Nasty, snow weather outside + Good book + Cat on lap + Hot chocolate + Napping Couch = Nearly perfect winter afternoon

(The only element missing from the equation is a wood-burning fireplace -- if I had a wood fire going in the corner of the room, it really would have been perfect. Next house.)

Yes, I am aware that I am a hobbit.

No, I didn't get the place adequately cleaned. I don't know why I pretend -- my parents know I'm a slob, I know they know I'm a slob, and yet I like to pretend I'm perfect.

Lies. All lies.

But enough of my dysfunction. I am now the proud owner of a newly installed spice rack and pot rack in my kitchen. It looks gooooooood.

Damn, I wish I had a digital camera.

We had another alarm incident today -- the basement apartment alarm went off at about 1 p.m., just when I was getting in the shower to get ready for a business meeting (Before you start yelling at me -- I am semi-nocturnal now, but I had been awake and productive already for several hours. So chill.) The cops came mid-shower, so I was standing out on the front porch, dripping wet under my robe, telling them everything was just fine, and can I please go back inside now before I freeze to the steps? (Thank god for that polarfleece robe.) I left a very nasty message for The Mormons In The Basement, then left for my meeting.

Tonight, we finally figured out what was going on -- the current extreme lack of humidity has caused the door frame to shrink a bit, so a strong wind can blow the trip circuit out of alignment while the door is still, technically, locked. Tragically, Chicago is not lacking in strong winds. We have figured out how to prevent the problem, and they know that if the alarm goes off in the future, they damn well better hope they're being robbed.

I also discovered that TMITB we currently have are actually really funny. One of them -- the Chilean who didn't know what "shovel" meant -- has put a long, fake German name on the mailbox -- something like Schoenburgeroffenmeyer. Why? Just for the hell of it. Hee. (He was impressed that I knew there were quite a few folks of German descent in Chile. Hell, he was impressed that I knew where Chile was. I explained it was because of the penguins, and I think that confused them even more.)

No one wants to see the larcenous kangaroo movie with me. How odd.

Must clean more.Yipe.

Parents will be in town on Friday -- on their way to a wedding, they're going to do some work on my kitchen. Pardon me while I commence cleaning frantically.

Yeah,. yeah, I know, I'm 32 and the whole cleaning situation is pathetic -- I've come to terms with it.

Things I have learned from watching TV tonight: Space is not kind to adorable puppies, and there need not be a discernable plot if the "story" calls for a Vulcan babe getting naked-ish. (Thank you, Enterprise. And UPN -- you passed on Firefly but show this crap? Feh.) Also: I really, really don't like flesh-eating zombies. And in other news, Alzheimer's disease scares the hell out of me, and Aaron Sorkin sure can write. Also, Matthew Modine? Still pretty hot.

Now you know.

Hi, Kevin.

Bwah-hah-hah-hah.

(Link stolen from Andy.)

Now that Firefly is off the air (whimper, sob, weep, moan), I'm recapping Charmed. Thanks a hell of a lot, people.

My other show, of course, is that bastion of subtlety and taste that is Fastlane. Next week: A sensitive portrayal of a same-sex relationship (read: hot, hot girl-on-girl action!) Ah, Fox -- gotta love it.

My geek street cred took a blow today. Wendy (who has finally started updating her blog again) mentions that one conspiracy theorist says Tesla "spoke with aliens." My first thought was "What, the band?" Um, no. The inventor behind magnetic field theory, fluorescent lights, alternating-current power transmission and lots more. Sigh.

I have been plagued by football this weekend -- dinner and then the Eagles game at Angie and Jordan's; brunch and the Niners are Lotti and John's. I did get to mock Lotti about the Niners, so it wasn't a total loss.