By the "pond"

We have a little "pond," or "water feature," as they call it on HGTV. It is a replica of a famous Belgian statue, the manneke piss. Guess where the water shoots out.

I grow viney plants to cover the plumbing and make him look more natural. In the front pot is some ivy, in the back one, creeping jenny. They already hide the back plumbing; eventually the creeping jenny can cover the pipes from the water. This creeping jenny is some years old. I cut it back every fall, and it comes back every summer.

Tea roses

I almost forgot to include my tea rose. I had four pots of them, but only one came through the winter. Lots of buds are on this one, but it's not blooming yet.

My flower-loving grandma used to grow small roses and cut one or two blooms and put them in a little crystal vase near where she sat indoors. Pretty.

Still on the sunny side

My deck has a sunny, south-facing, side and the herbs and veggies are there, as well as these.

Peppermint. This kind of goes with my love of herbs. Peppermint needs its own pot because it spreads so much.

Heliotrope. Even the name refers to "helios"--the sun. I'm told this was a plant my flower-growing grandma liked. It kind of reminds me of lilac in color and the shape of the flowers--like miniature lilac. It has a sweet scent, too.

And lavender. There's something romantic about the mere idea of lavender. Lovely ladies scenting their wardrobes with it, and so on. These are young ones, so they're taller and skinnier. Ideally lavender plants should be sort of ball-shaped at the leaves, with the flower stalks growing above them. I love, love, love the smell of lavender. These buds are not open yet. I'm an anglophile, so I choose English lavender; there are many other varieties.

Salad bowl plant pot

I put some salad plants in whisky barrel. I like the idea of getting food right outside my door.

.

Brocolli. I put my hand in to show how small the brocolli "tree" is right now. The leaves are really big, though.

Lettuce. This is Romaine lettuce. My dad says I should hurry up and eat it before it gets "tough." I kind of hate to cut into it and ruin how pretty it is.

I think I probably have too many onions too close together. We'll see what happens. I do like onions.

I actually don't like many vegetables, but I like hot peppers, so I planted two of them.

This is the second pepper plant.

Herbs

I like to grow herbs because I like plants with fragrance. I like to pick a stem or leaves, rub them in my hands, and then smell them.

Majoram.

Tarragon.

Are you going there?

When you grow herbs, you might as well get the "Scarborough Fair" references over with right away. So I planted these:

Parsley.

Sage.

Rosemary.

And thyme.

Rainy Day

It's raining today. That's not a complaint, just a statement of fact. If you live in Western Washington, you'd better learn to like rain. I do. I'll admit that in the winter months, from January into March, if we go too many days in row without any sunshine, it can get to be a downer. But then when I lived in San Jose, CA, I used to find it wearing to have too many hot, sunny days in a row with no rain in July, August, and September. The first rainy days in October were a pick-me-up.

In San Jose, it really does not rain in those three months, just not at all. In Lynden, it rains less in July and August than in other months, but it will rain some of the days. The last few years, though, we've had exceptionally hot, dry summers. The Northwest Washington Fair occurs in Lynden in August, and it is proverbial that it always rains at least once during Fair Week. Some years it rains fairly heavily the entire week.

Well, this afternoon I head to Whatcom Community to get advice on registration, and tonight I go to my sister-in-law's for dinner. Sounds like a good day.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows predictions

As Rocky the squirrel used to say, Now here's something we hope you'll really like. The final Harry Potter book comes out July 21, and here are my predictions.


1. Of course Dumbledore will NOT come back. He's dead. And in the HP novels, dead is dead. Learning to accept the finality of death is one of the major themes of the books. In Book 1, Harry has to give up staring into the mirror of erised to see his dead parents. He has to give them up. In Book 5, Sirius goes "beyond the veil," and although Harry tries to contact him, he can't, because Sirius is dead, and dead is dead. Dumbledore is dead.


I'll say this for J.K. Rowling, unlike Star Trek or George Lucas, she plays by the rules. Dead characters don't get brought back to life or discovered not really to be dead, nor do they attend parties in transparent form--unless, like the ghosts at Hogwarts, they shrank from the final journey and, essentially, chickened out. It's the sad, pathetic ones, not the heroes, who reappear.


