I am back. Ski trip, Lea, and shopping in Taos were all very fine. I am a master skier. Oh yes. Except I still cannot do moguls with any finesse on normal skis. This year, I tried my grandmother’s snowskates (very short skis) and, as it turns out, I can do moguls on those just fine. Pffft.

Christmas is working out okay for me this year. For once, I have been giving rather good presents. This is good because my family likes me, but bad because I am experiencing a net loss in material goods. This is okay because I am above materialism. In other news, I have decided that I need an iPod. It’s been a dilemma for me, because I sort of generally consider myself not very trend-following and my poor beaten-up CD/MP3 player is still truckin’, technically. Also, I prefer Windows to the Macintosh OS and am a little fearful of an iPod subversively choking my computer with Apple, cackling like the witch from Snow White. It’s just that, well. So very shiny.

Etan posted Ayn Rand’s thoughts on Christmas, which I mostly agree with, even if she is a crazy person. And China Mieville wrote a fantastic short story in the Socialist Review. I can’t quite decide if Christmas commercialism is a terrible thing or not important.