I’m sitting here getting my geek on, watching Dr. Who while I crochet some balls. My mom has become a huge fan of David Tennant in the past year or so, and when we were in Omaha over Christmas I watched a bunch of episodes of Dr. Who with her.

I remember watching Tom Baker in the original series when I was a kid, but I’d never seen any of the modern series till recently. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it, although I shouldn’t have been. I’ve always been a sucker for all things British. And as I’ve demonstrated time and time again, I’m a geek. I can’t say I’m a die-hard Dr. Who fan; I have no idea what the Dr. Who equivalent of a Trekkie or Browncoat or an X-Phile is so I’m pretty sure I don’t qualify. But I like the actors and it’s a fun show with excellent writing and cheerfully cheesy special effects, which I sort of love. Best of all, all four seasons are available to view on Netflix Instant. That means there are hours and hours of new shows for me to watch while I crochet. Score!

Anyhoo. I was sitting here watching Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, when I suddenly remembered that today is National Delurking Day. I haven’t mentioned it on my blog before simply because I didn’t want to. But this year I want to. If you’re a regular reader of this blog but you rarely or never comment, today’s your chance to say hello. I’ll even make it easy for you by asking you a series of questions that you can choose to answer or ignore, as you like.

Do you consider yourself a geek? Why or why not? What geeky shows/movies/games/books do you love, and think that I should love too?

Do you know Jen? She blogged for a long time at a site whose name will not be mentioned, because she unfortunately ad-han an-ay alker-stay and she doesn’t want that to become a problem again. She’s blogging now at The Trephine and I am so very happy she is. Jen writes with humor and clarity and directness on a variety of topics—divorce, roller derby, veganism—and whatever the topic, she makes me think.

Her most recent post is about her experience during the past year with being poor, poor enough that she was worried about paying rent and changing her oil and buying food, and how she hopes the experience stays with her because it taught her empathy. I loved this:

“No matter your situation, happy holidays to you. If things are hard, I hope they get better soon. If things are better, I hope you share the wealth. If you have nothing else to give, at least be kind to the person bagging your groceries or waiting your table. None of us want to admit it, but we have at least occasionally thought to ourselves that the unprofessional, sullen woman filing her nails behind the counter for nine dollars an hour deserves to be where she is. Even if she does––even if the different strata the two of you exist in really are separated by a cushion consisting entirely of your merit as a person, which is so beyond debatable that it’s laughable to even contemplate––your life is likely infinitely better than hers, and you can afford a little patience and a little grace.”

It’s happening again, that crazy Blogger’s Paradox: the more interesting my life is, the less time I have to blog about it. Or as Brenda said, she only blogs when her life is boring.

I have half-written posts in my drafts about Part 2 of Tourist Tuesday and SuperChic’s birthday party, and a few dozen photos on my hard drive waiting for editing and uploading to Flickr. On Thanksgiving I barely took any photos because I knew I was already so far behind, I didn’t want any more photos hanging over my head, which is a really stupid reason not to take pictures. Granted, I was busy hosting a dinner and preparing food and stuff. I still could have shoved the camera at someone and grabbed Annalie and had them take a photo of us, but noooo, didn’t do that. The only photos of me and Annalie that day were taken after we were already in our pajamas, with Photo Booth.

All of that to say, today was a day of rest after a very busy week, and we took full advantage of it. Annalie and I hung out on the couch, ate snacky food, snuggled under blankets, and watched an Avatar: The Last Airbender marathon with the cats. I know I’m a few years behind the times with this show, but we’ve only just discovered it and it’s fantastic. I’m not sure who likes it more, me or Annalie.

We kept the lights on the Christmas tree turned on all day, which added to the sense of coziness. I don’t think I’ve ever put up a Christmas tree so early before, but I rather like having it up. We don’t have any other Christmas decorations up this year, except for a few assorted homemade wreaths. Oh, and all of last year’s Christmas cards are still up. Yes, really. I meant to take them down, but after a while I thought the wall would look really bare without them so I just left them all up. It’s been rather nice to look at everyone’s photos all year long. I’ll take them down once we start getting this year’s cards.

I sat out on the deck for a while with a cup of coffee, listening to the rain. That made me ridiculously happy. I don’t know why rain has that power to cheer me up so instantly, but it does. So do Christmas-tree lights.

As long as I get a few relaxing rainy days and can go about my days bathed in the gentle glow of Christmas-tree lights, I think I can handle all the craziness ahead. I might even manage to blog about some of it.