It Keeps Me Young

I am by no means in the age range that most people would consider "old" but more and more lately I find myself reminded of the fact that I am in my thirties, and that isn't exactly young. As much as I know that I am a fundamentally different person than who I was a decade ago in a lot of ways, I don't really feel any different. Getting married and having a kid were both huge lifetime milestones that I felt should have changed everything about the way I look at the world and about how I perceive myself in relation to it. And yes, in some ways, they did, but throughout I still very much feel like me, like I haven't changed at all. It's funny that something so big just becomes your new normal so quickly and it becomes hard to remember just how different life really felt before it happened.

I mean, as much as my days revolve around my daughter and spending time with her and taking care of her, I don't ever really feel in my mind like what I expect a mom should feel like. Every once in a while I'll be doing something with Baby Girl, or I'll just get a glimpse of her making some face or discovering something new, and I'll be completely bowled over by the realization that this is my child. That my husband and I made her, that she wouldn't exist had my life not unfolded as it has. And that I am responsible for making sure she has every chance of growing up safely and happily and becoming a good person and a member of this crazy world we live in. It's a bizarre feeling. It's not like I ever forget that I'm a parent or anything, it's just that it's so much a part of my life I don't even ever think about it. So when I do, I am hit with a huge feeling of awe and wonder (and more than a little amazement that I've been entrusted with such a huge responsibility).

It seems like every day when I look in the mirror, the signs are there that I am getting older. More grey in my hair every day, and I've started to notice lines around my eyes and face. My body definitely doesn't have as much get-up-and-go as it did ten years ago. But none of that stuff bothers me. It surprises me from time to time, certainly, but I have no problem with aging naturally. I am not going to dye my hair to cover up the grey (I am actually kind of curious to see how long it takes to turn completely), and I won't be spending oodles of money on those expensive anti-wrinkle creams. I earned those laugh lines. I think that the biggest reason why I am not bothered by getting older is because in my heart and my mind, I am still a kid. 

As I grew up and my friends began to put away their childish toys and pursuits in favor of newer, more grown up, replacements, I only ever followed half-heartedly. I never let go of my love of toys and cartoons entirely, and while I did go through my party phase, I don't think there was ever a time I wouldn't have rather gone to see the new Disney movie (or stayed home to play with Legos while watching Powerpuff Girls) than to go out clubbing. I come by it honestly, I have grown to realize. I come from a long line of women capable of dealing with the responsibilities of adulthood while still holding on to "childish" pleasures. I think it lends us a little extra bit of happiness in our lives, to be honest. 

As I've grown up and moved even farther away from childhood, I've never stopped playing with and collecting toys or watching cartoons. My collection of Disney movies and other cartoons on DVD was quite impressive before my daughter came along, thank you very much. I have also, somehow, managed to seek out other people in my life who share the same outlook. All of my closest friends still embrace that "kid at heart" spirit to varying degrees. For a while I thought that everybody was like this, that everyone had some pursuit from childhood that they had kept with them when entering the realm of grownups. Sadly, I have learned that this just isn't so. There are a lot of people who frown on those of us who still play with toys or watch cartoons without the justification of entertaining a child in our care (and even quite a few who think that engaging in play with children is really just going overboard). I feel a little sorry for those people, to be honest. I am sure they have things that they take pleasure in, but no adult emotion can compare to that outright glee of childhood joy. It just can't. That's why you have to keep your inner kid alive in my opinion, because if you let her die, then you lose that sense of wonder about the world, and life is a lot less fun. There's enough doom and gloom out there for us grownups to deal with, if you ask me.

I also think that this outlook helps to make me a better parent (not than other people, but than I would be otherwise), because I can take just as much joy out of the things my daughter loves as she does. I can play with her and not be phoning it in. It gives us a chance to spend even more quality time together, which I am very thankful for, because, you guys, my daughter is awesome. And she's just going to keep getting even more awesome (then she'll become a teenager, but once she grows out of that, I fully expect her to be awesome again). We are standing here with all of the years to come spread out before us and the possibilities are endless. 

