Hello Friends, 

Here’s a picture I did just for some kicks, just to get back the feel of using india ink and quills.  This one goes out to Catherine Mourot, whose book I’ve been dawdling on but am now done, and who gets a kick out of delusions of mousey grandeur.  

Tomorrow is the 10th of December, the day I get that first twinge of panic, soft and only slightly nagging at first, that I haven’t done a single stupid little thing to prepare for Christmas.  I’ll get another on the 15th and another on the 20th, each one stronger and more urgent than the last, and come the 24th I’ll be running wild-eyed and frantic and crazy through the orillia square mall, stumbling and weeping and grabbing at the worst gifts imaginable like some tired old cliche out of a female comic’s holiday stand-up routine.  It’s hellish, irresponsible and totally preventable, but god dammit, it’s a tradition.  

And holiday traditions are important.