2. I think Harry's chance of still being alive at the end of Book 7 is 51% to a 49% chance of his being dead. Harry is a Christ figure; it's all over him (The Chosen One), and Christ figures sacrifice their lives to save others. So it would be entirely consistent for Rowling to end the book by having him save the world by sacrificing his own life. J.R.R. Tolkien, to name one of Rowling's important influences, went that route with Frodo, ultimately. But C.S. Lewis, another major influence, always ended his Narnia books happily, and I think Rowling resembles Lewis more than Tolkien.


The Lord of the Rings is full of themes of loss and farewell and a vanishing way of life, and Frodo's departure fits in with that. Lewis's books have dangerous adventures, with heroes willing to risk their lives, but in the end coming through safely. Aslan dies, but rises again, not because dead isn't dead but because there is life beyond death. Lewis goes to Easter and even to the consummation of the Kingdom, but Tolkien goes the via dolorosa and stays in the fallen world that is still being redeemed.


Rowling's books are more like the Narnia Chronicles than the Lord of the Rings. They have dark moments, dangerous adventures, and even deaths, but they always end on an upbeat note. If she does kill Harry, she's going to have to show a lot of good results to make it worthwhile when she summarizes all her characters' post-Hogwarts destinies. But I think she just won't have the heart to disappoint her fans by killing Harry. (She seemed to say in an interview once that she wouldn't even consider killing Harry's best friend, Ron.)


But she has to make it plain that he is willing to die, and that is why she's emphasizing that he very well could.


3. Snape will turn out to be loyal to the Order of the Phoenix. When Dumbledore pleaded, "Severus, please," he was asking Snape to save Draco Malfoy, whom Voldemort would kill if Dumbledore survived. They must have had some sort of agreement that if it was necessary Snape would kill Dumbledore to save Malfoy, and that was why Snape was willing to make the unbreakable vow to Malfoy's mother to that effect. Doing so further protected Snape from Voldemort's realizing he was a double-agent.


4. It's very possible that Snape will save Harry's life. He's done so before. It's been a recurring motif that they dislike each other, that Harry mistrusts him, that he's not in fact a nice man, BUT he's not completely evil either, and he keeps saving Harry. Possibly, Snape will die saving Harry. That would prove his loyalty to everyone beyond a doubt.


5. I don't know if it's just on Pemberley's library board or other places too, but I do NOT believe that Snape ever had a crush on or was in love with Harry's mother, Lily. Rowling would not introduce that plot line in Book 7 without dropping hints about it in previous books, and no such hints exist. People holding this theory read the books just as badly as those who thought that Harry and Hermione would fall in love.


6. Aberforth Dumbledore will do something important. Some people who read the books far more obsessively than I ever did figured out that the barkeep at the Hog's Head is Albus Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, and J.K. Rowling confirmed that they are right, but the books themselves have not yet revealed this. They figured it out by remembering Dumbledore's remark that his brother got in trouble for doing illegal experiments with goats and noticing a book or so later that the Hog's Head barroom smelled like goats. I'm guessing that Aberforth's part in the story will involve a bezoar, the stone from a goat's stomach that is an antidote to many poisons.


7. I'm stretching here, but somehow socks will be important. The story mentions socks a lot. In Book 1, Dumbledore says that his strongest desire is for a nice warm pair of socks. People are always wrapping precious or fragile objects in socks. Harry and Ron give socks to Dobby. Fred and George tell their mom they appreciate her now that they have to wash their own socks. So either socks are important or they are a running gag/motif. At the very least, the references to socks will continue.


For now that's it for what I came up with on my own. Rowling has given some other hints, and I'm less sure what to make of those.


1. She said the fact that Harry, though in every other way he looks like his father, "has his mother's eyes" is important.

2. She said we'd learn something important about Lily (Harry's mom).

3. She said someone who had not had any magical ability all his/her life would finally do some. She has said this person will NOT be Lily's sister, Harry's Aunt Petunia. The two squibs (non-magical children of magical parents) we know of are Arabella Figg and Argus Filch. It seems likely it will be one of those, and I'm betting on A. Figg, who is a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

4. She told her readers to ask themselves why Dumbledore had James Potter's (Harry's father's) invisibility cloak when James died. (Dumbledore handed it on to Harry in Book 1.) Dumbledore himself would not have needed the cloak as he knows how to make himself invisible without one. I'm guessing James asked him to pass it on, probably as a loan for a specific situation, to a particular person, but Dumbledore never got the chance. I don't know to whom he was meant to give it.

