We went and got our Christmas tree last night at the local tree lot near our house. It was pretty cold outside, nearly enough give it the authentic "going to get the tree" feel I remember from childhood, but not quite. My toes didn't freeze as we walked the rows looking for that perfect tree (not dried out, strong scent, full fat shape with no visible trunk through the branches) and my hands didn't get cold as I pulled out trees to inspect them more closely. After ten minutes of searching, we found our candidate. I had a good feeling about him almost immediately.

He was new to the lot, just delivered. A little under 6', he was full nearly up to the top, then had a small gap, then a burst of branches. At the top, a long branch reached skyward, perfect for holding the star. Every year I have a very emotional connection to my Christmas tree. It's almost as if each tree has a personality of its own, and when I find the one I like, we're fast friends. This year is no different, and my heart warms as I look at him sitting in the bay window, patiently awaiting the lights and decorations that will come this evening. (Pictures to follow when my new camera arrives.)

I've been avoiding talking about the current political (and economic and job) situation(s) here lately because it's got me in such a funk. With the attacks on India, the total disintegration of any kind of process in Israel, the executive privilege Bush is invoking and Ashcroft in general, I find myself bereft of hope when I think of it all. Add to that this tidbit that I didn't see in my usual news perusals of the past few days: Members of Congress set for $4,900 pay raise. You'd think in the middle of a recession and a war, with the budget surplus evaporated and unemployment on the rise, that Congress could forgo a raise this year (it "will be the third congressional pay raise in the last four years.") After all, isn't that what most people are doing, if they're lucky enough to have jobs? ('Round here you can't even get a job doing HTML for a porn site for $18/hr.) Guh. This stuff makes me sick.

For no other reason than because it's cool: Diving and Surfacing Phraseology for Submarines. I stumbled upon this by accident today while searching for images of Christmas trees. Apparently the "hull opening indicator panel" on a sub is also called a Christmas Tree. Just reading the list of terms brings back Das Boot (which you should go see right this second, I really mean it, if you haven't already.)

Eric Norlin (of TDCRC "fame") posits that blogging and rap share a similar history in his TDCRC newsletter today.

Much like blogging, rap depended upon a long history, but somehow — in an almost undescribable way — seemed *different*. Oddly, no one
could say why that was. No one outside of an anonymous 13 year old
black boy in the poor neighborhoods of Brooklyn, whom ABC news
captured saying, "not everyone can sing, but everyone can rap."

Certainly with weblogs we've seen that not everyone can write, but everyone can blog. I think he may be onto something with this analogy. It's the first one I've heard that actually works for me (unlike all the "they're diaries with links!" rubbish that's been tossed about.) It captures the empowerment of the voiceless and the disenfranchised, the simplicity of the format, and the ability to circumvent the traditional means of doing it (recording contracts and big labels, New York Times and major media, etc. for blogs) I hope he follows up with some more thoughts on this topic.

The Megway TH is a Yahoo! Daily Pick today. Next thing you know, everyone will be driving these things. Now if there were only some way I could make some money off this, I'd be all set.

My mom's got some pictures of our Vegas trip up on her site (no permalink, sorry, I'll get on her about that). This is the last time I'll have to send you elsewhere for pictures from one of my trips because I'm getting a new digital camera for Christmas! Yippee! I can't wait. Pretty soon it'll be all pictures all the time here on megnut. I don't think I've been this excited for a Christmas present since I got a bunch of furniture for my dollhouse in 1981. Honestly.

I added a new recipe to my cooking section, Lentil Soup. Though I've been cooking a lot, I haven't had time to write up the recipes for the more complicated stuff I've done (like the bûche de Noël I made for a Christmas party last week). I'll try to get to it this weekend. In the meantime, enjoy a tasty lentil soup now that the nights are cold.

Yesterday I found it odd that I didn't have more to write upon my return from Vegas. Usually I have about twenty things I want to blab on and on about. Apparently I just plain forgot to mention this exciting news: Nebraska is going to the Rose Bowl! And Eric Crouch won the Heisman Trophy! Though I failed to mention it, and haven't talked much about Nebraska football this year, believe me, I am counting the days until January 3!! Go Big Red!!

Are you looking for a "bold step forward in pedestrian science and engineering"? Look no further than the Megway Transporting Human. The secret (if you've been following the Danza/WHAT hype elsewhere) is out! They're talking about it over on MetaFilter too.

I'm not much of a makeup gal, but for some reason I bought this Calvin Klein Eye Color Wash in Rosewater at Sephora the other day, and I love it! It goes on a like a liquid but then quickly dries into a powdery shimmery coating over your eyelid. It's very faint and it doesn't look like bright pink eyeshadow, it just makes me appear more awake and it warms up my eyes just so. Just so = only I probably even notice I'm wearing the stuff. It comes in other neat looking colors as well. Two thumbs up from the megnut makeover dept.