Our power went out for a few hours last night... theory is that these high winds took out a power line or dropped a tree on one. Unfortunately, the power took the heat with it. It's between 60 and 64 F both at home and at work. (That's 15.5 to 17.7 C, in the bedroom and in the office. Much warmer than the 20 F outside, but still.)

Before the electricity went out, though, I managed to show Matt the first two episodes of Twin Peaks. The look on his face when Agent Cooper met the Man From Another Place in the red room made it totally worthwhile.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to meet my book club for the second time (Water for Elephants). And that's about it. I don't make resolutions, but I do have specific tasks I need to work on, now that the holidays are past. Santa (in the form of my father-in-law) brought EA Sports Active for the Wii, so at least the "drop the wedding, honeymoon, and Christmas weight" goal should be in hand. "Be better at doing actual job at work" is my other goal... best go attend to it. ;)

audiobooks:

a christmas carol, by charles dickens.
a bit dry. it is a classic, but i found myself being distracted on occasion (which tends to happen when you're operating a thousand lb. vehicle).

you better not cry: stories for christmas, by augusten burroughs.
i couldn't actually get past the first disc, because austen burroughs has. the most. annoying. voice!!!! firstly, he emphasizes every syllable in the word. the phrase "glossy, black boots," comes out like, "guh-lossy, buh-lack, boots!" he also pauses too much between words (which you can sort of tell from that last example), so you think a sentence has ended, but it keeps going. weird. the actual material was a bit disturbing.

vinyl cafe: a christmas collection, by stuart mclean.
i enjoyed this one. i never really listened to stuart mclean before, but i'm familiar with his voice because my mom listens to him all the time... so it reminds me of home in a nice way. his stories are very quaint and cute.

the stupidest angel: a heartwarming tale of christmas terror, by christopher moore.
totally wacky! i wouldn't say it was hilarious, but it was definitely amusing, and the actor did a decent narration job.

holidays on ice, by david sedaris.
i LOVED the first disc. it was hilarious, and david sedaris has fantastic delivery! the other discs weren't as funny.

i didn't end up finishing "marley & me", mostly because i wanted to get through the christmas cds, but also because it was read by the author, who has an annoying voice.

books:

WR: winona ryder by the editors of US magazine.
when i was growing up, i LOVED WR. i still have a soft spot for her in my heart, despite controversies and a few bad movies. before US magazine turned into the weekly rag that it is now, it used to have actual articles and interviews and photo portfolios of actors and filmmakers. this is a nice compilation of those articles, and movie reviews from the magazine (in addition to rolling stone magazine). reading all the early interviews at once, she actually seems kind of pretentious, but i can sort of understand why... she was young, and rebelling against the typical bubblegum fare of the time. (keep in mind that this book was published before the shoplifting incident.) i don't have a scanner, so i took pictures of some pictures in the book.

she is so gorgeous!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kare_bear/4239325762/in/photostream/

this is basically the inspiration for my current hairstyle (along with jean seberg, mia farrow, and... judy dench)... doesn't look quite the same on me though :/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kare_bear/4239325766/in/photostream/

i remember this photo from a magazine... i think i may have clipped it out a put it in a scrapbook, or something...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kare_bear/4239325758/in/photostream/

(sorry for the toe... the page wouldn't stay open!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kare_bear/4239325756/in/photostream/

i also read escape, by carolyn jessup. it's an autobiography of a woman left a polygamus cult (fundamentalist latter day saints). it's REALLY interesting and shocking and like... wow. just wow. there are few other books on the same subject that i might read.

now i'm reading it's only temporary, by evan handler (charlotte's husband on sex and the city). it's also an autobiography, in which handler talks about surviving a very aggressive cancer, and the aftermath of that. it's... okay so far.

Was gone 24th - last night. Back today. Much loot, mostly in blu-ray disc form. Had an absolutely brilliant time seeing family and friends, which we don't get to do enough of living here in VA as we do. One of my dearest college friends informed me that they (spouse also a friend) are expecting their first baby next summer, and it has hit me very hard how we've all gone from irresponsibly pyromaniac undergrads to responsible, home-owning, married, thirty-year-old, pyromaniac parents.

And that's that.