Year's End

Now winter downs the dying of the year,
and night is all a settlement of snow;
From the soft street the rooms of houses show
a gathered light a shapen atmosphere,
Like frozen over lakes whose ice is thin
And still allows some stirring down within.

I've known the wind by water banks to shake
the late leaves down, which frozen where the fell
And held in ice as dancers in a spell
Fluttered all winter long into a lake;
Graved on the dark in gestures of descent,
They seemed their own most perfect monument.

There was perfection in the death of ferns
Which laid their fragile cheeks against the stone
A million years. Great mammoths overthrown
Composedly have made their long sojourns,
like palaces of patience, in the gray
and changeless lands of ice. And at Pompeii

The little dog curled and did not rise
But slept the deeper as the ashes rose
And found the people incomplete, and froze
The random hands, the loose unready eyes
Of men expecting yet another sun
to do the shapely things they had not done.

These sudden ends of time must give us pause.
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
More time, more time. Barrages of applause
come muffled from a buried radio.
The New-year bells are wrangling with the snow.

1) Written by Richard Wilbur
2) Probably my favorite poem
3) Very appropriate for today
4) Try and guess which lines are etched into my skin

Photographtastic

Merry Christmas

Well, today was a lovely day. I think we were true to our original theme of "Christmas After Dark" and we also came up with a few themes along the way today including "Photographtastic", "Africa", and "Punk'd". What's even better is that no one really ruined Christmas and we all got to be together as a family. It's a Christmas miracle.

Christmas Eve

The animals are able to talk at midnight.

Seasons Greetings

It might be too late...But I think this should have been the Cartwright family Christmas card this year.

So Close

I got all of my Christmas shopping done today. This is exciting because I don't have to go back over by the mall anytime soon. The traffic there today was not pretty and I have a feeling that it will continue to get worse and worse until Christmas Eve. Just to let you know, make sure your blood sugar is good and that you have quality music to listen to if you are going over by the mall. I do still have things to mail off and gifts to wrap, but that should be no problem at all. I'm especially a big fan of creative wrapping. Watch out!

C is for Cookie

We may not make 1,000 cookies this year, but I'm sure they will be just as tasty. After all these years, my favorite kind of cookie that we make this time of year is the peanut butter cookie with the Hershey kiss in the middle. Do yourself a favor and go out and buy some or make some or just somehow get them into your life and into your stomach.

Comfort Zone

The thing about sweat pants is...THEYAREAWESOME!!!

I don't mean to keep making excuses for missing blog entries, but when you get to be with ALL of your family for the first time in a long time blogs are not on the front burner of your mind.

Here are the four kids!

Christmas Cinema

There are several holiday movies out there from "It's a Wonderful Life" to "Elf", and while I do enjoy traditional Christmas movies like these it's sometimes nice to switch it up a little. For instance there's "8 Femmes" it's a French musical/murder mystery that takes place in the French country side when a family (of 8 women) get together for Christmas. There's also "Angels in America". If you have 6 hrs to spare I highly recommend this HBO special that's out on DVD. I always watch it around Christmas even though it has very little to do with the holiday it still evokes all of the necessary emotions of a Christmas movie and it's just really really good so you should watch it anways. And finally there are the Christmas specials of your favorite TV programs. I'm a fan of the Office and 30 Rock holiday specials as.

Fail

Oh my goodness, I forgot to post something yesterday, but to be fair I was distracted with making hot apple cider and welcoming visitors from out of town. I was so close, I really thought I could do it. I'm still not gonna give up, but seriously, it's like only a week from Christmas. That's really close, and I haven't done any Christmas shopping. And while I think going on a date to Tim Hortons with me is a great gift, I've gotten some less than enthusiastic responses from folks. Looks like I'll have to think of something else.

Today I got a craving for gummy worms and peanut m&ms...not separately, but eaten together. It is really good. I first tried this combination of sugary treats when I was reading "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. In the story Lolita goes on a road trip across America with Humbert Humbert and it talks about all this junk food that she's eating. I was inspired by this and combined my gummy worms and m&ms and it was awesome. Not many people can say they have a snack inspired by a great literary text. I still wish I had some right now, but I don't.

Poetry

Here is a poem that I was reading today, I opened up the book and there it was.

Saint Judas

When I went out to kill myself, I caught
A pack of hoodlums beating up a man.
Running to spare his suffering, I forgot
My name, my number, how my day began,
How soldiers milled around the garden stone
And sang amusing songs; how all that day
Their javelins measured crowds; how I alone
Bargained the proper coins, and slipped away.

