It's Better in Wyoming.

A-1 Towing is offering free rides tomorrow night. This is the 11th year they've offered the New Years Eve service, in memory of the owners' brother, who was killed in a drunk-driving accident. The Boomerang reports that last year, around 300 people used the service, and A-1 owners Shane and Nicole Candelaria--and the volunteers who help them provide rides--say they've given rides as far as Centennial and Wood's Landing. The phone numbers are 307.755.1340 and 307.760.1213.

MSN's Year in Review 2008 appropriately lists the giant sunglasses fad as one of the year's most regrettable pop culture trends: "We've had status shoes, status purses and now, in 2008, status sunglasses. The really cool shades these days have lenses the size of pork chops. They make the people wearing them look like houseflies. Or aliens. Or maybe even houseflies from outer space. Someday, when we look back on the pictures of us in our ... massive, black, bug-eyed shades, we will laugh. Tinted hubcaps do not flatter a normal-sized face any more than the ginormous eyeglasses we wore in the '70s and '80s. Today, the only people still wearing those monster specs are geriatric high school math teachers and serial killers. Run from them! Run for your life!" On the other hand, I have to disagree with their decision to lump the 'pornstache' in with such obvious lameness as giant sunglasses: " History is full of comical facial hair:

Anyone who has stopped believing in miracles should wash out a paint brush. Even after I tried to brush out all the paint that was left on the brush, the amount left in between the bristles was prodigious. It defies the laws of geometry: there's no space there to hold the paint! Miracle!

Just a few of the lines from Middlesex: "Confronted with the impossible, there was no option but to treat it as normal." "Planning is for the world's great cities, for Paris, London, and Rome, for cities dedicated, at some level, to culture. Detroit, on the other hand, was an American city and therefore dedicated to money, and so design had given way to expediency." "As a baby, even as a little girl, I possessed an awkward, extravagant beauty. No single feature was right in itself and yet, when they were taken all together, something captivating emerged. An inadvertent harmony."

Here's the letter opener I made on David's forge on Day 1 of the WV-AZ trip: The letter opener started the day as a 12-inch piece of rebar. I spent the morning drawing out the tail for the loop, putting in the decorative twist, and then hammering out and trimming the blade. Oh, and I gave myself third-degree burns on my thumb and middle finger, which are healing nicely. On Sunday I used the grinding wheels to put an edge on the thing. On Monday I put it in my checked luggage; somehow I don't think I would've gotten through security with it in my carry-on. When I got back to Laramie, I had a pretty good pile of mail waiting for me. I'm happy to report that the letter opener will, in fact, get the job done. Argh!

It's a windy day in the gem city of the high plains. But that didn't stop me from loading up the skis and heading to Happy Jack for a quick morning loop--my first skiing of the season. The trails were in good shape, though the snow was not all that fast. There were several cars at the parking area, but not too many people on the trail. I thought the wind was going to blow my driver-side window in as I was heading down the summit, but I made back safely, all auto glass intact. Now I'm heading down to Coal Creek--I'll finally get to finish Middlesex today--and think I'll brave the wind and leave the truck at home. And, later tonight: deer stew!

I *think* this may be the first year, ever, when I haven't been with at least one family member on Dec. 25. Except maybe the year I was in Germany. Instead of family time, I hung out with Elsa and Jim snowshoeing at Happy Jack, eating delicious chicken pot pie, playing Elfenland, and making a trip down to WPR to watch Elsa record the weather. And we watched Best Man Fail , too. It's not all that funny the first time, but it gets better and better. So many fine details to appreciate.

I resolve to hike Med Bow Peak next year in 2:30 or less. I realize that may not be much of a challenge for a lot of people. It's a pretty ambitious goal for me, though--I think that's about an hour faster than I've ever done the loop.

Two days after getting back from the WV/AZ trip, I headed up to Newcastle to spend a few days with dad, Suzie, and the dogs, and to see how grandma is recovering from the broken hip. Happily, the roads were good on the way up and again today on the way back. Happily, grandma seems to be getting better. Happily, it felt great to earn my appetite: Despite single-digit temperatures (on both sides of 0), cutting firewood on Sunday and Monday kept me mostly warm enough to strip off a layer of clothes, and to work up a Riesen appetite. Gas was a buck-eighteen in Wheatland. After Kaijsa's full-day layover at DIA waiting for a plane to Seattle (after Frontier cancelled 3 flights), and after watching news of the Chicago mess, I will no longer bitch about my 5-hour delay after United cancelled my flight into Dulles.