I used to worry that with her being a single child (we have no plans for more children) she would have difficulty learning some of the concepts that siblings are great at teaching--like sharing. But I don't so much worry about that anymore. For one thing, I am trying to remain mindful of those lessons and ensure that she gets to spend time around other kids so I can monitor her progress. For another, it never really dawned on me until recently that as much as I love to play with toys too, well, she's going to have to learn how to share with me. (Hey, there are plenty of ponies for both of us to play with.) As she starts to find all of my toys scattered around the house and claim them for her own, it's a good refresher in sharing for me as well, it turns out. Win-win.

I guess what it boils down to is that I would rather be young of heart than look young of body any day. As much responsibility as parenthood is, having my daughter around certainly keeps me young of heart. Now, if you need me, I'll be playing with my daughter...

Legos Are Supposed To Be For Everyone

So unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months (or just do not go into toy stores, care about Legos, or know anyone with children, in which case, this post probably isn't for you), you have probably heard about the new line of Lego, Lego Friends, targeted specifically for girls. The toys are finally out in stores, and I've given them a looksee. I've also been reading the various and sundry articles that have popped up on my particular web radar on the topic. There has been quite an uproar about the new line. A lot of it from the female community.

If you're unfamiliar with the Lego Friends line, it features several specific new characters and buildable playsets for those characters. The color scheme of the sets can be classified as decidedly "girly," lots of purples and pinks and such. The playsets feature a beauty shop, vet, "cool" convertible, stage, fashion design studio, dog show, cafe, and a bakery. The minifigs are not the standard Lego size. They are a bit bigger and have actual curves. In general they look more like actual people than bricks. There are no boy minifigs, just girls. I think you begin to see where some of the uproar is coming from.

To be fair, there are two playsets that show some great promise to me and seem less "girly;" a nifty looking tree house and an inventor's workshop. Lego's official stance on these new sets is that they did years of marketing research to find out what girls want, and this is what their results showed was desired. They are just trying to give girls what they want. Okay. Well, on the surface, there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. You can insert the obligatory argument that of course this is what girls want if this is what we keep giving them play with, but it only holds so much water.

For myself, my objection isn't really to the playsets themselves. With the exception of the two I mentioned above, when I went to look at these sets, none of them really appealed to me at all. I don't really like the overall look of them. But I am not a girly girl. I tend to stay away from the swaths of pink in stores unless I know there is something specific I am looking for in that section (*cough*MyLittlePony*cough*). If my daughter wants these sets once she's old enough for them, I probably will get them for her. Right now she seems to love all things "girly" and "boyish" pretty much equally. I don't necessarily want to play with this new line of Legos, but I am not their targeted demographic, and I am not offended they exist.

No, I am not offended that Lego is upgrading their line to include sets that they think girls would enjoy. I am offended that Lego is making new Legos For Girls. There are two implications here: The first is that all of the Lego lines that don't come in those shiny new pretty pink boxes aren't for girls. The second is that girls don't already play with Legos.

I believe that both of those statements are undeniably false.

Yet some executive somewhere got the idea that girls don't play with Legos. That executive (who, for the sake of argument, I am going to just assume is a guy) felt that, in the interest of the Lego business, this was something that needed to be rectified. Okay, well, I'm with him up to this point. If he really thinks that girls don't play with his product and he really wants them to (probably more because he wants their parents' money than out of a desire to share the joy of Lego with them, but, whatever), then that's cool. It's awesome that he wants to make a product that is accessible to everyone. Totally on board with that.

So this executive then ordered years of research to find out what girls want to play with. I don't know if it was specifically asked what they want to play with in a Lego, or just what they want to play with in general. I don't know if these girls were asked what they think of the current Lego sets available and if they found them too boyish. I wonder how big their sample size was or if it was specifically girly girls who were targeted. Maybe I am not giving the executive enough credit and he does realize that some girls do play with Legos and just wanted to attract those who prefer Barbies. Either way, he did apparently decide that research was necessary, and that, too, I am okay with. I do kind of wish we could get an idea of that actual research process to know how accurate it actually was to the young female population at large. But hey, if wishes were ponies, right?