5. She said she relented and saved one character she thought would die, but she killed two others to make it happen. I don't think she ever meant Harry, Ron, Hermione, or even Ginny, to die. Maybe it was one of the Weasley parents (Harry keeps losing parental figures) and she sacrificed some more minor characters instead, like Bill or Charlie Weasley. Or maybe it was Hagrid she saved. I just don't know.

6. I think she has said that Aunt Petunia would do something surprising or important. I think Petunia will in some way act to shelter or protect Harry, out of blood loyalty, if not love.



A minor prediction, not based on clues Rowling has given in interviews: I think that Harry and his friends will each use their unique magical gifts in the war against Voldemort. Ron has already used his talent for chess in Book 1; other than that, I'm not actually sure what his talents are. Maybe he'll just overcome his sense of inferiority and act with confidence. Hermione will use her knowledge of runes and/or arithmancy; Ginny will use a really good hex (would it be too frivolous for her to use the bat-bogey hex?); Neville will use his knowledge of herbology; and the Weasley twins will use weapons/merchandise from their shop.



So those are my predictions. Oh, yeah, and people more observant than myself have noticed that the likeliest candidate to be R.A.B. is Sirius Blacks brother, Regulus (?). I agree that it's probably him, and that the locket Horcrux is probably the same locket they saw in a cabinet in the Black house, Grimmauld Place. Ah, and one more prediction: I think that the locket horcrux will be harder to find because Mundungus Fletcher will have stolen and possibly sold it.

Long Time, No Blog

I should never end an entry by promising to complete the topic in my next entry. That inhibits making the next entry. So I may come back to these thoughts on Christ's anointing at a future date, but meanwhile I've had some other things on my mind. One was a church issue, that I don't want to talk about here. The other was the closing of my store. Creative Borders Framing and Art Supplies is no more, and I will shortly remove the link to its site as I have taken the site down.

Why did I close the store? Because I was losing money. Now I'm about to embark on a paralegal certificate course at Whatcom Community College. It should take me a year, after which I hope to get a job where I'll make money instead of losing it. But I'll never blog about my job or workplace, I promise, future employers. Instead I'll blog about important literature, as in my next post. (New topic, new post.)

Jesus Anointed for Burial

The Gospel reading for tomorrow, the Sunday before Palm Sunday, is Jesus' anointing at Bethany, as told by John the Evangelist. The story of a woman anointing (pouring oil on) Jesus, either on his head or his feet, occurs in all four Gospels. That means all four found it pertinent to the basic story of Jesus' mission on earth.

As is usual when the four Gospel writers tell the same story, each has his own narrative purpose, so each tells the story somewhat differently. Usually, in this case, the stories as told by Matthew, Mark, and Luke would be most similar to each other, and John's version would differ from the others. Interestingly, this time it seems to me that John's is most like Matthew's and Mark's, while Luke's is significantly different. These are the passages:

John 12:1-11 (the lectionary specifies only 1-8, but I want to include vss. 9-11 for comparison to the others

Matthew 26:6-16

Mark 14:3-11

Luke 7:36-50

Some general observations and comparisons:

Location: In John, Matthew, and Mark, Jesus is in Bethany, a city about 8 miles from Jerusalem, in Judea. In Luke, although this passage doesn't mention the location, it occurs in a series of stories in Jesus' ministry in Galilee.

Time: In John, Matthew, and Mark, the incident occurs in relation to Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter; it includes Maundy Thursday and Good Friday). John says it is "six days before Passover," and the next day is his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). In Matthew, it is during Holy Week. The triumphal entry has already happened, and since then Jesus has been teaching in Jerusalem. Mark's time frame is like Matthew's. In Luke, it is during Jesus' teaching ministry, some time before he went to Jerusalem to go to the cross.

Household: I had thought that John said Jesus was at the home of the siblings Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, but I see that although it says Jesus is in their town, John does not necessarily specify whose home, just that "a dinner was given in Jesus' honor." Martha helps serve, but she could do that at someone else's house. Matthew and Mark both say that Jesus is at the home of a man named Simon the Leper. Luke says that Jesus is visiting a Pharisee (a highly respected scholar and practitioner of Jewish traditions), and Jesus addresses his host as Simon.

