Holidays

Christmas was pleasant but relatively uneventful. I made another quiche Lorraine and bought a cheesecake; they'll both last me for four days. I bought Ben a new food dish (thereby reclaiming one of my saucepans) and got a number of special treats from PetSmart for both dogs. Unfortunately, some of the treats didn't sit well with Murphy's digestion, leading to some rather unpleasant cleanup, but for the most part they were well-received. I also took the time to actually read Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which was interesting. Parts of what Dickens describes - especially the appearance of the Spirit of Christmas Past - are literally unfilmable; oddly, perhaps, the film version which comes closest on that Spirit is the one with Mr. Magoo.

This morning I made pancakes for breakfast. (Not from scratch; I used store-bought pancake mix.) It may be that I've done it before, perhaps when I was in Scouts, but I don't remember doing so. The experiment went reasonably well, although I'll have to remember to add more butter to the pan after each pancake. (I aim at pampering myself during this break, making different kinds of breakfast; omelettes and bacon-and-eggs are also on the menu over the next days. I've also completed two games of Civ IV, getting my earliest win ever - 1926, playing as Louis XIV.)

I'm currently reading Palace of Desire, the second volume of Naguib Mahfouz' Cairo Trilogy, and Maasai Days, by Cheryl Bentsen. That last is rather sad, a picture of a culture in apparently irrevocable decline, but very interesting. (I should probably put up some of the reviews I've been promising, and the next Ramble. Soon, soon.)

Unkind Fates

Sigh. The Fates are against me.

I'm a fan of the late lamented series "Everwood". I have the first season on DVD. Unfortunately, word has it that the other three seasons will not be coming out, for reasons having to do with music rights. Fortunately, ABCFam has obtained the syndication rights and is currently showing the series in order M-F, and I've been recording them on my own DVDs.

My understanding is that, on the first run-through, the episodes will be uncut. The ice storm earlier this month cost me three episodes. I'll catch them next time around, but - if my understanding is correct - I'll have missed my chance at getting them uncut.

As of yesterday, ABCFam is showing two episodes a day. I did not notice this, and I've therefore missed one more episode. At least I caught it in time not to miss any more.

I guess what's griping me as much as anything is that the episodes on my DVDs will be somewhat out of order. It offends my ordinologist's soul.

Grumble.