News and Updates

1. We’ve had a pretty quiet Thanksgiving break so far, since we had our big meal before it officially got started and nobody with more than six working brain cells is hosting or attending large gatherings these days. I have to say I’m enjoying the quiet. It’s been nice to sleep in as much as the cats would let me. It’s been good to have a day or two where I could put aside the grading and all of it, although it was hard not to do that anyway. I’m enjoying the rest.

2. We did have an East Coast family Zoom call on Thursday which was nice – it’s good to see people, even if they’re just pixels on the screen. Still working on the Midwest family Zoom call, but as noted (repeatedly) in this space, holidays happen when you have time.

3. I do have to get back to the grading and such, though. I sat down last night and figured out how much needed to get done for my various appointments, commitments, and requirements, and then I had to go lie down.

4. Quick: how many conservative judges ripping the Trump Campaign a new asshole does it take for the two-time popular vote loser in the White House to accept reality? Answer: apparently more than have done so already. If you haven’t yet read the opinion by US District Court Judge Stephanos Bibos (a Trump appointee) regarding Trump’s baseless claims and at this point borderline-criminal election tampering in Pennsylvania (“The Campaign’s claims have no merit.”) you should do so. The fact that Bibos was writing for a unanimous panel of three Republican-appointed judges in order to confirm an earlier opinion by a judge who was put forward by the GOP senator from Pennsylvania and is a lifelong Federalist Society member (“This is simply not how the Constitution works.”), is just icing on the cake.

5. I’m also getting more pleasure than perhaps I should over the fact that Trump paid Milwaukee $3 million to recount its votes and ended up losing by an even bigger margin than he had originally. Every day he loses again. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

6. Speaking of gifts, we’re deep into our own holiday gift-giving season here – everything from birthdays to anniversaries to the more usual holidays happen in our family between October 31 and December 31 – and I have to say that at this point in my life I’m just not sure we really need anything.  This is a remarkably fortunate place to be.

7. It’s also cluttered, as Lauren is at pains to remind us frequently. We have not yet succumbed to her Euro-minimalism, but perhaps some editing might be in order.

8. We need to start working on our Christmas card, but somehow we haven’t taken many photographs this year – and none of the four of us together, despite the fact that we spent March through August locked down in the house with each other.  Not really a "Kodak Moment," I suppose.  I suspect the annual letter will be brief. I did get our usual strand of blue lights up today since it was warm enough to do that without gloves, and I suppose we’ll see if it actually lights up soon.

9. After the Great Cat Piss Episode last month I went out and got a can of air freshener for my office because there is only so much grapefruit essential oil one can tolerate. I found one that is supposed to be “Wood” scented, and it does in fact vaguely smell of cedar. It’s pleasant, and I find myself just spraying it about randomly these days. One does what one can to make the days more enjoyable.

10. Kim and I watched the final of The Great British Bake Off last night, and now we are fully caught up on Bake Off shows, much to my dismay. I need another show to watch, which is a problem since I still haven’t quite managed to find it in me to sit through 99% of what’s on television these days, even though much of it is, objectively, high quality stuff. We’ll see how it goes.