For auld lang syne

Well, here it is. Another New Year's Eve. Another handful of living sand has sifted down through the hourglass, its motion ended, its promise spent. And what is there left to say about it that hasn't been said before, over and over, on every New Year's Eve?

It's a strange night, really. We draw an imaginary line in time itself, and we say to each other, This side is the past, the province of sweet memory and bitter regret. And this side is the shining future, where we can transform our lives, where anything is possible. In truth, we live all the moments of our lives on that razor-thin line between what has been and what could be.

It is so easy to lose sight of the present. Our active hours are spent planning, always planning; how will we live in retirement, what will I need from the grocery store tomorrow, what will I do with my life someday. Our quiet hours are spent dreaming up more things to plan about, or in mourning things that are no more. Somehow, we are never still. How different might life be, if that were possible?

I'm not much for resolutions anymore, but I think I will make just this one for 2008: Live now.

Filet o' Frank?

This is from a midnight romp through BoingBoing. Somebody in Korea has hybridized carp that appear to have human faces. Because there just wasn't enough creepiness in the world without them.

It reminds me of the recent news story about the Russian fishermen who hauled in what appeared to them to be an alien. So they photographed it for a while before they ate it. Wonder if they had fries with that.

Sunrise, sunset

Today I am a great aunt! My nephew and his wife this morning had a happy, healthy baby boy, the first of a new generation of our family. Needless to say, everyone is thrilled.

This particular nephew was the first child born in his own generation, the first child of my husband's sister. How well I recall meeting him and bouncing him on my knee when he was only six months old. Was that really 25 years ago?

Great aunt. It conjures up chintz pillows and tea cozies, African violets and small mutant dogs, doesn't it? And wow ... hubby's baby sister is now a grandmother. All of us just moved up a notch on the Old-o-meter.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

Waking up with a cat

I found this over at Time Goes By and I just had to share. I know most of you guys will relate.

Here comes the sun

In case you missed it: The winter solstice happened yesterday, or the day before, depending on where you live. From this point forward, the darkness fails and light prevails. Every day gets a little longer than the one before. And about freakin' time, too.

A lot of the best stuff we associate with Christmas is, of course, usurped from older, solstice traditions -- candles and evergreens, birth and hope. There's a really nice site that explores the origins of the winter holidays, if you're curious. It's called Candlegrove. It's a fun place to poke around.

Earth to Santa

Here's something kinda cool. Over at the NASA site, you can send a Christmas greeting to the astronauts on the space station. Because, well, why not? Here's the link: NASA Postcards.

Oddly, I couldn't find a site that didn't look dodgy for sending email cards to our troops. Anybody know of one?

Whine and sneeze party

It never fails. Somewhere around the holidays a Bad Cold lurks, just waiting to pounce. It's been sniffing around for a week or so. I could feel its malevolent eyes on my back, but it seemed that the vitamin C and garlic were giving it second thoughts. Yesterday it lunged right past all that and landed square on my chest. Damn.

The good news is, I was off work already, so I didn't have to call in sick. At our office that is the unforgivable sin, officially recorded and held against us for a full calendar year. It doesn't matter if it's a cold or a heart attack; you still get demerits for it unless it was pre-approved. One of the many joys of life in a cube farm. The bad news, of course, is that I have to be sick for these precious, few holiday hours away from the place. Again, damn.

Yesterday it was just your garden variety misery, so some cleaning, laundry and baking still got done. Today I want my bed, lots of juice, and many sleep-inducing drugs. Needless to say, my productivity has taken quite a tumble. The possibility of homemade decorated sugar cookies is growing slim. The ones at the bakery are sounding better all the time.

I am congratulating myself on having finished my shopping and on having the kind of husband who picks up slack. He's out there even as we speak, rounding up the ingredients for my vegetable soup and tracking down the Christmas roast beast. So that I can sit here, relax a bit and touch base with all of you. Ain't he a keeper?

I do hope all of you are well and are having happy holidays. Sorry I haven't been getting around much to read and comment lately, and I promise to visit soon.

Round Robins: Black and White

Black and White Landscape is the current Round Robin topic, suggested by Marie, author of the blog Photographs and Memories Too. Could there be a more perfect choice for a winter day? This is a shagbark hickory that lives in my front yard. If you look at the trunk, you can see that it's snowing.

I kept hoping for a grand vista to present itself for this one, or at least an interesting grove or garden, but nothing really grabbed me. I was surprised at how very different shots looked once the color was gone. So many photos that looked pretty good when they were taken lost all their appeal in grayscale. I'll be experimenting a lot more with this, learning to see structure and line alone. I do love a learning opportunity. Great topic, Marie!

To see what the other members found, check out the links on the main page: Round Robin Photo Challenge, Black and White Landscape.

