The luxury of two unscheduled days!
1) I don’t know why I kid myself that I’ll find presents for other people at ye Bryttle Books. But off I went, allegedly in search of Christmas gifts for other people, and of course I came away with zero books for them and four books for me:
1a) Stalin and his people, the discovery of cochineal, the presidential election of 1876, and the story of an art collection “dispersed” by World War II.
2) I curled up with Stalin at the bar of the Marliave for a late lunch that was not their macaroni and cheese - I had an actual salad! - and two spritzes. I’d enjoyed the author’s book about the Romanov dynasty so much I knew I’d enjoy this one.
3) The Thin Man is the perfect story for this time of year, whether it’s the Dashiell Hammett novel or the wonderful William Powell and Myrna Loy movie. The story takes place in New York around Christmas, 1932.
4) Galatians 6 turned out to be part of this morning’s devotional; this is the chapter that includes “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” I had to get out my big ol’ Revised Standard Version to help interpret the text; usually I’m reading the KJV.
4a) I must have four Bibles in this house, and I barely use one: the RSV I was given when I was confirmed (hardback, with my name on the cover in a corner in gold), another RSV, and my Gramma’s KJV from when she was second reader at the Christian Science Church well before I was born. The small KJV I use for daily was given to my uncle by the Christian Scientists when he was drafted in WWII.
5) I felt like I was on a roll this morning getting out today’s Etiquetteer video and handling laundry and other domesticity.
6) What a surprise, too, to learn via ye Twyttyr that today is the 20th anniversary of the release of James Cameron’s Titanic! Great opportunity for me to repost all the etiquette errors in the movie that I found, which generated some good engagement.
7) Tonight a three-ring circus in the kitchen. If I wasn’t baking a three-day cake (to be served in only two days) I was cooking dinner or washing dishes.
8) “Fast away the old year passes” indeed! Hard to believe tomorrow is my favorite night of the whole year already, but here it comes!