Forgive my absence, folks, but I’ve been swamped with work and just haven’t had the brain cells to spare here on Compass & Quill. Here are some things that have been going on in my life, though (in no particular order):

1) Tonight The Man and I watched a cool movie about vampires in post-communist Romania, called Strigoi. I thought it was charming and funny, and gave it five Netflix stars. The Man somehow didn’t get it at all, and after the movie I spent considerable time trying to explain how Romanian vampires and romantic theatrical vampires are not the same thing, and outline the basic plot points that were somehow missed in translation. I’m still a little miffed at him for not getting it, though I understand that cinema is all about the individual reaction.

2) Simon the fish is still alive, although we had a close call on Sunday morning, when he lay on his face for half of the morning. With the help of Google and hundreds of betta enthusiasts, I quickly learned about doing a water change and testing pH levels, and now he’s back to being his normal chipper fishy self.

3) I adopted a blue mystery snail whose name is Morris. He lives with Simon, and they seem to get along very well. Simon’s been happier since Morris moved in.

4) Tonight I learned that if you’re going to feed a snail a piece of spinach, you have to blanche it and hold it down for awhile at the bottom of the tank, or else it just floats up to the top.

5) Tonight I also learned that you shouldn’t coat yourself with lotion then put your hand in a fish tank for minutes on end. My lotion is slightly sparkly, and the water is now very festive as a result of my idiocy. Simon and Morris are under 24 hour surveillance to make sure I haven’t murdered them with beauty products. Both seem to be doing very well. Maybe lotion sparkles are akin to confetti in the fish world?

6) Work is tough. I worked a 15 hour day yesterday and a 10 hour day today. Tomorrow I need to work a regular girl’s 8 hour day, though, because it’s trivia night at my local bar, and my team has won two weeks in a row now. Definitely can’t afford to let my work life affect my drinking (I mean trivia) streak!

7) Lately I’m having a hard time sleeping, and when I do sleep, it’s not rewarding. I keep meaning to buy sleeping pills, just to have one decent night of blissful unawareness, but I’ve been forgetting every time I go to the store. Tonight at Whole Foods I almost bought these homeopathic sleep lozenges called “Moon Drops,” but the name made me snicker. Even at 30, I’m still closer to 12 in maturity level.

8) Last night while I was trying to sleep, I closed my eyes and started counting backwards from 100. When I got to 94, all of a sudden all I could think of were the numbers from Sesame Street – you know, the puppet numbers, with eyes? I can’t find a picture on Google right now, but I can see them so clearly. Last night, I could see them so clearly that it made me cry. I was torn between being overwhelmed with joy that I still held Henson’s magic in my heart, and sad at his passing, and at growing away from that kind of small beauty. It was a very intense moment, made more intense by a very long, hard day that didn’t offer any easiness or hope before that late moment.

9) The Man put on Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas for me a week or two ago, and I had never seen it before. Besides loving the puppetry, I also adored the music. I’m a fan of 7o’s country and folk rock, and it’s even cooler when you’ve got otters playing the tunes.

10) I’m running a 5K race on Sunday, and I haven’t had a spare second to run in the past four days. I’m a little nervous, but mostly just happy that I’ll be working towards keeping my New Year’s resolutions.

11) Tonight, my favorite restaurant in New Orleans closed down for good, with a day or two’s warning (that I didn’t receive). I can’t believe I’ll never have J’Anita’s truffle tater tots again. I’m at a loss for how to cope with this kind of betrayal.

12) Truffle tots notwithstanding, some days I just want to get away from it all and move to a small cottage in Wales, disconnect all communication with the outside world, and just spend days smelling the clean air and soggy grass. Yesterday and today were two of those days. I have a feeling tomorrow might be, as well.

13) Isabel and Murphy say hi. It probably makes me quite evil, but I hold a secret satisfaction that they prefer me over The Man. Right now he’s in bed, and they’re sitting on (Isabel) and with (Murphy) me on the couch in the living room, watching my every move. When I go to bed in a couple of minutes, they’ll retire to the bedroom with me, where Isabel will pass out on my head (she does that when I can’t sleep) and Murphy will sleep on The Man if The Man is already snoring.

14) I bought myself a Sonicare toothbrush for my birthday in November, and it’s the best decision I’ve made in a very long time. If you’ve been on the fence about getting one, do it, you won’t regret it. Every time I brush my teeth it’s like just getting back from having my teeth professionally cleaned – it’s such a wonderful feeling! I bought a Sonicare Flexcare Plus and then started using the higher end Diamondcare brush heads on it, since they’re interchangeable.

15) It’s time to brush my teeth now. Goodnight!