Nice ice

If you're into shiny things, check out the gorgeous photos of real snowflakes at SnowCrystals.com. There's a tutorial on how to grow and photograph your own, but you're going to need a whole lotta techie stuff to pull it off. For the rest of us, there's this amazing, crystalline gallery. Enjoy!

moar funny pictures

The Surgeon General, apparently with nothing really pressing to do last week, declared war on Santa Claus. He announced that it was critical for role models to present a good example, which Santa, it seems, does not. Because he is fat. Santa needs to slim down. Or else.

OK. First of all, if Santa Claus is a "role model," then so is the Easter Bunny. Therefore, the Easter Bunny should immediately stop wearing fur.

Santa is a "right jolly old elf" with "a round little belly" that "shakes when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly." It's part of who he is. Santa is a symbol of taking joy in plenty and pleasure, and of selfless love for others. You could do a lot worse for a role model.

And I'll tell you what's critical for the welfare of today's kids: The children's health care plan Bush vetoed, that was critical. Keeping lead soaked toys out of their nurseries, that was critical. Paying parents a living wage so they can be home more with their kids, that was critical. Where was the Surgeon General on all that?

They say Santa has changed before, and should again. True, he has. He used to bring switches and coal to those who deserved it. I can think of at least one fellow who should get a sledfull of both.

There's good news, and there's bad news...

I sat down here today to mourn the loss of some really good blogs, two of which announced their closings just this week: Ronnie Bennett's Time Goes By and John Scalzi's By the Way. They were the latest in a number of blogs I've loved and lost, and I was pretty bummed.

However, when I went to Bennett's place to grab the link, I found that her farewell message in the top slot had been replaced by a heartfelt response to her readers' reaction to the closing, along with a promise to continue posting after all -- with a few new rules in place. (More on that later.) So, Yay for Ronnie!

Time Goes By is absolutely the best, brightest, and most thoughtful blog online about the joys, possibilities and challenges of growing old. Yes, old. And it may be the only place anywhere that doesn't shy away from the word. I love that about it, too.

Recently, the author's efforts have become more political, focused on the fight to preserve our freedom, privacy, social justice, and democracy. She maintains, and I concur, that in these dark times this is urgent and critical work for the nation's elders.

I regret to say that, up until now, I have been only a lurker over at Time Goes By. I am grateful to have been given a second chance to participate, and I will become an active participant there. I hope that you will, too.

John Scalzi of AOL, alas, will only say that he may post occasionally at By the Way "as a civilian," once his contract ends December 31. He is the reigning Blogfather of AOL J-Land, which he built into a vibrant, unique blogging community with his daily postings, memes, links to member blogs, and technical help. The J-Land group dispersed when AOL suddenly began running unwanted advertising on our blogs. Most, myself included, sadly set sail for other, less exploitative venues.

Scalzi soldiered on, serving up a delightful mix of games, challenges, funny links and commentary for the remaining handful of regulars. His career as a fiction writer has taken off and, much as he seems genuinely to enjoy his AOL readers, I'm sure he does have other fish to fry.

Scalzi is also bowing out of his central role at Ficlets. I always meant to get involved there, too, and somehow never did. Guess I'll wait now to see what happens when the group is on its own.

John Scalzi blogs for himself at Whatever, which is also a great place to hang out, though it's a very different place than AOL. I found that one quite a while ago by Googling his name, and have been lurking there ever since. By the Way was a daily stop for me, and I'm really going to miss it when it's gone.

Don to Earth was another favorite, though it didn't last long. It belonged to Don Crowdis, who gained fame as a blogger just for being over 90 years old, but who was also a very thoughtful, intelligent, and articulate voice. He had an amazing life, and may be living still. His last post was "I'm Not Dead" -- but that was back in March. I do hope he's still out there and will be back one day.

And then there's Walt. Walt passed away last spring, shortly after his last post at The Diatom Project. There was never a kinder person or a more faithful friend than Walter, and I still miss his funny comments and personal messages of encouragement and cheer. I think of him so often, and I still click over to his blog, where it will forever be Christmas Morning.

It's a funny thing about blogs. We get comfortable with a few, and after a while they're a part of our lives. But they are, all of them, ephemeral creations that live at the whim of their authors. All of them can vanish without warning. The best of them leave us a little better, a little wiser, a little happier just for having been there. To all of you out there, writing and visiting, I'd just like to say Thanks.

Round Robin Challenge: Sparkle

OK, finally! Here's a selection of assorted seasonal sparklage. I've decided to call the fuzziness "soft focus." Hope you're all enjoying the season.

Click here for the rest of the Robins' entries!

Round Robins: hang on, I'll be there!

Sorry I'm running late getting the challenge done this time. (It's doubly embarassing, seeing as how it's one of my own topics.) The week has been pure chaos, and I just haven't gotten to it yet. I'm hoping to make it today, though, and I hope you'll come back to visit. Meanwhile, thanks so much to all who are playing!

Here's the link to all the Robins' super entries: Round Robin Photo Challenge: Sparkle