"I'm going to put these pictures on the internet."

Last night, as my family was all gathered round in the small, wooden library of my grandparents house, I came across these gems. It seems my family's been a bit off their hinges for years -- but in the best way, of course.

The Harman Family, at a glance

My dad's small, emo phase.


My dad, right, my uncle Dave, left, and an unnamed family member, center.

This is how they used to do gangster signs.



My grandfather and my uncle. So suave, so male modelly.


My uncle. He's just as crazy now, I assure you.

He looks EXACTLY the same. This is my dad's smug, relaxed face.


The "infamous Randy" picture. The "infamous" is for obvious reasons, though not so obvious is why we have a picture of my great uncle taking off his pants.


My uncle. His face.

My dad in a sailor costume. What? He is obsessed with elephants.

Two questions: why are they holding balloons, and what's with the frowns? Last I checked balloons were fun.

My dad. Tiger striped leggings. Pimp robe.

Look at my dad's watch over his sleeve, his holiday vest, his toothless grin, his emo glasses, the dogs fighting in the background.

Also, I can't put down Wicked. Last year I tried to start it, but couldn't get past page 15. But I started again at the beginning of break and I'm attached to the spine.

Now I'm in Williamsburg. We just finished dinner, which, mid-way through, got interrupted by the yule log catching on fire. Sitting on the coffee table as it was, this wasn't the best state for it to be in. My grandmother was very much the heroine, picking it up and putting it outside on the grate. Wonderful. Or, as she says, "wond-ah-full."

Some noteworthy presents:

gorg Hobo walletclutch from my mom
Anna Karenina, a 30 CD-set, so I can listen to it when I'm walking to class, lying around or driving. So I can finally finish it.
A "Time Machine" for my mac. If only I could remember my administrator log in. I've tried every combination of my name I can think of...
100 Words Most Commonly Misused, or some variation, and 100 Words Every Word-Lover Should Know, or some variation, from my grandmother.

Lush "Big" shampoo. It's from Switzerland, and it's great. It has real sea salt in it -- to make my hair look more full, and even though it looks like porridge when you open the cap, it's really amazing.

Christmas in Burlington is great. We all open a few presents round-robin style, and then we go into a "frenzy" opening them and shouting out thanks and "oohs!" etc. It's not so much the frenzy itself that I love so much; more the fact that we call it a frenzy.

We're celebrating Christmas with my mom's half of the family now. Currently, I'm evading dish-work. Present-opening soon.