GinohnNews

G: As I always do, I went down to Florida for Xmash with my parents, and so did my brother. Grant's girlfriend Catherine was supposed to fly in too, but she lives in Denver, and she was snowed in (he always drives and left Denver before the storms hit). We were all disappointed she couldn't come, but we had a good time anyway.

For Xmash I gave my brother a painting of a Bag of Crap, which he didn't seem to like. I thought it was right in with his sense of humor. Oh well, I tried. I gave my Dad Barack Obama's book, and my Mom some help around the house. I did most of the cooking. I ordered Lori a dvd of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie which she hadn't seen yet.

Mom's friend Joan had Xmash dinner with us, and we had Chestnuts and Rice again, and Nut Loaf. Then we all played a Cranium game (turbo edition), which was fun and challenging (unlike the original). We all laughed a lot. After that we played UNO. I was the undisputed UNO champion from the night before, and I won again.

Grant and I drove down to South Florida one day, near where we grew up, to visit an old friend of his, Andy Elderman. He looked the same as he did in high school. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive there from where my parents live now. We had lunch at a Thai/Sushi place that was next door to an Indian/Chinese place. I wouldn't really recommend it. After lunch I suggested we go to the beach to hang out. We got to Dania beach and it was quite lovely there; a nice breeze, sunny, and the water wasn't too cold. I was sorry I wasn't really prepared for it. Usually it's too cold for the beach in December, for me anyway. We stood on the beach chatting and taking pictures and taking in the views. After about 2 hours in S. FL it was time to head back so that we weren't driving in the dark too much. I don't think we'll venture down there again without a place to stay the night.

I spent a lot of time watching the TV - something I don't do at home. I saw a couple of old movies, some Daily Shows, and spent a couple of evenings watching Dog Whisperer marathons. They would repeat after 3 shows, so I saw about 6 episodes. I was pretty fascinated. I learned a lot about dogs and I think this will help me a lot when I get my next dog. Which will be soon.

One of the last days there we all went to a Tea House for brunch with my dad's Democratic club. Only two other people were there, a woman named Karen who is very active in politics, and another woman named Jean who is a rare Democrat on the county council, and who my dad helped with her campaign. The Tea House was lovely and the food was pretty good.

Other things that occurred while I was in FL: Yummy mojitos were made and drank. Oranges were eaten off the tree in the backyard. Parents got a large flat screen monitor for their computer from Grant. Went running twice. Ate too many cookies. Played with neighbor girl Catherine. Played with Joan's dog Barry.

I left there on Thursday morning and John picked me up from the airport and took me to lunch. We went to the Indian place near NASA. The buffet food was delicious but so oily I don't think I can ever eat there again. I have trouble with that - I get acid reflux. I stopped taking Prevacid a couple of weeks ago because I developed a small patch of psoriasis on my eyelid. I already have patches on my elbows. My diet is usually pretty good so I think it's the toxicity of the drugs that is causing it so I quit. Now I have to be very careful of what I eat or I get heartburn. So, the last few days of the year I wasn't eating too well and got heartburn, but the first few days of this year I've been eating very healthfully and haven't had much of a problem.

Anyway, that evening John and I went to a lovely party at Dave and Jamie's. They are excellent hosts and people, and we had a great time. We did leave early enough to make it to the Looney's that night, I hadn't been in 3 weeks and needed my fix. At the Looney's I gave out some pottery as presents to people, and everyone seemed to likey a lot.

Friday there was a Jomsviking reunion at Thom and Kathy's. The Jolmsvikings are a group of friends from John's college days. We went early and stayed the night. The Naabs are in town and were staying in their RV in front of the house so we spent a lot of time with them as well. I got pictures of everyone who attended, and I guess I owe some people some photo discs...

The next day we hung out there several more hours, and then later after we came home the Naabs came over to visit some more. We took a walk in the woods and played on some playgrounds. Then they left for the Eve Eve party and we followed a little while later. Eve Eve is a party at Trog and Maren's every year on the Eve of New Year's Eve, and everyone makes hats out of xmash wrapping and everyone gets a prize. We left kind of early because we were a bit tired. But it was a lovely party.

