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The store with the great windows which I failed to capture changed their windows to yet another wonderful display.

I love the “party dress” arrangement of this one. I remember what it was like! Getting dressed up for my grandmother’s or some holiday event, wearing my new party dress, and shiny black patent leather shoes, tights, a new purse, and a bow in my hair. I still experience the party dress thing, but it’s not the same.

I’m going to my agent’s office holiday party later. I will not be wearing anything like this red dress. But I think I will go get a pedicure to put myself into the partygirl mood. Yes, good idea. That is what I will do.

Just
using
up lines.

As I posted earlier, before working on the EVP section of my book, I re-read A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman for inspiration. Great, great, book. She has a section for each of the five senses, but the best section by far is the one about the sense of smell. It’s just such a poweful thing.

And this memory popped into my head, of a toy from my childhood. Super Elastic Bubble Plastic. You’d put this gooky stuff on the end of a small, plastic tube and blow up very fragile balloon bubble things. Except I could never quite get it to work. Maybe I blew up a few delicate balloons. But the smell. It’s the smell of childhood. I remember our house, our porch, the lawn, our dog, everything.

So, I bought this cheap, knock-off in a drugstore. It was very satisfying. It still doesn’t really work, but the smell is exactly the same. I love smelling things from my childhood. Like playdough. They are comfort smells.

(The picture is from a website called http://www.bigredtoybox.com)

This doesn’t even begin to capture the ethereal beauty of this window. It’s for a children’s clothes store on Bleeker between Perry and 11th Street. It’s stunning in person.

That reminds me (walking around and finding things of beauty reminds me) that I also love walking around and finding the forgotten, and I am not the only one. Kevin Walsh, who does the website Forgotten New York has a book!

Oh! I just got email from a statistician saying the paragraph I wrote summing up the Duke statistical work was okay! YAY! I was feeling very nervous that I had made some stupid mistake in logic.

Need to write lines …
so the picture and body of the post …
line up nicely.

Some people are probably going to get sick of my Christmas shots. This is the library at 42nd Street. I was there on Saturday doing research. By the way, as I was heading up there I was thinking I was insane to go there on a Saturday, and it was insanely packed, but with people looking around, not with people doing research. I was actually in and out faster than usual. Found almost everything I needed. It was a good day.

I got email about a cat boarding place in Connecticut called Captain Kitt’s. Good lord, I’m looking at their website now. If you live in Connecticut this is the place to board your cat. They have aquariums for entertainment, they give them shrimp and tuna for snacks (I’m sure if you ask them not to, they won’t, I know some cats are not supposed to have fish) and catnip cocktails at night! This is kitty vacation heaven.

Once again …
just filling up lines …
in order to line up the pictures …
nicely.

As you can see, Finney is foregoing ornament destroyage and going straight for the branches. Here he is, chomping on a branch. Chomp, chomp, chomp. Well, you can’t kill it evil little fur-dude, because IT NEVER LIVED.

I was going to write this morning, but Howard so nicely downloaded some music for me (which I love) but the CD got stuck in my Powerbook (I think because of spilled orange juice a few days ago) and I have to go to the Apple Store to get it fixed.

Then caroling in gorgeous, gorgeous Brooklyn Heights with some friends. So, ah, no work today, I don’t think!