Today, I bought Christmas presents for my grandmother. Buying presents for my grandmother is difficult because it is pointless. Anything important is lost upon her, anything useful would go unused. Her birthday, which falls on Christmas Eve, is even more difficult; she understands that the day is someone‘s birthday, but she cannot recollect that itContinue reading “On Christmas Shopping for my Grandmother”
Monthly Archives: December 2009
On a Zeppelin-Esque Christmas
Because it’s Christmas-time, and because I like strange and silly and obscure Christmas music — like the conversation I had yesterday about The Royal Guardsmen and “Snoopy’s Christmas” — I thought it only fair to point out a Christmas song that I’ve liked since I first heard it. It’s “Winter Wonderland,” done in the styleContinue reading “On a Zeppelin-Esque Christmas”
On a Shortage of Christmas Tree Stands
My sister called. I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or if she was crying. There’s a Christmas tree stand shortage in Raleigh. She’d bought a tree at Lowe’s. She needed a stand. They were out. She went to Target. She went to Wal-Mart. She went to Kmart. She went to the grocery store. Someone,Continue reading “On a Shortage of Christmas Tree Stands”
On the Week’s Writing
The writing I’ve done this week? I like it. That’s a rare and wonderful thing. And perhaps, to you, a surprising thing, as I am always writing something, if not for myself then for work. I produce words routinely without a second thought. Except for when I don’t. It doesn’t happen all that often thatContinue reading “On the Week’s Writing”
On Snows and Rains
I woke this morning to the patter of rain upon the roof. The forecast for last night had called for rain. Torrential rains. Flash flood warnings. A far cry from the weekend, indeed. Five inches of snow fell on Saturday. Some melted away on Sunday — though the temperature barely climbed above freezing all day,Continue reading “On Snows and Rains”
On Songs for Christmas
While I’ve joined the Rage Against the Machine For Christmas #1 group on Facebook — their goal is to get a fifteen year old song to be the Christmas number one in defiance of Simon Cowell’s X Factor mutant — it looks like there’s a new competitor for Christmas number one. The Muppets. The Muppets’Continue reading “On Songs for Christmas”
On the Essential Carbon Leaf
About six months ago, on Gallifrey Base, I saw a thread in the music forum about creating a “best of” or an introduction for a favorite band. Imagine you were giving someone a single CD, what songs would you want them to hear to give them an overview about what makes this band so great?Continue reading “On the Essential Carbon Leaf”
On the Sam Adams Holiday Pack
It’s a wintry time of the year, and that means the Holiday Collection from Sam Adams! I look forward to this collection of six beers every year. Wintry, festive holiday brews! Only, this year I’m unhappy. The Holiday Collection comes, as I mentioned, with six different winter beer styles. In years past, the six haveContinue reading “On the Sam Adams Holiday Pack”
On Afternoon Coding
The snow continues to fall. I spent part of the day working on PHP and CSS code for the website. I have the first segment of the design coded and the graphics made. I’ve done a test to make sure the code works, and it does. It looks like I want it to look. I’mContinue reading “On Afternoon Coding”
On the First Real Snowfall
For reasons that pass beyond understanding, I set my alarm clock last night. The trilling of the clock at six came as an unwelcome interruption to sleep on a Saturday. The damage was done, however, and I went downstairs and put on a pot of coffee. At 6:30, the snow had not yet begun. AContinue reading “On the First Real Snowfall”