The Perfect LA Christmas Tree, Or Things I Love In My Neighborhood Part II

Fully acknowledging my Midwestern proclivities, I have to say I'm finding a lot of Christmas decorations to be, well, disorienting.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the snowman and the candy canes stuck in the green grass look odd. And they feel odd. The weather is BEAUTIFUL here right now. Warm but not too warm, sunny but still green - December perfection. So why the snowman?




But this is a work of art. This takes all the fun of a California winter and just makes it more fun!



Love the fairy (as does the bird so contentedly perched on her head)!

My Fun Weekend

It started as a very good weekend. Friday night I got together with my friends H & J, who just moved out here from Chicago. We saw the Parks plays, spotted a celebrity (Katherine Helmond, the woman who played Mona the grandmother on "Who's the Boss?") and then went to Cat & Fiddle, a fun little spot on Sunset. Saturday night my sugar and I went to a potluck at H & M's (my other friends I met in Chicago) cute little house in Echo Park and got to meet some more cool people.

Now it's Saturday night, 2:00 am and I wake up. Here's me:

Why am I awake? Why am I boiling hot? (Kicking off the covers). Oh wait, I'm not boiling hot, I'm freezing cold! (Pulling the covers back on). Hot, cold, hot, cold. This sucks! My stomach feels gross. Maybe I should drink some water. And brush my teeth. (Drinks water, brushes teeth, paces a bit in discomfort, gets back in bed). Oh my god, I'm going to hurl! (Races to the bathroom, just making it to the toilet).

So yeah, a big toilet full of puke. This was not I-drank-too-much puke, either. That I can deal with with just a simple "What were you thinking?" and a touch of remorse. No, this was stomach flu puke, and it sucked, especially because stomach flu puke makes me cry and shake. I woke up my honey and made him hold me and generally annoyed him through the rest of the night. The rest of the night where I couldn't fall asleep for more than an hour or two.

That was how Sunday went, then. Little snippets of sleep, tender tummy, headache, general misery, me feeling way too sorry for myself, hot, cold, hot, cold, flat 7-Up, water, jello, and one can of soup that I forced myself to eat. And then around 2:00 am, the fun starts again. I'm pouring myself a glass of 7-Up and have to run to the bathroom. Good-bye, Chunky Chicken Noodle.

The good news is that I've kept down saltines and water and 7-Up today and generally feel better. Plus we went for a walk and I did pretty well, and once we got home, I was able to fall asleep for a good 12 hours. Which is why it's nearly 3:00 am and I'm posting and am hoping to get back to my friend the dissertation.

Sticking with the Quiz Theme

Feel like wasting time?

I do, I do!

Try this.

Thanks to Krissy for that one.

Ooooh Yes, I Am 100% Sexy Man

Never underestimate what you can find on the Internet if you are trying to avoid writing a dissertation:

congradulations you have finished the sexy test. you are 100% sexy

 

you made it. you are the sexiest man on earth. congradulations man cause you did it. you can now call yourslf the sexiest man on earth.

How sexy are you?
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My Own Personal War on Christmas

Christmas makes me grumpy; it has for many years. Not surprising, really. I have issues with consumer culture, and Christmas is the big whammy of consumerism. I'm also broke, and have been for years, meaning that trying to find proper gifts in this consumerist melee on a budget is just too stressful. Plus I'm usually overworked at Christmas, grading and working on shows and all the rest (not this year - just full time dissertating - a whole different kind of stress), so I'm usually exhausted and sick and in no mood to deal, and to top it all off I'm a non-believer. So Christmas equals pagan ceremony usurped by Christianity usurped by capitalism equals Karen is a big grouchy bitch.

In my first year of grad school at the U, my nephew gave my whole family the stomach flu. I spent two days after Christmas vomiting every hour on the hour (with some diarrhea thrown in for fun), sucking on ice cubes because I couldn't keep water down. When I got better, I spent another day on the couch watching a Quantum Leap marathon on the Sci Fi channel. This is most appropriate emobidiment of my "Holiday Spirit" that I can imagine.

I am happy to report that this year, I am not celebrating Christmas in any traditional sense. Since I am going to attend a workshop in MN in January, I've made the decision to skip the holdiay travel horrors and not head inland for the holiday. And since I now live in sunny California where there is no snow, it doesn't even feel Christmassy at all, so I won't have to be burden with the guilt of being a Grinch or a Scrooge. And my honey and I decided to skip the present buying, so we don't even have to deal with the angry masses out shopping. Perfect.