This morning I got up at about 5:15, drove out to Stone Mountain Village, and walked up Stone Mountain to watch the sun rise. Unfortunately, I could not see the sun until it was well above the horizon, but the clouds were beautiful. Walking up in the dark was fun - actually, the city glow provided more than enough light to see by, even under the trees.

For Christmas, I was at Stephen's parents' house in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a lot of fun, and nice not to be around here alone. We spent some time with his sister and her kids - Anna(11), Amanda(7), and Chris(5) - which was fun (and tiring!). On the 26th, we went to visit Stephen's grandmother and another lady - Miss Helen - at the old age home where they live, and played hymns and Christmas carols for the folks there. His granny is hilarious, and Miss Helen is really an amazing lady - I have been thinking about the things she told us constantly since then.

We saw the third Lord of the Rings movie - it's pretty much required viewing, eh? I thought it was okay - but after talking it over, I thought it was better, and now I wouldn't mind seeing it again! The cinematographic and sound tricks become a little tiring after the first two movies, but it is still fun.

Yesterday evening, I went with a couple of friends to see Big Fish. It was sweet! Family, go see this movie now!

That's it for now. Ciao.

Pictures of You

I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel

Remembering
You standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear
Remembering
You running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go

Remembering
You fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark
Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything

If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I'd thought of the right words
I wouldn't be breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you

There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart
All my pictures of you

I spent most of today so far practicing carols for our yearly church Christmas Party tonight. Earlier this week I made a list of potential candidates, chose six or seven, downloaded and collected the lyrics, and started practicing them. After several hours of googling, trying different keys, and playing around different chord variations, I think I finally have everything figured out except the transitions from one song to the next. Whew. Lots of work. Of course it doesn't help that my new toy is sitting right here too, distracting me.

Last night was the annual St. Paul's Christmas Polka Party. It was pretty fun - everyone seemed to enjoy Stayin' Alive and Billy Jean more than the polka, though. You can't beat disco music with an accordion.

Whoa. Every now and then, I check what other websites are geographically near mine (the GeoURL link at the bottom of this page). Since I live in Midtown in Atlanta, that can be rather interesting at times. But check this out!

On Thursday, Chris and I went over to Alison's for Thanksgiving. I was in the kitchen chatting with Alison, catching up. As we were talking, she noticed something had dripped from the sink onto the top of the cupboard door beneath. Without thinking, she took a cloth, sprayed something on it, and wiped off the mark.

It was a very familiar action - I have seen it repeated in countless kitchens - but it struck me because it's not something that would ever happen in my kitchen! (I share a house with three other single guys...)

But it got me thinking, because really, that's what it takes to keep things clean. Not massive bimonthly cleanups, but immediately fixing small messes. As an engineer/math-person/programmer, as a gen-x-er/slacker, and as someone who usually cares more about thoughts and ideas than things, cultivating a habit of maintenance, of looking after things from day to day, is one of my greatest challenges. Usually I don't even notice what the room I'm in looks like!

And while of course the same rule applies for many other practical things, I wonder how much thought we give to cultivating our selves - our personalities, virtues, character, thoughts. Do we spray and wipe immediately when we see a blob of turkey grease, or just leave it to sit and work its way in, until we learn to not to see the mess anymore?

Of course, you're wondering whether my house is currently spotless then, eh? No, unfortunately far from it. But my room is a whole lot less dusty and more organized, I can tell you that!

Ask me again in six weeks or so, and we'll see whether this is useless blabbing, or whether I've actually changed my behaviour. That's the theme for this year.

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As an aside - thanks to Tim Bray and his excellent blog (samples: less technical | more technical) for pointing me to shoutcast. I'm currently listening to "ambient psy chillout"—whatever that means! Sounds cool, though.

Tonight I went to see Love, Actually. I enjoyed it - the actors and actresses were just plain fun to watch, and there were some super moments. At the end of the movie, the idea behind the film becomes clear (I suppose it would have been clear earlier had I been thinking about it), and you realize that they could have done the idea better with a more serious film. However, I'm sure there is a more serious film that does that same idea, floating around somewhere, so I thought Love Actually turned out just right! Okay, so I'm a sappy romantic at heart...

In other news, Drew lent me Jimmy and Wes: The Dynamic Duo. Ouch. I just dropped a chunk of cash on Amazon. Man, it's good stuff. I put it in my CD player, and didn't take it out until it had played through about five or six times. The only reason I took it out is that it's too good to risk spoiling! It has been running through my head all week, and the descent into jazz is inevitable.

Listening to Johnny Clegg and Savuka. Reading Laurens van der Post. I'm some kind of weird combination of the Africa where I was born, the UK where my ancestors live, and the USA where I now live. Have you ever noticed what a beautiful shape Africa has? I suppose if I'd grown up looking at either of them, those other shapes might have a feeling of familiarity, of balance. But as of now, they still feel a bit awkward to me, like you could understand them in your head, but not so easily in your heart.