ordinary is boring

Post Christmas holiday bliss

The decorations are still up--I usually take them down January 2.  The homemade cookies and candies are gone (doled out to neighbors, coworkers, and family).  I sent some cards out but not as many as I'd have liked to (I may send out some "happy new year" cards to make up for that). My sisterinlaw has returned to Calgary--I have to say that having her here was probably the best part of this Christmas (sending warm hugs up to her in the chilly north).  Hubby gave me a nifty new camera that should be easier to use which I hope will encourage me to snap more pix that I can post here.  Oh, and I baked my first-ever fruitcake!  I tested it on a few willing subjects and we all agreed that it turned out great (soaking it daily with cognac probably didn't hurt!).

We spent the day before Christmas with my sisterinlaw.  We lunched in the International District, browsed the goodies at Kinokuniya, hit some cute shops downtown, and went to Magic Mouse Toys where I found my much beloved Pig Popper--best stress relieving toy ever!

 

Alex is awesome!

 I had meant to post this way back but things have been sort of hectic these days.  A while ago we spent an evening with our "nephew" (ok, the kiddo of dear friends but I love him like family so I'm claiming some auntie status here!).  I brought my sketchbook where I doodle my monsters and creatures and Alex zoned right in.  Below are the monster drawings he contributed to the book.  As he created them he told me detailed stories about each.  I think these are great and I'm happy they are part of my sketchbook.  We had fun and I can't wait to do it again.

Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle Dec 3 & 4

I missed the summer show and last December's, too.  Something about the weekends--I am all excited to go and do something all week long until the actual weekend arrive and then I cannot seem to crawl out of my jammies and venture out into the world.  This time I'm going, though!  The Urban Craft Uprising (I've been twice over the years) is a blast.  Imagine booth after booth of great, often edgy art and craft vendors.  It is heaven for me and I am lucky to have it here in Seattle so no excuses and no missing it this time!

Thought for the day...

via adnanali.tumblr.com

Warren Buffett's Smile Missing as His "5-Minute Deficit Fix" Hits Facebook - CNBC

Interesting.  It may have started in jest (?) but who knows where this thing could go now that so many are jumping on the "email to 20 people and tell them to do the same" idea.

 

Text and photo from CNBC:

Warren Buffett's "five-minute" plan to fix the nation's deficit problem .. delivered with a laugh during a live interview on CNBC in July .. has gone viral.

What's missing, however, is the laugh.

The WSJ's Total Return blog notes there's a chain letter now circulating by email and on Facebook that features this line from Buffett's July 7 interview in Sun Valley, Idaho with Becky Quick:

"I could end the deficit in five minutes.  You just pass a law that says that any time there's a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."

The chain letter includes several other ideas to "reform" Congress, and tells its recipients that "Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people."

Now, the facts.

First, to state the obvious, Berkshire says in a statement that "the chain letter was not sent out by Warren of course nor did he in any way suggest a chain letter."

Second, the Berkshire statement says Buffett's 'five-minute deficit plan' was "not a serious proposal; just intended to emphasize the importance of proper incentives (and problems when they are absent)."

In our post that July day headlined " Warren Buffett's 5-Minute Plan to Fix the Deficit", we called it "his not-entirely serious (but not entirely joking either) plan."

via www.cnbc.com