Back to Work?

Haha, I would be back to work after my two weeks vacation, but have contracted just about the worst stomach bug imaginable and the only place safe for me to hang around right now is cyberspace. Work will have to wait.

But welcome back anyway, boss....

There was a point to our most pointless national holiday in recent memory. We used the last two days, with its record-breaking temperatures of 83 and 86 degrees, to lay mortar and brick, see "Munich," and gather fallen leaves. (Trees have no calendar. The live oak leaves fall prematurely this year; the tree thinks it's spring because of the unseasonable warmth.)

Today we will eat our "New Year's Day" dinner. Christmas dinner this year was on Dec. 26. We now live by our whims, desires and appetities. The calendar is only a guide to the seasons, not a dictator of our days. This freedom to choose and live spontaneously is glorious and divine. We flaunt conventionality with the unconventional.

Nothing seems very conventional anymore. Grass fires swallow towns whole in northern Texas. What was once home in the woods of northern California is now submerged, battered by Pacific storms and swallowed by rising flood waters. The Russian River knows no banks, the heavenly spigot doesn't know when to stop. Nature rules--not man or woman, and it has always been so.

Pointless holidays are by far the best. The worst is, like Thanksgiving, when you supposedly have a "day off" but really there's more work and more stress than on a regular workday. [Oh, I guess that most men are saying, "Thanksgiving is work?"] Christmas, too. There's a lot of work involved in creating that Christmas experience. But New Year's Day is great, no obligations and since I don't suffer from hangovers I always get up early and go for a nice leisurely jog and then do Whatever I Want for the rest of the day. This year was extra good because the Day After the Day After New Year's Eve was also a Free Day. I was totally free to do whatever I wanted. I had one thing on the to-do list, to take down the Christmas decorations--and I waited until 9 p.m. to do it. The only bad thing about the Day After the Day After New Year's Eve is The Day After the Day After the Day After New Years Eve, i.e., today, i.e., Going Back To Work.

Speaking of Russian rivers, there is a spectacular exhibit in Baltimore on religious and secular artifacts from the medieval Russian city of Novgorod. See the Post's favorable review:

I'm glad you're finally embracing the idea that the Achenblog can be a real moneymaker for the WaPo.com. Any you.

If you've ever listened to the radio coverage of the Washington NFL Franchise games on WJFK, they do indeed slip sponsorship into individual plays. I believe that I even heard a sponsored commercial break at one point...e.g. "This two minute warning sponsored by..."

Still, if you ever want to see sponsorship run amuck, try to sit through a televised NASCAR race.

bc

It appears that a new protocol disallows weblinks. The Post's review by Paul Richard of "Sacred Arts and City Life: The Medieval Glory of Novgorod" was printed on 22 Nov 2005 on page C02. The exhibit is at the Walters Art Museum through 12 Feb 2006.

Happy (civic calendar) New Year to all.

Sorry JA, but I just couldn't get into the spirit of your Year of Me scenario. Don't get me wrong, many of the individual pieces fit me to a tee. I can hold on to a grudge like Superglue (when I can remember whom I'm hating) and grab for the drumstick with the best of 'em, but somehow the whole concept made me feel so very very David Spadeish, and that is territory I will not enter.

Reader, to make Thanksgiving a fun day, break out of the traditional mold. One year we rented a house at Chincoteague with some friends and took all the food to the beach with us. It was sort of adventurous to cook a big meal for a bunch of people in a strange kitchen with everybody helping, searching the cupboards for a big pot, etc. Another year we had a tamalada. Eight people standing around the kitchen table making tamales (chicken, pork, veggie) for about two hours, then gorging on Mexican food. The keys are- full participation, nontraditional fare (this reduces the comparisons to Grandma's stuffing, etc.), no TV (an absolute must if you want full participation). I've always kind of liked Thanksgiving because it's only in our country, no rampant consumerism is involved (or at least not much), and it doesn't jump around to make a long weekend, it's always on Thursday.

