I love to ice skate. I should organize a skating night this winter. There's a small rink near my house.

Because they last for years and years and are hella comfy (if you have the right foot shape). They are worth the investment, IMB(oots)O.

I've owned a pair since 1994. I wore them daily when backpacking through Europe, so walking several miles per day. I wear them hiking (albeit not very often) and anytime that I know that I'm going to be on my feet for while, because they are so damn comfy. Haven't worn them so much in the last 5 years or so, but that's a function of lifestyle, not the shoe.

Why are Docs so spendy?

oh, try Nordstrom rack. I picked up my three hole ones there.

and I have to share an annoyance. I just bought a very cute tuxedo jacket and little flippy skirt (on sale!) However, the jacket was really wrinkled, like can't wear it wrinkled. I asked if they had another in the back. they replied "that comes in a box, they're all like that, you'll have to steam it" I'LL have to steam it? the fuck? I was very tempted to leave it, but it was a damn good deal. I hate it when my cheapness overrides my desire for good service.

Mmmm, Sean's menu is making me hungry.

26 below.

Eeep. I didn't much like those temps. Particularly the toes thawing. Ouchy ouch ouch.

They all make the cooking look so easy, but I am terrible at multitasking

At least half of the comments on any given Rachel Ray recipe on foodtv.com begin with "This took me over an hour!" so you're not alone in that. (I imagine it's easier to make a 30-minute meal in 30 minutes when you have the entire Food Network prep kitchen staff testing and streamlining recipes for you, and an on-set crew making sure that nobody's "helpfully" put all your wooden spoons away in a drawer you only ever use for dish towels.)

t Simon Pegg voice Skip to the end... t /Simon Pegg voice

whoo for Sean's mad kitchen skills! Whoo for Brenda being gone from CrazyLand!

Home. OMG. The trip was... well, it was.

(delete crazy whining babble here)

Anyway. Hope all is well in Bitch-ville! Off to shower and scrub off the remnants of Merry Old England and put on clothes that I haven't worn more than 3 times in a week.

Nora!! Glad to hear you & Tom got there and back safely. Sorry for the trip mainly being a case of "living in interesting times", but it sounds like it had enough ups for the downs.

Gee, Nora, that sounds more like the Bataan Death March than Christmas cheer.

Like, ND, I have to advise you to Not Make Yourself Miserable During The Holidays For Family Obligations.

Feel free to flap your arms and say, "But we have to!" but my advice still stands.

Announcement:

Tormenting the cat never gets old.

Cooking turtle bean soup with leftover hamminess. Smells good. Will also make cornbread.

Or you could get all the free music off Buffistarawk, you know.

I didn't know we had this! COOL.

Serves me right for never going into Music.

Ok, where the hell is it?

Nora, I'm sorry it was so fraught. But it's good to be home and able to relax.

Sumi, heat goes up, not down, so I wouldn't worry about heating the basement. But if you can cover the radiator holes with cardboard or meat tray styrofoam and a rug or something, you'll stop the basement cold from leaking into your space.

My favorite skating music? Anything by Miklos Rozsa. No, seriously.

Our rink was a member of the big federation of American competitive skating rinks (roller), and hosted competitions at least twice a year, with our skaters traveling to other rinks several more times a year to compete.

I took dance and beginning school figures, but never had the physical ability for figures, neither singles, pairs, nor fours.

But that's what I always wanted to skate--fours. Two men, two women, with routines that were not simply mirroring pairs, but with moves and tricks that required four skaters to complete. Never got to do it, though.

My best memories are actually of things like finding the girl's room too full to change, and swapping my shoes for skates, latching my case and using it for a stool to put my skates on. Or using the funeral-home freebie sewing kit from my purse to baste an unmoored string of sequins on someone's costume back into place, or providing a spare pair of tights or boot covers in an emergency, or cutting the broken lace out of a skater's boot and relacing it between their free style routine and their dance number.

I remember holding my breath when Alice went for her double loop, or cheering when Fred and Ann's tango blew everyone else off the floor. It was a family, a small, quirky circus family in the middle of my church-and-school-going life, and it was marvelous for me.

I also remember mastering the dance turn, the shift from forwards on the right foot to backwards on the left, and back again. And the break at the hip and ankle in the lean that Fred and Ann did, and no one else seemed able to learn. The sensation of flying, of speed, of perfect balance and a kind of invisibility--the problems and life-difficulties I carried in my short, chubby little body fallen away in grace and speed. I was so rarely graceful, skating was like magic for me.