Hiyo eBay!

My first expedition into the world of eBay was in the fall of 2002. I bought a polo shirt with a tiger on it. Over the years I have bid on quite a few things. The thrill of competitive buying can be quite addictive. On a scale of 1 (rolling in poison ivy) to 10 (crack/cocaine) it rates at roughly a 7.8 (N.B. unshelled peanuts = 8.3) To get to the point: this year eBay re-emerged as the hip, trendy, mod gifting utensil. Or at least The Moderatilist, The Nerdess, Jobonga and I thought so. We played Secret Santa via eBay, which was cool and inventive of us. We are awesome. The deal was that you had to wait until Christmas Day to open your package of auctioned goodness. This was easy for me since I didn't get home until Christmas Eve anyway. I feel like Darcy probably had a hard time with this aspect of the arrangement. I'll admit that I I may have come close to opening up the large package I got from Sheila Stockhousen on Christmas Eve. If we had opened a teaser present on the Eve I would have; luckily we didn't do that. Instead we went over to the Trudeau's (a set of backdoor neighbors) for a little pre-midnight mass social event. The Trudeaus are Irish Catholic. So they have a party before going to church. They had eggnog, and Cruzan Rum. I stopped thinking about eBay. This morning I woke up at 9:30. The Brothers were both in The Dirty Jers' and weren't expected until after 12:00. So I went for a run. Then I did the crossword. Then I wrapped my presents. Then I waited. Jersey is a terrible place. It sucks you in and never lets you leave. Or at least charges you to get out. Sort of like a whore. But without any of the fun.Eventually Evan showed up with his Jersey Girl. We played a hand of Sheepshead. Then the happy Jersey Couple arrived. Pictures of the tree were taken. Coffee (non-ethnic) was made. We started opening presents. Taylor had to go first because he got the mini-Kegorator. I went next because I got the 3 Liter Pilsner glasses (intentioned to be boots, à la The Essen House, and used immediately). Only at this point could I open anything from my mother, which had all been addressed to 'Whitter'.Soon it was my turn again. There was an obvious choice, and inside of that choice was Kermit. He likes being out of his box, it was cramping his style. Later we'll sing along to the Muppet Show Album, which is a Barnebey family classic. We've never had an actual cast member here before though, so that's pretty exciting. Later in January, Kermit will be able to catch up with Rizzo (the party Rat). They had been on the outs because Kermit has ethical issues with the gratuitous use of butter. Rather than give up on his lifelong passion for butter-skating, Rizzo said some things that anyone else would have regretted. Luckily Kermit is a fairly mature frog and has forgiven, if not forgotten.


















This last picture was taken on my new QuikPod. As you can see, I have already mastered the technique. Expect many more of these long-armed shots (both with and without Kermit) in both yours and my futures.