That does sound like fun, K-guy. I'll be coming to your house next year.

My first SCC of the year from my 9:59 AM comment. The second sentence should read: "And you."

And so it begins.

bc

I treated myself to a good calendar that would add panache to my workdesk. Having been affected over the past year by Achenblog, I purchased the 'Forgotten English' Calandar.
Its going to be a good year. January 1 word of the day was

"scurryfunge: A hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbour and the time she knocks on the door. " John Gould's"Maine Lingo: Boiled Owls, Billiands, and Wazzats, 1975"

Scurryfunge underway as I prepare for company.

I'd have had an easier day yesterday if I'd gone in to work. First, there was the assembly of a standing above-the-commode cabinet/shelf system. So simple. So obvious. All one needs is a screwdriver. But then it gets tricky when you try to get it in place, what with the plumbing down there, don'cha know. And then the anchors to hold the thing steady against the wall won't work, because the thing doesn't lay flat against the wall. And so on. Hours pass. Today, it has a note on it, reminding folks to treat it gently while dad tries to find time to go to the hardware store.

And then there was the annual, festive removal of the exterior holiday decorations ...

Just saw Pride and Prejudice yesterday at the bargain movie ($3!)--and I loved the scene where company arrives unexpectedly and you can see what five women can do to transform a room in ten seconds.

Scurryfunge--don't know if the word will catch on, but the concept is very familiar.

Scurryfunge is a good one alright, but what is the word for someone who straightens and tidys because the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow?

Have you read David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest"?

One of the novel's conceits is that the calendar itself has been sold off to corporate sponsorship... hence 2006 will now be known as "The Year of Depends Adult Undergarments", 2007 as "The Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar", etc. An excellent read.

As is your blog, Joel... have a great new year; I expect you'll have plenty of inspiration.

http://www.mcn.org/1/rrparks/fortross/

Since Historian is with us today, and because I believe few Easterners know the history of California, I have provided a link to Fort Ross. The Russians, involved with the fur trade were almost as numerous along the northern California coast in the late 1700s and early 1800s, as the Spaniards were along its southern coast.

The first year that we were married, I stopped with my husband at Fort Ross for a long historical tour and stroll. My husband was furious when I volunteered him for cannon duty but I believe that when his involuntary conscription was over in one of the fort's towers, that he had a lot of fun.

I suspect that the early presence of Russian hunters and traders is how the Russian River, in the beautiful forested area north of San Francisco, gets its name.

New Years Eve accomplishments: Installed new faucet and garbage disposal for new sink in new counters.

New Years Day accomplishments: Touched up paint on kitchen walls damaged by removal of old countertops. Read Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Dismantled artificial Christmas tree. Removed and stored festive holiday exterior decorations.

Day After News Years Day accomplishments: Declared January to be National Just Read More Novels Month (see my blog for details). Started, but did not finish Flush by Carl Hiaasen. Visited Borders and bought two more novels. Returned to Home Depot unused supplies purchased to install faucet and garbage disposal.

Very successful three-day holiday weekend.

If you could swing by my place, yello, I could use a hand with a few things.

Kguy, the Year of You had elements of a Pack of Lies, at least the first 85 percent of it. You know I don't believe in the old "make 'em laugh, make 'em cry" tactic, but prefer the "lie to them, then tell the truth" formula. By the way, I think those David Spade commercials are funny, if weirdly mean-spirited and "sick" as we used to say circa 1973, but how many people come away with any desire to have a Capitol One (sp?) credit card? Or even associate the commercials with Capitol One?

LindaLoo, I stomped around the Fort Ross area in August when searching the San Andreas Fault, which passes through the Russian Orchard just up the hill from Highway One. Some of the original fruit trees are still there, along with giant redwoods that in some cases grow almost in the fault itself and show signs of having been decapitated by violent shaking. One tree had three violent jogs in the trunk, as though it had endured, over the centuries, three massive quakes. Cool stuff!

