Tree up. Feet up. Time for a drink

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

This tape doesn’t even taste like scotch.

Today’s Daily Cartoon, by Jeremy Nguyen. #NewYorkerCartoons

From The Cure’s official website. Perry Bamonte has passed away. thecure.com/news/2025/12/p…

So sad to hear about the passing of Perry Bamonte from The Cure. Perry joined us all as my keyboard tech initially then after working as guitar tech went on to play in the band . A quiet unassuming man he will be missed by many. . Cindy and I send our love to his family .

I called my dad yesterday to tell him I had been thinking about Christmas Eves from my childhood. I realized that some of my happiest memories are of being a little girl at my grandparents’ house, being sent to bed early on Christmas Eve, and knowing the house was full of adults

if only we had some way of knowing ...

Never tell me the ancients were incapable of loving their children. (a Greek epitaph from the 1st c BC)

honestly once you realize you're not in trouble all the time and really no one has power over you, the second half of life begins

A Very Small Dog, 1980, by Jamie Wyeth

Thoughts going into 2026

chart of the day

My quote of the year was sent in by a listener to Times Radio. It’s from C S Lewis and warns of the danger of a government of do-gooders. I’d not heard it before but it’s beautifully phrased, and a bit of a foretelling of modern politics.

Words to live by today—and every day.

Train Dreams is gorgeous. A film about presence and the passage of time. You should watch it.

A new year's dram. Laphroaig Cairdeas 2017 Cask Strength Quarter Cask.

Hail the Oxford comma

One Battle After Another was not my thing at all. Interesting plot and some great performances but too weird and that soundtrack had me turning the volume down and just using captions. Just awful.

Ursula Le Guin’s schedule which I love and will forever aspire to … here’s to 2026 …