Merry Christmas to All from Peoria

The food is put away and all have retired to their rooms. I found the Ethernet drop into the basement guest room. I am in heaven.

It doesn't reach all the way to the bed, but I can sit at the table and surf the Net while my wife and I watch TV together.

I wonder whether we could move the bed?
* * *
Mere Christmas shopping/cleaning/traveling/wrapping frenzy is a relaxing change of pace from our recent lives. Good news: K's (and L's and singlemaltsilk's) company passed the state inspection with flying colors. I was sure they would, but preparing for it has meant months of unmitigated stress for K, especially as her excellent assistants succumbed to a variety of medical problems. They eventually came back to work; we have reason to hope that 2007 will be somewhat calmer.

Meanwhile, it's good to be among family. Good wishes of the season to all who read this.

Happier Times: A Walk in Greenwich Village

About a year ago, we were visiting my brother and his wife, and walking through New York, window-shopping on our way to somewhere. Suddenly I stopped. I'd spotted a delicatessen with a sumptuous display of various foods in its window. "Wait!" I said.

My family were puzzled, but they are used to eccentric behavior by now. I was pulling out my cellphone camera. They sighed. "Why?"



"This is Greenwich Village!" I said. "Jack Kerouac may have eaten here! Or Allen Ginsberg! Or William S. Burroughs!"

Right there in the window were something I'd always heard about:

The legendary Beets of Greenwich Village.

Governors' Gadgets Derby: Hiram Bingham III

So Boing Boing has unearthed a portrait of Governor Jeb Bush of Florida posing with his Blackberry, and another of Governor John H. Sununu of New Hampshire posing with his IBM PC.

I have another governor and another gadget to suggest. Here's what I sent Boing Boing. Who knows whether they'll use it?

( Swashbuckling Governor Hiram Bingham III of Connecticut, large photos behind cut )