Randy Walters: I can boast that I own Infinite Jest, but haven't cracked it, it's kind of intimidating, a real door-stopper, like 20 pounds of literature, not for the amateur. Worth the effort?

Been meaning to get to "Anansi Boys", loved "American Gods" (and pretty much everything of Gaiman's since the "Sandman" days).

I enjoyed "Flush" a lot, and saw a preview for the film version of "Hoot" when we went to see "Kong".

I, too had a long list of home and auto repairs, improvements, and maint. for the holidays, and got through most of it. Haven't taken down the Xmas decorations yet. Or put away the laundry for that matter.

bc

Bayou Self,

I do not think you really want my help. My wife is always skeptical when I insist on doing things myself rather than call in a professional. My area of expertise, meaning where I am least incompetent, is plumbing. A few years ago I replaced all the bathroom sink faucets and shower valves which involved learning just enough soldering to be dangerous.

Painting I have less talent at and try to stick to areas visitors won't see or doesn't require anything taller than a 6 foot ladder. Anything more involved than those things, I swallow my pride and let my wife hunt down handymen or contractors.

I work in an office of do-it-your-selfers and I am routinely humbled by their tales renovation derring-do.

So there is a chance, Joel, that you will include product placement for credit instruments?!!

Can some of your regular bloggers become co-spokesmen for specific products and services? Possibly I could do the Louis Black Signature Starbucks Travel Cup Latte.

... that, or possibly Essentials Cookware from Calphalon.

Joel, I've been meaning to ask you:

Have you ready any of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle?

bc

People don't need time off, the schools in dc 'refuse,' cell phones substitute for parents. These comment come from Mars, or from some where just as distant. Joel, you don't mean to imply that your children go to DC public school do you? Achenblog, please leave off the 'enblog.'

The Day after the day after New Year's Eve was probably the only day I had to myself during the my entire vacation. I stayed home with a book and enjoyed listening to the rain from my warm spot inside. And I beg to differ, hangovers can last well through the Day after the Day after New Year's Eve, as has been the case since I was about 28.

TA, I did the same thing.....listened to the rain on my tin roof and read The Picture of Dorian Gray. My one and only hangover was at age 15 when my friend Bobbie, whose mother was out shopping, and I drank jelly glasses filled to the brim with vodka (replenished the now half-empty vodka bottle with water thinking her Mom wouldn't notice). The first few minutes were wonderful, filled with giggles and joy. Then my body said "Au contraire" and violent upchucking began. Short story, my mother called my father at work "Edwin, your daughter has been drinking alcoholic bverages". She NEVER called him Edwin, it was always "Eddie". My father NEVER missed or left work early, but he did that day. Hilarity did not ensue. Not only did I have to face the wrath of my father, but then I had to confess this sin to Father Wangler at Saturday Confession. He'd always been so kind to me and I hated to disappoint him. I kept going to the back of the line of confessors awaiting their turn, until finally I was the only one left. My penance was a full Rosary instead of the usual 3 Hail Marys.

The "Year of You" column is similar to a shorter but more humorous version of the modern minor gallows classic "How to Ruin Your Life" by economist and Hollywood personality Ben Stein. Satire in the mode of Jonathan Swift is all but extinct, so anything in the ballpark is a surprise.

Joel could hit the literary equivalent of endless ground rule doubles through his science columns, but with the occasional pieces on travel, history, culture, and popular mores he lands the triple and even the odd inside-the-park HR.

Joel,
The whole area from Fort Bragg (where I almost accepted a teaching position) south to Jenner is special--and I do remember your post from Bodega Bay.

But curiosity has the best of me as a native Caliornian, and the weirdest writing by you from California was the restaurant with the jail and the waitresses with cow-pattern aprons and attire. Can you tell us in what town that particular restaurant was located?

