Happy Brownpau Christmas Shopping Suggestions

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We’re a week into December! No doubt many of you have brows furrowed, stressed not only by the logistical and pecuniary pressures of shopping for gifts for family and friends, but also by the annual cognitive dissonance of coping with the blatantly materialist trappings with which this traditional Christian holiday has become associated in this modern culture. I cannot help you with the latter, but for the former, I humbly present to you the following suggestions:

  • Cheap and Tiny: a great way to find fun electronic devices of diminutive size and cost. Many of the gadgets on display make excellent stocking stuffers, for not too much cash.
  • Beg The Question Store: what better way to warm the heart of a pedantic grammatico-philosophical stickler than a BTQ mug or shirt (or thong) explaining the horrific truth behind this much-misused phrase? (Alternatively, you can go cheap with a stack of BTQ Cards, which make an okay gift if you print them on good card stock, cut them straight, and present them in a nice business card box.)
  • The Brownpau Store: a shirt for your dog with my cat on it. Nuff said.

Thank you for tolerating my shameless self-promotion. Buy buy now.

Clouds Stream By

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An arctic blast brought strong winds and biting cold to Washington, and as I shuttled video equipment from Farragut Square to Dupont Circle this afternoon, I marveled at the delightful patterns of altocumulus undulatus clouds streaming across the sky above the District, rushed along by the frigid winds:

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Later on, as I braved the icy cold, a tiny speck of something hit my face, leaving a spot of wetness. “Great,” went my first thought, “some tiny suicidal gnat has crashed into my face and splattered its guts on my cheek.” But then I saw the flakes, and realized it was a snow flurry, and suddenly the stress and fatigue of the week dissolved into something like peace — even after the snow stopped without leaving even a dusting.

Unique Smithsonian Christmas Decor

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Are those artichokes adorning the Christmas lamppost hangings in the Ripley Garden behind the Castle? Why, yes, I do believe those are artichokes, and some kind of round, hard-shelled fruit! It’s certainly a change from boughs of holly and such.

Lord, Before This Fleeting Season

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This Advent prayer is a poem by Mary Ann Jindra, set to music by Libby Larsen, which we sang at church.

Lord, before this fleeting season is upon us,
Let me remember to walk slowly.
Lord, bless my heart with love and with quiet.
Give my heart a leaning to hear carols.
Grace our family with contentment,
And the peace that comes only from You.
Lord, help us to do less this busy season;
Go less; stay closer to home; kneel more.
May our hearts be Your heart.
May we simply, peacefully, celebrate You.

Minimal Foliage Action

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I did not go down to the Mall even once this November, despite it being only a few blocks from home, so I completely missed seeing any Fall color other than the piddly stragglers still hanging on to this tree over the weekend:

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Workers at the National Gallery

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Workers in a cherry picker doing something to the facade of the National Gallery East Building. I like how this photo came out on the first try — smooth complements of color and geometry: sky, clouds, stone, angles, abruptly encroached upon by this blocky green mechanical appendage, a machine of industry casting its shadow on the smooth timelessness of a house of art.

More photos from the weekend here.

Caturday!

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I take so many photos of Pandora, I should really dump them here every so often, for the sake of your cuteness intake quotas. Taking a cue from the blogosphere, I will do so every Saturday. So now, without further adieux:

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Not The Best of Mornings

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I wake up three hours later than I intended to, with the smell of cat urine wafting from the bathroom and a non-guilty-looking cat sitting on my chest, meowing at me for breakfast. Optical inspection for a video shoot in one hour. If I were still full-time, I’d be late already. The bathroom rug beside the litter box is soaked through with feline incontinence. I splash some pet odor odor neutralizer and cleanser on it. Tonight it goes back in the laundry — for practically the third day in a row. I pray to God she doesn’t have a urinary tract infection, because I don’t have money for a vet.

The camera power cables and microphone cables are hopelessly tangled, but being the obsessive compulsive person that I am, I unknot and organize them with nice, neat twisty-ties. I will thank myself for this later in the day.

Downstairs, a car alarm across the street spits a high-pitched whistling whine into the air. I briefly contemplate printing a clever little “NOTICE: STUPID CAR ALARM ANNOYING EVERYONE” ticket to stick under the offender’s windshield wiper on my way out, but there isn’t time to design it, and my printer is inkjet anyway, so the ink would bleed off the paper in the drizzle.

“Breakfast” is a fistful of vitamins and a couple of herbal supplements (green tea extract to boost metabolism and echinacea for immune response) hurriedly downed with a glass of chocolate milk. No time for a real breakfast. Lunch will be good. Maybe a burrito.

Wind advisory and severe thunderstorm watch today. That means heavy rain, but too much wind to hold an umbrella without it going all Mary Poppins on you. Hardcore. That’s how I lost my last jumbo umbrella, so all I have right now is a piddly little push-button barely big enough for one person.

I’m starting to feel just a bit like Alexander.

Pink Flamingoes and a Wicker Chair

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A couple of WTF scenes around Arlington, VA last night:

(Above, left) While workers pour concrete into the foundation for a large house on North Adams Street, the neighbor has arranged his flock of plastic pink flamingoes to appear as though they are rubbernecking the noisy scene.

(Above, right) At the Pines of Florence restaurant on Fairfax Ave, the men’s room features this large, comfortable wicker chair directly across from the toilet. I’m uncertain as to its specific purpose, though I did sit in it briefly to pull up my socks.

Clematis Seed Pods

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Saw these on a vine hanging on to Amy’s mom’s fence. They’re Clematis, but I’m not sure which kind specifically, because there are hundreds of species and subspecies. Based on the seed pods I was going to guess they were Clematis vitalba or Clematis tangutica, but Amy says these had tiny white flowers through the summer, so neither of my guesses would have applied. Any Clematis experts have an idea? More photos here.