The Laws of Christmas Music on the Radio

• Thou shalt announce the artist's name.
• Thou shalt not play the same artist within the same half hour.
• Thou shalt announce the artist's name.
• Thou shalt not play the same song by the same artist more than once a day.
• Thou shalt announce the artist's name.
• Thou shalt not repeat the same song in the same day if thou canst help it.
• Thou shalt announce the artist's name.

Any you'd like to add?

Lessons Learned Lately

If the candle wick won't blow out, and it's spewing smoke, and you're worried it will set the smoke alarm off, you should NOT blow very hard on it because the candle wax is liquid and will go spraying everywhere, making you VERY GLAD you are wearing glasses due to an earlier melt-down.

So, um, what's the best way to remove and dispose of candle wax from the following surfaces?

• glass
• hair
• countertops
• walls with weak and cheap paint
• plates
• cardboard

(I already scraped it off my skin. No scars this time.  :)

Full lunar eclipse on the winter solstice indeed

I totally freaked out the employees of an optometrist today by crying in front of them.  (I apologize, desk lady, because I know it had nothing to do with you.)  Slightly mortifying, but it's been a long semester.  (At least it washed that goop out of my eyes.)

Last week, I stopped in to check and make sure they would accept the coupon I had, and they said they would extend it for me, and I was so happy.  I read what my insurance people gave me, and I thought I'd read all the fine print on the coupon, but, in the end, I had to pay $75 I didn't really have budgeted when I'd expected to pay $0.  And they charged $10 more per box of contacts than my regular place, so I could only get 3 boxes for what amounts to $75.  I am not making this up.

It's a scam.  I give up.  I can use the $75 to get 6 boxes of contacts next year when I have FSA money, save myself the hassle and the cynicism, and also save myself from finding out my vision has gotten even worse.  (I thought it had stabilized.)  Now I'm so worked up, I don't even trust the eye doctor.  I want to say he was lying about the prescription, too, because he knew when it gets up that high, the contacts cost even more. 

I think I should be avoiding humanity right now.  They don't deserve to have their happy Christmas season screwed up by an adult crying in front of them.

I really need some sleep.  It would also be nice not to be in pain.

In other news, full moon, full lunar eclipse, shortest day of the year.  It can only get brighter from here, right?

Apparently, I am quite low

. . . in iron, that is.  What foods are cheap, are rich in iron, require very little (read: no) preparation, and taste good?

What is it about snow?

What is it about snow
that makes me lose
all motivation to work
even if I have the curtains
closed?

I can't tell you how much I want 10 solid hours of unconsciousness right now

"I'm not sure what to diagnose.  It's complicated." 

That's what the sleep doctor told me. 

Cause and effect and symptoms are all mixed up, and she needs hard facts.  I will supply her with them in the new year when I have some money from my FSA to pay for them.  Then we'll see.  Something. 

I'm sure it will be complicated.  I apparently can't be otherwise. :-/

The Rabbit in the Moon

I saw the rabbit in the moon! 

This is significant because I have never seen "The Man in the Moon," which is what Americans are supposed to see when they look at the full moon.  (I blame manga.  And manwha, if I'm being fair.  Somehow, reading all those Japanese and Korean graphic novels has corrupted my vision. :) 

Back to the rabbit.  It was eerie.  I looked up, and there it was: a rabbit clearly made out of crater shadows on the moon.  I had never seen it before, and I haven't seen it since, but for that one time, it was clearly there.

I wonder if I would have seen it on my birthday if I hadn't been hibernating during that full moon.  Ah, well, I've seen if once, which is more than I can say for the Milky Way.  Blind spots indeed.

Ever seen any interesting shapes in the moon?  Do share.