the year in review

Maya wanted top 5 lists, but I had more than five top records and then, in other categories, couldn't quite reach five or had to slightly exceed that number...what I'm trying to say is that this year-in-review is all over the damn place....

Top 10 records
1. Illinoise Sufjan Stevens
2. Plans - Death Cab for Cutie
3. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
4. Escape from Dragon House - Dengue Fever
5. Guero - Beck
6. Celebration Castle - the Ponys
7. The Woods - Sleater- Kinney
8. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
9. Kaiser Chiefs - Kaiser Chiefs
10. The Great Destroyer - Low

Top five songs
1. Boulevard of Broken Dreams mash-up - Green Day/Oasis/Travis/Aerosmith
2. Jumpers - Sleater-Kinney
3. Hello, Tomorrow - Karen O.
4. Crooked Teeth - Death Cab for Cutie
5. Girl - Beck


Top 2 disappointing records
1. Late Registration - Kanye West.
(I loved the first record and this one - although it had great moments - just fell short for me).
2. Twin Cinema - New Pornographers
(I tried and I tried, but just could not get into this record).

Top 5 shows
1. Alejandro Escovedo - Palms
2. Robbie Fulks - Palms
3. Baby Grand - Luna's
4. Paul McCartney - ARCO Arena
5. Pernice Brothers / Jim White - Great American Music Hall


Top 3 Movies
I realized I didn't see very many movies in the theater this year - and there are a bunch I want to see between now and the Oscars (Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Narnia etc). Of the films I did see, many disappointed me in one way or another so in the end I could only come up with three 2005 films that I really really liked:

1. Me & You and Everyone We Know
2. March of the Penguins
3. Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic

Top 5 6 7 TV shows
1. Gilmore Girls
2. America's Next Top Model
3. Survivor
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Entourage
6. The O.C.
7. The Daily Show

Top 4 books
I rarely buy brand-new hardcovers and then actually read them during the year in which they were released so I'm cheating a little here with just my favorite reads.

1. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
2. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
3. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight - Alexandra Fuller
4. Nickel & Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich

Top 4 Celebrity Crushes
1. Anderson Cooper - CNN
2. Andy Samberg (SNL)
3. Adam Brody - but only as Seth Cohen
4. Sarah Silverman

Top 5 Favorite Web sites
1. BoingBoing
2. Chocolate & Zucchini
3. Television Without Pity
4. Jossip
5. Not Martha


Top 5 personal moments
(not necessarily in order of importance - also, it looks like August and May were very good months for me)

1. Bought a house (May)
2. Celebrated sixth wedding anniversary (August)
3. Received actual physical grad school diploma in the mail (May)
4. Did first-ever non-school related poetry/prose reading (August)
5. Visited with aunt whom I hadn't seen in nearly 10 years (August)


Happy birthday Becca! And Happy New Year to everyone.....

postive tension

Finally. A moment to breathe. This is my one "off" night - but it's not really even that. Because as much as I'd just like to sit back with a couple of beers and catch up on Project Runway, I still have a lot to do.

Really the last three weeks of December always seem to be such a blur. Last night was ladeez night and we trekked to see "Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic." Loved it but the four people in the row in front of us didn't laugh at all. Not even once. Which led us to wonder why they didn't just leave...

Tomorrow is a funeral and then tomorrow night is the rock'n'roll holiday office party. Friday night is a birthday dinner. Saturday, of course, is New Year's Eve and we've received a few party invitations and have narrowed it down to one...one that promises to be small, intimate and casual fun. I need that right now.

I really can't wait until Sunday - I'm anticipating sleeping in, Zelda's pizza and maybe finally figuring out why my computer won't let me download the new iPod software so that I can set up my new Nano. Grrrr...not only is my other iPod completely dead - I probably need to send it in for a mercy killing - but I can't use the new one because the computer is acting wonky.

In any case...the holidays were maybe a tiny bit less stressful than last year's run-through - but not by much. What is it about family - no matter how much I love the lot of them - that sometimes just makes me grit my teeth and clench my hands into fists?

