Anticipation

Christmas at the Brown house always includes this family of "dudes" (from top, Julia Reichert, Steve Bognar, and Lela Klein). Here's to new looks all around.

This year, Colin joins the mix. A few decorations have been pulled from the attic and needless to say, I'm excited.

Keep It In The Family

Just as I felt familial pressure to buy a Skagen watch in order to stay on top of Brown family trends, I committed today to my first car, a 1998 Subaru Forester. It's not my dream car, but I love it for so many reasons, not least of all its trunk space (think of all the stuff we might have a whim to schlep around, Colin) and its completely rebuilt engine (it essentially has ZERO miles on it).

The European license plates are just a dream.

Papa's Breakfast

This morning I caught Papa quartering and buttering his muffin! I took a picture on my phone, but sadly any means of connecting it to my computer are packed in boxes in Chicago. Wait for it.

(Anyway, everyone knows we all want to date our fathers.)

Mood Music

Though I often sneer at people who can only seem to express themselves through song lyrics, I sympathize with finding a song that so perfectly expresses my mood that any explanation I can give myself seems merely a paraphrase.

At the moment, it's Citizen Cope's "Sideways."


you know it ain't easy
for these thoughts here to leave me
there's no words to describe it
in French or in English
well, diamonds they fade
and flowers they bloom
and I'm telling you
these feelings won't go away
they've been knockin' me sideways
they've been knockin' me out lately
whenever you come around me
these feelings won't go away
they've been knockin' me sideways
I keep thinking in a moment that
time will take them away
but these feelings won't go away

"Spleen" Was The Emo Of 18th Century French Literature

Le mot « spleen » s’agit d'un mal métaphysique très complexe qui s'exprime chez Baudelaire dans nombres de ses poèmes. Les principaux thèmes qui s'y rapportent sont: la fuite du temps, la tentation du Mal, la notion d'enfermement, la hantise de la mort et le regret de ses souvenirs. Ce mal profond l'éloigne des autres, du monde qui le comprend de moins en moins.