Now, I've had enough, my box is clean/You know what I'm sayin' and you know what I mean/Odds and ends, odds and ends/Lost time is not found again

It's been ages and I can almost say I have plenty of excuses since it is that time of year. I seriously think we've been sent through some time warp. How is it possibly the week of Christmas already? It's gotten to the point where I swear I can see life whizzing by in my peripheral vision. Slow down already, wouldja?

First of all, I spent most of the writing energy of the last week or so writing my best of 2008 list for the KDHX blog. I encourage you to read it and comment. Discuss, argue with me, agree with me. Whatev. The most curious thing is that this year, for maybe the first time, I was pretty sure I had a favorite record that was going to be hitting all the other hipster/magazine/website lists. But no, my most beloved record this year, Cold War Kids Loyalty to Loyalty, was nowhere to be found on any of the lists I checked. And here I thought I had jumped on some racing CWK bandwagon. And so all is well and normal in the world - I champion a band that very few people care about. It's a thankless job, but someone has to do it. On the other hand, Elbow, who were very narrowly edged out by CWK, were all over the lists this year. Go figure.

Second, I've spent most of my time making cookies and candy for Christmas. I'm not sure why I make so much, but it's a habit and frankly, one of my favorite things about December are cookie and candy breakfasts. I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that.

Third, I've spent an inordinate amount of time goofing off on the Internet and just hanging out with the other half (and oftentimes doing both at the same time). Facebook seems to have simultaneously become an obsession amongst my friends and acquaintances so it is a fantastic (horrific?) time waster. And then, of course, there's my Scottish Correspondent who keeps me hopping.

Fourthly, it's almost Christmas, yo! List making, shopping, gift making, wrapping -- it all takes more time than you think it's going to. And if you have your laptop open beside you and stop to chat, answer emails and compulsively read Facebook status updates, well, it takes even more time.

I've posted a bunch of photos on Facebook but I throw some on here too, just to round this out. First, a couple of batches of cookies - really delicious molasses cookies and very adorable but not so tasty cat's paw cookies.

I never tire of taking photos of my cats. Yeah, it's a cliche, but they're all so fucking cute, what do you want me to do? So, here's Olive looking particularly regal. I wish I could say that look was for me, but she was gazing adoringly at Steve as he descended the staircase behind me.

I revived the crocheted wire jewelry idea to make earrings and a necklace for my mom for Christmas. I love these dark red and smooth garnet chunks and I wish I could remember what the hell that center stone is. Probably some sort of agate.


I decided that since I was in the mood to crochet wire and beads, I'd make a little something for myself. I adore the tiny Japanese glass beads in this one. They really look much more like actual turquoise than glass. The center pendant is a coin Dana brought me from China ages ago and that's been sitting in my stash, waiting for inspiration.


A couple weeks ago I decided to clean up my yarn stash that was taking up residence in a corner of the living room for no real reason other than sheer laziness on my part. So, I sorted through it to keep a few balls out for immediate projects and stored in a manageable caddy. In the meantime, here's what the sorting mess looked liked. If you look close, Olive is at the end of the couch, nearly buried in yarn. She seemed to enjoy the process.


This is nothing but a photo of pretty clouds taken with my mobile phone last week. Depending on the lighting and setting, I can get some really interesting pictures of this little thing.


And last but not least, as I was driving home on Saturday from a lovely outing with Dana (finally!) I was going through the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood when I looked up and saw scores of crows! So many and it made me so happy to see them returning in such numbers, finally, after the scourge of West Nile virus. I stopped in the middle of Chouteau to take some photos and this is a case where the limitations of the mobile camera are woefully apparent. Nonetheless, I got to document the numbers, if not the details, of the many crows. All of the birds (which show up as black dots) are magnificent, big black crows. Click on the photo and I swear you will see the dots, in the foreground tree and in all those trees at the other end of the lot!


And now, I need a job. Who's got one for me?