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Happy New Year!

An homage to the great J.C. Leyendecker. Homage. That’s what we call out-and-out art theft, right?

You probably know Leyendecker better as the “Arrow Shirt Man” illustrator. But before Norman Rockwell, Leyendecker was THE Saturday Evening Post cover man. He was brilliant. Much beloved of painters for his technique painting hair (among other things).

Of course, me being me, I screwed up. I intended to find the Leyendecker cover from New Years a hundred years ago, but this is actually the 1909 one. Because math. Because, consarnit, I’ll see 2018 out as innumerate as I saw it in.

Happy New Year, everyone!

p.s. watch me get done for child porn.

December 31, 2018 — 8:04 pm
Comments: 16

Good weekend, errybody!

Thanks for sticking with me through Santafest 2018!

December 28, 2018 — 10:00 am
Comments: 13

Disconcerting Santa

Do you know why this Santa is disconcerting? Because he has teeth. You may not have registered it consciously, but Coca Cola Santa is as toothless as a chicken.

I guess the expectation was that old men would naturally be edentulous, but you’d think those sorry-ass elves could have made him a pair of George Washingtons or something.

December 27, 2018 — 10:00 am
Comments: 8

Boxing Day Santa

Major holiday here. All’s I know is, nothing’s open and we have lots of leftover turkey.

December 26, 2018 — 1:00 pm
Comments: 13

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours the merriest, because the uncouth Brits call it “happy Christmas” and everybody knows that’s just wrong.

December 25, 2018 — 9:00 am
Comments: 11

Soul patch Santa

I have a personal Christmas card made up every year. I image search a classic Coca Cola Santa and then Photoshop him into something silly. It’s great fun. As it turns out, you can ‘Shop the hell out of those images without breaking them (a lot of them are pretty anatomically wonky anyway).

So let’s do that. Here’s to shaved Santa.

Hope the old bastard brings you everything your heart desires.

December 24, 2018 — 6:00 pm
Comments: 12

It begins…

We have a holly tree in the back garden, but most years the birds have had alllll the berries before Christmas. Not this year, though — Uncle B. nipped out and got a little vaseful for my library (which I insist on pronouncing libr-r-r-r-r-y).

I’m declaring Christmas officially ON starting….NOW!

Those pale things in the upper left corner are my panties drying on the rack. Merry Christmas!

p.s. Happy Solstice — it just gets brighter from here!

December 21, 2018 — 7:21 pm
Comments: 14

Shiiiiny…

This came across my Facebook this evening from a photomicrography group I belong to. Mixed diatoms from the Gulf of Thailand at 20x magnification.

Diatoms, if high school biology seems a long, long time ago, are microalgae that live mostly in water. Actually, these are dead diatom skeletons, which are made of silicon. Diatoms make 20% of the world’s oxygen and comprise almost half the organic stuff in the ocean. Also, they’re purty.

I have now done everything I intend to do in aid of that Christmas thing — which mostly involved tidying the kitchen this evening. Tomorrow, I have an hour’s work, an hour’s coffee with my colleagues and then I’m off until January 3.

But I’ll be here if you’re looking for me.

December 20, 2018 — 9:23 pm
Comments: 10

The official portrait

 

 

 

There. Done. Better in color.

Our tree always looks like it was decorated by twelve year olds.

Lots of cats, mice and chickens in effigy, though not enough ornaments in general. We’ve lost a lot by attrition over the last few years and our tree is too darned big this year.

Speaking of cats, the old ones don’t care, but little one has developed an unhealthy fascination with those shiny apples. They’re only papier-mâché, so he can’t really hurt them, but as we’ve moved them higher up the tree he’s taken to launching himself at the upper branches.

They’re my favorites, too, and you can’t easily get them any more.

Anyway. It was very nice. We listened to a CD of traditional carols and shared a bottle of wine, which disagreed with us both. Hurrah!

 

 

December 19, 2018 — 7:37 pm
Comments: 9

Twistmas Twee

Please enjoy this lousy cellphone pic of our tree. I got distracted seeing if my phone and my new computer would talk to each other directly, but I need a bluetooth dongle for that.

I kind of like the pic, anyway — it’s got that grainy bigfoot sighting thing going on.

Just the lights so far. We’ll do the rest of the ornaments when it’s Wine O’Clock.

We did something we’ve never done: walked into a garden center, pointed at the first tree we saw and said “that one!” It’s a beautiful, smelly tree and just a leeeeetle too big for this room. We’ll oonch our way past it while it’s with us.

The new kitten isn’t the slightest bit interested.

Those glommy things at the top of the picture are dried hops. Traditionally hung from low beams to keep people from cracking their heads. I really ought to replace them some time — they’re so old, a gentle snowfall of hops drifts down every time you brush them.

December 18, 2018 — 8:45 pm
Comments: 8