“Down the street and up the hill came the Duke of Westminster, the Honorable Archibald Fitzhugh, and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, slipping and bounding from shadow to shadow, lean and leathery, all sinews and cartilage, wearing raggedy clothes all a-tatter, and they bounded and loped and skulked, leapfrogging over dustbins, keeping to the dark side of the hedges.”
from Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book
Yay. I am back.
I found out that posting with under a certain topic brings me more joy.
So for now, the topic is: Random, elating sentences, phrases, quotes or paragraphs from books I read. That all of the books I quote are highly recommendable needs not to be emphasized.
Stay tuned. 
These scary and fear-inducing names belong to the two new members of our household.
Behold: Fluffballs!
Jocke is the one with the black ears, Svente with the brown ears. And whoever guesses where the names come from gets a cookie. Worthians don’t count, they were told already. 
The Worth1000 photo challenge will happen this January. Unfortunately, I cannot participate this time, because I do not have the time to do so at the moment.
But no one keeps YOU from checking out all the amazing “One Photo A Day” Blogs.
Here is a list, sorted alphabetically by Worth member, followed by the theme they chose for the 30 days.
celticfrog - Weather In Huron County
hickchick33 - One Theme A Week
Icebunny - Things I’ve Yet To Do
Isabella2006 - Macro Photography
Kookaburra - Shapes From my Kitchen
learn2swim96 - Macro Photos, mostly B&W
lmorrow57 - Sculpture And Statuary
mennufer - Colors And Shapes (Graphic Abstracts)
mmc9496 - 30 Days Of Various Techniques
Pr4ktic - Beaches Of Rio De Janeiro
Regoch - The Secret Life Of Glass
Rhiannonsmommy - 50mm f1.8 Lens
Secretatlantis - Shapes And Lines In Duotones
SigloV - Using The Canon 85mm f/1.8 Lens at f/1.8
Suziecuchon - Dallas Fort Worth Texas
whalelight - Macro Photos (with subthemes)
WorthyNick - Macro (mostly colour)
Enjoy!
So 2008 is drawing to an end. I remember the last New Year’s Eves clearly. All of them sweet, surrounded by friends and loved ones. But all of them summing up a year that was nothing less than difficult.
I remember how my husband and I toasted each other, praying: “May the next year be better than the last. May it finally be better.”
It never was, not really. And I came to the conclusion that this, probably, is life. That there is no such thing as unfettered love and happiness. Who am I to know? (more…)
… and all that is left to do is sending Christmas blessings out to you all.
I am sorry that my Audio Autumn did not last longer. There is so much more music to share. But major changes occured in my life. I will let you in on all of them, comes time. Promised.
I’ll also dive into another project soon, in January. Chances are good that it will be photos again, the Worth photogs are preparing for another 30-days-challenge.
So stay tuned. Things will happen.
Try to be true to yourself. Love matters.
Xmas wishes 2008
No more Bush-bashing from tomorrow on. Either way. 
This is pretty darn interesting.
Noticed how countries with non-democratic tendencies tend towards McCain? *g*
Well, no secret what I would vote, right? Although, on the other hand… McCain and Palin would probably make even better laughing stock than Mr. George W. Or almost.
Some newer music for a change.
Anna Ternheim is a Swedish singer and songwriter whom I absolutely adore.
Do you know the feeling of being frozen inside, so lost that even tears elude you? Listening to Anna Ternheim’s music is one of the few things that can crack the wall then, and make me cry. And thus, she saved my life more than once already.
Also, Anna somehow evolved to be the music that connects me most with my little meerkitten brother who lives so far away, and whom I miss so often. Music plays a large role in our relationship, so I have many singers, bands and songs that mean something between us… The Fleet Foxes, Joni Mitchel, Martha Wainwright, Regina Spektor, Teitur, The Guillemots… these are just a few that come to mind spontaneously. But Anna Ternheim was the first music that really connected us, that we listened to together, crossing the distances.
Anna made two albums so far which are both wonderul, “Somebody Outside” and “Separation Road”. Again, it’s very hard to choose. I love almost every song from every album. But, as I have to:
And, for my meerkitten brother:
My Secret. This song was the soundtracks to the nights we spent talking.
Oh. How have I lusted for this man, sitting in a half-empty movie theatre, watching “Labyrinth”. How have I marveled at those bi-colored eyes. I have never envied any supermodel - except Iman, for having lured THIS man into marriage.
Hard to choose just one song. It’s unfair with those heroes of old, who created music for decades. Sting, Bowie, Queen - what to choose?
In the 70ies, he gave us Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust.
In the 80ies, songs like Blue Jean, Let’s Dance and China Girl - all of which I won’t link, because I don’t like that phase of him overmuch. But he also made Modern Love, and that, again, is a song to link.
And don’t you think he went quiet after that. No, he’s still composing and active. Just a little bit Afraid Of Americans, but then again, who’s not?