Still, I enjoyed various things: Giving our nephew a SpongeBob SquarePants jack-in-the-box and watching him laugh with delight every time (a million times) he cranked it up. Playing the Riff trivia game with Cory, my sister-in-law and my niece. Seeing my mom's delight when I opened my gift from her - a giant wooden owl (meant for the back yard) that she bought some place along Highway 101. Seeing Grandma Alice get all sniffy and teary when we watched the A Walk to Remember DVD that we bought her. Dropping off the boots, Disturbed CD and socks at the Sacramento Children's Home. A birthday morning watching the "Lazy Sunday" and "Christmas time with the Jews" clips and laughing loudly, by myself, at home while drinking coffee and generally trying to get over the fact that I am now thirty*cough*six...A great birthday outing with Kepi & Roach, Bobby & Claire, Becca & David....holiday lights. Christmas morning with Cory.

Anyway, as I was saying, tonight is my free night but I still have about 10 things to do, so I better get on it...

holiday express train

The 2005 Holiday Express Train makes one (but not the) of its last stops tonight and then maybe I can return to my life....would be nice.

Thanks to all who made my birthday extra great - that you all could find those spare hours amid the holiday craziness meant a lot to me. Thanks especially for indulging me in a viewing of my favorite holiday film, It's a Wonderful Life. Yes, it's oft-cheesy, sometimes very un-PC and truly downright silly in spots. But I love it, thank you very much, and seeing it at the Crest made it that much better.

OK, the seasonal madness is slowing to a crawl but it must still move along for just a little while longer.


Oh yeah, and Santa fixed my DSL! Whoo hoo....

crazy delicious

I've had a splitting headache all day but there have been some good things about today.

Holiday potluck at work.

Finding the Outkast/Peanuts video online again (it's a Christmas miracle!).

Finding these "Lazy Sunday" T-shirts on line.

Knowing I am off work for the next four days.

In case my craptastic lack of DSL continues, I'll just wish you all a Happy Holidays now...

Peace on Earth, out...

work, work, work, work, WORK

Who was I fooling to think I'd get in a real post today. TOO DAMN BUSY.

Tonight, more baking plus a trip to Target. Tomorrow is work and a family dinner. Friday is the birthday - of which I get to spend the day portion waiting around for SBC to come fix our phone. They gave me a 12 HOUR SERVICE WINDOW- 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Nice, huh? But if they're not there by 6pm, I'm outta there cuz I've got birthday-ing to do and the DSL will just have to wait until after Christmas.

But really - 12 hour service window? WTF? That's just taking advantage of the fact that I don't know how to tinker with it myself. I hope SBC just gets a bunch of lumps of coal in its big ol' corporate stocking.

What else? Oh yeah..grocery store, make food for Christmas Eve, wrap presents, Christmas Day at Cory's mom's house and day-aftr-Christmas at his grandmother's. Then two get-togethers next week and, oh yeah, New Year's Eve....which I strongly suspect that, at this point, will be spent with a Zelda's pizza and some Netflix...joy, joy. Is it 2006 yet?

oy vey!

In the last 12 hours I have received upwards of 75 Google hits on some variation of "Christmas Time for the Jews". And now, as an early Christmas/Hannakuh present to you all, you may download it at here at the SC123 blog .

I'm going to go watch it right now. Thanks to Scott for the link!

Edited to add: For some reason, I can't open the file on my computer here - it keeps giving me an error notice. If anyone else has luck, let me know.

the 16-year-old girl in me...

What a wet and dreary day ... I love it.

Last night we braved Arden Fair Mall (here's a tip: $3 valet parking in front of California Cafe) and made our purchases for the Sacramento Children's Home. Kim & I had picked a 16-year-old girl as our recipient (because, as we both agreed, we still are 16-year-old girls at heart). On her list: A Disturbed CD, black knee-high boots, black socks and a Target gift card. I'm not a Disturbed fan, but how could I not love this girl and her need for black knee-high boots and a Target gift card? I just think back to when I was 16 - life was hard enough without having to think you're not getting anything for the holidays. I would've wanted a Cure or Cocteau Twins CD when I was her age - but othewise, I totally get it.

Anyway, I'm officially done with all of my holiday shopping - which is not to say that I didn' t lag again this year and have to pay extra shipping charges on a few things. But at least they were two or three-day rush charges and not overnight rush charges like last year. So we'll consider that a victory and call it a day.

