Here are some people who really know how to pose for a picture: John Skinner, Susan Skinner, and Shelley Denny. 

My life from now on will be denoted as A.I. (After iPod). All my favorite music, lectures, movies, and photos are on it. Both the sound and picture quality are amazing. 

For canine couture and feline finery

On a recent trip to Arkansas, my customer Dr. John Trochet saw an ivory-billed woodpecker for about three seconds. Until this year, no one had seen one since 1944, but a few lucky scientists (including Dr. Trochet) have seen them this year. Read an article about it here. 

Low fat s'mores? That's just wrong. 

Orchestra warming up for a performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Unitarian Church. I went because my friend Lisa Derthick was singing the Mother; it turns out that I knew about a dozen people in the audience and company. 

Another Christmas meditation

This checker at Trader Joe's wears gloves because of all the frozen food she has to handle. 

The auxiliary input in my car stereo, waiting for my iPod (coming tomorrow!) 

I noticed this car in front of Espresso Metro first because it was a Prius and second because there was a candy cane over the antenna. 

Left over from the Christmas party... our family masks in the front hall. 

Devoutly to be wished

I can turn the display in my Prius to English, Spanish, or French.

Today I got a cup of Sugar Plum Fairy tea from my customer (the one in the picture with the Rachael Ray smile). She tells her kids that it's "made from ground-up sugar plum fairies." 

Yesterday I accidentally locked my phone. I was trying to hold down the star key, which turns on vibrate. But I was holding the phone upside down, so I accidentally held down the pound key, which locks the phone, and I didn't know the lock code, thereby initiating the worst two hours of my life. 

Belated pictures of our Christmas party

Christmas party 2006

This was a beautiful black Steinway before the (rich) owner decided to strip it, revealing all kinds of unmatched veneer underneath. It looks like it's been sitting out in the desert. 

Susan Skinner. Not many women could pull off wearing this dress. 

This is how my music is set up for a John Skinner job. The Christmas tunes are in the pile below. Next to it is a pile of old business cards which I use as bookmarks so I can quickly return each song played to the same place in the pile. (One old card turned out to be a Tower Records gift card!) 

Remember macrame? This frog/towel holder is not retro... it really is from the 70s. 

A novel, if somewhat risky, way to encourage creativity: a hot plate that heats the paper so your crayon melts while you draw.

These people were singing in the Nugget supermarket. Good sound. 

This bottle of wine costs as much as an iPod Nano. 

Chris Moose, the mechanical moose who poops brown jelly beans. 

Giant universal remote

I saw this at Walgreen's this morning and I'm sorry I didn't have a camera (I got this picture off the Internet)...

Two nights ago I played underneath a big wreath in the ballroom at the Radisson. 

This ceremony is from a Christmas party I played last night. 

We don't do a tree, but we always buy a lot of poinsettias for our holiday party.