:: december, 2011 ::
I'm serious about Saternalia, thinking of "that of God" (Quakerese) in Roman culture, from the vantage point of Mt. Tabor and the aqueducts leading into it. The architecture looks old English, but echoes still older.
Some District of Columbia wants us to cover them over, like with domes. Like Alaskans and Californians, Oregonians don't always follow orders from this non-state calling itself a "district". Cascadia has its own forms of nationalism / bioregionalism.
The Hanukkah party featured little hand crotcheted hats by Alexia's David. We discussed various medical conditions and treatments, affecting old and young among us (each a different case). Conversation roamed into comedy, that of Louis CK and others. We exchanged gifts and ate latkas.
Xmas itself was a low key affair featuring immersion of the household, especially Tara and I, into living room movie watching: Gattaca, Alice in Wonderland (Disney's newest), Primer (twice: once with director commentary), The Great Debaters, Rocket Science.
Glenn came by Xmas morning and shared the rest of the cinnamon french toast. He gave me a set of DIY books for home maintenance. Nothing about building a TV studio per se, but an overlapping skill set for sure.
Jen and Melody departed south and north respectively, to rendezvous with their families.
At intermission, I downloaded Stellarium to the laptop and projected the night sky to the south. Tara and I then stood on our south-facing porch and identified Rigel, Sirius, Betelgeuse, Procyon using short term memory.
For dinner, Tara and I adjourned to the very busy Fujin, one of the few restaurants serving, along with Mt. Tabor Cafe. Earlier on Christmas Day we took Sarah Angel to the reservoirs and surveyed the city from about half way up. We'd planned to hike to the top, like the Nallys had, but it started to rain.
Cousin Mary's visit before Xmas Eve was a highlight. She regaled us with stories at the Bagdad. She and I had Moroccan Coffees (alcoholic) while Tara got the crumble dessert (which all sampled). We discussed our wide ranging family and friends, Tara's college process.
Tara couldn't make the Solstice Party (nor the boat ride with Barry). Dawn used to host a big one, ever since our first taking up residence together on Rhine Street (not far from Aladdin Theater). We'd invite lots of Quakers. As I was mentioning around Burma Night, Dawn would have integrated well into our Food Not Bombs community. The gathering at Satya's was epic, though I didn't stay long.
Through all of this, I'm putting in my hours along the Python track, making sure students stay busy. They can work on ahead without me, but if I kick back for too long I just have that much more to catch up on. Staying up all hours is a theme around here though.
The Blue House is a lot like a submarine, with someone always awake. We don't "burn the midnight oil" so much though -- we only have the furnace on a few hours a week.
