(no subject)

I'm at my mom's house, hanging out with the dog and the contractor, snacking on pistachios and wearing someone else's robe. It's nice. Quiet. Mom has cable and interesting things in the fridge and the dog is really sweet. It's like a vacation. I'm doing my homework (research on the writer of "American Beauty") and watching "Real Housewives of New York" as research for my Yuletide project. I seem to have lost my Down the Chimney challenge in the shuffle of my inbox, but I do vaguely remember what it's about, so I'm looking up obscure jazz songs and stuff on aquatic apes for that.

What are you guys up to? Working on anything you need to do research for? Learned anything cool?