How neat was it that you went to the Russian Orchard and saw the San Andreas fault there--of course, that particular fissure was the goal of your visit, yes? If only we as a couple had had more time to explore--I say this every time I myself drive north out of the Bay Area.

We swam in the Russian River at the elbow turn just before it empties into the Pacific. The huge sea lions scattered in good number up and down the beach and their lusty chorus were the treat that particular afternoon.

The California in the 70s theme from last Friday:

Cyra McFaddden in 'The Serial' got it down on paper better than anyone else. (And the book's waaaay better than the movie.)

Joel, may I be so bold as to suggest that the 12:42:47 comment be deleted? I'm guessing that the person who wrote that comment is not affiliated with activistmovies.com and has done a disservice to the owners of that site by including the link. I know you can't be expected to police these sorts of things, but I do feel bad for the people who run the site -- and who actually seem to be trying to do something good for the world. (And no, I am not affiliated with activistmovies.com).

Anyhow, belated birthday wishes to you and to RD Padouk, and a Happy New Year to all.

(Also, get well soon, LP.)

OK, Back to Lurk for me.

*setting a placeholder while my travel-addled brain tries to catch up with the boodle*

Happiest of New Year's to all, BTW...

kguy, dr is what you call the person who cleans before the cleaning lady comes. Its ok if she thinks we are freakishly neat, and very important that she never know we really are piggys.

I refer to the season between New Years and spring as renovation season. I regularly go to the church of the unholy renovators (Home Depot) for inspiration. For my spouse, this season is referred to as misery.

Yesterday was a great day off since it was icky outside. Lousy Smarch weather.

LindaLoo, that place was in Paso Robles, CA.

About the query of whether my kids go to DC public schools: Two out of three do. All three have for most of grade school. It would be tricky for a newspaper reporter to be able to afford 3 private school tuitions in this town.

dr, this is a peculiarly feminine kind of thinking and the ultimate product is a cycle of guilt and near sterilization. Maria comes to clean the house every other week. My dear wife feels compelled to clean the house because "Maria is coming tomorrow." Maria feels she must justify her fee by finding dirt under the furnace and inside the light sockets and God knows where else, and neither of them is able to stop the madness. Oh, and yes Maria is a Latina, and no we're not exploiting her, she makes a very good living at what she does to judge by the MBenz sedan she drives and seems to be quite happy, perhaps because she's not drivin' it on the freakin' Beltway at 5pm. I'd change jobs with her except I cannot even see some of the dirt she seems to regularly find.

dr, you are so sensible to do your renovation work in the first quarter of the year. At my house, it all seems to be done during December, with predicable disruption of holiday plans. 2000 was the Year of the Kitchen Remodel, a horrible process. Thank heavens it only took a couple of weeks...nothing like having the contents of your kitchen cabinets under the Christmas tree! This year it was new windows, so the Christmas tree had to be on those pads you put under furniture to move it for quick location changes since it was in front of a window. *sigh* But the new windows are very nice.

From the start of an op-ed piece I ran into today ...

Brave new resolutions to get you through Jan. 24
Consider trying not to look like sausage in casing

By ELLEN NOTBOHM

BRITISH psychologist Dr. Cliff Arnall, a specialist in seasonal disorders, has calculated that Jan. 24 is "the most depressing day of the year." The last of the holiday cheer is gone, the weather is awful, the holiday bills are starting to come in and almost everyone has already fallen off the New Year's resolution wagon. Maybe that's because we are all sick to death of trying to turn over the same old new leaf every year. Lose weight. Get organized. Spend less. Quit smoking.

Mark your calendars!

Bayou Self, we must find a way to make Jan. 24 the HAPPIEST day of the year on the Achin' blahg, don't you think? We can just focus on happy thoughts, like: Only two more excruciating months of winter!!!!

FYI, I kitted.

Or at least only a week or so until Groundhog Day.

The thing is, after 50 the NYD hangovers last two days. So you need that extra day to return to being functional. Think of the body as an aged Buick Skylark and be grateful the muffler still works.