Where I am not okay is with the fact that this new line brings with it a very clear segregation between "boy" Legos and "girl" Legos. The colors of the boxes are split by gender. The toys themselves are relegated to "boy" aisles and "girl" aisles in the stores. No longer can a girl stumble across a Lego set and think it looks cool and go seek out more. Now, girls will see the pink Legos next to the Barbie dolls and maybe pick them up, and then go back to that same pink aisle for more...and likely never see the really cool other sets they might also enjoy in the next aisle over. Because the toys in the pink aisle are for girls and the toys in the blue aisle are for boys.

An interjection: Yes, some kids (like me, both then and now) wander through all of the aisles. Some girls don't want to conform. Some parents won't let them. But those aren't the girls that executive was aiming at when this whole thing got started.

I am not trying to deny agency to children or their parents in the act of choosing out toys. I know I have some very certain ideas on things I will be buying for my daughter throughout her childhood whether she would have picked them out or not. I know she will pick out some toys I would never have otherwise considered getting her.

I am quite frankly baffled that a company that has for so long been awesome and for so long had a product that I have felt truly did not care about fitting gender norms has all of a sudden decided to throw all of that out of the window. No more being a universal plaything. Now there are Legos and there are Legos For Girls. This isn't just me getting up in arms about there all of a sudden being girly additions to the existing lines. Lego is clearly separating the genders now.

Some examples:
-The minifigs and many of the bricks for the Lego Friends line aren't compatible with the rest of the Lego pieces. The rest of the Lego sets use pretty much universally compatible bricks and minifigs. If they were really trying to get girls interested in Lego as a whole by hooking them on the more accessible girly sets, then the girly sets would be compatible with everything else.
-When you open up a new Lego kit, you get a bag with a bunch of pieces and instructions on how to assemble them. Even the minifigs need to be put together. This is not the case with Lego Friends. Many of the pieces come pre-assembled and can't be taken apart. There is, flat out, less assembly available in the Lego Friends sets.
-In the U.K. the Lego Club Jr. magazine has now been split, there is an edition for boys and an edition for girls. Pictures submitted of creations by girls or girls playing with Legos all go in the girls' magazine now. Even if the girl still chooses to subscribe to the boys' edition. There are no photos of girls anywhere in the boys' magazine now, telling boys also that girls don't play with Legos (and that they shouldn't want to play with the new line).
-On the Lego website when you go to the shop and then click "categories," the new line isn't listed under the name of the line or the type of playset, like the others out there. It is listed under "Girls." That's right, there are all of the other products available on the site, and there are the products for girls. I took a screenshot, look:

Also, compare the for girls minifig with the others.

Again, I am not mad that Lego wanted to make more money by making a line they thought more girls would buy. I am not mad that these new Legos exist. I just really, really, really wish they had put some more thought into how they were going to introduce this new line. Good lord. Just make them Legos not Legos For Girls. Make them compatible with the rest of your bricks. Make the bakery and the vet and the cafe part of the Citi line. It would have fit in so wonderfully. Continue to tell the world that you want to offer toys for everyone to enjoy, and now they have a bigger choice! Don't say, oh, by the way, we don't think girls want to play with what's already out there. We're just gonna go ahead and call all of that Lego and make some pink stuff and call it for girls. That's what they want, after all. I can't imagine there are any boys out there who want some pink bricks, or to be a vet, right? (HEADDESK)

I am a geek. I love geeky things. Things like video games, books, comic books, movies, cartoons, science fiction in general, archaeology, history, taking things apart to find out how they work, attempting to put those things back together again, toys designed specifially to be taken apart and put back together again, and then put back together in an entirely different way, and so on. Lego has always fit right in there with that. But I am also a girl. Not the girliest of girls, maybe, but still a girl and totally cool with that. Except for when I have to deal with the stereotypes that girls don't do or like, well, any of the things that make up pretty much the core of who I am. I've come to notice that attitude a lot more lately as I get more involved in the worldwide geek community. It makes me angry and sad and annoyed and insulted all at once. And it exists because of things specifically like this, like what Lego has done right here with its Lego Friends line. As long as marketers keep trying to tell everyone that girls don't like these things, or that these things must be made more girly for us to enjoy them, then people are just gonna keep going on assuming that this is the case. It isn't, damn it. It isn't.