Tonight=baking, loud music and generally enjoying the fact that once I get home I don't have to leave the house again until it's time for work tomorrow. The only thing that isn't good is the fact that our DSL is still out and I really don't have the energy to call up PacBell to complain.

the Chronic-wha?-LES of Narnia

I'm not doing so well on this Holidailies thing. I've now missed three days of posting. I had a good excuse yesterday though as the rain knocked out our DSL. I'm not even sure if it's working again.

I got caught in the rain yesterday on my way to Berkeley. Actually it wasn't so bad until I got there and entire streets were closed off and then I got to where I was supposed to meet some Mills friends for brunch - only it was an outdoor place and obviously that was not going to work but I didn't have anybody's phone number and when I called home to ask Cory to get me some information from my e-mail the said info was in an eVite which couldn't be accessed because the DSL was down and so there I was standing in the soaking rain, tired and hungry and alone and wet and having to pee and just generally kind of bummed out by the whole soggy mess of it all.

But all was not lost. After I decided to write the brunch off and once I finally made my way back out of Berkeley (no easy feat), I stopped at the Macy's at Hilltop Plaza - which was not at all crowded - and finished most of my holiday shopping. So here it is, Dec. 19 and I only have three more gifts to buy. Three easy ones. Not bad at all and it gave me a little emotional boost. Then I came home and napped for an hour, got up and baked a batch of cookies and set off with Cory and Jeff and Rochelle to check out Christmas lights.

If you've yet to drive by the house at 53rd and S streets - the one with the lights set to music that you can tune in your car radio - well you're missing quite the extravaganza. Anyway, there's nothing like driving around on a misty night, sipping Kahluha and Brandy-spiked coffee and noshing on cookies while listening to the Johnny Cash Christmas album and seeing all the pretty lights. Big thanks to Jeff for driving so that we could all enjoy our holiday spirits.

Tonight: Christmas shopping for the Sacramento Children's Home and more holiday cocktails.

Always with the holiday cocktails!

Also. I have already watched the Saturday Night Live "Lazy Sunday" digital short oh, about five times now. If you haven't already, go watch it...

And if anyone knows where I can download the "Christmas time for the Jews" video, please let me know...

great expectations

What I hate is when the holidays create expectations that are nearly impossible to meet. That idea of sudden and assured joy; family unity, year-end clarity and a brimming excitement for the new year.

I do it to myself every December and this is not to say that things are not good but sometimes the heightened expectations create sharp, jagged icicle edges.

How do the rest of you deal with the pressure? Or is it just me, weaned on a diet of seasonal highs?

I'm trying to learn a little more, year by year...but the road is a long one...

on martinis, Smurfettes and Russian dolls...

I was going to tear up the night but then I said maybe I'll just dump out my coffee and have a beer and so ended the frenzy of activity. Done with the baking, done with the presents, the holiday cards can wait until later in the weekend.

Uneasy Rhetoric suggested decaf, but maybe all I need is to follow my caffeine with a beer chaser and I'm set.

As it is, still not enough sleep this week and still way too much to do although last night provided a much-needed break. First on the agenda were drinks with the work crowd. We took over the patio at Mason's which was nice because then I didn't have to see all the so-called movers and shakers and could, instead, simply concentrate on my martinis. Yes, I've turned into my grandmother with the vodka martinis. Always with olives. They do them nicely.

From there it was dinner at Taka and then the Helper Monkeys/Chixdiggit/Ghoulies show at Old I where I had two more drinks (rum with diet) and did not get to sleep until 1:30 a.m. But I had fun seeing friends and pogo-ing when the Ghoulies played "I Don't Like Mondays." And I did sleep last night. Pretty well (if not quite enought) - even the part where I was dreamingI was in a rave dance contest but was disqualified after my Smurfette costume kept slipping off. The Cure's Robert Smith was the judge and at first I was pissed that he booted me but then we started talking and I became good friends with him and his quiet, Nordic girlfriend.

Anyway.

My best moment today came at Swanberg's on Freeport. I was doing a little lunchtime Christmas shopping when a woman came in with her six-year-old daughter. They'd come to play with the store's collection of Russian dolls - tiny, colorful fabric women wearing babushkas.

