(I will NEVER understand Carcasonne. It makes me cry. I have no idea what the point is, how to strategize, or how one "wins.”)

I just make pretty maps. I never win. Owen wins.

Yes! Javachik got us an awesome (and massive!) board game with all possible expansions. Great gift.

Which one?

I've soured on Settlers, courtesy of games with people who took it way too seriously. Never been that keen on Carcassonne either. I understand that Settlers is somewhat improved by the Cities and Knights expansion, but I've never had a game. I do quite like a spinoff called Elasumd (in which the robber is replaced by pirates, which impressed Emmett at least).

I love it when billytea talks animals.

My birthstone is opal. I love opals. Why oh why don't I own any? That's just silly of me.

I am still battling this sore throat and it's driving me nuts. I think I should go to bed and get some sleep.

My mom's middle name was Katherine and it wasn't until she was getting her social security card sometime in her late teens that she discovered her birth certificate had Catherine. It wasn't a miscommunication between mom and dad, but rather the doctor decided that Catherine was the one true spelling.

My mother had a similar issue with Elis/zabeth. Her mother wanted it spelled the English was (with the s), but whoever filled out the paperwork went with the American spelling.

For my whole life, when singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, I've always envisioned the "water spout" as a gulch or gully, not a gutter spout. Pretty sure this is due to the desert upbringing.

These are the profound thoughts that pass through my head when doing my hair at 6 am.

Pumpkin, MK and Loki all slept in my bed last night. Was a first for the 'Kin.

If MK and I didn't both need meds at 7, I'd be at work. That's kinda sick.

My birthstone is the peridot. I have one on my high school class ring. At least, I think I do. I'm not sure where my high school class ring is, or even if I still have it.

Whoa, did everybody already see this?

On the Craig Ferguson show, on Halloween he had Amanda Palmer perform "Science Fiction Double Feature" backed by Moby, Neil Gaiman and Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields).

Now that's what you do when you've got the bully pulpit. Well done, Craig.

No one ever told me I was pronouncing Gaiman wrong. Oops.

Feels like another baking day. Pumpkin cookies, I think.

I'm peridot, and I've never liked it. Too yellow-greeny; I wish it were emerald.

My mom is opal, and has lots of pretty opal jewelry. I am a touch superstitious about it. Plus, opals are really delicate; she's cracked and lost a lot of them.

Fish sex! Inneresting!

D is down sick for a second day, poor guy.

Modern rocking horses.