Gratitude, Days Twelve

• Making new friends over coffee.
• Being able to write two pages of fiction in the middle of the work day, because writing is now my job.
• Unexpectedly running into old friends over coffee.
• Increasingly artful uses of 3D computer animation (with lemurs!) (*)

(*) Brad thought there were too many different animation styles, but I thought it fit perfectly with the "scrap book" nature of the film. I loved that, although the film is clearly computer animated, any given frame looks like it was hand-painted or hand-drawn. The animated water-colors particularly impressed me.

Gratitude, Days Seven through Eleven

Been traveling, so here's the backlog...

Day Seven (Saturday)

• Subaru all-wheel drive
• Dogs who sleep in the car, Part I
• Animal fables

Day Eight (Sunday)

• The niece who still loves math at the age of 16
• The niece who has had straight A's since kindergarten
• The niece who still uses the art easel we bought her when she was 8
• The niece who, despite being in preschool, can operate an iPad better than anyone else in the family

Day Nine (Monday)

• Institutional gluttony (in moderation)
• Cancer researchers
• Hyperactive Labrador Retrievers (in moderation)

Day Ten (Tuesday)

• Dawn through ice-enameled tree branches
• Dogs who sleep in the car, Part II
• Leftover lasagna and cheap red wine

Day Eleven (Wednesday)

• Working when I want
• Wanting to work
• Time enough to share Brad's hobbies (in moderation)

In other news, Brad and I started writing a story together. This is actually our first attempt at writing together, despite fifteen years of living together. The working title is "Questions about Angels," on account of I'm reading Billy Collins poetry right now.