Why don't you pick one out and we'll take her home? the mother said to her daughter.

No, said the girl, in a sweet high voice. They can stay here.

The pair must have spent at least a half hour just wandering through the store playing with dolls and other tchotckes and every time the mother offered to buy her daughter something, the girl politely declined.

She just likes to come in here and visit them, the mother said to Ruth, the woman who owns Swanbergs.

She can come in anytime she likes, Ruth said.

And amid the holiday madness, the spending, the coming and the going, it seemed like such a nice thing to do. No exchange of money, no cold hard commerce. Just a little visit among friends.

And that's your Lifetime TV holiday moment of the day.

Also, the end appears to be coming: Urban Outfitters is now selling stirrup pants. Mark my words, shapeless flannel shirts and Docs will be in next month's catalogue.

i wanted to assassinate December...

I am totally starting to hyperventilate about the holidays. Everything’s closing in and I don’t even have school to blame. Who are you freaks who finish all your shopping by Thanksgiving? I hate you.

On the plus side, I have developed a sudden intolerance for any caffeine after 3 p.m. (after how many years of drinking gallons of coffee, night or day?!) and I’ve spent three of the last five nights tossing and turning. Last night was the worst. After a half-cup (a small cup) of coffee I was awake until 3 a.m. I did get some baking done and also balanced my checkbook and figured out holiday cards and cleaned up part of the office and did the dishes and watched the Kings game and read the newspaper. But still. Three-freaking-a.m. I am not going to be very happy if this no-caffeine-in-the-afternoon-or-evening thing sticks because I love my late-day coffee. And really, I’m getting too old to have to be changing habits now. Then again, maybe I should embrace this no-sleep thing because there is still a ton to be done between now and next Sunday and my goal, for once in my adult life, is to not have to Christmas shop on my birthday. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so.

Why do I put myself through this every year anyway? Because in some weirdly perverse way I like the stress. Mostly, actually, I like the sparkly, frosty beauty of all things December and that helps me deal with the stress and not hide in the bedroom with a sleep mask and ear plugs.

Although, judging by last night's toss-and-turn fest, maybe that's not a bad idea.

Bring on the coffee...

damn

Radar magazine bites the dust again (via Gothamist).

gimme TV fiction

This is random: Spoon's Britt Daniel to appear on Veronica Mars (via Pitchfork).

circumstantial evidence

This George Barnard Shaw quote was on my Google home page yesterday:

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.

I like that thought a lot. Sometime, I admit, I blame the circumstances - and there have been plenty of circumstance to blame this year. Or at least that's what I've found as I come up with excuses for why I haven't done various things I said I would do.

You know, like writing (aside from work), working more in the garden, cooking more, doing crafty things, etc. etc.

About the only thing at which I've succeeded this year is making more time for friends and family - and really that was the biggest priority of all after finishing grad school.

But if I can stop blaming circumstances and just get down to the nitty-gritty of everything, it will be interesting to see what I can actually accomplish come 2006.

Rated R...

Not to be one of those girls who just talks about her weight and feeling fat….but ov vey with the holiday treats and all. Chocolate, candy, cookies, cakes and booze – and it’s only Dec. 12!

Of course, part of the blame likes squarely with me. Yesterday I dug out the KitchenAid mixer and whipped up a batch of butter cookie dough and stuck it in the freezer (at some point I will attempt the cookie cutter cookies – mine always look sad, but one of these years I’ll get it right. If only for one little perfect cookie. Even if it’s a Christmas tree. How hard can that be?).