The woman: John identifies the woman as Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha; this Mary we commonly call Mary of Bethany to differentiate her from other women named Mary mentioned in the Gospels (including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary of Magdela). Matthew and Mark do not name the woman. Luke tells of a woman who had led a sinful life.

The anointing: In John, Mary pours the oil on Jesus' feet and wipes his feet with her hair. In Matthew and Mark, the woman pours the oil on Jesus' head. In Luke, the woman pours perfume on Jesus' feet (vs. 46), but also washes his feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair.

The bystanders' response: In John, Matthew, and Mark, it is the disciples and/or Judas who comment, and their remarks are about the cost of the oil/perfume. They say that the oil was wasted on Jesus, that it should have been sold, as it was very valuable, and the money given to the poor. In Luke, it is Simon the Pharisee who responds, and he simply thinks to himself that if Jesus were really a prophet, he would know what kind of woman was touching him; presumably if he did know, he would reject her touch.

Jesus' remarks: In John, Matthew, and Mark, Jesus identifies the oil/perfume as preparation for his burial, which in these narratives is only days away. In Matthew and Mark, he praises her act as "a beautiful thing" she did to him and prophesies that wherever Christ's followers preach the gospel, they will also tell the story of this act. Finally, in John, Matthew, and Mark, he makes his famous comment, "The poor you will always have with you," with the less often quoted parallel remark, "but you will not always have me." In Luke, Jesus favorably compares the sinful woman, with her sincere repentance, to his upright but inhospitable host (not providing water to wash Jesus' feet, not anointing him, not kissing him), and he ties the whole event to the woman receiving forgiveness for that past sinful life. This conversation includes another fairly well-known saying, "Her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much." In this case, the anointing is not preparation for burial, but an act of gratitude and love.

Result: In John, certain leaders plot Jesus' death. In Mark and Matthew, Judas approaches the leaders, offering to betray Jesus. Although John does not mention Judas' betrayal at this point, he does focus on Judas during the disciples' criticism of the woman, and John further accuses Judas of theft. In Luke, the people ask each other who Jesus is, who forgives sin. This could be awe or amazement at his graciousness, or it could be offence at his assumption of authority. Afterwards, Jesus continues his itinerant preaching.

More thoughts in the next post.

Prating Bear

Every once in a while I see a commercial for a teddy bear that accepts CDs, or something similar, and "reads" stories to children. Well, okay. It has a fakey baby voice. Oh, well. At a certain point, the bear says to a child, "You can do anything!" Ugh. Then a woman's voice says, "I like the little lesson in every story." Uh oh. Then the bear sings to a child, "Believe in yourself!" Barf.

I wish I was a mom, so I could vow never to allow my child access to such programming toward insipidity. As it is, I can only resolve that I would never buy one for a nephew or niece (who are too old for it anyway), or their children.

Losing Cathy Seipp

Update: Cathy Seipp died yesterday, March 21. Rest in peace.

One of my two favorite bloggers, Cathy Seipp, is apparently in her final days. She is dying of lung cancer; she was not a smoker but one of the few who get it anyway. Her blog, Cathy's World, is one of the two I'll check every day. (The other is James Lileks' Bleat.) She was so smart and funny and plain spoken. Her daughter, a freshman in college, posted on Cathy's blog that Cathy has reached a point of "trying to keep her comfortable" (my own family went through that last autumn with my brother), with the prediction that she has only a day or two left. I'm sorry for Maia to endure such a loss at that age.

Cathy Seipp would not know who I am. Although she had a clique of devoted commenters, I only posted a comment twice, if I recall, and then only under my initials. But I enjoyed her company. I hope her end comes peacefully, and that her daughter, father, and friends find comfort.

Not a morning person

I've had a bad cold for the last five days. Last week, I closed the store for two days to stay home and rest. I came back to work not because I was well but because I didn't want to keep the store closed any longer. Because of my cold, when I woke up this morning I had a sinus headache and a dry, sore throat, as well as a sense of unfinished work hanging over me. I croaked at my dog, "I am not looking forward to today." Then I thought, that's a fine way to start the day. So I said, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it."

