Happiness really is a warm puppy.

Did Christmas at Chez mamapduck with her and her family.
New house is huge.
New kitten is Evil. (Because all cats are Evil. Like the Frewitt of the Devil.)
New puppy LOVES ME. 

Cheesecake Version 2.0 came out great and was made to vanish. It doesn't need crystallized ginger and I could've ramped up the amount of fresh ginger I put in and it still would've been good.

Barefoot Bubbly Zinfandel turned out to be quite decent, especially as mamapduck  prefers sweet to dry.

Her Husbandman does make the best waffles ever, and with ginger syrup, whoo hoo.

Ho Ho Freaking Ho

This morning's headache finally went away.

Answered an email inquiry from a cosplayer about Saionji no Spike's stylin' tate-eboshi.

Registered online for 8 weeks of taiko classes starting up again on 1/5/09.

Watched The Boxer with Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson, which was pretty good and may actually offset the brain rot induction of A Christmas Story and Lord of the Rings movies from Christmas.

Went to Office Max, foolishly believing the vicious lie on their website that they stock the Fujifilm F100fd, but picked up ink cartridges for my printer so it wasn't a completely wasted trip.

Went into Berkeley to Moe's. Last month I saw a book in the art and antiquarian room. I invoked shopping karma at the time, promising myself that if I had the money after Christmas and it was still there, I would get it. I am now the delighted owner of The Heian Civilization of Japan, by Rose Hempel, (Oxford, Phaidon, 1983) ISBN 0714822957. I also scored a $9 copy of The Tea Ceremony by Seno Tanaka (New York, Harmony Books, 1977) ISBN 0517530392.

My cell phone rang while I was paying for my books. I went back to my car and called voicemail from the relative quiet of my front seat - I am getting just deaf enough that trying to use a cell phone with street noise in the background is more trouble than it's worth.

It was James, calling to wish me a Merry Christmas. I rang him back. We had a nice visit via phone. He reminded me that his and Sylvia's wedding is May 9. I assured him that yes, I planned on going. Then he asked me if I would be part of the wedding party. On his side.

I'm a groomsman! How cool is that?