Down with Skool!

I thought I should perhaps actually post something here. Not that I can promise too many more posts in 2009, but one never knows. There'll probably at least be some for the Golden Globes and Oscars.

What is going on? I'm job hunting, because clearly there is no better time to be doing so. There are actually a few prospective leads. One interview for an organization I quite like, in SF, although the position isn't ideal. I have heard some federal hiring freezes will end come Jan 20. :) (I'll have to find a party).

Let's see. Read the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which is a cute riff on the Jungle book, and the Story of Edgar Sawtelle, which is a well-done riff on Hamlet. Am now onto Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell. She wrote 4 murder mysteries before her death and they all have lovely covers by Edward Gorey. It's a good book, particularly if you can follow some of the PG Wodehouse-esque Britishisms.

I was deathly sick for New Years, which prevented my attendence at an outdoor party in 1 degree weather (I have got to get back to California).

Christmas! It was spread over a few days, but I got some money for my moving fund, 2 Ronald Searle prints (one of Ireland and one of Australia) [Ronald Searle illustrated, among other things, the Molesworth books. chizz chizz.], some pretty earrings, some totally astounding flip flops (they are fuzzy and purple and I don't know where I'll ever wear them, but they're kinda fantastic), a James Thurber book, some Irish dark chocolate, 2 carved hippos from Kenya ('ippo), DVDs of Sunrise:Earth (including Pt. Reyes - no, I don't know what it is, but it sounds pretty) and a book on life lessons from Pepe the shrimp from the muppets. My friends know what I need.

And as a family gift, I bought a scanner, so we are scanning in old family pictures and documents to add to our recently (semi-) completed family tree. We have an Obediah and an Ebenezer. And a murder. I'm finding out all sorts of interesting things.

Crows have moved into our street, which is lovely.

Saw Australia (which was mostly lovely, if somewhat flawed), and Frost/Nixon, which was fantastic. Milk is still my favorite, but I'd be happy if Frost/Nixon won.Sam Rockwell is astounding. Before that I saw Let the Right One In (very good. I didn't like it much at first, but it grew on me), Fear(s) of the Dark (uneven, but a few very creepy parts), and RocknRolla (stylish and fun). At some point I may do a top 10 of the year, but I'll have to try to make it through a bit more of the December glut first.

My present to my friends (being broke as I am) were 4 very eclectic CDs of things I listened to this year (or late last year while I was still traveling). The CDs were going to 6 people with wildly differing musical tastes, so I tried to make one kinda dancy, one more rock (although I left out the hard rock I listen to a lot, since only 1 of the 6 has similar tastes), one softer, and one is just the leftovers and more eclectic. In return, I've been looking through the year end lists for some new music for the new year. I'm currently wildly addicted to the Snow Leopard by Shearwater, as well as Amanda Palmer's disc, whom I've been listening to for about a month. Also on heavy rotation: The Rip by Portishead, Heart Attack by Low vs. Diamond, Beck by Be Your Own Pet, Wannabe in LA by Eagles of Death Metal, The Fall by Lily Allen, Blind by Hercules & Love Affair, Go-Getter Greg by Ludo, Constructive Summer by the Hold Steady and the Nun's Litany by Magnetic Fields. Wildly more indie than usual, but pretty good. I feel like there's been a dearth of good rock out there lately, though. I wonder if anything is coming out soon.

In the meantime, my brother is letting me rip CDs from his collection. Among the highlights thus far: Illmatic by Nas, Tommy by the Who, Odyssey & Oracle by the Zombies, Horses by Patti Smith, Hunky Dory by Bowie, Grace by Jeff Buckley, Exile on Main Street by the Stones and Raw Power by Iggy Pop and the Stooges.

That's been my week (or 3). Between the move at work, the holidays, and being sick, a lot of my time the last couple of weeks has been down time around the house. Also, it's freezing outside and I want to hibernate.

Oh - I am rocking out at the Box Office game. I scored 4th the weekend before last and I think I'm around 38th for the Winter. Possibly off to the Science museum tomorrow. And the new doctor may be announced... I'm going back to being vegetarian next week. I think that's all.