A bit out of order, but. My winter vacation started with a cancelled flight. After two hours of waiting at DIA, through announcements that our plane had a water leak and that United was searching for a replacement plane, the staff announced that the flight was cancelled. This has never happened to me before. I got in line with the other 200 people who were supposed to be on a non-stop flight to Dulles, hoping to reschedule something that wouldn't eat too far into my short visit to David's place in WV. So I ended up flying into Chicago and catching a connecting flight into National. While I waited to catch the flight to Chicago, I called the car people and changed the car rental reservation. No problem. Now I've been to Chicago. If a stop-over at O'Hare counts. I don't think it does, since I keep hearing about what a cool town it is. My flight on to National was no problem. Even an empty seat next to me, which makes for a bit of room to stretch out my legs. S

My grandpa treats longevity as a race. The goal, apparently, is to last longer than everybody else has. During my visit, Grandpa said that, if he lives four more years, he'll have outlived his own father. In other parts of his life, my grandpa isn't competitive. He doesn't improve his house simply to keep up with the neighbors; he makes improvements to the house because it's the right thing to do. And he also eats nutritiously because it's also the right thing to do, but there's something else there, a type of superiority or control that seems to come, for him, from being fit. This is, in some ways, a pretty admirable trait. It's not that my grandpa avoids risk or eats a ridiculous monk's diet of only oats and carrots. He's gotten accustomed to healthy food and daily exercise. He's 86 and goes for at least a mile-long walk every morning. For my grandpa, it's an approach that's worked pretty well. I think he feels that he deserves

A couple of brief comments before I close my heavy-lidded eyes after day 5 of my trip: - Having lunch with my cousin Lisa on my way back to Dulles was so fun . It felt like such a completely natural thing to do, even though I've never visited her the entire time she's been in Washington. Even though our meeting for lunch was right in the middle of driving back from David's place by Berkeley Springs so I could hop a plane to Phoenix. Even though we hardly ever talk otherwise, not because we have nothing to say or because we don't get along but just because. Oddly enough, one of her colleagues' boyfriends is from, of all places, Lingle, Wyoming . - It was 55 degrees in WV when I headed back to the airport. It was about 40 degrees when I got into Phoenix. Something about this situation seems backwards. I feel slightly cheated, until I remember that Laramie recorded -16 over the weekend. - I sleep better after I've read a bit. Middlesex is good and getting b

Talking to Joyce just now about how many students are going to fail my class this semester, I realize I should feel worse than I do. I feel like I've failed, too, despite also believing that I've done some really good work this fall. It's frustrating and humiliating to acknowledge that "good" teaching doesn't necessarily translate into good learning, and it's hard for me to know where the process went wrong. It would be nice if I could believe that I just got stuck with a bunch of lazy or stupid students this semester, but I don't believe that at all. I just feel spent, emptied out, defeated. Some days I don't know if I should care more or care less. After all, there are more important issues in the world than whether a student remembered to double-space the works-cited page. Somehow, though, I keep believing that education matters, and that my piss-ant effort might make a positive difference. I think it's time to revisit my philosophy of

What are the rules for citizens arrest? Specifically, if there's a girl talking on her cell phone, with half her car windows frosted over, who doesn't wait her turn at the four-way, would I get in trouble if I pulled her out of her car and slapped her with her phone a couple of times? I suppose that doesn't quite count as citizens arrest. Vigilante justice, maybe. Whack, whack! In less aggravating news, tomorrow is the last day of classes for the semester. Finally. It's been a long time comin' this fall. I really should start thinking about the trip to WV and AZ and start planning some Christmas gifty-gifts.

Well, looks like winter arrived today. About six inches of fluffy white powder fell today, big flakes falling straight down--the kind of storm that makes me feel content and eager for the changing of season, the type of snowfall that makes me wonder how much longer it'll be until the trails at Happy Jack will be ready for action. The arrival of winter also means the arrival of boxes of tasty clementines. Mmm, clementines.

it's odd how things change. as much as i'm a fan of thanksgiving, i might've actually overdone it this year. i was full before we even started into the turkey on thursday. by the time family turkey came around sunday afternoon, i was almost immobile. of course i made a pumpkin cheesecake for each of the dinners, and of course everyone ate a piece, not because they needed one or because they were hungry but because it was there. also part of the weekend was my old roommate jill's wedding, saturday afternoon in louisville (colorado, not kentucky). a really beautiful and well-planned event, of course: jill's good at this type of things. four attendants on each side. i didn't stay for the reception, since i hadn't brought a date, knew almost no one, and didn't figure i'd have much chance to talk to jill and ryan. and i felt out of my league, too; maybe i've lived in wyoming too long or maybe i'm just not classy. at least i didn't wea