How happy am I that this miserable excuse of a year is nearly over? Sure, it can be argued that moving from one calendar year to another is arbitrary, that it’s just a date. But somehow it feels significant.

2006 Highlights:

• The little man was issued his first library card, and his first passport. J and I took him to Iceland (using the latter, I don’t think the former would have worked).
• The kraken! This tattoo makes me smile.
• A few of my favorite photos were shown in an art exhibit in Minneapolis.
• After languishing on the To Do list for years I finally joined the YWCA and have been going regularly. Especially pleased about setting the little man up with one-on-one swimming lessons.
• This year I’ve made it out to more live music shows than I did in the last several years combined.
• I upgraded to a shiny new camera and now have my own car (function over form, I swear).
• The living room is now a gorgeous shade of green. And I painted it all by myself.
• I met some lovely people this year, including other local photo nerds via the Twin Cities flickr photo group. I especially enjoyed our photo walks and look forward to many more of those next year.

2006 Lowlights:

• The baby died.
• My cat who had been with me for 14 years became seriously ill and had to be put to sleep.
• The little man’s diagnosis was changed from PDD-NOS to PDD, which, on the autism spectrum, is more severe. And he had to undergo an MRI.
• My marriage imploded. It was inevitable.
• J is moving out in a week (on the anniversary of the baby’s death no less). It’ll be good in the long run, but very sad, just the same.
• With just my income, the little man and I won’t be able to move to Minneapolis any time soon. So our future will be filled with even more commutes, shuttling back and forth from St. Paul.
• I’ve felt even less focused and more pessimistic than usual. I’m disappointed in myself, and really don’t want to disappoint others.

No idea what 2007 holds in store for us, but it has got to be an improvement over this one. And hopefully I’ll finally get over this lingering cold. Grrrr.

I hadn’t been inside the Uptown Bar in years, but last night I stopped by to see STNNNG. They played last. The first band was one of Arzu’s projects, Spider Fighter. Not familiar with the other bands, and that’s all right. During their sets I spent some time chatting with folks. And that was good. I needed to be out. With people.

Tonight I may finally experience the spectacle that is Total Fucking Blood. I feel like I need to get it all in now. Not because it’s the end of the year, but because it’s the end of an era. J moves out next weekend. The house is a complete mess and I don’t know if it’s being made worse because he’s started packing…or if packing is more difficult for him because the house is in such a state to begin with (or both). Either way I haven’t had the motivation to do much about it. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions - they are all doomed to fail - but I am making a note to self: next year, get house sorted. Also: get self sorted.

Bonus: Innovative filmmakers who will blow your toddler’s mind (or pre-schooler’s, or grade schooler’s, or grown up friends’ minds).
Plus: The little man has lost yet another tooth. At least this has improved the symmetry in his mouth, but it may make chewing more difficult for a time.
And: One of the headlights went out in my new(to me) car. With a little assistance I was able to replace it, and now feel confident that I could do it on my own next time.

Joe tagged me over a week ago, but compiling my list has been slow-going. Mostly because I’ve been so prolific with the blogging, I don’t want to tell yawl something you already know.

1. I abhor the sound of people eating. The worst? Slurping. Followed by cutlery clanking against teeth. Oh, and the pouring of liquid. Hate hate hate those sounds.
2. Any hardcover books that enter our home are immediately stripped of their dust jackets. I’m not entirely sure why.
3. In school I had detention just once. In sixth grade. I was busted for forging my mother’s name on a permission slip for a field trip. Which she would have signed herself, if I’d only remembered to give it to her.
4. When I was visiting a friend in Morocco I had my hands decorated with henna, then utterly failed to photograph them…even though the designs were intact for weeks. Still kicking myself about it.
5. Between June of 1973 and June of 1991 I lived in the same house (and it was the house my Dad grew up in as well). Between June of 1991 and June of 1999 I lived in nine different houses/apartments. Since July of 1999 I’ve lived in just one. And while I do love this house I wish I could pick it up and move it to Minneapolis.

Not super duper exciting, but there you go. In turn I’m tagging Craig, Geek Darling, Irish Girl, Matt and Waitress Dreams.

Bonus: Tomorrow my favorite movie theater, the Riverview, is screening the LoTR trilogy. The extended versions. Starting at 11am and ending some time after 10pm. That might just be too much of a good thing.
Plus: iTWYF (I Touch With Your Fingers). Unfortunately they’re only available in leather.
And: Something I experience daily…the caffeine curve.

