Thursday,
December 13, 2001

The rain, the rain

It's cold, it's manky, it's wintery and rainy, and I'd really rather be in bed catching a few ZZZs or just curled up with my old quilt and my complete Chronicles of Amber than out and working. Besides, this foul weather is making my knee twinge like a bitch.

I suppose I should be grateful, though -- apparently Austin and the surrounding environs got hit with a big cold front that turned the accompanying rain into big ol' pellets of hail, whereas we just got the wet stuff with no evident icing. Lyndon commented earlier that it does seem like Houston and Austin have big "Bad Weather Come Here" signs plastered all over them, while Dallas only gets the occasional ice storm. Considering what the summers are like here, I'm grateful for small meteorological favors when I can find them.

Besides, even if we had gotten hit with ice today, the Man from McKinney was driving and his massively overengineered German beast of a vehicle could pretty much plow through the Antarctic without a problem, so all I have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride (I almost wrote ". . .think of England," but that goes off on a path I don't think I want to explore).

When you want to give the very best -- Cuisinart

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Christmas e-card I just received from my friend Patrick (aka the Nathan Lane of mid-central Illinois dinner theater). And you wonder where I get my irreverent qualities.

For those of you who don't get the joke, if you look very, very closely at the standing Wise Man (whom I would guess to be Balthazar -- was that the name of the Asian/Middle Eastern King? I dunno, and I don't feel like looking it up -- Google it yourself if you really need to know), you will see someone who appears to be the younger brother of Salmoneus (he of Hercules and Xena fame), holding his gift for the baby Jesus.

A blender.

Considering the source, the little Saviour should just be grateful that he's not getting an autographed picture of said king (which has been my Christmas present at least once). But I have been inspired to get off my ass and finish our Christmas card -- yes, it's an original. If I could just get enough time alone with Illustrator. . .