Anyway. Sorry. Really trying not to rant. It is just so hard to believe that Lego dropped the ball so hard on this one. At least from my perspective. I know I am not the only one out there who sees it that way, either. I have seen many similar entries from Lego fans, parents, girls, and guys who see this issue like I see it. So I am adding my voice into the mix. Maybe if enough of us speak up, Lego will get the hint and go back to remembering their product has been loved by everyone--boys, girls, kids, grownups--for decades. Why start trying to pigeonhole us by gender now?

Dear Lego,
Bottom line here: Keep your new line, but make it accessible to boys and girls. Please make future installments compatible with the rest of your toys, and allow the girls as much chance to put all the pieces together as everyone else. And for the love of Pete, please don't stick us off in our own little corner as if we should have no interest at all in the rest of what you have to offer.

Thank you,
A concerned mother, kid at heart, and lifelong Lego fan.

That One Last Thing

So this week I finally got around to putting away the Star Wars Lego advent calendar we had up in December. It was the final remnant of our holiday decorations. I had considered putting it away with the rest of the Christmas stuff, to be brought back out and used again this year. But when Hubby started taking down all of the decorations we had a conversation that went more or less like this:

Me: I am trying to decide if I want to pack away the Lego advent calendar to use again next year or if I want to keep the minifigs out.

Hubby: Keep 'em out!

Me: Really? You think so?

Hubby: Sure. I figured we'd just get another Star Wars Lego calendar next year.

Me: I love you!

Hubby: I know.

Yeah, you might think I just threw that list bit in there to be funny, what with the topic being Star Wars related and all. Nope. We're totally one of those couples. Quote Han and Leia all of the time.

Anyhoo. So, the decorations got put away and the calendar and Legos stayed out. Until this week. I decided to just clip the little flap off of each day's compartment of the calendar box--that was the bit with the assembly diagram for each kit--and put them all in a baggy along with the random figures and kits that I didn't necessarily feel like displaying. Those will get added to our Lego collection when next I brave the attic to go through it.

Of course, once I had done that, and set aside the minifigs (and a few other bits) that I wanted to keep out, I had to figure out where exactly to put them. Baby Girl is not above finding every little Lego bit I have out somewhere and completely taking it apart when I am not looking. Then I find her, or she brings the pieces to me, and she looks so dang proud of herself. Sigh. So, yeah. Had to find a safe place to display them. In an ideal world, I would have a curio cabinet specifically for Legos (and you know, really, I'm not joking, if I can figure out where I would put it, and find one I like, that is happening one of these days). Sadly, I have no such thing. In the end, I settled for the china cabinet. The doors are tricky enough (and high enough) that Baby Girl can't work them yet.

So in addition to my random teapots, teacups, and a few other things, my china cabinet now boasts a small display of Star Wars Legos.

Even got 'em divided by alignment.

Bad Guys: mini TIE Fighter, TIE Pilot, Nute Gunray, an Imperial mouse droid, and a Separatist battle droid.

Good Guys: Chewy, mini Millennium Falcon, Clone Trooper, X-Wing, Wedge X-Wing Pilot, and an astromech droid.

I mean, they're not that out of place, right? I think they go quite nicely with the Mega Blocks dragons lining the top of the cabinet, really.

A Star Wars Christmas

As you may have guessed, Star Wars has been on my mind more than a little this holiday season. I mean, I'm not gonna go so far as to watch that holiday special of which we will never speak again, but it's definitely in the air.

Along with the launch of The Old Republic, I also stumbled across a Lego Star Wars advent calendar. Of course I bought it. Twenty-four little assorted minifigs and kits for my December building pleasure? Heck yes!

The minifigs are definitely my favorites, but I also think some of the ships are pretty cool (and creative, to get them down that small). There are also a few completely random items in there, but it's all good. I still get to start every day with a little bit of Lego building, and I will definitely take that!

Without further ado, I present to you, the Lego Star Wars days of Christmas!