The long slog (a.k.a. holiday hell) is nearly over. But being up with people for so long has taken its toll, with my cold taking a turn for the worse. Naturally I don’t want this thing to kick my ass. But I have a time honored tradition to uphold, of hurling on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. And this without any alcohol. It’s been food poisoning or stomach flu that gets me. So maybe this cold will soon morph into something even more special.

I have been able to keep my mind off feeling like crap, for short periods of time at least. Today a friend and I went to the dollar theater to see Marie Anoinette, which we both enjoyed. Such ridiculous decadence…but just the sort of eye candy I was in the mood for. Other delightful distractions are in the queue. Yesterday I received My Secret: A PostSecret book, the second such from the good people at the PostSecret blog (where “shared confessions are an art form”). Another friend gave me the Total Fucking Blood disc, plus two volumes of the Astonishing X-Men (Gifted and Dangerous) penned by my man Joss Whedon. Squeee!

But right now I feel the need…the need for sleep.

I seem to have come down with the little man’s cold. Rather than catching up on my sleep, though, I pulled an all nighter catching up on Heroes. I’ve been hearing good things about this show for months. Yesterday afternoon I watched the first episode and then couldn’t stop. It was like eating Pringles. Yes, the show has a definite junk food feeling to it, but I’m hooked. I’ve watched all eleven episodes. And now I have to wait until the end of January for the next installment. Just like BSG. Sigh.

I’ve been a long time fan of Cat Power’s music, but I’ve just lost all respect for her as an individual. She recorded a Cat Stevens cover, specifically to be used in a commercial…for the uber-evil diamond industry. Why couldn’t she just say no, like The Thermals did to Hummer (incidentally, they will be headlining at the Triple Rock on February 27th).

Bonus: Daydreaming of a vacation to New Ephemera…never mind that the place doesn’t exist (via my latest five-minute crush, Tinselman).
Plus: The beginning of the end of Harry Potter. In book form, at least. It’ll be a while before they catch up with the rest of the films.
And: Loved the This American Life Holiday Spectacular.

And so ends another brutal and baffling rollercoaster of a week…only to segue into the horrible holidays. I’m no grinch, but I’ve come to loathe this time of year. Too much history, too traumatic. Rather than getting into the gory details I well send you away, on to much more entertaining diversions.

• Today is Global Orgasm Day. Still a few more hours to get in some getting off.
• I’m not an opera fan (haven’t had much exposure, really) but I am fascinated by the idea of The First Emperor at The Met.
• Line Rider is utterly addictive, right? So I get how some people could invest insane amounts of time to create these masterpieces. Doesn’t hurt that the videoes feature the most awesome music of Katamari Damacy and Cowboy Bebop.
• In the “awww, cute” category we have Mooki’s Christmas present, plus Wii Kitties (which might be slightly more wtf? than cute, but still).
• Researchers catch giant squid on video.
• Off the charts in its awesomenosity, Chuck commissioned some amazing art for his sweetie, from sweet e domestic.
• We made a holiday video at Clockwork, but I prefer the all-outtakes version.

Now I’m going to take two Brian K. Vaughan comics…and hope I’m not quite so broken in the morning.

The little man’s memory amazes me. And his non sequiturs. He randomly started talking about that time Karen painted the room from grey to yellow - at daycare. Over five years ago. When he was just two. And it’s not like we’ve spoken of it since. He hasn’t been back to that daycare since he turned three. It’s like he has total recall. I wonder what else he could remember for me.

Speaking of random…I’ve been getting hit with some off-putting comment spam. Comment spam that mentions “puffy folds” excessively. Filters are in place that catch the bulk of it, so I’m not sure why these, er, gems are slipping through.

Dammit, I missed the Gogol Bordello show. Anyone else go?

Bonus: This video makes me happy.
Plus: Add The Fabulist as a friend on myspace, and you just might win a super special black Uglydoll. Maybe.
And: It is not beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. But it nearly is anyhow. Time marches on.

