By Richard Wilbur
At my age, one begins
To chalk up all his sins,
Hoping to wipe the slate
Before it is too late.
Therefore I call to mind
All memories of the kind
That make me wince and sweat
And tremble with regret.
What do these prove to be?
In every one, I see
Shocked faces that, alas,
Now know me for an ass.
Fatuities that I
Have uttered, drunk or dry,
Return now in a rush
And make my old cheek blush.
But how can I repent
From mere embarrassment?
Damn-foolishness can't well
Entitle me to Hell.
Well, I shall put the blame
On the pride that's in my shame.
Of that I must be shriven
If I'm to be forgiven.
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The local news on Friday was all about the impending massive snowstorm of doom -- they're saying nearly two feet in some parts of the area -- so we focused on making sure we had milk and toilet paper and a functional sled (the kids finally trashed the old one so badly at the end of last season that we had to replace it). I wrote a review of Next Gen's "Time's Arrow, Part One", rearranged my closet which still had the summer clothes in front, and worked on a computer project that isn't going to get done until I get a new desktop computer, which is looking like it's not happening in the immediate future. The treadmill is chewing up my knees and sitting on the couch on the laptop is killing my back...do I get a functional desktop computer so I can sit in the desk chair and save my back, or get an elliptical machine and save my knees? I can't afford both.
We celebrated the last night of Chanukah with my parents, eating more latkes and some of the leftovers from our previous Chanukah feast. My mother got me a gorgeous silver necklace with a contemporary, colorful hamsa pendant; Daniel got the Failblog book, Adam got a penguin adoption including stuffed penguin and igloo from Defenders of Wildlife, and both boys got calendars. I got the Susan Seddon Boulet Goddesses calendar, too, and we got the kids that Super Mario Bros game for the Wii, so there was much rejoicing. Plus Paul got us Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind from the Disney movie club's buy-one-get-one-free sale, which I am sure will be rewatched many times. Our local cousins are having a Chanukah party on Sunday, but we'll see whether any of us are up to driving for it.
Here we are on my parents' couch, photo by my dad. (Yes, Paul always has his eyes closed in photos with flash.)
Here are the kids opening their page-a-day calendars.
And here's me with my calendar and the box the necklace came in.
Adam got this penguin game as a gift the night before last. We played. He won!
This is a neighbor's house decorated for the season...
...and snowmen in a local mall.
We lit the menorah at my parents' before dinner -- here are the kids lighting the ones at home later, as the snow started to fall.
Here are both the kids' menorahs lit for the last time this year.
The Friday Five: Morning Routine!
1. What time do you usually wake up on weekdays? Somewhere between 6 and 7 depending on the kids and cats.
2. What about weekends? 9ish unless I have to get the kids someplace.
3. What do you eat for breakfast? Instant oatmeal.
4. Do you take a shower at night or in the morning? Depends on whether/when I'm going out and whether/when I exercise.
5. How long does it take you to get ready? Half an hour if I've already checked e-mail, Facebook, etc. At least an hour if I haven't.
Fannish5: Name the five things you loved the most about your fandom(s) in the last ten years.
1. LiveJournal. The move from Usenet to LJ made it so much easier to connect with so many more people in so many more places.
2. Online Fic Archives. I'm never going to be one who mourns for zines, which were expensive, took up space, and always contained something that didn't interest me -- I love the ease of reading, the volume, the fact that we can always find a new story, and that so many more people can share their stories.
3. File Sharing. I love that people on every continent can watch Doctor Who on the same night.
4. DVD Box Sets. I'm trying to figure out if I owned a single one ten years ago -- I don't think so. Now we can own and rewatch entire series again and again without worrying about tapes degrading, and loan them to people, and pimp as many people as we want.
5. YouTube. I adore the ease of finding clips and vids.
We watched Sanctuary, which I enjoyed both because it had Tesla and because it was a vampire episode...not an original or terribly engrossing one, but it had its moments of humor and I liked the ending. Now we're listening to Hovhaness's 60th Symphony, To the Appalachian Mountains, with the cats curled up on old coats while the snow falls. It's pretty peaceful. We have tickets for the National Treasure tour at Mount Vernon at 11 tomorrow morning, but I have a feeling that's not happening, either for us or for Mount Vernon!
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