Day 1: Republic Cruiser

Day 2: Angry Neimoidian (Nute Gunray)

Day 3: Nute's Walking Mechano-Chair

Day 4: Homing Spider Droid

Day 5: Slave I (Boba Fett's ship)

Day 6: Chewbacca!

Day 7: Chewy's Workbench

Day 8: X-Wing Pilot (I'm calling him Wedge, whether he is or not)

Day 9: X-Wing

Day 10: Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle

Day 11: Separatist Pilot Battle Droid

Day 12: Snow Speeder

Day 13: Astromech Droid (R2-Q5)

Day 14: Mouse Droid

Day 15: Republic Attack Gunship

Day 16: Clone Pilot

Day 17: Weapons Rack

Day 18: Y-Wing

Day 19: TIE Pilot

Day 20: TIE Fighter

Day 21: Millennium Falcon (!)

Day 22: A-Wing

Day 23: Life Day Christmas Tree

And, because I don't normally post on Saturdays, I went ahead and sneaked a peek at tomorrow's for you. Behold:

Day 24: Santa Yoda (Complete with a sack of presents!)

A very good mix of original trilogy and prequel flavors in there, I have to say. The box it came in is a little bit destroyed because of how the flaps for each day open up, but I am thinking about saving it nonetheless to use again when Baby Girl is a little bit older and we can enjoy assembling each bit together.

Anyhoo, that's me out for the rest of the year. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas (or your holiday of preference) and Happy New Year's. Regardless, have a wonderful week, and I hope you get some time to enjoy with friends and loved ones as well as some much deserved relaxation. No posts next week, I'll see you back here on Monday, January 2.

Ta ta for now!

Mostly Worth The Lack Of Sleep

You may remember that a while back I mentioned that I had ordered a new desk, one meant to eventually become my daughter's homework desk. Well, it arrived some time last week, but unfortunately the perils of shipping had caught up with me (I order so much freaking stuff online it really isn't a wonder), and when I opened up the box and started pulling out the pieces to make sure they were all there and intact, well...yeah, not so much.

Everything was there, certainly. The problem was the top of the desk, the big huge massive piece that everything else attaches to. It was cracked in multiple places, including one very large line right down the middle. Sigh. Thankfully the company that made the desk gets that damage does occur during shipping and has a really efficient (and free) parts replacement department. So I went online to tell them I needed a new top as mine arrived mangled and the next day they shipped it out. Of course, now I have a big broken plank taking up space in my garage until the start of next month, but there are worse problems, I will grant you.

The replacement piece arrived on Tuesday and I decided to put the desk together that night once my daughter had gone to bed. Normally I don't mind, and even often enjoy, when she "helps" me, but I get, um, cranky sometimes when doing things like assembling my furniture, so I figured it would be best for both of us if I did that while she wasn't around. My poor husband wasn't so fortunate. He was gracious enough to allow me to totally disrupt his evening by making him help me by holding up various pieces as I put them together (and reattaching the feet after I put them on the wrong end of the legs). Once we had the basic desk put together and upright, I let him loose and he called it a night. I stayed up for another hour and a half or so getting the various drawers and sliding bits assembled. Was up until two-thirty in the morning getting it done, but I've got to say, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I even managed to pick one that doesn't cover the
oversized vent on the wall, go me!

Let's see, we've got an alien from Toy Story, a Lego alien from
Toy Story, Zeke from Ctrl+Alt+Del, Lego Indiana Jones,
coloring supplies, a box of notecards...

...a Lego TIE Fighter complete with Darth Vader, R2-D2,
and my daughter's Spongebob Squarepants coloring books.

The kiddo checks out her new domain.

Now it just needs a chair. Speaking of which...

My updated to-do list for around the house is now as follows:

• Figure out how to refinish a wooden item.
• Refinish the chair that will go at this desk.
• Frame the various maps and convention art that needs to go on the walls (frames already purchased).
• Hang up said maps and art.
• Hang up the awesome Firefly, Star Trek, and Wheel of Time stuff we had professionally framed once it is ready to be picked up.
• Hang up that blasted sconce my husband randomly brought home from the office.
• Convert my daughter's crib to a toddler bed.

