The Plentiful Vintage

It's been a weekend full of odds and ends. I haven't really gotten much into the spirit of the season yet. I haven't played any Christmas music, and had only watched a few Christmassy things prior to the weekend. I haven't even done what little decorating I usually do. I hung up the few cards that have arrived so far, but that's about it. Maybe I'll go upstairs and get the wreath for my front door out when I'm done with this. I've done some shopping, but there's much more to be done. I suspect a lot of people will be getting gift cards.

Yesterday morning I finally finished designing a Christmas card. It's a bit different from others I've done in that I used an image I found on the web as a base, rather than one I took myself. Not especially happy about that part of it. I need to get out and take some photos. Anyway, I headed into work to use the color laser printer. Ya know, someday some bright engineer will design a printer that can print something from the bypass feeder without sucking an additional three sheets of cardstock most of the way through the works, too. Since it hasn't happened yet, I spent two hours feeding the blank cards through the system one at a time. Still, I got them printed, wrote most of them, printed addresses on the envelopes, and put stamps on 'em. Then I went to the post office, which turned out to have closed fifteen minutes earlier. So I put them in the mailbox out front, so they'll be whisked on their way first thing tomorrow. Well most of them. I also ran out of stamps, so I have to get some more to mail the rest.

I spent the rest of the day, and most of today fiddling with DVD authoring software. I have Nerovision Express, which came with my burner. It's easy to use in terms of adding and arranging clips and chapters, but is totally braindead when it comes to setting up the menus. I hunted around for something better that wouldn't cost me anything, but the one package I tried was harder to use, and no less braindead. I was able to find an upgrade from Nero that addressed one of the dead lobes, and that plus another workaround was able to allow me to do something close to what I wanted, so I went that way. It took a few tries to get it all right, but it worked.

The main problem with all this is that it takes two to three hours for the software to do all the encoding on each iteration of the project, so there was a lot of waiting around to do. I filled the time last night watching Christmas specials. First up was A Christmas Story, which was the first time I've popped in the DVD that came with the leg lamp my sisters got me last Christmas. (No, I do not have it set up in the front window.) Then I watched A Wish for Wings That Work with Opus and Bill. One of the best Christmas specials ever, and it's never shown. So much good stuff, including Robin Williams as a lovesick kiwi with wing envy. There are so many good lines:

I have no need for a sidekick, sir, but still he'd like to be my best buddy. But then stink bugs would like to dance the watusi in my shorts, too. I mean, you gotta draw the line somewhere.

I finished up with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, still one of my favorites. Which is odd, because I never was a fan of the Magoo shorts. Even when I was little I never thought the one-note joke of his nearsightedness was especially funny. Fortunately, there's not much of it here. This was the first version of A Christmas Carol I ever saw, and I love it to pieces, even if it does take certain liberties. (The first time I saw the Alastair Sim version, the presence of Scrooge's nephew bothered me immensely, because he didn't appear in the Magoo version.) There are some truly memorable songs in it, too, especially Jack Cassidy doing "Whitest, Brightest Christmas." I need to go get myself a copy on DVD. I also need to watch the George C. Scott version. I haven't seen it in years. I did see Captain Picard's version for the first time a few nights ago. I didn't like it as much as some of the others.

Today I flipped on the tube just in time to catch the start of Fellowship of the Ring, and I took it as a cue to watch the extended version instead. Then I watched the Two Towers, and now I've just started the Return of the King. Another kind of Christmastime tradition. Still in love with Eowyn.

The wreath is up. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I much prefer starting with a photo that I've actually taken, as opposed to finding some random photo on the net. I actually had the idea for this year's card last year, but I couldn't find a base photo I liked, even after searching the net. So I went with a completely different idea, one which I think turned out great. That one was pretty easy. I already had the perfect photo, so no need to manipulate it.

This year I, as usual, had no idea what to use. I got lucky. I happened to be looking through some old slides, and I came across a photo I'd taken, like, 28 years ago that was exactly what I'd been looking for last year. Huh.

Ack! Christmas is only three weeks away. I have projects to finish, presents to buy, a Christmas card to design, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped. I'm also worried I'm coming down with a cold. I started feeling sniffly and irritated throaty yesterday afternoon at work, so I sucked on a zinc lozenge. Today I feel fine. No idea what's going on.

Today is project day. Despite traipsing around all over Rhode Island, I was unable to find the bit of hardware I need for project #1, so I bought some sheet brass at the hobby shop, and today I'm going to attempt to fabricate what I need. I spent some of the time I was sucking on my zinc lozenge yesterday using Adobe Illustrator to make a pattern for what I need. This should be interesting. I made sure I got plenty of extra brass.

I also need to come up with a design for this year's Christmas card. I getting desperate here. I went through a bunch of photos looking for any kind of decent source material, but no joy. I'm even starting to consider collage. Well, let's postpone that until I finish the brass work.