiting some ninjas using only my wits and several dozen forks. This may have been the highlight of my day if I hadn't just made myself a cup of tea and hunkered down to watch Superman II, because tea + Superman = a recipe for goodness.

Throw me a line?

This is the Mississippi River, just south of its official beginning. In the summer, old-timey paddle-wheel boats come and dock here so tourists can climb aboard for gambling and boozing. It reminds me of the twenties, with less-awesome fashion. At least, I think it would remind me of the twenties if I'd been alive then. Wasn't there something about alcohol and gambling boats during Prohibition?

I might've dreamed that. It might actually remind me of that movie "Maverick." Definitely not the twenties, but definitely some awesome fashion choices.

Six o'clock in the morning, and you're the last to hear the warning.

Yes, Virginia, it is okay to call in to work if it takes you 45 minutes to drive seven blocks. Snow day! It doesn't look like the dream of balcony snow angels is going to happen, because the snow is blowing around too much, but perhaps later.

It's a jungle winter wonderland out there!