Banished from heaven, I found this victim beaten,
Stripped, kneed, and left to cry. Dropping my rope
Aside, I ran, ignored the uniforms:
Then I remembered bread my flesh had eaten,
The kiss that ate my flesh. Flayed without hope,
I held the man for nothing in my arms.

by
James Wright

Part One

I got the first part of my tattoo done. When it heals, in about two weeks, I will go back and get the rest filled in. This tattoo is a lot of firsts for me...It's the first time I've gotten a tattoo in Ohio (all of my other ones were done in Indiana), it's the first time I've gotten a tattoo with out Kylie, it's the first color tattoo I've gotten, it's the first time my parents knew ahead of time that I was getting a tattoo, and it's the first time I've gotten a tattoo in a month other than March or July. It's my new favorite

Twelve

It's interesting how a month named for the number ten is so linked with the number twelve. For starters it's currently the twelfth month in our calendar. There are twelve days of Christmas and Christmas is celebrated in the month of December. On his album "December" George Winston has twelve tracks. Perhaps there are more links between the month of December and the number twelve, but I am far too tired to think about them now. So, happy 12/12 everyone.

Kenji Hirata

Coming soon to a household near you.

Dead Presidents Come Back to Life

Today while Cailtin and I were on our way to a sushi lunch date we were stopped at a light and next to us was an Abraham Lincoln impersonator eating a banana. We knew he was a professional impersonator because 1) He looked exactly like him, I mean I really only know what Lincoln looks like from money and 2) He had a decal on the back of his car advertising his impersonating services. So, this holiday season if you want "Abraham Lincoln" to spice things up at your office party...do some google research 'cause I didn't get the chance to take down his info.

Dang!

So, the last few blog entries have been pretty lame. I was sort of hoping this wouldn't happen, but for now I'm just gonna have to apologize and do a better, more interesting job next time.

Back in OH-IO!

We collected Caitlin from the airport this morning and shortly after hit the road. A couple few hours later we're back home. It's nice to be back and it's even nicer to have Caitlin home.

Driving to DC Today

...and we're off like a herd of turtles.

Blah

I was busy this morning baking donuts, and busy this afternoon getting ready for the Clifton Mills Winter Fest Craft Show. Therefore I had no time for a nap. Someone has their grouchy pants on...it's me. Also, I need to get ready to head out to DC tomorrow. I'm am very excited about seeing Caitlin though. Can't wait.

It's Everywhere

I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas music, and this time of year it's nearly impossible to avoid. However, there are a few exceptions. I am a fan of Sufjan Stevens' "Songs for Christmas". He mostly does hymns and songs of that nature like O Come, O Come Emanuel, Angels We Have Heard on High, and Come Though Fount of Every Blessing. He also has some original numbers with festive names like It's Christmas Let's Be Glad, Put the Lights on the Tree, and Did I make You Cry on Christmas? He also has a gem in there called The Winter Solstice so all you Wiccans will have something to enjoy. It is a really good five part album. Check it out!

Fierce

Today is Tyra Banks' birthday. I was under the impression that she never aged, but I guess I was wrong. I am happy to discover that she is a Sagittarius as well, I knew there was a special bond between us. To celebrate I'm going to wear a wig and smile with my eyes.

I'm ready for snow. We've certainly got the cold, now let's get the picturesque views to match.

Artistic Corn Holes

Last night I was hanging out in Yellow Springs and was looking around in this art gallery I had not been in before. It was in one of the stores in King's Yard, it had been various other stores before...I think it was a music store at one point...anyway, the art gallery was not too bad. There were some really nice photographs taken of downtown Dayton and the Yellow Springs area, there were also some nice paintings, and some really really tacky things as well. I think my favorite thing in the gallery was a corn hole set. Painted on one board were a bunch of dinosaurs drinking cocktails and playing corn hole while a meteor headed toward them. On the other board were two naked people (Adam and Eve maybe) in an outdoor setting holding a snake with a dead coyote on the ground with its throat slit. Genius. We still have not decorated our corn hole set, I'm feeling pretty inspired.

The Cash Cab Rolls On

I am a big of fan of the show Cash Cab on the Discovery channel. Every day from 5-7pm I am watching it and yelling out answers at the TV. It's like my version of "my soaps", "my stories", "my pictures"...you get the idea...I was thinking that it would be cool if the Discovery Channel did like a Cash Cab for Charity where they had various Discovery Channel personalities stationed throughout the city. Ben Bailey could drive around picking up people like the Mythbusters, Bear Grylls, Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs, and so on each one waiting to be picked up at the next location. I mean, I feel like these guys are pretty smart and who doesn't love giving money to a good cause. Think about it Discovery Channel ('cause I know you read my blog).