I got up, made coffee, and opened the blinds. Fishtrap Creek had flooded our back yard. This is by no means a disaster. Our back yard is a flood plain and, thanks to a retaining wall, the waters never approach the house. So I cultivated a mood of interest and observation. I even stepped outside onto the deck to take a good look and was soothed by an almost warm breeze. I watched the current flow around the trees, and, as always when the creek rises, I heard in my mind the Johnny Cash song, "How High's the Water, Mama?"

Later, walking my dog, I reflected that most mornings my waking mood is one of gloom and pessimism. From that starting point, I have to bring myself up to a reasonable level of cheer and optimism, which may peak in late afternoon. Then it's a gradual descent into either weariness or endurance and determination in the evening, occasionally supplemented by middle-of-the-night irrational anxiety. Is there any way I could wake up in the morning already feeling cheerful? I just don't think so. I am fearfully and wonderfully (as in, I wonder why) made. Overcoming a naturally melancholic disposition and learning to become tolerable company to myself and others is part of life's challenge for me.

I also noted how fortunate it is for my dog that my morning clouds don't affect him. He is a sunny extrovert when we rise. He knows that almost the first thing I will do is feed him, and that is a source of simple joy to him. He knows my routine and sits quietly and companionably with me while I have that necessary first cup of coffee. Once I finish, he demonstrates his happy trust that I will now get up and take him for his walk, and his expectant demeanor leads me to do so. Our walk makes him glad and does me good as well. He makes my ascent easier.

State government and gambling

Watching TV tonight, I saw two commericals repeatedly. One was warning about the problems of youth gambling; the other was for Muckleshoot Indian Casino. The anti-gambling ad comes from the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services Problem Gambling Program. Meanwhile, Washington State Governor Gregoire is ready to sign a deal with tribes to increase the number of slot machines in tribal casinos, increase their hours of operation, and allow higher stakes. Among the top individual contributors to Governer Gregoire's 2004 campaign was the Puyallup Tribe, among the top industries donating was Tribal Governments, and tribal governments and lawyers were heavy contributors to the hand recount that finally put Gregoire in office. Had donors not funded the recount, she would have had to concede that she had lost the election.

Taking a holiday

Today is Presidents' Day, so I have my store closed. I decided to take all the Monday holidays this year. I don't think there are any more in the calendar, however, until Memorial Day at the end of May, so I'm considering taking one Monday off each month, even in months with no holiday. In the Netherlands, the day after Easter is a holiday, called Second Easter, or Tweede Pasen, if I have that right. Easter is April 8 this year, so I could take off April 9. On the other hand, my birthday is Sunday, April 1, so I could take off April 2. And I could take off, say, March 19.

Meanwhile, in February, I have fallen a little behind at the store in completing my framing projects. I think I will catch up this week, perhaps even tomorrow, but it's stressful. So if I'm behind, why am I planning more time off? Well, according to the time management books I'm reading, more time in the work place does not always translate to more effectiveness there. Time spent on hobbies and other interests can make you more refreshed and energized for work. So, we'll see.

I have no doubt that spring will help as well. More hours of daylight, more color--i.e. flowers, and leaves budding out on the tree branches--will all lift my spirits. Already, though it is only February, magnolia trees have buds and crocuses are sprouting. Hooray. But it is rather rainy and cold today and is forecast to remain so all week. Such is the Pacific Northwest.

Today I have some projects I want to accomplish at home, including changing light bulbs (quite a few are burnt out), vacuuming (yuck), dusting, and some others. This evening, I may go into my store and work on a project that I'd like to return to the customer tomorrow. I could go in early tomorrow to work on it, but there's no guarantee I'd finish before it's time to open. Evening is more open-ended. I know I'd sleep better if it were done. But we'll also have to see how I'm feeling by this evening.

Funerals

Came across an article about do-it-yourself burial of your loved ones. It was interesting, but in writing about this method, the writer expressed the popular (since Jessica Mitford's book) stand that funeral directors deceive, maniuplate, and pressure vulnerable, grieving families into buying unnecessary, expensive goods and services. Perhaps some funeral directors are uncaring, manipulative, greedy con artists just in it for the money. There are probably people like that in every industry. But I think that most people in the funeral business are providing welcome help at a difficult time. My brother, whose birthday was yesterday, died last November, and the folks at our funeral home pretty much just wanted to find out what we wanted and do it for us. By no means did they try to sell us anything we didn't want. I'm sure that the things we did choose cost plenty, but so do a lot of helpful services. Doctors help sick people and also make a lot of money at it. Funeral directors and funeral home staff help grieving families and also make a living.

