Well That Was Unexpected

This week I experienced a huge crest in hits from people following a link I left on this year's Cavalcade of Bad Nativities; it's been entertaining looking at Sitemeter and seeing a radical level of geographic diversity! So far my favorite hit is from "Export, Pennsylvania," which I think is a hilarious name for a town.
Tragically, many underprivileged countries around the world experience painful shortages of scrapple, cheesesteaks, and Lancaster County tourist items. This is why we have begun our program to Export Pennsylvania.

I've been enjoying my week off, though of course it's still ending too soon and I've got tons of stuff to do. Unfortunately I discovered a spectacular time-waster on K2XL.com a few weeks ago, and in the last week it's been an utter time suck. With that warning in mind, if you like spacial puzzles, here it is: Psychopath. It's a series of puzzles wherein you try to find the shortest path between point A and B on a grid; as you complete each one you gain access to a new level/puzzle. There are 72 levels, I am now on Level 45, and Level 44 must have taken me well over 100 tries to finish. Infuriating, invariably on the levels where I get stuck I am making just one dumb error that costs me a couple moves and yet it takes me forever to find that error. Needless to say, I love it even as I'm cussing a blue streak at my computer screen.

And There Were in That Same Country Jawas Abiding in the Fields, Keeping Watch Over Their Droids By Night...

Click the picture for the full view.

1. And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Jabba the Hutt, that all the galaxy should be taxed...
3. And all went to be taxed, every one unto his own planet.
4. And Darth Vader also went up from Coruscant, unto Tatooine, into the city of Mos Eisley, which is called a wretched hive of scum and villainy
5. To be taxed with Padme, his GFFL, being great with child...
7. And she brought forth her first born, twins, and wrapped them in Jedi robes, and laid them in a manger, because there was no room at the Cantina.
8. And there were in that same country jawas abiding in the field, keeping watch over their droids by night.
9. And Lo, Master Yoda came upon them, and the glory of the Force shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
10. And Yoda said unto them, "Fear Not! Tidings of great joy I bring you!
11. For this day born in the city of Mos Eisley a Jedi, he is! Hmmmm?"
12. "And a SIGN unto you this shall be; find him, you will, wrapped in Jedi robes, lying in a manger. And he has....a sister! Yesss.... there is another!"
13. And suddenly there was with Master Yoda a multitude of rocking alien band members, jamming and saying,
14. "Glory to the Force in the highest, and in the galaxy peace, and goodwill toward all beings, men and otherwise!"

Curse You, Santa Claus!

I actually had to go out Xmas shopping tonight. After 14 years in retail at the holidays, if I never saw a mall again it would be too soon, and this is doubly true this time of year. The last couple of years I've managed to do all my shopping online and well in advance, so that when the holiday rolls around I do a leisurely bit of wrapping, put the presents under my tree for a few days for effect, and stress is kept to a minimum.

This year, however, is my first year with a real sort of an income in quite some time, and so I felt the need to thank my family for their love and support by going a little further this year--not overboard, just 2 CD's instead of 1, or a movie and a book as opposed to one or the other. I did my usual one-stop shopping at Amazon, only to find that their selection of Large Type books is awful and the one thing they had that wasn't boring or the Bible was out of stock. Plus mom wanted some kitchen stuff that I was too late to order from cooking.com... She's always hard to shop for anyway, I think one of the most successful presents I ever got her was a jar of Miss Scarlett's Olives because I knew it was something she would use. So tonight I braved the cold and headed out to Borders and Bed, Bath, and Buffoonery. Xmas shopping is always very stressful for me, if I don't find exactly the thing I'd had in mind then I get all sweaty and anxious trying to find a substitute, and I walk in circles around the store thinking if I just keep looking then the thing I had in mind will appear, mis-shelved in the self-help section or something. It never happens, though. So I stomp around with an expression of tense, barely contained fury on my face, frightening children and store clerks alike, until I suddenly come up with a new idea and go rabbiting off to see if I can find Thing 2. This can take way, wayyyy longer than I like to spend shopping; so it was a relief tonight that I found all the things mom wanted at the BBB (not the Better Business Bureau) in under 10 minutes. I did about 15 minutes in Borders before I broke down and asked a clerk to just TELL me if they had the book I was looking for in the computer (they did, obscurely shelved) and after another 5-6 minutes of line waiting, I was on my way back out into the cold and home to make chili.

So with all this grumping, what do I enjoy about the season? Why, a few rounds of Handbell Hero, of course! Thanks to SirValence and Bushi for that link, it's been hugely entertaining. Though I can't help but wish that this was real, too.....