...and I think that's it. Refinishing the chair should be extra awesome, as I discovered when I finally got it down from the shelf in the garage where it has been living. I had forgotten that when my brother-in-law and his wife repainted some of our house's exterior while I was pregnant, I had let one of them stand on the chair, knowing I was going to be overhauling it anyway. So now there's big blotches of blue paint all over it that I get to sand off. Whee.

Oh, for those wondering, I know I mentioned that I was going to try to revamp a lamp that had belonged to my grandparents, but the lamp on the desk is not that lamp. I tried taking apart the old lamp and realized that I would need to tinker with the wiring to actually get all of the pieces separate, so I eighty-sixed that idea and just caved in and bought a new base. I will just tuck the old lamp in a corner in my closet for now until I either decide to send it to Goodwill or find a use for it elsewhere. 

I wish you all a fantabulous weekend! If you'll excuse me, I'm off to do some research on wood refinishing...

My Desk Just Got A Little Bit More Awesome

Some time last frickin' year I found out that two series of collector figures had been announced for the video game Mass Effect 2. The second series, set to come out sometime around December I think, I can't even remember now, was going to feature everyone's favorite Turian, Garrus Vakarian. Garrus!!!

That'd be Garrus there on the left.

You may recall that Garrus was the NPC I romanced in my playthrough of the game. Because he is awesome. Also, because as it turns out, that romance was hilarious. So, naturally you can imagine my delight to learn I could soon have my very own action figure to play with adorn my desk. You can bet I preordered that sucker right away. I also preordered the Krogan companion from the second game, Grunt, which was to be released as part of the first action figure series. That group was supposed to come out sometime around August or September I believe.

Then things got hinky. I don't know if the hold up was on DC Unlimited's end or on Bioware's, but release of Grunt and Garrus got pushed back to January and May of this year, respectively. January came and went with no sign of my Grunt action figure and at some point I received a notification that my Garrus order had been canceled because that item was no longer going to be available. Grr. Contacting the seller from which I had ordered Grunt, I learned that it was still scheduled to be released but there was no telling when exactly. I ended up canceling that order, because, well, like I said, things were hinky.

But some time in the last few months, DC Unlimited finally released the first series of Mass Effect 2 figures. My husband is playing through the game at the moment, and it has been getting me excited about Mass Effect all over again. So I finally caved in and went ahead and ordered my Grunt from Amazon last week.

He came yesterday.

He is AWESOME.

Here he is, in all of his packaged glory.

Behold Grunt! Mighty Krogan warrior. Don't piss him off.

No, seriously, don't piss him off, the safety
is most definitely not on.

So now I have a new guardian for my mishmash of a desk. He goes nicely with the random assorted Lego sets (an Indiana Jones minifig courtesy of my nephew and Darth Vader on a T.I.E. fighter), several Wall-E toys, an R2-D2, and a plastic stegosaurus.

I mean, Wrex, the Krogan from the first game, was pretty awesome. But he had nothing on his younger counterpart who, as the back of the packaging says, lacks the bitterness of other members of his species.

Speaking of the packaging. That was kind of amusing in a WTF sort of way all on its own.

I know it is hard to make out, but those little blurbs in the middle are descriptions of each character available in the first series. The descriptions for Thane and Grunt are hard to argue with, but the one for Tali starts off, "Petite, almost perky...." as if that has anything to do whatsoever with her character. Well, maybe the perky thing, but, I don't think that actually applies to Tali. I guess if we're judging by the standards of other Quarians? Also, don't get me started on the fact that they released a figure for the stock male Shepard only. I guess the vast majority of people who play these games don't bother to mess with the character creator and are therefore satisfied with a figure of the most boring version of Shepard possible. Whatever. (I also assume that this confirms Canon!Shepard as male. Also boring.)

Also, you can just barely see it in the photo, but at the bottom right corner is an add for the 2011 Mass Effect 2 calendar, due out "this September," presumably indicating that all of the packaging for this series was printed up well before September 2010, and yet, the figures weren't released until when? I don't get the comic book industry folks. I really don't. If the rest of the world (even the creative parts--think television productions) ran on the kind of schedule the comics industry did...man, we would be screwed.

