Good Morning World

It's absolutely beautiful out. The weather forecasters say mostly cloudy with a chance of misty rain. There is not a cloud in the blue sky, the sun is shining down on the profusion of green. All in all, the perfect example of an early Spring day in the South.

The camellia bushes have bloomed, and there are buds on the azaleas and the confederate roses. I drove past a patch of cheery little daylilies yesterday and the sight of them made my day.

I'm off to DC in a couple of weeks. The conference hotel is the Omni Shoreham, where you walk out the back door and head about 3-4 blocks to get to the National Zoo. Yay Pandas! Although the baby has gone back to China, the 'rents are still there. Can't hardly wait.

Plus I'm taking the train. Le Boyfriend is mightily jealous. I've promised I'd bring the tickets home so he can fondle them, but he says that would just be cruel. We'd like to do a real DC tourist trip ourselves one day soon and will likely travel by train to do it. $86 one way from here to there. And the station is seven miles away. The only downside is having to meet the train at 2 a.m., but that's not enough to ruin the experience.

All in all, life is pretty good.

Hello

lonely little space. I think of you often, with guilt and despair. Alas, the creativity muscle has not flexed, with the exception of pounding out grant applications one after the other these past two months or so.

We will think of Spring, as we should, as a rebirth of sorts. Where shall we go? On flights of fancy? Make this a little outpost of whimsy and distraction in the noisy space that is the Internet? It's worth the attempt.

I am not saying I will try. Yoda (great philosopher that he is) said 'Do or do not. There is no try.' So I resolve to do.

Happy

Chinese New Year!

Turns out I am a Yang Wood Tiger, and as best as I can tell from Chinese astrology predictions on the intertoobz, this will be a somewhat up-and-down year for me.

Way to hedge your bets, guys.

Snow Update

We measured and it looks about five inches in the front yard. It's already melting off, although it will be awhile before we can move the cars. I see a bubbly pot of vegetable soup for supper.

Snow!

Lots of it. Started around three and is forecast to continue through midnight. We'll get some pics in the morning and post. Y'all stay warm.

Super Bowl

Yay for the Saints! They outplayed, and outfoxed the Colts, all the way around.

The commercials: The ones that didn't suck outright were uniformly unfunny, violent, and jaw-droppingly misogynistic. A man that goes shopping with his wife/girlfriend has no spine? WTF? Did we time-travel to 1972 or something?

The halftime show: How does a band get so bad they butcher their own music? It would have been more entertaining if Pete Townshend had gone down with a broken hip. A case where time-traveling to 1972 would have been an improvement.

The announcers: Uttered gems such as these-'they've practiced really hard for this game'. Really?! Sentient insight there, fellas. /snerk.

Hints

There's a little more green, and a few buds of new life to be found on the trees and shrubs around here, a hint of the Spring to come.

It's been a really cold Winter for these parts, with a lot of rain. But there are other hints of the new season to come. Such as pitchers and catchers reporting in 11 days. And Daylight Saving Time rolls in on March 14th. The change is already noticeable, with daylight creeping in a bit earlier every day and creeping back out a bit later in the afternoon.

Knocking out a few chores here around the house this morning, and we'll be tuning in to the big game tonight. While this is an all-Peyton, all the time time house (SO is a Vol through and through), I can't help but root Geaux Saints!