Link: Now that's a love story.

I'd love to give you a top three, but I only just filled the second of top spots in the amorous genre. Finally 'The Princess and the Warrior' has met its equal in 'Angel-A'. Don't worry gents, it's not mushy and there are karate chops. Don't worry ladies, there are subtitles and heels. Please rent this flick, you won't regret it.

P.S. Will someone please teach me how to post links in the body of my blog not only in the title?

Link: To Burn or Not to Burn Nabakov

The part of me that gets my mind set on something I love, ( like talking to Zeb and calling him oh, ten times until he answers) thinks that I cannot live unless I read Nabakov's last, unfinished manuscript, perhaps called 'The Original of Laura'. The author of this article felt the same way until he put himself in another's shoes...
Now I'm torn and would like to know from you... What should Nabakov's son do?

An update: If you prayed, thank you. A mere seven hours before I was quite out of a job, therefore quite desperate, I got a phone call from a little downtown real estate office asking me to man their phones for forty hours a week. The last minute did not surprise me, in fact it seemed appropriate for God. During these weeks I still had to work on patience (not flipping out), but I was given an answer before I reached despair. For the first time in years I have a regular schedule, bonus, Z and I have the same schedule. We don't quite know what to do it's so great. We're finally feeling settled and at rest.

Christmas

It was a good Christmas after all. I was a little worried. All our friends left town. It was just the two of us. I was worried it'd be no different than most other days off, we'd sleep in, take a walk, read a little, make dinner, play poker and go to bed. True, there would be the half an hour of presents in the morning, which would be very very awesome, but other than that, what would make it compare to the many day hoop-la I'm used to at home? Somehow it compared. Somehow it still felt like Christmas.
We continued some traditions that I grew up with: a midnight Christmas Eve church service, then Christmas morn Zeb wasn't allowed to get out of bed until the Christmas music played. Then we had to clean up the whole house before we could open presents. I heard my eternal childhood question echoed in Zeb's voice when, after ten minutes he said "Is the house clean enough yet?"
We made presents stretch out as long as we could, examining each one for at least ten minutes before we moved on to the next. Zeb was in kit heaven. I had sent out a sly email saying what a sucker he was for kits and hot sauces, my family took me very seriously. He received a hot sauce making kit (just add garlic, peppers, oil etc), a fudge kit (just add butter), a beer making kit (just add water - this won't be the best of beer), a put up your feet and relax man kit (just add chips), a golf ball monogramming kit (add golf balls), a cigar kit and another five or so other bottles of fancy hot sauces. As I said, he was in heaven.
I received many wonderful things, my favorite being a beautiful new, long, warm coat from my husband. I had been eyeing it for quite some time on the J Crew website. Zeb says it makes me look like a ninja which is his highest compliment (I translate it to movie-star in my head). I loved it so much that we had to take a walk right away and we spent a nice hour down by the water.
By this time it was mid afternoon so the west coast was finally up and the virtual Christmas began! First there was a flurry of texts to an from everyone we knew. Then we were put on speakerphone while my family opened the gifts from us. An hour later we received a video of those same gifts being opened, and we could even hear ourselves on the phone. The best part, the video camera turned toward the computer and we could see and hear Valerie live in Germany on Skype! We sent pictures of ourselves and our gifts to Oregon, and it actually felt like we had all participated in Christmas together.
We finished the evening, of course, with steak and poker and our new Alison Krauss Robert Plant CD. We watched 'The Nativity Story' in bed and we said, 'That actually felt like Christmas!' A new kind of Christmas, but it was still filled with family, cozy pjs, thoughtful gifts, good food, and the birth of Jesus. To answer Camille's question, yeah, it was a good Christmas.

Whoa Baby!

Welcome Caleb Henry Temple!!!!!!!

Link: "What's Wrong With The American Essay"

I used to feel guilty about my apathy toward essays. Now I feel vindicated. Spineless essays are evidence of a greater malady.

Way Too Excited About Our Christmas Tree

It seems like such a big step, like owning your first car, or inviting another couple over for your first stab at entertaining, or buying life insurance. It's not a little table-top Christmas tree to get by until we get to mom and dad's where there's a real one, it's large and sappy and it makes this little third story flat feel like a legitimate household, and me feel like a legitimate adult with responsibilities, like, say, watering the tree every few days.
I'm pretty proud of the decorations. They all, in total, cost $10 from the Dollar Tree. They only go half way around the tree but really, if I hadn't told you you'd never know. Who snoops around the back of a Christmas tree anyway?
Josiah (or was that Natalie and Joanna?) and mom have asked for pictures of the apartment, my excuse for taking a few too many pictures of the Christmas tree is that I need it from every angle to give you more views of the room. When the dining room, bedroom, and kitchen get anything near as cool as a Christmas tree I'll take pictures of them too.