My Christmas went well. We were lacking Andrea as she was off with Alex at his family's this year. We had a rather different tree, a tropical bush-like evergreen that sat upon a chair and was decorated with a string of lights and many tiny shiny balls. After opening presents, we ate MREs. Andrea and Alex joined us later in the day for dinner. The obligatory swag list:
- Erickson got me The American Language, Fourth Edition, by H.L. Mencken. It's a wonderfully weighty tome detailing the divergence and evolution of American English from the English of Great Britain. So far, it's been a brilliant and entertaining read.
- Erickson's parents got me John Hodgman's two books, THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE, and its continuation, MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE. They are packed with more entertainingly plausible lies than a man should be able to create in his entire lifetime.
- Some clothing and food, notably some real bacon bits.
- From Danielle, a set of bacon-scented candles. Unfortunately, when lit, they smell a lot more like soy than bacon. I suspect that they were made by a vegetarian. Luckily for Danielle, it is the thought that counts, and I love them. :)
- From Andrea, a bar of Dove chocolate, a candy cane, a lexically well-mangled card, and a mystery gift still traveling through the mail.
- From Tim, a new stocking cap that replaces the one I lost not days after buying it.
- From Mom and Dad:
- A spare (1200mAh!) battery and car/wall charger for my camera.
- A suction-cup camera mount that will only be used in an entirely safe and responsible manner.
- The Korg DS-10, which is currently the most Korg you can possibly get for your money. Expect a full review later.
- A couple of splatter screens for my skillet.
- And as a complete surprise, a replacement set of air shocks for my CRX's hatch.
I think I made out pretty well. Oh, and even though it wasn't really a Christmas present, thank you Alan and Annie for the oatmeal raisin cookies. They were delicious. :)
I hope everyone is fat, happy, and not freezing/sliding/drowning/blowing away. Not joking about the drowning/blowing, either. We are seriously under a flash flood and tornado watch right now. Eeek.
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