ita, this looks lovely. There used to be an edition of HCA illustrated entirely by Arthur Rackham, as well as one by Edmund Dulac, but all my searches of currently in-print books so far haven't come up with anything but books of just the illustrations, no actual tales.

b) HEY! Not grumpy.

(at least right now.)

::checks watch::

How about now? Then how about now? Now?

But she was still suggesting that people not you would be the nicest. Otherwise, why look elsewhere?

As one of the creators and sustainers of this board, ita exists in my mind as larger than any mere list of the nice. She contains, encompasses, and surpasses that list (and is a major arbiter of who does and does not belong on it) and cannot therefore be contained within it, any more than a champagne bottle can be contained within the champagne which it itself contains. It's a whole Beyond Good And Evil thing, only with niceness.

Are you grumpy now?

It's the noodly appendages.

Hm, all I've got to counter that is hot dogs without buns on Fridays.

Timelies all!

I....got nothing else. (Sad, huh?)

Grrrrr. Sewer people did not come today, so I'm on yet another day of Do Not Flush/Brief Shower restriction. I think I may put the overgrown shrubbery to nature's original use by way of protest.

Are you grumpy now?

Only about Matt's sewer people.

Do you get a discount or something, Matt?

Thanks for the rec, JZ.

I'm thinking of making a Christmas card out of a photo of my discolored, peeling bedroom ceiling and sending it to my landlord. I know I'm pretty patient about maintenance issues, but it's been months since the Katrina-spawned thunderstorms with no further leakage that would prevent cosmetic repair.

Do you get a discount or something, Matt?

I think I'd get a "just be glad you're on the third floor." I know there are hazards to living in beautiful old buildings, but I'd prefer not to have using the public restrooms available in my slummy area of town be one of them.

Thanks for the rec, JZ.

Bear in mind, she's still angling for those Eyes episodes...

I've already committed to the Eyes episodes, and just asked for her address to mail them to her. Admittedly, a little behind my stated schedule, but if a concussion doesn't buy me a little time, I think her angling for the nice list fails quite miserably.

Your downstairs neighbor should send you a "thank you for not pooping into my apartment" bouquet of flowers, Matt. Seriously, you're being really nice about it all.