Merry Christmas!

I hope that all of those who may happen to visit this blog today have a felicitous day as we remember the incarnation of the Word and the coming of the Messiah, who is the very One come into the chalky frame, into this quintessence of dust. What can we say? Truly, God is great!

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I'm out here on the farm enjoying the fellowship of my diaspora'ed siblings.Many hours in the hot tub and several cigars burnt. Still no presents wrapped. LOL.

I've been finally sitting down with Seneca and doing a serious read. It seems that all of the translations basically suck, because his Latin is even more concise than the usual. Very interesting though. I think I'll get a pair of commentaries and work through a pair of plays. His meld of philosophy, politics, and bloody bombast intrigues me. Plus, he's the huge influence on the Racine and Our Bard.

I'm relatively low-key about it, but I should note that I'm going to Japan on Friday and shan't be back until Tuesday, 7 January. The secondary objective of my travels is to see the country where my greatgrandfather and grandmother were born, and where the Noss family worked in the missions field. The primary objective of my trip is to meet a wonderfully nice complicated Reformed girl with whom I've been corresponding for some time now. Her name is Emeth Smith.

And I'm on vacation generally, so I don't expect to be reporting to this palantir that often, whether as Denethor or as Saruman. LOL