At the start of every month, I inevitably blurt out, “I can’t believe it’s already almost ______ (insert closest holiday).” I feel foolish (and repetitive) for doing so, but I can’t help it. I genuinely am astonished that time has flown by so quickly. Last night, it was thankfully someone other than myself to break out November’s installment with, “Gosh, I can’t believe Thanksgiving is only two weeks away!” Indeed.

1. Beck’s performance on SNL - Always the oddball. His new album is better than I expected, but this live performance is a better reminder that the man does things his own way, unconventional or not. When’s the last time you saw a major recording artist do a live percussion/Stomp-esque performance on live TV?.
2. This plasma TV from Panasonic - I don’t understand why, because I hate TV, but the aesthetics of flatscreen sets are just so overwhelmingly damned sexy. If I were to be carelessly irresponsible and want to blow $1300, I’d get this one. But who am I kidding? Something else in the house will break this weekend, I’m sure.
3. Winning something random - I didn’t even know that The Wife™ knew what Myspace was, yet she won some Myspace survey run by a local ad agency. The prize? Pizza for a year or $500. She picked the latter. I know I married this one for a reason.
4. Arie Spears of Mad TV doing rap impressions - I always found his Shaq impersonation to be spot on (and hilarious), but some of these are just jaw-dropping. I would totally prank call people, like every minute of the day, if I had this talent. Totally.
5. Slow-cooking chili - I spent much of last Sunday cooking up a batch of Barbara Britton’s 1989 award-winning chili. It cooked for about 3 hours in the dutch oven, and let me tell you that this is a far cry from normal heat-n-serve chili. The complexity of flavors was astounding, and makes any other chili recipe I’ve concocted look trite. And to think that other recipes were way more involved. I think I’m obsessed now…

Thankfully, this year our house is further removed from the bustle of the mall-district, and holiday shopping time won’t be as aggravating. I am however worried that we won’t be able to put a Christmas tree up this year because SOMEONE won’t leave it alone and stop biting off branches. And I mean the dog, not The Wife™.