Ruminations on Christmas/December/Solstice

• Each year I get to watch my boy appear and disappear in a 24 hour period.  I hate that.
• It's amazing how rewarding it can be to put something together with your kids.  This year, I got to put together a playschool dollhouse, a K'Nex Twisted Coaster, and an er...um....something to do with mechanized hamsters that need exercise.  
• A toy is evil if and only if it requires batteries.
• I find Michael Bay's Transformer's movie mesmerizing in that "If its on, I have to watch it" way I usually reserve for Airplane!, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and The Ten Commandents.
• Bad news is worse at Christmas somehow.  It's like you're in the foxhole, getting shelled, and the guy next to you farts.  Nothing to do but smell it.
• The Mattress sales industry should be regulated tighter than casinos.  Casinos at least offer comps.
• If you're on the hook to feed your buddy's dog while he's on vacation, wear comfortable footwear.  Said dog may be off her chain and feeling athletic.
• Bulleted lists get tiring after 4 bullets.

I finished Meghan McCain's Dirty Sexy Politics a few days ago, and I found it both naive and insightful.  Naive in that the book's the equivalent of the hot date that goes nowhere:  Meghan tells all, but has frightfully little to tell of consequence, aside from her night in Nashville with John Rich and how she totally screwed-up that infamous GQ interview.

The real insights were from a cogent, engaged moderate Republican (YAY, we DO EXIST!) embedded in  a party moving towards the radical fringe.  It refreshes one to hear a Republican who's true to the ideals of small government, personal freedom, and lower taxes, without pushing a specific moral agenda.

Overall, it was a fluffy, inconsequential book that didn't live up to its promise.