It's a warm, bright day in Boston. First warm day in a long time. Feels like spring is just around the corner.

Went out on my deck for the first time in a coupke months. Huge puddle of water from all the melting snow and ice. Stood barefoot in it in the bright warm light of the afternoon. Nice. Feeling the seasons change is feeling truly alive. Cycles of life and death, cold and warm.

Surveying the aftermath of all the snow and falling ice. Destroyed: one small barbecue that seems to have been squashed by a huge chunk of ice falling off the roof. Trashed: one small koi pond...wood didn't survive the freeze. Tossed about and toppled: two small gargoyles. But those are just things....they can be fixed or replaced. Witnessing the power and fury of winter is worth a few disrupted objects.

Melting ice in the bright light reminded me of jewels and gems, so I pulled out some sparkly things to see how they'd look in the light. A Celtic necklace with a faceted garnet in the center. A black opal. And a gothicky cross with amethyst. I wonder how they will look in color.

Time to go back inside. After the water recedes, I think I'll start having morning coffee outside again. Round and round the seasons go...

Ia! Ia!

Well, all the work putting the binders together last night was worth it. Tutorial tonight was amazing. And best of all, Christopher Reeve joined us as a collaborator. He is an amazing individual, and an inspiration to work with. Wow.

Working at the medical school tonite. Putting together *80* three ring binders for a tutorial we're running tomorrow. We had to update a bunch of the working papers, so my colleague and I are just throwing the rejects on the floor while we run around reinserting stuff. The room looks like a paper shrapnel bomb exploded.

Oh, and where are our assistants? Unavailable. Isn't that swell? :P

I have a new roommate. It's a Mexican "Day of the Dead" skull carved out of a gourd. It's pretty old, made about 40 years ago, but it is in excellent condition.

And it's haunted.

Not kidding.

More info later...

Woop! My

paper about Hiptop Nation, the Sidekick, and the Halloween Hunt is done. Looks like I'm going to Crete to present it at the conference (and no, the conference doesn't totally pay my way...I get a discount on the registration fee, but I have to use my own $$$ from other grants to fund myself.).

I've never been to Greece before. Checked out some pics of the hotel on the conference website. I love the.....sights! Especially the one in the bikini. What a place for a scientific meeting. She blinded me with science!

And after all the feasting, what better movie to curl up with than "Zombie Flesh Eater" on DVD. Eat or be eaten!

Oh, and my tarantula is very shy which is why my previous post included only a shot of the entrance to her burrow. So I've included here a pic of her last shedded skin. What a cutie, eh?

It's a feeding frenzy at chez Count Zero tonite! Every single living thing under my roof is either eating...or being eaten.

One large rat being eaten by Amber, my albino Burmese python. Two bowls of kitty kibble for Ariel and Spooky, my two cats. A few juicy crickets for my baby Goliath Bird-eating Tarantula. A teaspoon of Fluker's yellow goopy cricket food for my cricket colony. And for myself, dinner with the Swansons...one beef pot pie.

So, come on over to my place tonite...either you'll enjoy the menu, or you'll be the main course!

Burp!

It's under there, somewhere, beneath a few feet of snow.

And damned if I'm shoveling it. I hate shoveling. But I'm very much in favor of digging underground tunnels thru the snow. Burrowing out ice chambers and lining them with furs. Wish I could convince my neighbors here in Boston...

Heya Dan,

Bad Kitty loves you all, too!

:)