well, Christmas eve certainly was interesting. never spent part of it in an emergency room before. mom slipped and fell in the kitchen, hitting her arm on the barstool. the resulting bruise/blood blister was so nasty looking that a trip to brmc was in order, we all thought. the doc on call basically laughed us out of the hospital for being hypochondriacal (?), but better safe than sorry.

aside from that, things were good. the absences of madame matthews, mademoiselle phlegar, and monsieur bucher were notable and for the most part regrettable (translation: debbie and laura had to stay in pennsylvania this year. oh yeah--patrick did too). rick and pam, gran, aunts and crew were all about. the food was great, and the presents were better; lots of dvds for me this year! no snow, unless you looked at the top of the mountain. eh.

the holidays wouldn't be the same without booze, and I've discovered that I like white port. but I'm worried that drinking it is in bad taste, much like imbibing white zinfandel or wine spritzers. so don't spread it around.

jamie oliver = hot. I just watched him wash a cucumber. why can't my eyes be that blue, or blue at all? since that's not technically possible, why can't contacts agree with me more?

some guy online was talking about not being "biosexual." what the hell is that, wanting to hump flowerbeds? idiot.

the house is going bump in the night. either the dog or the ghosts are restless. either way, I'm used to it here.

I've loaned mum my copy of brideshead revisited until my birthday. that's brave of me, I must say. speaking of birthday, my amazon wish list isn't going anywhere. haw haw. hee haw, even.

speaking of hee haw, minnie pearl would be in bed now. I'll try to be more like her. well, the way she was. not now. she's dead. I'll sleep. not the big sleep. just a little one. a night's worth. or thereabouts.

hershey's take 5 is the best candy bar ever. I haven't been so profoundly affected by a confection since my first fizzy bottle cap. everyone buy lots of them, because if they're discontinued I'll lose my will to live.

I wonder if I shouldn't talk with my friendly shrink about my views on sex, as it has come to my attention lately that they're skewed to a distracting point. I've always said that sex is sex: no strings, no violins, just 2+ people making each other feel nice. I've certainly had my share of encounters like that (the exact number is classified info, not to mention open to interpretation--besides, I like being a man of mystery). I've got no regrets, and feel no shame. but when I hear about other people behaving all freaky, I can literally get sick to my stomach just before I climb on my high moral horse. and there's not a lot I haven't done, so on top of nauseated I feel hypocritical. it's like I feel so threatened by sex--maybe because I've never been afraid to use it as a weapon myself. doctor jekyll and mister hyde warring within. could be I do have regrets. are they about what was or what might have been? I just wish I could stop making it such an issue.

that said, my current sexual behavior is perfectly respectable. by liberal standards, anyway. thank you very much.

now that it's available on dvd, I recommend that everyone (especially john irving fans) rent the door in the floor. good stuff; the section of the novel that it adapts is the most faithful adaptation I've ever seen. hmm...petrified fountain post? it's been a while.

I never create anything anymore. my goal for the upcoming week is to write something, even if it's just a freakin haiku. or take a few decent pictures. the mental stagnation is intolerable.

speaking of intolerable and/or upsetting things: stupid forsyth county getting the new dell plant. grr. also, almost as bad as "kewl" is abbreviating people as "ppl." grrrrrrr.

almost time to pack up the pussoir and head for the hills. and a hap-hap-happy holiday to all!

today's word to the wise: don't let the cowboy hat fool you.

st. peter's basilica has a coffee bar.
fuh-nee.

ha! how perfect.


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great weekend. went with justin, josh, and rachel to the matisse/picasso exhibit at the nc museum of art in raleigh. I love museums. great works of art--even mediocre ones--intimidate me, but stir me in such wonderful ways. and seeing them with rachel is even better, since she seems to know which ones I should find intimidating! then to cheesecake factory for dinner and southpoint for final (theoretically) Christmas shopping.

you know, I hate to rain on anyone's holiday parade. and I hate even more to sound like a right-winger; anyone who knows me well enough to be reading this knows that I'm not. but I have real issues with non-Christians celebrating Christmas. I understand that, regardless of religious beliefs, it can serve as a time for togetherness and goodwill and family and all that good stuff. but for so many people, the only excitement to be gleaned from Christmas seems to come from exchanging gifts, decorating, and eating slightly better food than usual. take away the religious aspect of the holiday and there's not much left. it seems so hypocritical to me that there are people unwilling to acknowledge Jesus' greatness yet will use His birth as an excuse to party. I'm by no means intolerant--you'll never catch me trying to convert my atheist/agnostic/Buddhist/Wiccan/what have you friends. and voyage isn't going to turn into "scary Christian blog." it's just this one thing that bothers me. chalk it up to another one of my weird quirks.

I really will try to upload some new pics to my webshots account soon. I just need to snap and scan a few more.

jeremy's product endorsement of the moment: zilactin. you can feel that stuff working.
jeremy's product condemnation of the moment: cetaphil. jeez, plain water does just as well.

undecided on new year's plans. I actually DON'T have to work on either the eve or the day, so something's gotta happen. ideas?