Lit Up

Austerity is on my mind, occasionally, of late -- more with the current news about EDS -- so I've told my daughter that we likely will not be doing the (minor) massive gifting at Christmas that we normally do. Not that we're as lavish as people are with little kids, when the child wades through mountains of boxes, but we try to give her five or seven things, including one or two that she really wanted -- such as, for example, the MP3 player that she drooled over last year and, so far as I know, has actually used twice. With the current fiscal climate, not to mention that she just got a brand new laptop (and I am not noticing the smudge of what appears to be nail polish remover on the matte - blue finish), I'd told her to expect less. She knows this. But this morning I inadvertently made the point strongly when she heard me say that I didn't want anything for Christmas -- just the pleasure of their company would be enough. And the truth is, it would. But hearing that, her head snapped up from reading, and I could see her think Good god, he's serious.

Reading the Economist this morning, I learned two amazing things: first, that there is apparently a British Lap Dancing Association ( I assume British Crotch Grinding Association was insufficiently decorous), and second, it is the stated position of the head of that organization that lap dancing is not intended to be sexually stimulating. I have always admired the British ability toward understatement, but that takes it to a whole new level. Actually, perhaps he's right. Not that I'm likely to know --I've never had a lap dance, nor will I ever, if my wife has anything to say about it, but its one of those things I've always wondered about, both from a serious, sober approach (how do the people who do this feel about it? Do they regard the buyers as fools, unless they're really studly (though I did see one article about a woman who got one from another woman; she seemed to be enjoying it quite a lot) And the customers, do they actually enjoy it or do they feel like idiots, at least a bit?), and a lascivious approach (what's it feel like to have this lithe young woman do this?) Both sets of questions are likely to remain unsatisfied, but if I ever do find out, I'll let you know. Somehow, I think that but honey, I was just doing it for scientific purposes is unlikely to cut it, round here.

Last night, taking a walk, I tried to convince my wife that if she is laid off, as I expect she will be, it's not a judgement on her abilities. She said she knew that, but that it would be an emotional shock, and she would be depressed for several days. She also said that another woman there has told their common manager that if he calls to tell her that she's laid off, she will cry -- expect it. I know the feeling.

We have an artificial Christmas tree in the kitchen. Its one of those things that we'd never have imagined that we'd like so much. We got it after going to a friends house and being delighted by how he'd decorated, including four or five thin artificial ones, brightly decorated. After setting it up, I realized that we needed a timer for it - we have three (!), but we needed all of them for the external lights - one cord stretches from the garage to the base of the driveway, one from the garage to the other side, where the tall evergreen sits at a corner of the walkway, and one coming from an upstairs window and powering the mesh lights that are over the bush which sits outside of my mother's living room window. (Years ago, visiting the home of a wealthy local person, I noticed plugs in the carpet at various locations in his massive living room. I thought 'how useful'. We need that kind of foresight when houses are laid out, and their grounds, too). Anyway - after I got the timer, I set it to turn on from four thirty till about ten. Fine. This morning, when I came out at six, it was on. I thought that perhaps my wife had clicked the buttons to make that happen, thinking 'how nice those lights look; how pleasant to see early in the morning'. Half an hour later, they clicked off -- and I realized it'd been an accident -- the silly tab was partially depressed for the 6AM slot. Ah, well. But I liked it enough that I went and set it deliberately. Now it'll come on in the morning, too, for a short while. We can use some Christmas cheer when we get up, don't you agree?