I've been thinking a lot about food lately, and as I don't think I ever posted our Christmas dinner menu, here it is:

Obligatory green-bean casserole

Prime rib with Horseradish crust

Yorkshire pudding

Cauliflower gratin

proscuitto-wrapped figs (omiword these were soooo good)

Eggnog-pannetone bread pudding (this was not good at all; too boozy)

Mmmm. Lunchtime!

My adoring and adorable fans, I have asked my publisher if my book will be available at amazon.com or any other online outlet. Haven't heard back, but if the answer is no, I'll buy a carton of books and sell 'em out of the online equivalent of the trunk of my car for five bucks apiece, plus shipping. Probably be around seven dollars, total. I'll keep you posted, believe me.

The best Oscar moment to top all Oscar moments, ever, was when Jon Stewart brought the woman from Once (great film) back on stage to say her thank-yous. Classy, classy, classy. Kept me and Monstro from going to bed all ticked off at the orchestra conductor. Whoot!

I pretty much just had the best hour of my life. After going grocery shopping, I stopped in at a downtown Northampton bookstore/cafe and bought a copy of my book! Living in Northampton and Amherst 2008-09 looks great and even features a photo taken by moi on the cover. I brought the book to the counter and told the clerk, “This is my book and I'd like to buy it.”

And then I went home and got laid. Pretty awesomely satisfying hour in the life of Motormouth, ohhh yeah!

The other day, Monstro and I were standing on the kitchen side of the baby gate. Monstro put his arms around me from behind and started kissing my neck. Then our boy ran up to his side of the gate, proclaiming, “Mutter! Mutter!”

At first I thought the German I've been speaking to him was starting to pay off, but then we realized what he was actually saying was, “My turn!”

Today I drove to Boston in the crrrazy snowstorm to hang with my MFA buddy Shannon. She's the admin for the big head honcho at a major hotel near Logan Airport so I had a lovely time enjoying the amenities of her fine establishment. Shannon's doing great after her health scare(s) of last year and it was SO GOOD to see her and reconnect with one of my San Jose peeps. We took the T to see her new “single-girl apartment”, which is adorable, then had muy authentico Mexican food in her neighborhood, then rolled back to the hotel, had cookies and milk in the Executive Lounge, and watched “Juno” on the hotel's pay-per-view (or, in our case, comp-per-view). Lights out at 9:30. Pretty much a super-awesome day. Thanks Shannon!!!

Have you guys heard about the pastor who's exhorting the marrieds in his parish to have sex every day for a month? I think it's awesome. What a great exercise for Lent!!! 🙂

Ugh. It's Wednesday and I'm in the doldrums. Tomorrow I have a periodontal appointment, which might have something to do with my grim state of mind. Or maybe it's because I've been grading feature-picture packages for the past two hours and, for the most part, they're not great. Or maybe it's because Anne is visiting the Comtesse and I'm a whole country away and can't join their MFA-classmate fun. Or maybe because my dad is going to New Zealand and will probably get to see MY best friend (well, the best friend I'm not married to) while he's there.

I *am* looking forward to the weekend, though: I'm visiting my MFA buddy Shannon on Friday night, and then get to sit in a lawyer's office, taking notes and being quiet, all day Saturday. So, you know, things could be worse.

The good bloggers at ARE YOU LOCAL??? have launched a contest: send them a blog entry about you and they might include it in the book they're publishing. All profits of the book will benefit the “War Child” charity. I submitted “honk honk honk” and Monstro's latest piece, too. Go try your own luck; rules are posted here.