One person in this article talked about funeral directors "taking away" the funeral service from the church and minister. That was not true in our case because our family does belong to a church community, and naturally we had the service at the church and a beloved pastor (my other brother) conducted the service. People who opt for services in a funeral parlor with a funeral director conducting the service probably don't have a church community. It is not the fault of the funeral workers that so many people have no church to go to at such a time. Given that people lack a place of their own to turn to, it's probably a good thing that funeral homes can provide one.

I should think the main reason so many death rituals have shifted from family, friends, and communities to professional services is not because those professionals are shysters, but because in our society so many people, sadly, are distanced from their families, have relatively shallow friendships, and lack any true community. Deeply meaningful death rituals can only occur when the life preceeding the death has been deeply enmeshed in a community that has developed those rituals.

This article seems to indicate that the way to go is to invent your own rituals, and I suppose that's the best option for people with no history, heritage, or traditions.

New year of storekeeping

Changed out my window today. I left in the Christmas display through New Year, as people leave their home decorations up that long, too. Today I switched out to some January themes. In one part, I have a poster of MLK, with two small frames holding parts of his most famous speeches. The other pictures I have could be classified as winter scenes, plus I scattered around a few art supplies to remind people that I sell those.

I need to take inventory, which is no small task. And I have some orders to process, which is a way of saying I need to build and assemble frames.

Today I start my new regime of closing at 5:00 instead of 5:30. I'm taking this break to blog at about 4:00, and closing time seems so much closer. What can I get done in the last hour?

Hoping my business grows in 2007

Well, I know that to stay interesting bloggers should post more often than every 10 days. I was not posting because until the past few days I've been debating whether to close my store and go out of business in January, and I didn't want to write about it while I still was undecided. And I didn't want to write about other things because I was preoccupied with my business. But now I've decided to stay open!

I will be supplementing the income (perhaps I should call it "income") from my store with other part-time work. Right now I'm in contact with someone I've done technical editing for in the past, and he may have some work for me in January. I'll also keep an eye on the want ads in the Bellingham Herald and Lynden Tribune. My hope is to work at the supplementary job 8:00-12:00, or thereabouts, Monday through Friday, and run the store weekday afternoons and all day Saturday. Currently, I open at 10:00 a.m., but I don't get that many customers before noon.

Why stay in business if it's not profitable? Well, I'm hoping that it's not very profitable YET but that it will become more so. I've started a quarterly event of having an artist come talk at my store. That is, I've done it once, and I hope to do it again soon, and continue doing it every three months or so. I'm considering what other kinds of special events I can do as well. That's what the marketing book I read said to do. Special events bring people to the store and establish a connection, so that when they want to buy your product it will be your store they come back to.

Artists are suitable speakers at my store because I sell art supplies as well as doing custom framing. I just looked, and I need to add my store website to my links. Meanwhile, my business is Creative Borders Framing & Art Supplies. Sometimes someone calls who thinks that name means I sell framing supplies, but I don't. I do custom framing, and I sell art supplies. The store name can be misread, but I don't want it to get any wordier than it already is, so I'm leaving it alone for now.

Just like everyone else

Just like everyone else, I'm starting a blog.

Today, one thing on my mind is that it's the last week before Christmas. I'm in retail; I do custom picture framing and sell art supplies. I have quite a few frames to build and assemble this week; that's good because it means I've had a lot of customers.

However, because I order my framing supplies on Monday and they arrive on Tuesday, now I can't take orders anymore that will be done before Christmas. If people come in with things they'd like framed for Christmas, will they be willing to take a certificate or something to put under the tree as proxy for a gift that can't be ready until several days after Christmas?

Will shoppers come in and buy art supplies? I personally have always loved receiving art supplies for Christmas, and I think they're a great gift for kids because they encourage creativity. Will others realize this? Come in and buy stuff, people!

I'm trying to have a good Christmas season--"good" meaning "profitable." This year when preachers bemoan the commercialization of Christmas, I think, Hey, don't knock shopping! It keeps honest, hard-working people in business.

Oh, yeah, and then there are the family and religious aspects of Christmas. I'll save that for another post.