santa had a kitteh fail...

well, since we weren't able to bring coco chanel the tuxedo cat (yes, that IS her full name) home for christmas, i figured i would post a picture of a kitteh analogous to spikers t. cat on christmas day. (that is, before i go back to bed to placate the mono gods)

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
don't worry, there will be pictures ALL OVER of coco as soon as she arrives (her stocking is still ready for her...
yes, we began shopping well before christmas for stocking stuffers for the pets (stop laughing all of you who don't have pets as cute as ours...), but we found their major presents at big lots the night before christmas eve. a specialized nesting blanket for dogs...yes, i'm not kidding, hamilton has actually started a "westie nestie" trend, even among dogs that aren't fortunate enough to be westies...and some kind of springy, noisy toy for spikers. typically, spikers is totally NOT impressed, but hammy loves his westie nestie blanket, and he has used it extensively already.
the above picture is the most accurate impression of how spikers t. cat feels about his christmas present. after playing with the bags and boxes for a little while, he retired to the gray chair, which just happened to have my coat with a (fake) fur collar exposed for optimum cuddling. hmmmmmm....
for us humans, christmas was great--lots of eggnog, champagne, and presents. i'm looking forward to a gossip girl seasons 1 & 2 marathon while reading the book written by the show's stylist, and shawn will be busy recording vhs and dvr programs onto dvd...last, but certainly not least, i will be sporting my new trench coat and then coming in from the cold to watch our collection of EVERY episode of home movies ...
here's to an equally fun and pet-filled christmas for everyone out there...
bisous, and good luck in the after christmas shopping sales!

i just can't resist!

catching up on my hulu while working down in the lab today (it's so quiet, i keep it on in the background), i had to stop and watch this...i know, i know, don't say it...but i can't help it! i guess when you're NOT a "stoner", you can have fun watching????

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Snoop Dogg
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

just a little holiday happiness...

my favorite holiday song, hands down! for so long, i only had the audio version, and i was so jealous of the people actually in the audience because i couldn't see exactly why they were laughing. of course, if you listen closely to dean martin, you can surmise why they are laughing...but i still wanted to see it for myself.
love it!

mystery and excitement!

it's funny how some words or phrases can evoke such different emotions at different times in your life.  i've been thinking about that a lot as exam week has descended upon us here at clemson.  when i was an undergrad, exam week was the most frightening thing i could ever have imagined.  i remember the night before my first french exam during my first semester at furman, sitting in the little common room of our freshman dorm hall, when i found out that there was actually a grade point average differential between an "a-" and an "a".  at that point, i was convinced i was going to be a pediatrician--thus i was a biology major--but i was taking an intermediate french class, and i wanted to make sure that i got an "a".  (hello, kelly, extreme anxiety about an elective class????? time to change your major, perhaps?)  so i emailed my professor and then showed up for the next exam (at 8:00 AM) to ask him if i could take it at the later time--he looked at me like i was crazy and, of course, agreed (since he had already given us that choice earlier in the week and said it didn't matter).  and, here, a belated thank you to dr. patton and dr. allen for EVERYTHING that they taught me, both about french language and literature, and about how to be a caring and effective professor...
flash forward quickly through the horror of the 500 organic chemistry flash cards accumulated--to no avail--over a semester, and i come to the night that i spent in furman hall with various friends (i was in the room THAT long) while studying for the 18th century literature exam--but this time it's not a memory of panic, but of pure happiness while diagramming the different interpersonal relationships of les liaisons dangereuses on the board and making sure that i could recite what happened in each letter throughout the book (and helping several people with severe relationship crises off and on).
unfortunately, grad school seemed to have killed that pure bonheur, as the next memory i have is of wearing a pink t-shirt while editing (for the thousandth time, because maybe then i might understand the fundamentals of what derrida meant) my first lit crit paper.  the memories of anguish and anxiety over grad school final papers continue (but attain a normal level after my arrival at emory), but then segue into a memory of thinking, 'final papers?  pleeeaaseee!  i wish!  how about a dissertation defense!'
anyway, now the relief from the other side of the desk is palpable!  what a great feeling!  but, oddly enough, anxiety still exists...even though now it's that of a teacher for her students, it's just a different kind of heart-rending, and makes me want to give out hugs for extra credit just before the exam...

