My mother and myself traveled to New York to spend time with my grandmother. It was the first time I'd been back there in about four years, for my mom it'd been fourteen. It was nice seeing my grandma again. The last time I saw her was two years ago at my brother's wedding. She's....good. That is, if I judge "good" at a level where trying to start your car with your seatbelt buckle is acceptable. Mom's good too. Far better than trying to start a car with anything but a key anyway.

For Christmas I got quite the abundance of books, ten in all. I actually took the time to rummage through a number of them upstairs in my grandma's attic. Included in this collection was a first printing of Gone With the Wind (trust me I checked), a 1941 hardback edition of Don Quixote De La Mancha, and a 1901 printing of The Crisis by Winston Churchill. Those were my picks though, a random (but deliteful) assortment of history books were also given to me.

Although Christmas was only a week ago, I've already begun to think about what I want for my birthday. The list is pretty short, and it includes two things which I know I'll put to good use. The first is a portable DVD player. One of these would be great when I'm sitting in the airport for six hours because two flights capable of taking me to NY were cancelled in a row, and when I have six hour lay-overs in Detroit, as was the case coming back. I also travel a lot in general. In a week I'm flying to California, and a week after that I'm flying to California...again.

Another thing I could use, that's right use, not want, would be a digital camera. I take a lot of pictures during the summer with a multitude of disposable cameras. The pictures take up a lot of room, and cost a lot to develop, so the camera would "pay for itself" eventually. Something by Sony, with a removable memory stick would be killer. My computer's a Vaio so it already has a slot for memory sticks.

Work tomorrow is going to blow, so very much.

MUSIC: Beastie Boys - Do It