Sadly, it appears that the second series of figures has been permanently canceled, which is a complete bummer. But I'll satisfy myself hanging out with Grunt and keep my fingers crossed that maybe someone can be more on the ball when Mass Effect 3 comes out, and that maybe, just maybe, I can still get my Garrus after all...

Sandra Boynton's Christmastime (Part Two)

Chapter One

Decking the Halls

A Consumer Tip:  A tree looks much smaller outdoors than indoors.  Be sure to measure both your ceiling height and your prospective tree before you buy it.  --Sandra Boynton

Chapter One of Christmastime is all about, you guessed it, decorating for the holidays.   It is divided into two sections:  "Getting the House Ready," and "Selecting a Tree."  Boynton is of the opinion that Christmastime in the home begins when a family decorates their house.  She posits that the three most common start dates for this activity are:


The day after Thanksgiving:  Boynton cites this as the most common starting point for putting up Christmas decorations.  As far as my memory holds, Boynton's book predates the rise of Black Friday, which seems to have cemented the institution of starting the Christmas season right after Thanksgiving is over.  She definitely was on the right track with this one.  We may not have gotten our decorations up the day after Thanksgiving (heck, we still don't have lights up), but we certainly did get the boxes down out of the attic that day.

December 1:  This is credited as the choice of families who are governed by logic rather than emotion, or at least parents who are more governed by logic.  Boynton freely admits that the ceremonial hanging of the Advent calendar, and the opening of door number one will more often than not be followed by a sneak preview of the next twenty-four doors.  I have to say, having once had  Lego Advent calendar, I was hard-pressed not to jump ahead of myself and assemble all of the kits at one time once I had started!

Christmas Eve:  Here Boynton suggests that this is the avenue for "staunch traditionalists," and that these folks have a better shot at truly grasping the spirit of Christmas.  Even if the children in these households are not so appreciative of the "tradition."

I wish I could share with you all of the wonderful illustrations accompanying these observations, Boynton truly is an artist.  She manages to convey the joy of the season as well as the daily frustrations that are often a side effect of such preparations.

She goes on to say that regardless of the when of the start to the season, once entered, each individual or family has their own unique way of displaying that spirit.  From elegant minimalism to outright gaudy, Christmastime is what we make of it.  Whether it is a task one goes about joyfully or begrudgingly, getting the home ready for Christmas is something that the whole family can get involved in together--and that alone is the best way to kick off the season that I can think of.

In the "Selecting a Tree" section of the chapter, Boynton notes the trend toward seeking out alternatives to real trees and suggests some of the most common choices:  careful lighting and decoration, plastic trees, the inflatable tree (not suggested for houses with cats), the living Christmas tree, or even just decorating a tree that is still planted firmly in the ground.

She then goes on to list the qualities one should look for in a real tree if that does end up being the route you choose.  Then she points out that, of course, this perfect tree doesn't actually exist.

I have to admit, while I am still as tickled as ever by her descriptions (and illustrations) of alternatives to real trees, I don't have much experience in this area and so couldn't tell you how relevant this part of the chapter remains today.  Hubby and I haven't had a Christmas tree in the whole eight years we've been together.  There was a feeble attempt the first year, but our cat (Wally) knocked the thing over repeatedly every day for a week before we gave up and packed it away (it was a fake tree).  Since then it just hasn't been worth the bother.  Of course, now, with Baby Girl in the picture, things are going to have to change.  We discussed this recently, actually, and have decided that next year is the year that we will venture into the wide world of Christmas-tree buying.  We are definitely going to get a real tree, and I have a corner picked out for it, so hopefully that will minimize Wally and Tony (and Baby Girl's) chances of knocking it over.  We shall see though, we shall see.  Either way, I am sure it will give this chapter a whole new perspective for me!

Monday:  Christmas Greetings

Update:  I almost forgot, new Gronk today!  Check it out!  Also, yes, I know SGU got canceled yesterday.  I am waiting to talk (and think, really) about that until after Christmas.

When Did Friday Get Here?

