I'm still trying to get dark photos right---. I took a photography course, and I certainly understood the basics a lot better then; they seem to have completely escaped me now. Does anyone have some simple tips?

Anyway, these are the Christmas lights I put up on the window that faces the outside street. There are no outlets outside, so this is the extent of what we're able to do this year for the front of the house. For the back, I want to use an outlet in the garage to put lights on some bushes. The plan is to do that this weekend...

Christmas lights have always made me very happy. I think they're beautiful, and I like to think they make other people happy, too, when they see them in our window.

*I took a "snow preparation" trip after school today. I put gas in the car, filled the tires and bought a shovel. I spent a long time in ACE Hardware and realized that I really love that store. I've realized it before, actually, and one of the big reasons is because they have a popcorn machine AND a gumball machine. But there's something comforting about communing with other people who are also making preparations for the coming snow. There's something exciting about it, and it renewed my sense of pride in being a Minnesotan. I've never liked winter driving, especially now because I feel unsafe in our small car with its crappy tires, but everything else about this season makes me feel cozy and adventurous and sturdy and very glad that I live in a place with four distinct seasons.