I’d like to point the finger at The Backyardigans, but really, I only have myself to blame. My first mistake? Last week I let the little man pick out a DVD of theirs at the library. He is enthralled. Second? For the past two years he has spoken in reverential tones…of the non-vegan food products his classmates bring to school. There are no vegan-friendly Lunchables, but if there were I’d still be concerned about them being crappy pre-processed junk. I may not be up to Vegan Lunch Box standards, but I still try to make the lad a fairly healthy lunch every day. Organic PB&J on whole wheat, servings of fresh fruit and/or vegetables, maybe some soy yogurt, pretzel sticks, various crackers, etc. But lately he’s been obsessed with the character-shaped “fruit” snacks he sees at school. Yesterday I was shopping at a Super Target. A box of Backyardigans fruit snacks caught my eye. In a moment of weakness I picked it up and read the back. The ingredients happened to be vegan. But they’re also total crap. Mostly high fructose corn syrup. I explicitly told the little man they aren’t for every day, that they’re only a sometimes food. He immediately began trying to negotiate with me, laying out which days of the week he could have this special treat in his lunch. Then this morning…he was so excited by the prospect of having this “cool” snack to take to school that he came into my room at 3:46am. He was fully dressed for the day. I insisted he return to bed, but that only lasted for an hour or so.

Update: Turns out the boy has come down with a crappy cold, which might be part of the reason he woke up at such an odd hour. He’s got another theory though. He’s blaming his cold on the cauliflower and carrots I packed in his lunch bag (right alongside the crappy fruit snacks). I can’t win.

Bonus: Been listening to New Young Pony Club. Sometimes I like the electropop. And it’s excellent Monday morning music (via flickr).

Sometimes I like low key. Not that there’s anything low key about the Pump It Up Party Zone. How could there be? We attended a child’s birthday party at one of their “zones” yesterday. The little man and I had a blast. The highlight, for me, wasn’t when I got smacked in the face with my own camera (though that was certainly memorable) but it was playing air hockey with the little man for the first time. We’ll definitely be doing that again. I was so stoked I created an Air Hockey Appreciation Club pool on flickr. Won’t you join me?

The rest of this weekend really has been low key. I’ve been reading, watching J finish up the new Zelda game, getting a metric assload of laundry done, washing some dishes, making some food, cleaning up the house some, errand-running and then…I sat down to get some holiday cards ready. Because I adore sending and receiving snail mail. But I did it in the most half-assed manner possible. There was no list involved, other than a mental checklist. If the recipient’s address wasn’t firmly lodged in my brain or readily available at my fingertips, no card. Also, I attempted to enlist the little man’s aid. I managed to get him to sign his name on maybe four or five cards. And one of them? He sneezed all over it (and my hand) while I was writing. Yes, we will send you our very best wishes - and our germs!

One more little man anectode before I call it a night. Earlier he said “Mom? Candy canes taste like…candy canes.” A moment later he asked “what is turkey made out of?” I hope he isn’t thinking about tasting some, to see if it tastes like turkey. Sigh.

Bonus: I love these DIY photo ornaments. And more of them, as demonstrated by KristyK.
Plus: Today I discovered Squidbillies (via Dioramarama) and, while I generally love all things squid, the jury is still out on the show. I will admit the artwork is gorgeous.
And: I kinda sorta wish I hadn’t watched that last Battlestar Galactica episode-cum-cliffhanger. It’s going to be a very long thirty-five days (not that I’m counting, ahem) until the next new episode…

It’s going to be a quiet weekend. Intentionally so. I’ve been going out a lot lately. While that’s been grand I need a little break. Time to take care of the mundane details, like doing the bills and the laundry and cleaning the house. And squeezing in some quality lounging. I’ve got a stack of books to read (just started Fragile Things last night), a Wii to play (while I still can) and an episode of BSG to savor. It’s going to be the 21st of January before we’re treated to another new one. But before all of that I am venturing out for a bit…to escort the little man to a classmate’s birthday party, on the other side of the Twin Cities from us. Yay.

Bonus: The Threadless shoutout was such a hit, I thought I’d point out some other shirts I like elsewhere. There’s this adorable Katamari Damacy shirt, with the Prince pushing a snowball. And I’d love to get the little man this Paper Mario t-shirt, but holy balls it is expensive. J suggested we make one ourselves instead.
Plus: The other day a co-worker asked if I knew of any vegan pre-made cookie dough. I did not, but I quickly discovered Moo-Cluck Cookie Dough Tubes. They’re well-reviewed and everything. I so didn’t need to know about these.
And: The trailer for the next Harry Potter movie is up. Helena Bonham Carter was cast as Bellatrix Lestrange. Squee!