I also made up a test kitchen batch of Chocolate Swirl Gingerbread. I have a tradition of testing out recipes on Cory, Kepi & Roach. Usually I like to give them two things to taste at once – it gives them a better out. If someone really doesn’t like something they can just be polite and declare their eternal love for the other recipe. But as it was, I only had time to complete the gingerbread. Technically the recipe (from Martha Stewart) is a cake, but I wanted to try it out as little bread loaves. The result was a very rich, moist and dense bread – it made three small loaves (or one 8 inch cake)We taste-tested it while watching the Survivor finale (Steph – you lost me for awhile but in the end, I’d wished you’d won) and the assessment was thus: A yummy cake but with a very very strong taste that might be a bit much for kids. In fact, according to Roach, no self-respecting kid would probably touch it because it’s not sweet enough. So, with a heavy dose of molasses, this recipe is definitely rated R. Throw in some rum extract and it’s NC-17.If you want to try it yourself, here’s the recipe

Chocolate Swirl Gingerbread

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan(s)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup packed light-brown sugar

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ cup water

½ cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 oz bittersweet choclate

. Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, ginger, baking powder, salt, cloves, and pepper

. In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the water over medium heat. Stir the melted-butter mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth. Stir in the molasses and egg

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. With a spoon, drizzle half the chocolate over the batter. Pour remaining batter on top, and drizzle the remaining chocolate over the batter in a decorative pattern.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes

Note: Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water or in a microwave. Using a squeeze bottle is an easy way to drizzle chocolate over the cake batter. Drizzle the chocolate in a zigzag pattern over the batter, then drag a knife through the lines of the chocolate, alternating the direction each time.

(This entry, double-posted at Death By Cupcakes)

two weeks (minus one day) and it's time to panic...

I must still be recovering from the cold because I went to bed at 10:30 p.m. on Friday night and didn't get up until 10:15 a.m. Saturday. Then, Saturday night I went to bed at 11pm and fell asleep right away. I almost never sleep that long but as it was, both mornings I still felt groggy - as if I'd been drugged - when I did finally drag my ass out of bed. I only slept until 7 a.m. though because I wanted to go to the flea market.

Friday night was a nice - if short - night because Cory indulged my love for all things childhood with the aforementioned cocoa (which of course was given the adult touch) and a viewing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. I'd TiVoed it from the other night and we both really enjoyed the classic simplicity and the music and the overall sweetness of the show. And then, because my TiVo tries to be smart like that, it was followed by a showing of some modern Charlie Brown holiday special and to be honest we could only make it through about 30 seconds before I demanded that it be shut off. The animation was flat - without any spark of emotion or whimsy - and the voices were all wrong. It was awful actually, it sounded as if Lucy were about to say whatever and Schroeder was going to utter duuuude and if I heard that then my childhood TV memory would be forever tainted. Damn you 21st century and your so-called with-it sensibilities. Didn't you learn anything from the original?

Last night I only read. I did venture out during the day, however - hitting up both Sellout-Buyout and Fashion Fleamarket. Unfortunately the only thing I walked away with was a $5 scarf for myself. 'Tis the spirit of the season, right? Buying for yourself and all...Now, as it stands, I'm still really behind on my holiday shopping...every year it's the same old thing. At Thanksgiving I have nothing but the best of intentions. Come Dec. 11 and I'm starting to pull my hair out in a panic.....

Lovely....but no more shopping today - the flea market and grocery stores were enough. And what is up with the flea market? They had at least 25 percent fewer vendors than last month but the same old high prices (except for that one fabulous half-off holiday table).

OK, time to put on the holiday tunes and get down to some test-kitchen baking....

on gentrification and the middle class squeeze

There's an article in yesterday's Bee (not linking to the actual story because I can't find it) about how Curtis Park residents are very concerned about the proposed developments for the Curtis Park Village that's set to be built in the railyard area behind Sacramento City College.

And I have to tell you, I'm a little concerned about the concern.

While, I completely understand the environmental impact concerns and issues regarding increased traffic congestion - and I do believe that the developers should do everything in their powers to address and take care of these concerns - I am also very excited about the prospects. I mean, anything to help bring the area up is a step in the right direction. Right now the streets between City College and Hollywood Park are really in need of transformation. While some of the owners and residents keep their properties neat and well-maintained, a growing number of the houses in that section (as well as the nearby businesses) seem to be in increasing states of disrepair. And while I'm not necessarily a huge fan of gentrification - then again, we
we're talking about an answer to the classic middle class squeeze - I think it would be nice and, yes, advantageous, to see this area improve.

And I think the Curtis Park Village development could be a factor in that happening. Sure, I'm a little worried about what kinds of generic shops and restaurants may go in there (Panda Bear Express, et al) but really, I'd rather have those businesses then the decrepit money store or shady liquor store that currently take up space on Sutterville.

