De

tohubohu (TOH-hoo-BO-hoo) noun Chaos; confusion. [From Hebrew tohu wa-bhohu, from tohu (formlessness) and bhohu (emptiness).] ( via Anu Garg [garg wordsmith.org])

Ray cut her hair! Lee was home with her today…she came out of the room, and he said, “What happened to your hair?” And she said, “I don’t know!” I had to work pretty late tonight; by the time I got home she was asleep. She woke up halfways when I went in to take

(from my mother) As the holidays approach, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me “forwards” over the past 12 months. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy. Extra thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat crap in

…go to Santa School.

from that glorious blog of old (that is, ***Dave): Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Duh…where’s the chocolate? Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Hm…how do I say this? Ray believes in Santa, but he doesn’t bring specific presents. It’s a compromise. Colored lights or white on tree/house? Colored lights. Do

A Story of Detection, by Michael Chabon Another Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but a lot more interesting. Holmes is almost ninety, and England is a war with Nazi Germany. (He’s never named; he’s just “the old man.”) Watson is nowhere on scene, never mentioned; Holmes lives alone and raises bees.* Okay, that’s pretty much as much

(A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes), by Caleb Carr The plot is amiss in this book. The mystery is revealed 2/3 of the way through the book! But the characters…Caleb Carr defines Sherlock Holmes in terms of his relationship with his older brother, Mycroft. Very interesting. The book’s much more of a psychological study than

It’s my own invention. I was trying to make pecan pie that tasted like these cajun spiced nuts I’d made before. You think it would be spicy, but it’s not–the cayenne works to bring out the taste of the butter and honey. The only time I noticed I’d used it was walking up four flights