Ugh. My head hurts. I spent all of yesterday cleaning out the corpses of four moves — college, NYC, Sarasota and Australia. I’ve filled Five black garbage bags of items to go to Goodwill and four black garbage bags of trash. And I’m not even a third done.

Diversion enough, I think. That, and lobster tail. I think Sailor Boy and I are going to have a board-game-marathon New Year. With champagne. And prime rib.

Confession time: we have a new hobby in our house. Getting drunk and playing Star Wars Monopoly. Yeah, you heard that right.

To add to the general geekiness of such an activity, let me give you too more bits of info:

1) Sailor Boy has memorized every random rule Parker Bros. ever devised and can recite them at will. It’s bizarre (I was going to use uncanny, btu since I’m always after him for misusing that word, I can hardly do so re: him). Did you know, for example, that when you bankrupt to someone, you have to immediately pay the bank the 10% mortgage of their property, and then, if you don’t unmortgage immediately, you have to pay that 10% AGAIN when you do? the practical upshot of all of this is that in bankrupting another player, you can, with careful strategizing, be bankrupted yourself to the bank. Did you know that if a player declines to purchase a property upon which she has landed, the property is then immediately offred at auction? It’s UNREAL. SB is also very stingy about not playing by the time-honored tradition of paying community chest funds into Free Parking. Jerk. However, he lets us skip the bizarro auction rule.

And 2) Little Bro #2 is a statistics major, and is always telling me my chances of landing on particular spaces for every roll, and the value of every property based on their relative likelihood of being landed on throughout the game. For instance, did you know that Park Place (or, in the Star Wars version. Coruscant) is the space least likely to be landed on? This is because it is seven spaces (most likely roll) from “Go To Jail” and no one is ever lcoated there.

Between the these two cutthroat players, I don’t have much to offer. I can’t very well advise them about earthquakes near the Water Works. However, despite their careful mathematical posturing in every game, I’ve beaten their pants off.

I love dice.

However, it’s not the best Diversion. After all, I think my snappy chick lit about a bunch of Monopoly geeks is probably a long time in coming. Okay, I just looked at that. What a horribly wretched idea!

Humility.

I was coming on to post this really snarky rant about people who give well-meaning advice about the job market without taking into account the different experience levels and educational backrounds of the recipients — but then I saw that people have actually posted comments to my blog! They read it! HOLY CRAP, I can’t be a bitch anymore! But, really…. “That’s an ambitious application.” Yeah, well, I’m full of ambition. Sue me.

Such a shame, really. Shoo! Off with you all! Leave me to grumble and mumble and Larry David my way through life without fear of repercussions or recognition amongst any of my aquaintance.

Naturally, this past weekend, I’ve been distracted by Christmas, during which I brought in a haul not unlike that enjoyed by registered brides. Pots! Pans! Glassware! Knives! A toaster….? Mom, you’ve outdone yourself. Sailor Boy got a DVD player. We got each other dog books and CDs. Our presents matched so perfectly that my kid brother won’t stop teasing us about how disgustingly cute it is. (Laugh it up, B; you wish 10 shared some of your taste!)

Had a nice moment last weekend. My First Editor went all retro and edited my “Best of 2004″ column. Said “it sang.” Firm suspicion he was full of shit, but it was nice to chat with him again. Also chatted with EIC, who is taking my advice for his Xmas Eve eats.

No more diversions tonight. I’ve miles to go before I sleep…. or at least three chapters.

For quizzes. And this one was a no-brainer!

You have the Rossetti girl look. You are the kind
of girl pre-Raphaelite painters admired; tall,
slender, and fair as a lily flower. The
pre-Raphaelite girl had dramatic beauty; long
neck, large soulful eyes, full shapely mouth
and masses of wavy hair. The pre-Raphaelites
painted girls like this, they showed them in
dramatic situations dressed as famous
characters in legends, plays and poetry. The
favourite colours of the artists were russet,
green and gold. The following artists would
have loved to paint you; Holman Hunt, John
Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, William
Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

‘Pretty As A Picture’ - Which Artist Would Paint You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ah, what the heck. It’s Christmas….

You are a cappuccino, sipped in the afternoon,
after sex.

You are not trendy; you set trends for others. You
wear black or nothing, and your playlist
alternates Mahler with bands no one else has
heard of. You read Rimbaud in public places,
and you have a vintage poster for La Dolce
Vita hanging over your bed. You pepper
your conversation with quotes from obscure
Jacobean revenge tragedies, and you cackle to
yourself when your lovers assume that you are
quoting I Love Lucy. Your glasses have
designer frames and you do not need them to
see.

What kind of coffee are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Another quiz. How do you fit your astrology sign or some such. However, I was born on the cusp. For years, I read both horoscopes to see what fit best. Would like to get this issue resolved, hence:

You are 60% Aquarius

You are 53% Capricorn

If you are following this at all, it adds up to 113%. Guess I’ll keep reading them both.

And then I’m through with my blogging for the day, I promise.

Your Element Is Fire

Your passion and emotion are as obvious as the brightest flame. You make sparks fly, and your passion always has the potential to burst out. You are exciting and creative - and completely unpredictable. You sometimes exercise control, and sometimes you let yourself go. Friends describe you as sensitive, spirited, and compulsive. Bright and blazing with intensity, you seem mysterious and moody to many.

Yeah, like that wasn’t obvious!

nativity
Originally uploaded by dianapeterfreund.

This photo was published in our paper a few days ago. I believe it’s the Vatican nativity scene. Why else the armed guard (lower left). Note where he is pointing his weapon. There are scary days.

I feel a decided LACK of goodwill towards men right now. I think I might be out of Christmas practice. Didn’t really have one last year. It just seems like a big commercial stressful holiday. I’m rather against the idea at the moment.

I’ve bought all the presents, but I c an’t seem to bring myself to wrap them. I’ve got the cookies, but I don’t feel like eating them. I’ve brought out It’s a Wonderful Life on DVD but I haven’t watched it.

Bah humbug. Bring on my ghosts. I’m so ready for them.

toller
Originally uploaded by dianapeterfreund.

Since everyone is now curious (Hey, Contest Thread!), here’s a picture of the type of dog we’re after. Cute, huh? Of course, they are much more difficult for us to find than we’ve expected.

As a relatively new breed, tollers aren’t the most popular pups ont eh planet. They have an interesting origin, however. They were bred to resemble foxes, whose “tolling” at lake edges have been known to bring ducks within attack range. Hunters use them for the same reasons. I’ve never seen a toller so happy as with a duck in his mouth. Good at swimming, very outdoorsy and small enough for a two-person household? Perfection! And since Sailor Boy’s father is a duck hunter, we could even train it to perform its bred-for duty!