If the Curtis Park Village means increasing home values for those who already own in the area (a great way for someone to improve his or her net worth) as well as cleaning up the rentals, then the increase in traffic congestion seems like a worthwhile trade-off.

random

Does anyone out there know how to fix the individual posts on Blogger? I hate that if you visit this page via a post's individual URL that the main images don't come up. What gives? I've searched through Blogger's help section with no luck on figuring out how to remedy this.

a little less of this and a little more of that

Egads, i can't believe it but after starting to think I was feeling better, I am actually feeling worse. Mostly, it is just coming-down-from-cold crap, i.e., the sniffles, a headache and a weird shortness of breath. If I were the governor this would probably net me a nice two or three hour rest at my local hospital but I am not the governor and my healthcare coverage only gets me a bottle of Tylenol in situations like this.

I think I mentioned this before but I'm switching health care coverage in January. Not because I want to but because I can no longer afford the equivalant of my current coverage. The type of plan I have now will cost more than twice as much so I'm forced to go with a plan that's still more expensive than what I'm paying now and is also way less comprehensive. What I hate most about this is how they keep trying to sell us on what a great deal this is - how our new coverage is 'preventative-based' and will help us to stay healthy. Basically they're telling us to exercise and eat right (nothing wrong with that of course) so that we don't need to shell out the massive co-pays. Factor this in at a time when we're still getting used to paying a big mortgage, dealing with rising energy costs and thinking about a new life insurance policy and damn if I don't long to be seven years old again when my only concern was that the new house my parents just bought only meant (to me at least) the looming threat of fewer trips to the Dairy Queen.

Ah, money. It probably goes without saying that I wish I had more of it ...but I really can't complain too much. The fact of the matter is that it's 2005 and this year we were able to buy a house and we have a decent savings account and every now and then I get to buy some new shoes or some lovely Lush soap or other random things that prove that even if money can't buy happiness it can certainly buy the illusion of such.

Two weeks and one day until my next birthday ... and I'm hoping that 2006 and my next year on this earth are a little different. A little more focused, a little more realized, a little less full of regrets and a little more lived.

holidailies

Well it is officially day one of the Holidailies deal but as I am still battling this cold I hope you'll understand if I keep the kick-off chit-chat to a minimu. Still I thought I'd at least post something in recognition of the season.

Sunday we put up our new/old 1960s-era aluminum Christmas tree. It was a bit of a project because it came without one of the rubber stoppers and so until Cory was able to rig up a temporary fix it looked quite like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree - all tilted and wonky.

Cory took this photo of it shortly after he was able to get it to stand up straight. The picture was taken using the black-and-white setting on his Motorola camera phone. Sophie, as you can see, is very intrigued by the new addition to the household. Last night she ran underneath it and managed to bring the tree crashing down with the superpower forces of her wonder tail.

Sadly now, it is Wednesday and the tree still looks like it does in this photo (bare - not black and white, silly). It's naked and shivering without a tree skirt or ornaments. The hope is to get either some blue or red (one or the other) glass balls and a matching topper and skirt. Also, we need to dig through the garage and find all of our holiday decorations. Other than the bare tree and a lone felt elf, the house seems very cold and un-Decemberish right now.

Actually, that is not entirely true. I am making Laura's Cranberry Bread right now so at the least the house smells festive.

Also, am I the only one out there who keeps humming the word "holidailies" to the tune of Madonna's "Holiday"? Probably

feeding time

Yes, I'm still here...but I'm off work this week and sort of enjoying staying far away from the computer as much as possible.

My brother Stephen gave us a bird feeder a few years ago and we finally have a good place for it at this new house. In the last month or so the birds have been going through their supply of seeds and nuts like crazy. I was wondering why they were suddenly eating twice as much as before - we've gone through half of an eight pound bag since last Friday.

And today I realized why - they've got company at the trough. This little fella spent the whole morning noshing in our backyard. Luckily, the birds don't seem to mind and, for the most part, are content to use the feeder right alongside their squirrel buddy.

And that's it for now...just enjoying days to myself (including one in SF yesterday), the rain and spending quality Desperate Housewife time with my cats.