Hi Spidra! New Year's resolution - more Buffista time. That's what I'm talkin' about.

I remember Spidra.

I remember you, Spidra! I remember something about ball gowns for San Francisco Halloween parties, especially.

Stroopwaffel is just a fun word. Good thing they're actually tasty too.

"Cowboy up" is a phrase that got introduced to Boston in the context of baseball playoffs. (Where do you buy a cowboy hat in this city? I have no idea.) I don't know any other meanings it has -- Connie, can you fill in?

Hi Spridra. Um, I don't remember.

Hi Corwood. You know I had to check to make sure you weren't *actually* Jandek.

Hi everyone!

Stroopwafels are now kaput, ge-esst. It's the holiday season and as per usual I got hired in the "red-headed stepchild dept." Yesterday a box of Scharffenberger arrived from folks I help to folks I help in another dept. I think I'm going to need to rely on my woman on the inside to get the crumbs from the holiday bounty around here. On the bright side, after 2.75 years working here, I got my first holiday card from someone.

It's a lonely dept. Customers tend *not* to send holiday gifts. I'm thinking I should switch to a department with clients and vendors instead. :-)

Also on the TV front, I just read that "Action" will be coming out on DVD in late February. I never got to see the whole series before it was cancelled but what I saw of it was funny and promising.

I remember Spidra, too. Hi!

Also, I am wearing a skirt that is a sheer flowy knit material over a solid (tighter) knit material. i have had this skirt for a long time.

There is a run in it! Like, a run in my stocking, but in my skirt! It is very strange.

Just heard something about elections in Iraq and that got me thinking that there is some serious need of election reform here. I still have a hard time believing that the top election official in Missouri could legally stay in that position while running for governer. Also, I couldn't believe that I would mention that to people and they didn't see what was wrong with it. At the very least you shouldn't have a candidate in charge of an election that he is actually in. Crazy.

I don't know any other meanings it has -- Connie, can you fill in?

From what I gather, "cowboy up!" has its origins in rodeo, from the cowboy climbing up on top of an animal for a bucking competition. I think it's one of those things officials say when it's time for the cowboy to get ready. I'm not sure if it's specifically bull riding or broncos. Its general connotation is to having the cojones to do something tough and dangerous.

(I've learned to talk in "western speak". I've been in The West too long.)