About Me

Woman, reader, writer, wife, mother of two sons, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, state university professor, historian, Midwesterner by birth but marooned in the South, Chicago Cubs fan, Anglophile, devotee of Bruce Springsteen and the 10th Doctor Who, lover of chocolate and marzipan, registered Democrat, practicing Christian (must practice--can't quite get the hang of it)--and menopausal.
Names have been changed to protect the teenagers. As if.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Dreaming of Havel

Today Vaclav Havel died.

It's strange, isn't it, to feel bereft when a stranger has died? I never met Havel; I know very little about his personal life, his likes and dislikes, his quirks and complaints, what he loved and what he loathed on a quotidien level. But I do know what he loved and what he loathed in the cosmic sense. I know about his decades of resistance under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia; I know his published work; I know his political career and his commitment to individual freedom; most of all, I know that when it mattered, this ironic, Frank Zappa-loving playwright did the right thing. Again and again and again.

So, I won't apologize for the fact that I, now and again, have erotic dreams about Vaclav Havel. He was one extraordinarily sexy guy. I imagine he'll keep appearing in my dreams. Damn, I hope so.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Christmas cards

So here's my recipe for a perfect Christmas card writing evening:
Mix together til nicely blended:
1 husband out with buddy to basketball game,
1 16-year-old out doing whatever he does that I'm sure is perfectly legal and safe and will look great on his college applications,
1 bowl of lentil soup on the boil,
1 bottle of white wine nicely chilled,
1 really bad but in a good way movie on tv (in this case "What a Girl Wants" with Colin Firth).
Add
a heaping spoonful of My Grades Are In and I'm ignoring everything else that's way overdue.
Sprinkle in lots of Good Golly It's the Weekend
and
Thank You God It's Finally Gotten Cold Outside, to taste.
Pour into Really Cute but in an Ironic Way Winnie the Pooh Christmas Cards.
Garnish with one totally amazing family Christmas newsletter.
Really.

Tho' it's best not to drink the whole bottle of wine. The addresses get a tad sloppy; the messages rather more so. Just sayin'.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Nativity Sets

I am sick. Massive quantities of phlegm sliding down the back of my throat, a downright impressive chesty cough, a sore throat, an ear ache. . . yeah, the whole shebang except, dammit, no fever. And without a fever, one is not truly sick and one cannot really take time off without feeling that one is a total slacker. So one pretends to work while feeling really shitty and put-upon.

Rather than continuing to whine in this annoying way, I will, instead, turn y'all over to another blogger, who has posted the 27 Worst Nativity Sets of All Time. These are truly wonderful. Enjoy and be blessed:
http://whyismarko.com/2011/27-worst-nativity-sets-the-annual-growing-list/