I didn't have computer access during the holidays, so I'm a little behind on my updates here. My parents don't own a computer, or a DVD player, or one of those new-fangled CD players. The VCR that they purchased in 1987 conked out during my visit, so they are considering trading up and switching to DVD. I have little faith that they will actually be able to operate it, but I'm happy that they are contemplating joining the 21st Century. My parents were (and are) huge hippies, and distrustful of technology in general. At least they don't own any 8-tracks.

It was great to be home, even if it was just five days. My 2-year-old nephew was getting over a bout of pneumonia (he's had respiratory problems since he was an infant). He was fine by Christmas Day, but he ended up infecting everyone with his baby germs (baby germs are lethal, man!) so my entire family spent the rest of the holiday with hacking coughs and stuffed up heads (even though my mom and sister were continually bleaching and Lysoling everything Ryan touched). I'm still feeling pretty crappy, but I'll live. Baby germs are a small price to pay for quality time with the fam.

Today is my first day back at work, but with 90% of the office taking holiday time this week, there is little to do but update my blog and snack on the huge box of Whoppers (The Original Malted Milk Balls! tm) that mysteriously appeared on my desk while I was away. I was contemplating sneaking out of work to go home and snuggle under the covers with a cup of tea and All My Children, but I need the money too badly to miss any more work.

I read David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day over the holidays. It was hilarious, although I liked the first half better than the second (the first dealt with his childhood, the second with his adventures in France). I'm about to start And My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You by Kathi Kamen Goldmark, which looks promising. Michael and I went to Half Price Books while I was in Indy, where I also scored a hardback edition of Anne Sexton's Collected Works and The Police's Zenyatta Mondatta. (woo hoo!)

I have plans to review Crocodile Dundee in my next update-- it's not one of the bad movies that Marcus and I have watched together, but I happened to notice that it was on TV incessantly throughout the Christmas holiday, for some strange reason, so it's been on my mind. Marcus and I are next planning to watch The Forbidden Dance (which I cheated and watched without him already, but it's so hysterically godawful that I am forcing him to see it) and the sci-fi classic Barbarella, which Marcus says I must see because of my abiding love for Duran Duran (who, as every '80s child knows, took their name from the film's villain).

The boss man's here; I have to do some actual work now.