We spent New Year's Eve at Greykell and Constantia's Shakespeare themed party at Grey's house in Columbia. We arrived too late to see Liam and Tara getting engaged, in fact, too late to see them at all! But we wish them the best. Shortly after midnight I was participating in a group hug with John and Rizolda when Rich spilled some of his grape spritzer on my back. Fortunately I had another shirt to change into and went into the bathroom to try and rinse out the purple stains. They would not budge so I asked John to bring me more grape drink to decorate the whole shirt. I was in this little half bath with John and Rich pouring the stuff all over my shirt and Thom came by to see what was up. Before long Izolda joined us and we had a little party going in the bathroom. Meg came to the door and wanted to pee, but instead she was dragged inside and we started the New Year's countdown again. We'd yell "5,4,3,2,1 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Woooo!" and start singing that song. Then we'd drag someone else into the bathroom and do it again. We ended up with 9 people in there before they busted out and ran away.

That was fun.

We left there and got to TVTom's around 2 am, the few people there were just getting ready to leave. They all left and John and I hung out with Tom for about half an hour before we had to go home and fall asleep.

On New Year's Day there was another party to attend, at Hillary and Celestine's, next door to Dave and Jamie's. Their unit was remodeled in an very unusual way, and very nicely done. It has a two story addition. GHI homes have tiny kitchen. They turned theirs into a large laundry room/bathroom/workshop, and put the kitchen in the middle of the house. The upstairs had a fabulous large bedroom with skylights and a walk-in closet in the addition, and a very nice bathroom that Hillary had retiled.

In other news, I have been accepted as an artist in residence at the Greenbelt Community Center and in a few days I will have my own studio space there! I've gotten to the point where I just feel like I need to spread out a little more to get anything done. This means I'll be spending more time on my pottery and ceramic art and will be looking for more commissions and to sell more too. And inviting folks to come by and see me there.

J: Being an amateur mycologist makes me come up with peculiar notions sometimes. OK, I come up with peculiar notions anyhow, but mycology is this week's excuse. I was happy to find out that one of the notions floating around in my head lately is not really that peculiar, at least among other mycologists who share similar ideas.

Santa Claus is a very old figure, one that predates Christianity. So where did Santa come from? I think that - like most mythical creatures - he is a metaphor gone awry. Santa is an incarnation, the spirit of the amanita muscaria mushroom, also called the fly agaric.

The fly agaric has a red top (hat) a white veil-like ring (beard) and dark roots (boots). It is found in northern climes. Reindeer (and other animals, including humans) love it for its hallucinogenic effects. Laplanders feed the shroom to their herds to keep them docile. The reindeer no doubt think they're flying.

Santa is happy (jolly, even) and ready to bring you laughter and wonderful gifts. But like many hallucinogenic substances,  if you are not in the right mood to begin with - like when you've been bad - Santa might ignore you, or worse yet give you a rotten trip.

In many parts of Europe, the fly agaric is still remembered at Christmas. Fly agaric ornaments hang from trees, and the mushroom is considered good luck, like the shamrock. The Europeans have forgotten why, but they still celebrate the mushroom - in a similar way that we celebrate Easter eggs, yet don't consciously connect them to forgotten rites of Spring.

The fly agaric can be poisonous if not prepared correctly. Some experts recommend heating and drying it. I wouldn't be surprised if back in ancient times the best way to dry the shrooms was to put them in socks and hang them with great care by the fire.

Most ritualistic hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms have spirits associated with them; without any other evidence at hand, people tend to naturally think that there is a willful force behind the euphoric properties of the plants. Santa Claus is one such spirit. While you sleep and your mushrooms dry over the fire, a mischievous elf comes invisibly down the chimney and, with a twinkle in his eye, puts marvelous toys in the stockings.

Happy Holidays!