Hey, let’s move on to the happy happy! And kick that off with some top-notch geekery.

• Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean are doing a reading at the Walker on January 11th. Squeeee! Oh hey, that’s this Thursday already.
• CES started today. techfresh is on top of things.
• Also starting today, MacWorld. I’m particularly curious about the Apple iPhone.
• Arcade Fire are finally following up 2004’s Funeral with Neon Bible.
• A friend loaned me season one of Arrested Development, but I still need to watch series two of Black Books before I delve into it.

Ah. It feels good to get back to my regularly scheduled nerdy-grrrl programming.

Well. That’s that. Sort of. J is all moved into his new apartment and getting settled. My house, strangely enough, doesn’t look so very different. Where I am a packrat he is more of a minimalist…so he didn’t have that much stuff to move. But it’s going to be an interesting transition for the three of us. Not necessarily bad, mind you. J will have more peace and quiet without us. And he’ll be able to breathe more easily, without cat dander to aggravate his asthma.

Speaking of the cat…I brought her back from the vet Friday night. I allowed her to curl up in one of her usual spots, in the back of my closet, without considering the consequences. I checked on her the next morning. And discovered that she’d been so lethargic she hadn’t bothered to get up in the night. Instead she’d urinated where she was. In a rubbermaid bin. Filled with clothes. Specifically, my entire wardrobe of higher-end maternity clothes. If that’s not a sign from the powers that be - that I shouldn’t attempt to bear any more children - I don’t know what is. Also, I think this is the end of the road for poor Selina.

In happier news, the little man went to his first sleepover at a friend’s last night and had a wonderful time. And I went to a sold out show at the Turf Club. Each band was equally amazing. Thankfully someone else snapped off a shot of one of my favorite moments of the evening. The exploding rabbit makes me smile.

Bonus: How cute are these?
Plus: I’d really like to see Children of Men. J and I attempted to last night, but the theater seemed to be having technical difficulties and the lobby was in complete disarray.
And: I want an Army of Toast (via Fabulist). But I still haven’t amassed my flotilla of squid.

One year ago today I was admitted to the hospital. Felix was already gone.

Poor Selina is still at the kitty hospital. I’ll bring her home tomorrow afternoon, after a quick tutorial. The vet will show me how to feed her via syringe. If it’s Fatty Liver Disease this regular forcefeeding could just do the trick. If it’s not…well, I don’t want to consider the alternative right now.

Bonus: Meet the Real Sacha Baron Cohen - an interview by Terry Gross on Fresh Air.
Plus: Preshunk posts Pwn’d, one of the best Batman t-shirts I’ve ever seen. In other superhero news, Sketching a Toy Model using Spider-Man. Neat.
And: Eating In, interesting short fiction from a strange kind of madness (one of my fine flickr contacts is behind it).

Maybe my life isn’t like one train wreck after another. More like it’s filled with frequent fender benders. Each little crash, in and of itself, isn’t devastating. Just stressful. Each causes a spike of adrenaline and a temporary loss of forward momentum. It’s all fits and starts. Sadly 2007 is starting off no differently. When my eyes popped open this morning my stress dial instantly cranked itself to 11. But maybe I can pretend my new year starts next week.

For now, 5 Good Things:

1. The little man, and his imagination. Every day his creativity amazes.
2. Over the weekend I re-read The Time Traveler’s Wife. I love that book. So much.
3. This American Life. Last night I listened to the “Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time” episode, while playing Scrabble with myself, and I felt a little better.
   
4. Giant steampunk robots! (via Drawn, another good thing)
5. FlickrCentral’s Best of 2006. Some amazing shots to be seen.

Now it’s time to take poor Selina back to the vet. Again.

Bonus: Red Bamboo in Brooklyn. The menu makes me drool. In a good way.
Plus: This post’s title was lifted from Mr. Barrett Chase. Thanks for the inspiration.
And: Umm. That’s all folks.

Enough with the pity party already. Time for a fresh start. Maybe I’m feeling a bit more optimistic because I finally got out of my pajamas for the first time in days and took a shower. Go me.

Speaking of a fresh start…at long last I decided it was time. Time to retire my relic of a cell phone. It’s over five years old. But there aren’t any enticing upgrades available through my service provider. Instead I opted to buy an unlocked phone off ebay, and used Flickr’s camera finder to help me choose the best candidate. The Sony Ericsson K800i was tempting, what with its 3.2MP CyberShot camera, but still too expensive. Instead I went with the Sony Ericsson W800i (even though it was released at the end of 2005, it seems like a solid phone and the photo quality is decent).

Also looking ahead…there may be a trip in my future, some time in April. Now I have to figure out if it’s going to be Disneyland or Euro Disney. Well, not exactly. Let me explain. The little man’s paternal grandparents plan to take him to Disneyland. While he’s with them I could go elsewhere. For instance I could try to pull off a European vacation on the cheap. Or I could tag along with them for part of their trip, then rent a car for some solo adventures in L.A. I wouldn’t mind making a pilgrimage to the Giant Robot Empire. And to Amoeba Records. And Real Food Daily and Erewhon, and who knows where else. And there are a few folks I’d love to meet up with - people I’ve known IRL (Michelle, when was the last time I saw you?) and a few flickr friends. So we’ll see what happens. Nice to have something to look forward to though.

In movie news, I’d like to see Pan’s Labyrinth. And I am oh-so-excited about the release of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. And what the hell…I’ll be seeing the upcoming Transformers movie. Mock me or join me.

Bonus: We Are Milk. Not entirely sure what that means, but I love it. The creativity. Simply gorgeous. I hope they post more videos.
Plus: My good pal will be home visiting in a few weeks. I can’t wait for Christmas in January! Hopefully I won’t misplace her presents before then.
And: Now it’s time for my first lunch of the year. No, I’m not trying to compete for the most boring blog title, I promise. Just excited to have an appetite again. Oh, and I did not hurl on New Year’s Eve after all. Take that! Umm, someone. Or something.