1. I’m in love with my vacuum. There’s something inherently satisfying in watching the canister fill with dust and dirt. I’ll admit that we got off to a rocky start, largely due to operator difficulty. (Also, who puts a button on the vacuum that you have to push to make the brushes spin? Isn’t that an integral part of the vacuuming experience?) Now that I’ve got it figured out… Bliss.

2. Printlandia is up and running in the new house. This is a good thing, as it is an easy and low-cost way to satisfy Zanna’s boat obsession. Next up: a printer big enough to make her a castle.

3. Toward a unified theory of holiday. I’m thinking this is the last year we get a hall pass on not having to explain why we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Especially because we’re otherwise not at all religious. I’d like the holidays to mean more than shopping and presents, without making it no fun at all. Maybe the way to do this is to go back, to before Judaism or Christianity were religions, to when we lit fires to mark the longest and darkest night. Maybe we make it a celebration of the year, of everything we’ve seen and done and experienced. If anyone has thoughts on how they’ve done this, I’m all ears.

4. It’s easier than you’d think to fall into helicopter parenting. I had a moment over Thanksgiving where Z was struggling with a toy and I stepped in to help. My quasi-father-in-law gave me a very gentle reminder (thanks Papa!) that she could and should figure it out herself. Truth is, I find it immensely frustrating to wait for her to do things on her own – especially now that she wants to help with everything.

5. I’m going dark on Facebook for the next month or so. I’m spending too much time reading click bait stories and not enough time paying attention to my family. Being with a two year old is hard and often boring; scrolling through posts is generally more interesting than dealing with the incessant chorus of “baby baby BABY!” But every time I do that I’m telling my daughter she’s not worth my attention – and that’s not the message I want to send. (NB: You’ll still see blog posts, because those are automated.)

Closing Tabs

“[J]ust because the question can be answered doesn’t mean that I ought to answer it, or that it ought to be asked.” The way we ask questions is full of assumptions about what we think the listener should be doing or saying, and it’s especially prevalent when we talk about topics that hit on stereotypes and ingrained assumptions.

Are you watching Jessica Jones? If not, you should be. Yes, it’s another superhero series, but this hero has been abused, victimized, traumatized – and she refuses to let it define or dictate her. And while her abuser has superpowers, too, what he does is really only a step away from behaviors and tactics used by many non-superhero abusers. Also, it has David Tenant as the bad guy. I would watch it just for that, because David Tenant is *my* Doctor.

I like the idea of selling a house for a realistic price, in exchange for a cultural contribution, but I’m not sure this gets there. Looks to me like the seller is getting the bulk of the value here. Still, it let a few native SF artists stay in the city, so it can’t be all bad.

Turns out most pop songs are written by a couple of bald Norwegians. I’m just saying, I’m a little butt hurt that Taylor Swift doesn’t actually write her own songs.

That’s it from me. How was your Thanksgiving week? Are you drowning in leftovers? Are you one of those people who doesn’t ever eat leftovers?