i have been felled

by some kind of virus. actually, today is me getting up from the fall. today is fine.

and since someone very special got sworn in as president, really it's more than fine. today is foine.

and since aretha franklin's hat already expressed the appropriate jubilation better than i ever could, i'm just going to slip in some photos of the madeleines i baked a while ago, because they were amazingly good.

just like today.

first week of school.

my seminars are fine, but i got very excited about being a teaching assistant. i know the bloom will soon fade, but for now, it's something to look forward to at the end of the week. the professor asked me to do a quick schpiel about why actors, directors and designers should care about theory, and when i was done they applauded. they are both way more advanced than i guessed, and reassuringly, heartbreakingly eighteen years old. someone told me once that by the time i started teaching, kids would already be doing performance studies without knowing that's what it was. and it's true; these kids's minds are way more open about what might constitute performance. also, though, they look like totally conventional college freshmen:

2008: did not suck.

we had a good one, all things considered. no moves, no weddings (planned by us, that is), no illnesses, no major bumps. we're car-driving, asthma-having, bleachy-haired angelenos now. that last one's just me; i can't get my hair dye to last worth a damn out here. someone actually referred to me as strawberry blonde the other day. yipes.

photos! we were in arizona--chris briefly, me a little longer. enough time for a grand hike, a sewing project and a lot of lazy afternoons with naps and beer that someone else paid for. my kind of winter break.