Christmas and whatnot

 A belated Merry Christmas to the sevens of you reading the blogamathing.  I hope it was restful, and you were able to celebrate in the way that you found most appropriate.

We're actually only half done.  Later today, we'll go celebrate with a small party at my mother's house.  My brother-in-law was traveling to Virginia yesterday to bring his daughter down for her Christmas break, so we postponed a day.

Shyam and I had a visit with her folks yesterday, where we traded gifts.  I spent the afternoon at the movie theater, watching A Complete Unknown with my nephew (who is low key obsessed with Dylan), my sister and my mother (who was interested in the subject matter, but was more interested to see how they fixed up Cape May, New Jersey, her hometown, for the filming of the flick).  

As for the movie?  Well, it just didn't do a whole lot for me.  There was little nuance to the Dylan character, and even less in Chalamet's performance.  (Or, it's possible that Chalamet hit the nail exactly on the head, and I'd have been as bored with Dylan in person as I am his public persona).  All told, the flick verges very close to caricature not just of Dylan but of an entire era.

And it could just be this:  I have a hard time with just about any biopic, musical or otherwise, without it passing through the Dewey Cox filter in my head.  I've seen this biography movie before, or some variation on it, when I watched Walk the Line (also directed by Mangold), or Ray, or The Doors, or Bohemian Rhapsody....

But I digress.

I did get a very nice gift for Christmas.  A handful actually, but one that kinda touched me, because I hadn't even realized that I wanted or needed it.  During the mowing season (which lasts in SE TN from roughly the last week of February until the first week of the next February), I've got a pair of noise cancelling headphones that I've been using for years now.  And they've been beaten to shit, especially this past year.  The plastic housing has started breaking apart, and a metal piece of the sliding arm scratched the shit out of my head when I wore the headphones without a ballcap this fall.  I corrected that particular problem with some painters tape.  I needed a new pair of earphones, but when the problem was out of sight, it was out of mind.

Shyam got me a new pair of earphones.  Nothing expensive--don't need expensive, only functional.  But she remembered my quandary.  Not breaking the bank, but it made me smile.  Sometimes she knows me better than I know myself.

She also got me journal that was made out of a discarded library hardcover copy of one of James Blish's Star Trek readers.  I'll get a picture of it and share it, and see if she can get me the name of the seller that makes them, and their platform, so I can c share it.  But I'm a big maker of lists, and a journal always come in handy for such things.

She also got me a new electronic handwarmer, which we'll need the next couple months at least.....

Anyway, we're doing family Christmas tonight, and I think I'm gonna lose this year's bad gift contest with my sister.  My heart just wasn't in it this year, and while I'm sure she'll appreciate the McRib t-shirt I got her, it pales in comparison with some of the really good bad gifts I've gotten her in the past.  The Randy Savage costume sweatshirt was probably my favorite, but the calendar with pictures of yours truly, and the McRib advertising banner were all something to be proud of.....