Happy New Year, everyone!

juliana right exactly here, in the Bay Area -- I am wriggling with happiness. Speaking of which, juliana, can you poke Perkins and tell her to check her gmail, please? Unless she's all muzzy and hungover and likely to snap your poking finger off.

Hec neglected to mention the most singular characteristic of the candles at the French Catholic church. They were mechanized electric candles: drop a quarter in the slot and the little light goes on, I'm not sure for quite how long. The prayers that accompanied the quarter-dropping were sincere, but the electric lights felt a little odd. I plan to light some actual flamey candles with actual matches the next time I'm at my own parish.

Beth, I hope you stay better. How odd.

Ginger, I have no advice as to writing or not writing, but here's to a better year this time around. And you are soooooo right:

WS, have him put in writing that you shouldn't evaculate when a fire alarm goes off and you will own him forever. What a great story that would be in the local news.

If they haul me down to the office I shall do so. OSHA is on my list of people to contact if there is real trouble, more than just the blow-hards blowing hard, at work over this. Let 'em yak. They can't take the sky from me.

JZ, I am muzzy and hungover, but I also responded.

For Irwin, I have been told, this behavior had predictible results when he engaged in it while in Arizona.

'kay, colour me intrigued. (I don't think that Arizona is exactly likely to be the most dangerous locale in which Irwin has bounded around poking the fauna, though - having seen him scampering blissfully around various snake-riddled bits of Africa, and indeed plunging into shark-filled waters and yanking pregnant sharks by the tail. He's forever getting bitten - and when there aren't any bitey things around, he seems to contrive to get attacked by thorns and rocks and trees and chainsaws. It has to be some sort of kink. By this point his body must be mostly scar tissue.)

So what happened in Arizona? Is it too much to hope that someone jumped in and intervened on the behalf of the beleaguered wildlife, and marched him quietly away?

eta

Oh, hell. I've just been over to the Crocodile Hunter site, and I find myself utterly disarmed. Again. I can't really mock Steve Irwin. I do find his wholehearted love for all God's creatures so entirely sincere that - I just can't take the piss. He's one of the very few people I feel convinced would be welcomed into heaven no questions asked. 'course, he'll probably end up there as a result of bounding gleefully after one too many impatient & poisonous critters, but... bless him.

Weird on the electric candles. OTOH, a guy I know is in hospital with burns and a broken leg after his family's house burned to the ground on the 25th - from a menorah candle.

Weird on the electric candles. OTOH, a guy I know is in hospital with burns and a broken leg after his family's house burned to the ground on the 25th - from a menorah candle.

Eep! This church was founded in 1856 but burned down in the 1906 quake. I wonder if that was a factor? Though they did use regular candles during the service.

Coin-operated Church.

So what happened in Arizona?

Not sure whether it was in in Arizona, but the great bit that I saw was when Irwin was holding a rattlesnake, and he sat down on one low rock in order to place the snake on a second low rock in front of him to display it for the camera, only to discover a second rattlesnake coiled between his feet--within six inches of his bare calves and about 12 inches from his crotch.

He froze, very quietly murmured "Shit!" and scrabbled around for a stick. He got out of it without a bite, but his expression was priceless.

Happy New Year. I watched "Serenity" last night, and found I liked it better than the show. Have no idea why. Maybe things just hit different ways at different times.

Howdy!

They were mechanized electric candles: drop a quarter in the slot and the little light goes on, I'm not sure for quite how long.

That is just wrawng.

Your French day sounds wonderful. You guys sound like the romantic-est couple of all time for doing playful stuff like that. And it was very nice of you to light candles for folks.

I'm once again tempted to hibernate in bed all day. I really ought not do it. I've got so much work to do here trying to put things to rights. Construction is still going on but some rooms are mostly finished and I've gotten the go-ahead to put furniture back, take off tarps, etc. But considering that the stuff was shoved around in the first place by 3 or 4 able-bodied men, gimpy little me is not looking forward to cleaning up after them all by my lonesome. Hence the urge to hibernate.

Tomorrow I work the Down Home Music inventory so I won't have time for my own stuff tomorrow. Then it'll be back to work. So I should really do more today.

Coin-operated Church.

Thank you. I now have to scrub my brain forEVER.

Happy New Year, peoples! I'm not hungover (I didn't drink last night), but I *am* tired. The Cold That Will Not Die is still kicking my ass. Maybe a nap is in order.