I like pine trees. I really like the way pine trees smell. This is an excuse to put a tree in my living quarters.

I have learned, however, that in several years of pine trees + non-ground-floor apartments, that those motherfuckers like to leave trails behind them for years.

So now I have the kitschiest white tree possible. It does not have shit from when I was a kid on it. It has retro stuff on it. I can play designer on it and it eliminates the 'what the hell is this giant decoration in your house' sense that it would have if I put up giant sculptures at other times of year. It is socially acceptable sculpture.

Lights are awesome because it is dark. I don't entirely see the point of this stuff in more equatorial regions, but here, where I'm going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, it is fun to see what ridiculous light-based public art is on display.

I am considering erecting something else in the house in the week around my birthday. A sort of me-mas tree. I will have to consider this more strongly in the light of recent acceptance of ridiculous art and its importance in my life.