Bodrum

Herodotus was from Halicarnassus and the author of the book The Way of Herodotus, Justin Marozzi, visits there, now called Bodrum. It's now a posh resort and he's sort of put off by the place.

I am looking through an old House & Garden magazine this morning and there's a little travel piece on Bodrum and how fabulously glamorous it is.

Lots and lots of snow............

Lesser evils

My son was harassing me about wanting to go to the store to buy a Lego set. "Can we go to the store to buy a Lego set? Pleeeeeease." So I told him, "Watch TV." So now whenever he wants to watch TV he asks for a Lego set.

Yoda and Herodotus

Yoda: Teach yourself to let go of the things you fear to lose.

Herodotus: He tells a story of the tyrant of Samos who was very fortunate. The king of Egypt advised him to get rid of his most prized possession to protect his good fortune, so the tyrant did--he threw his most precious ring in the sea. The ring was fished out by chance and brought back to him. At that point the king of Egypt did not want to be his friend anymore because the tyrant's downfall was now sure and the king didn't want to have to feel bad for him. And yes sure enough the tyrant was soon after killed.

Booth and employee surveys

Booth: "I would know if she loved me."

Employee surveys: you would know if your employees loved you.

Another John Krasinski dream

We worked together and he asked if I wanted to have dinner. And I sort of had to pick between him and another guy and I was definitely leaning towards him.

Sisters and shawls

I'm making my mother a shawl because she mentioned in passing that her sister has ten of them--meaning that she doesn't have ten. I asked my own sister some styling advice, whether I should use an accent color, and she said, "You know she won't like it anyway." Because my mother never likes anything and has been known to reject--yes, reject--gifts.

I showed it to my mother and... she didn't like it. She said she likes things with sleeves.

I told my sister and she said, "And you're shocked!" She told me so.

Glistening foods

A break from the routine

I put whipped cream on my son's hot chocolate instead of mini marshmallows. He was very pleased--he still displays joy freely.

The Delaware Water Gap

Route 80 runs through it.

December 31st, 1979

There was a That 70s Show episode on tonight that took place on December 31st, 1979. I remember where I was on December 31st, 1979.

Present from my son

He said he picked the prettiest bug.

Overheard from an Admin

"You know I don't care about money and all that stuff but he's my boss and you know what he gave me for Christmas? A box of Lindt chocolates, that's $7, and [inaudible], that's $15. He spent $20!"

Clearly, that was too little to spend on her.

My son the child of divorce's Christmas lists

At his father's house:
1. Lego Batman-Arkham Asylum set
2. Lego Indiana Jones-Temple of Doom set
3. Lego Batman-The Batcave set
4. Lego Indiana Jones “The Adventure Continues” video game for PlayStation 2
5. Lego Star Wars “The Complete Saga” video game for PlayStation 2
6. Lego Batman-Bane and The Riddler’s Hide-out set
7. Lego Batman-The Joker’s Ice Cream Truck set
8. Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars-Assassin Droid Speeder set
9. Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars-Anakin and Ashoka’s Y-wing fighter set
10. Lego Star Wars The Clone Wars-Pirate tank set
11. Lego Indiana Jones-Campsite Duel set
12. The “Marvel Superhero Squad” video game for PlayStation 2
13. Lego Spongebob- Good Neighbours at Bikini Bottom set
14. Lego Spongebob- Build-A-Bob set
15. Lego Spongebob- Emergency Room set
16. Lego Star Wars- Midi-scale Millennium Falcon.

And at my house:
1. Lego Star Wars- Death Star set
2. Lego Star Wars- The Battle of Endor set
3. Transformers- Optimus Prime
4. Transformers- Metroplex
5. Transformers- Wing Saber
6. Transformers- Leobreaker
7. Transformers- Cybertron Defense Hotshot
8. Transformers- Megatron
9. Transformers- Starscream
10. Transformers- Crumplezone
11. Transformers- Dark Crumplezone
12. Transformers- Ransack
13. Transformers- Ransack GTS
14. Transformers- Scourge
15. Transformers- Nemesis Breaker
16. Transformers- Undermine
17. Transformers- Menasor

He knows he won't get everything but he believes that the more he puts in the more he will get, and every year he puts in more and gets a smaller percentage.

Serious Jedi insult

You think with your light saber.

I like being the boy that I am

My son.
What kind of boy are you?
You know, nice... friendly...

Because I would not stop for gas

it kindly stopped for me.

Funny things

are sometimes sad.
Sad things are never funny.

There's always someone

who wants you to do something different.
Or at least differently.

I dreamed about John Kraskinski again!

And I really don't spend that much waking time thinking about him. Really!

This time it was a long dream. Pam was pestering him about their future together and I was needling them, "Isn't it great to think about the future?"

Then Michael decided to go on a road trip to a village in the French countryside, the most adorable village, and we all drank wine at an outdoor cafe.