The Myth & The Majesty

Normally, about this time each year, I'm feeling rather pessimistic. Normally, you'd be reading a brief tirade about the state of the world. Normally, this would be my tired, glad-it's-over piece. Normally. Here's the thing: I didn't have a great year. I didn't have a bad year, either. For one reason or another (maybe simple caffeination), I'm feeling optimistic about next year. As I get ready to quietly ring in 2012, I find myself making plans. Plans for travel, plans for jobs, plans for (hopefully) grad school. I see a year of motion ahead and that makes me happy. Happy New Year, all. I hope your best is yet to come.

Any week that starts with Christmas is a good one. This one has included some particularly good stuff. A fabulous gift in the form of an embroidered apron. A lot of fun wrapping some other gifts, including a mixer in the wrap-each-part-in-paper-so-it-looks-the-same-but-is-just-covered-in-paper fashion (with a bow). A Packers win. A lot of Settlers of Catan. And since Shorty's home, a lot of Who. Which mostly means I was reminded that Matt Smith in a Stetson is a very good thing. What can I say -- I'm into nerds. Moreso than even I realized. Of course, there's also the fact that there are extra people in this house. So overall a good week. The kind that hasn't left any real time for much of a quality post. I'd apologize, but truth be told -- I'll take a fun, busy week. Hey, have a good weekend anyway.

I love a holiday when you can dress like a demented elf and it's all okay. I also love a holiday where the house fills with people and food and great smells. Merry Christmas, everybody. Hope your day is filled with fun, no matter where you are and who you're with.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. (Luke 2:1-3) The innkeeper had been swamped for the last few days. More than once he had turned away guests, and a couple of times he had nearly evicted others for their loud revelry. His own house was crowded with his in-laws. To tell the truth, he was just looking forward to the completion of the census so he could go back to his usual clientele of merchants passing through. It wasn't just his inn; the whole town was crowded. The decree required that everyone return to their ancestral homes, which for many had meant long days of travel and a reception by family they hadn't seen in years. Sounds of family feasts and happy homecomings had been echoing down the city streets for the last few nights, a second harvest party for the year. When

Long week. Wake/funeral. Not enough sleep. Last-minute shopping. Lots of cleaning. Now family starts arriving. That's good -- but it certainly doesn't bode well for that "rest" thing. Yep. Definitely Christmas.

Once again, on the not-serious side of things ... To my math nerd friends: go take a look at this comic . I'm a new devotee of Incidental Comics. They amuse. Monday's is great. Thank you. That is all.

Find life experiences and swallow them whole. Travel. Meet many people. Go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. Try everything. Exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life. - Lawrence K. Fish (Totally ripped this off a FB friend. But she's pretty awesome ... and so's the quote.)

Last year, I wrote about my personal Packers history, and since then I've mentioned them far more than I ever thought I would. Today (in the interest of a non-serious post with at least a little purpose), I give you... Eight Reasons I'm Proud To Be A Packers Fan 1. It's the only community-owned team in the States. (They have their 5th stock sale going on right now. I wish I could join in...) 2. They had the guts to tell Brett Favre that no, he couldn't come back unconditionally (he would have to compete with Aaron Rodgers for the starting position) -- and when he didn't like that they traded him and ended up with Clay Matthews. I'd say that overall, that move has worked out rather well for them. 3. Fans will get behind players they refer to as "Packer people" and will similarly shy away from players that don't fit that. (Guys I've heard mentioned as "Packer people" include guys like Donald Driver, who writes children's b

A few other things are in the works, but today I'd rather send you toward some other sites. The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial The Wikipedia article on the attack A CBSNews article on Pearl Harbor's 70th This one has existed on Facebook (etc.) for a few years, but I want to clear something up: if you'd like to send a Christmas card to a recovering soldier, do not send it to Walter Reed Hospital. It won't reach its destination. However! You can send one to the American Red Cross through their "Holiday Mail for Heroes" program found right here . Be quick, though, you only have till Friday. If you're lucky enough to still have a World War II vet around, take a minute today to give him your thanks.

Almost eighteen years ago, we moved out of town to a quiet back road. There wasn't much to this new neighborhood -- a gravel road in need of more regular maintenance, two or three new houses, and a few houses that had been standing for quite a bit longer -- but it was the escape my mother (a country girl by birth and a city resident by force) needed. As time went on, our side of the road filled but the neighborhood maintained a certain "removed" air. There was still a divide between us and neighboring towns. We could still walk to the trees a half-mile behind our house to build tree forts and catch frogs; we could still leave doors unlocked without too much concern. Even better, we had a ready-made starting point for trick-or-treating, in an area that only got the neighborhood kids and almost guaranteed a good haul. We knew our neighbors, by name if not always well. It was good. Other houses went in north of us, creating a spin-off neighborhood. There were quiet si

It's that time of year again -- time to stand on precariously stacked boxes and fish around for another one, time to risk electrocution with strings of lights that may actually be older than dirt, time to stand a big fire hazard up in the living room and cover it with highly ignitable plastic trimmings, time to unearth pictures in festive frames and remind yourself of that time your dad and his siblings got into a big argument just in time for dinner. Okay, okay. I actually kind of like decorating for Christmas. As long as I can remember, it's been one of the very first things we do following Thanksgiving -- crank up music, dust off the boxes, and spend a couple of hours sprucing the house up. But boy, we put ourselves at an awful lot of physical risk. Happy December, folks.