Golly gee, where does the time go? It’s been more than a month since I last blogged or visited others. A busy month with lots of work, assorted stomach and upper respiratory ailments, and the holiday fest that includes Hanukah, Christmas, and a bunch of birthdays. Including mine. Lordy, Lordy, now I’m, uh, thirty-nine and four quarters. :)

Work is going very well. I finished a couple of blogs (here and here) and also this website, which was a lot of fun. Also finished a project that included a logo, letterhead, and four flyers for a nonprofit group in town — I’m doing their website too and I’ll post a link when it’s ready.

Steve and I did get to go out on a date this month. We went to see the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. It was SOOOO good! I think it just might be the best Bond movie of them all. Why? Because it was truest to the spirit of the original books. I read every single one of ‘em when I was, oh, 14 or so. (Thanks, Mom!) Like the “real” James, the one in the movie was not quite so suave, but very strong in the steely-gazed cold-blooded-killer department. James Bond was my first literary crush and I admit I still have fond feelings… ;)

Casino Royale fits in very well with the general trend I’ve noticed in the last few years — maybe it started with Harry Potter — the trend of making movies that are very faithful to the original book. A trend of which I wholeheartedly approve! To this day I am angry about certain movies that don’t do justice to the original. Mary Poppins springs to mind immediately. A fine movie, but bears no relation whatsoever to the book. (Any other fans of The Dancing Cow out there?) The Wizard of Oz, alas, is another. Why did they have to make it all just a dream?

Speaking of The Wizard of Oz, Lena has finished the Laura Ingalls books and moved on to the Oz books. I read a bunch of ‘em when I was in second grade, too. I wasn’t a huge fan, but my friend was, so I kept on reading. But Lena seems to like them, and if nothing else I’m glad she’s getting exposed to the cool Art Deco illustrations.

And I managed to do some reading this month, too. I’m well into my reread of Brothers K — and, happily, the edition I’ve got is a Penguin Classic, though ahead of schedule because I’m still technically in the A’s. This is only the second time I’ve read it. The first was back in college. I and my roommate walked around in a daze for weeks, muttering to each other: “Alyosha!” and “One onion!” Anyway, if you haven’t read it, please do. It’s positively…lush!

Also did my annual reread of The Dark is Rising, in honor of the Christmas season. I almost skipped it this year, because we’ve had NO SNOW. Temps in the mid-40’s. Green and brown everywhere. But such is the power of the printed word, once I started reading everything around me disappeared and there I was, shivering in Lady Greythorne’s mansion along with all the rest of the villagers.

I’m so happy to be back at my blog! I think I’ll end this post with a quote from Emily Dickinson. Can’t tell a lie: I didn’t just happen to know this; I got it off my new “The Reading Woman” calendar (Thanks, Joey!) — my new calendar which has many fine pictures of women reading but none of which are Katie Lewis — and of course the word frigate caught my eye immediately. Here it is:

There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away

Nor any coursers like a page of prancing poetry

Cheers, and Happy New Year to you all!