Arduino Halloween Lights

I have talked about this to several people and have described the details to a couple, but I figured I should finally document the setup I have for my Halloween/Christmas/everyday computer-controlled lights. I have never really done traditional Christmas lights at any of the places I have lived in Portland. Between high ceilings, basement offsets, and … Continue reading Arduino Halloween Lights

Putting the “material” in non-materialistic Christmas

This Christmas at the Enigma/Sakkara house was very simple, very understated.  In fact, Christmas vacation really does feel like a vacation (or “staycation” as the hip young’uns say these days).  Since our families are 1,000 miles away, there was no itinerary for hopping around the homes of various parents, grandparents, uncles, or aunts.  There were … Continue reading Putting the “material” in non-materialistic Christmas

Zombies in the Manger

The following zombie-manger-invasion comic comes, ironically, from the Hallmark blog. It was just too great to not repost. Actually, if you poke around the blog, there are all kinds of great things, including the Robots with Stuff series (most recently, A Robot With Mom Jeans), ass cleaner, and their “Funny, But No” YouTube series of … Continue reading Zombies in the Manger

Christmas From Aperture Labs

I’m not really all that big on Christmas cards[1]. Every year I receive a few, but never really get around to sending any. I’m not sure if it’s because I can be lazy and forgetful at times or if it’s because, when facing a mostly blank card with pen in hand, I tend to freeze … Continue reading Christmas From Aperture Labs

Not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies?

I was listening to Strange Love last week and the topic of Christmas movies came up–specifically, not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies. There was talk of films like Gremlins and Die Hard–both of which took place on Christmas and had strong Christmas themes, but were not in-and-of-themselves Christmas movies. I might add Brazil to the list. I’m having … Continue reading Not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies?

Belated Updates 2: California

The California trip last month was fun. I think I mentioned it before, but it was “Christmas in February.” My parents flew us down there because we had neither the time nor money in December for travel, having just bought a house and all. It was great to see everyone we did see (but would … Continue reading Belated Updates 2: California

Doctor Who’s Christmas Special

The new Doctor Who Christmas Special hit the Bittorrents the other day and I finally got around to watching it last night. A few impressions I got while watching: * I really need to re-read (or re-listen to the audiobook of) the Douglas Adams/Terry Jones novel Starship Titanic * The self-referrential deserted London because of … Continue reading Doctor Who’s Christmas Special

“You’ve got your knob in my tube.” “No, you’ve got your tube in my knob.”

Today was a white Christmas! ’round about noon, it started snowing for a few hours. These photos were pretty early in the snowiness. Later, it rained and washed the snow away (and probably a few itsy bitsy spiders, too.) i have completed gutting the non-load-bearing things from the basement. (As a sidebar, every time I … Continue reading “You’ve got your knob in my tube.” “No, you’ve got your tube in my knob.”

The X-Mas of Housework

Christmas eve was pretty low-key around here. In fact, several weeks ago, we decided we’d call off Christmas this year. With a new house, there’s not much money for presents and not even a lot of time for the things that don’t require much money, like cards and such. For not having a special meal … Continue reading The X-Mas of Housework

Photo Ketchup

It has been a while since I emptied my camera, so I figured it was time for a photo catch-up post. First, I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to photographically convey how treacherous the stairs in the new house are. They’re really shallow and really tall. I also wanted … Continue reading Photo Ketchup