"adult figures charging toward a concrete toadstool"

after spending several hours cleaning the house (kitchen--hands and knees to scrub the floor...NOT the princess i wanted to be...i prefer aurora, thank you), everything smells so nice (candles in every room!) and i'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of shawn's big christmas present...it's supposed to arrive today, and so i'm hoping that it will get here before he arrives home from atlanta.  unfortunately, when i went down to the basement today to get the wrapping elements, i realized that there wasn't any paper--just gift bags.  so, the wrapping and arranging under the tree will have to wait, but the possibility of the personalized presents that i ordered arriving all week is so exciting!
[pause for noise of ups truck sound...i know, very ironic at this moment, but i promise...]
yea!  both shawn's and rick's gifts are here!  i'm so excited!  looks like there will be a trip to the store soon to get some wrapping and tissue paper!  (as well as some thank you note cards for my tooo generous colleagues...i'm still flabbergasted by my holiday surprise!)
anyway, for all of you ladies out there, in the vein of holiday gifts for yourself, here's my top recommendation...mostly i'm posting this because these boots engender a wildly thankful and exciting feeling in my soul every time i wear them.

i absolutely didn't think that would be the case, but i'm telling you, they are the break-out shoe purchase of the year (for me, at least).  be warned, however, if you do succumb, you will have a major decision to make every morning--wear the magic boots, or wear something that matches?  the bright side of which is, of course, that you have so many blessings of different kinds in your life that this CAN be a major question...

"best knowledge of disaster damage prevention and favors to ask of you..."

this was the start to my morning today...ironically, this one actually looks like spikers t. cat a little bit!  with the colder night temperatures, the hibiscus plants have to come inside, which apparently causes some sort of metaphysical crisis of conscience for spikers.  the last couple of days he has actually been pretty good about not chewing the leaves, but as soon as i opened the door this morning to go get my shoes, he shot right in there and just starts gnawing away at one of them...as if he didn't have two full bowls of food sitting in the living room.  so, predictably, about 15 minutes later as i'm walking toward the front hall, all of the leaves reappear.  we'll leave the description at that, but i'm just wondering where is the sharp animal behavioral instinct in this process?  it's like there's absolutely no recollection that, 'hey, dude! every time you do that, you get sick!'  what is it with the leaves? even on the rare occassions when he's in the room and NOT eating the plants, you can tell he is constantly aware of their presence...there's a sort of tension that vibrates almost unperceptibly throughout his little body.  well, i guess that the only thing to do now is to just keep shaking the coin can when we catch him, and be proud of him for having such a passionate devotion to something...

ok, so here's the deal...

i am not sure what happened over thanksgiving break (especially since only one day of it was really resting), but i have been completely loathe to rejoin the normal living world over the last two days!  and it's not really anything specific...that's what is so weird...i like coming in to work, i like doing things around the house...but i really just want to stay in my living room and read novels about monks and look at our christmas tree, with an occasional outing to the grocery store for pinot grigio while listening to david sedaris on cd.

what gives me pause is the fact that it's not a desire mutually exclusive with any other activities that i can or have to do this week.  i like coming to work and i like running errands on my way home, but both of those desires subsist equally with the desire to stay home and look at a tree.  a fake one--decorated with the biggest, gaudiest lights available at wal-mart.  yes, all of you who thought that would never happen...i have become a less-than-semi-regular customer at wal-mart.  perhaps i'll post about that later...i'm still coming to terms with the vying capitalistic practices versus the centrality issues, i must admit...trying to work it all out in my head...

anyway, here we go, embarking on another flurried tuesday afternoon, preparing for the wednesday when there are multiple classes to teach and the computers in the lab seem to equate "hump day" with "done day"!  i guess we are all waking up from break and getting ready for the next hurtle through exam week...