I'm just back from the 10 day holiday mirth tour in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I took a very nice Christmas/holiday wallet raping this year. Seriously...I'd say in the range of $3000 with travel and entertainment worked in. It's only money I guess and I am certainly feeling the joy of giving. Chase and MBNA will also enjoy the joy of my giving throughout the months to come.

Here's a good holiday/in-law story for you. Since I met my midwest in-laws in 2001, my father-in-law and brothers-in-law have had a nice run at jagging me for enjoying hot tubs, jacuzzis, basically bathing in general. "Real men don't take baths". Whatever, honestly the jagging doesn't bother me and certainly won't keep me from a nice warm sudsy tub. Then yesterday I was packing up for the trip home when I heard my father-in-law scolding my brother-in-law (who will be 30 in a few months). When I asked the wife what that was all about she said "Oh, he was standing up to pee. My mom can't stand when men piddle on the toilet seat so she insists that all men in this house sit down to pee." Huh, interesting. After I finished packing I enjoyed a nice long bath. And after learning the rule of the house did I comply? What do you think? I am a man after all...

This morning the wife and I were running late (7:45 departure) so we hit the subway at maximum density. We load into the car with 400,000,000 other people and immediately notice that I had rammed right up into Mandy Patinkin. We share that "huh, a famous person on a packed subway during rush hour. why exactly?" look and then go back to staring at the floor. Sitting in front of us is a kid about 18 or so coughing and sneezing like a freak. He's got a hanky but he's still spewing. About 3 seats down is a 250+lb middle aged woman wearing a Kmart style faux fur parka (with hood up), mittens, scarf, cheap knock off Gucci sunglasses and carrying 3 bags (New Yorkers know the type, there's at least one of these women on every train at any given time). She notices the kid hacking and starts yelling "Young ma-an, young ma-an, please don't bring the flu onto the subway. Don't you know people are dying from the flu. Please, get off at the next stop, please don't make us all sick." (accent ala George Costanza's mother) Then, right on cue, the kid leans forward, looks at the woman and says "fuck you, you old bitch, you're gonna die soon anyway." Mandy looks my way, we share that "only in New York" shake of the head...and go back to staring at the floor.

Oh joy, courtesy of thespark.com I learned today that I will likely die on May 19, 2023 at the ripe old age of 53. Most likely cause of death, according to the spark, will be cancer followed by a nice risk of heart disease and an off chance of alcoholism. After my office holiday party last night, I'd say alcoholism may take me much sooner than 2023. Then, I rise this morning to an angry wife who claims I was misbehaving while I was sleeping last night. I'll leave it at that but she was not amused. She assumed that my poor dreamstate behavior must be credited to some lewd office party shenanigans. As if...I work in a vacuum and the only shenanigans going down last night are payable to Chase at $135 (my bar tab.)

In the process of locating that bar link right there, I came across this. Click the link at work with your speakers nice and loud. You'll bust up the whole joint.

Good old friends Shiny Around the Edges and Duluth ambient masters If Thousands have put out their marvelous 8 song Shiny Thousands holiday project. And guess what...it's a gift, 100% free to download (CLICK HERE). Shiny's rendition of California Dreaming is brilliant as are the harmonies and slow drive of In the Snow. A holiday gift indeed, this is dark beautiful material. Though don't think Shiny have seen snow in quite some time (though If Thousands certainly have) this project was written for a dusk blizzard, December 26. The mania of Christmas is past. The snow is beautiful but it's getting dark and the empty post holiday feelings are bearing down while the melodies of the season slow in your mind. Download this gift now and check out the rest that Shiny Around the Edges and If Thousands have to offer. Michael and Jennifer will likely not see snow again this year as they relocate Shiny from LA to Denton, TX but have hope, stranger things have happened (like that foot of hail in LA a month or two ago....bizarre!).

The Brits poisoned me with their version of the common cold (notably more annoying than our version). I've tried to put it off with booze, curry and a mass of over-the-counter dope but nothing's working....hence neither am I! Cheers...and may this cold and flu season spare you.

Hey. Back from London. Over 14 hours in the air offered a lot of reading time. The wife had recently finished The Da Vinci Code and suggested it as a fairly interesting and easy read for 37,000 feet. As a "publishing guy" I've been aware of this book, it's 4.3 million copies in the market and #1 amazon.com sales ranking...so what the hell must be worth a few lost hours in the upper atmosphere. At Gatwick on the way home I noticed Doubleday had secured (basically) the cover of Newsweek this week with this book and its premise. For those who may not be included in that 4.3 million it's a pretty intriguing novel. I suggest if you read it or have read it and want a non-fiction/more scientific take on the subject, read The Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner. It's as dense as the Bible (think Deuteronomy or Numbers) but will go a long way to offer more insight on the base of Mr. Brown's mass market property.

If these conspiracy/occult concepts pique your interest, Umberto Eco went down a similar fictitious road with Foucault's Pendulum but if you really want a thinker read New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies by William T. Still. It's non-fiction ("a study") and Still's Christian perspective taints his study quite a bit but it will make you think.

And before you think it or worse email me, piss off, I have a life! And you will never read the word "conspiracy" on my blog again. Occult, however, I can't promise.

Anyway, I had hoped to be showcasing all sorts of groovy photos kicking it up UK style but unfortunately the business at hand held me captive nearly the entire time. Staying in Knightsbridge (Chelsea/Kensington) this time (as opposed to my typical prior visits to Camden) I made a few new London realizations: it's more expensive than NYC (current exchange issues not withstanding); the women are jaw droppers (a credit to the lack of sun I suspect, as well as my Knightsbridge digs); and finally, my UK work mates are exceptional (when compared to the NYC stock) in many, many ways.

Big piles of snow falling now...I love NYC with a nice fresh coat of white!