Oh boy, is it Friday already?  Blink blink.  Blink blink.  When the heck did that happen? 

Sigh, so the Rangers got absolutely creamed (again) last night.  I am so very thankful there is no game tonight.  I need a break.  So do the Rangers, apparently.  That eighth inning was just painful.  But we're still only two games in.  They just have to win four, right?  It's totally doable!  I remain positive.  No, really.  I swear. 

Um, moving on.  Hey, it is Friday, isn't it?  You know what that means?  There's a new Gronk up!  Yay!

Here you go, enjoy.  I love all of the costumes, but especially Kitteh's Cthulhu and Gronk's homemade R2D2.  Though sadly, that just reminded me I lost one of the legs of my poor Lego R2D2 key chain yesterday.  And apparently Lego doesn't make those anymore.  I've been trying to find a new one for a while, because almost all of his paint has rubbed off, but now with a missing leg, I may have to officially retire him.  My husband did find this really awesome global Lego selling site that had some though, so it may be time to make him call in an order.  (I don't remember what the site was, and he's temporarily stranded at an airport in Boston, so I can't ask him to send me the link, otherwise I'd share it with you.)

I finished the last Republic Commando novel, Order 66, last night.  I was going to try to go ahead and have my write-up for you today, but um, that didn't happen.  You can expect it on Monday though.  There is a follow-up book, the first of what was supposed to be a a new series, Imperial Commando, but then someone in Lucas' camp pulled the plug so it looks like only the first got published.  I have that and will be reading it soon.  But the next Wheel of Time book (Towers of Midnight) comes out on Tuesday (in fact, Amazon just emailed me earlier today to tell my my copy had shipped, huzzah!).  So instead of diving into the next Star Wars book, I have to take a break to read The Gathering Storm again so I will remember who the heck all of these people are and what the heck is going on.  I started it this afternoon.  Hopefully I can get it finished by Tuesday so I don't have to fight my husband for dibs on ToM.  Fingers crossed.  Also, Brandon Sanderson himself will be in Dallas doing a book signing at Borders next Thursday.  My husband and I (and a friend) are totally going to that.  Should be really cool or really crazy or both.

Also, Monday will be a big day because it officially kicks of National Novel Writing Month.  Six pages a day.  I can do it.  I can do it.  I've got an outline, I've got names for my main characters, I'm getting a general picture of what the world looks like (though I haven't drawn a map yet, I can't imagine that's far off).  The opening scene is kicking around in my head, but I am trying not to pay too much attention to it so I don't forget it all when I sit down to start writing and then get mad that I screwed it up. 

In fact, I am trying not to overthink any aspect of the story too much beforehand.  I had a mini-writing revelation the other night.  One of the big reasons I think that I get so bogged down and stall out when I am writing is because I have a tendency to go off on tangents describing stuff, or trying to figure out how to describe stuff (people, places, clothes, etc.) and end up wandering away from the story itself, without any idea of how to get back to the path.  I believe that is one of the reasons why I was usually able to do a pretty good job completing my fan fiction stories--I knew exactly who these characters were, and what their surroundings looked like.  I could focus on what was going on instead of worrying about making sure the readers could see the same picture I saw in my head, because the readers also already knew what I did.  My biggest job was to tell a good story and make sure I got the voice of the characters correct. 

Since the primary purpose of NaNoWriMo is to actually just get the story written, and the focus is on quantity not quality I have decided to try approaching the writing of this as I did with my fan fiction.  I am just going to assume that anyone reading the story already knows what I am seeing in my head and not worry too much about describing people or places unless it is necessary to the story.  After all, once I have actually gotten the whole thing written, I can always go back later and fill in any obvious blanks.  That's just a matter of rewrites and editing.

So I am off to have my weekend.  I'll be watching the World Series, watching Red:  Werewolf Hunter on Syfy, taking my daughter to Boo at the Zoo, giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, and working on getting any necessary (for me) background information for my story sussed out before Monday.  Also, I will be frantically reading The Gathering Storm in there as well.  Should be packed full of awesome. 

Have a fantastic weekend--and happy Halloween!