The Megastore Recommends.

1. Watching a really dark western during the run up to Christmas. The historian and I have been thinking about watching Deadwood for quite a long time. Perhaps because of our excellent run of binge TV last summer, we were ready again for something. So we bought a season on Amazon and have been watching two a day for the last week. We have two more episodes to finish. Its pluses:

don't ask where the women are, or what they're doing.
you won't like the answer.

• the much-vaunted Ian McShane performance (as the historic Al Swearengen) lives up to its reviews--and more.
• surprise! Timothy Olyphant, playing the historic Seth Bullock, who grew up a century and more later to become Raylan Givens on Justified. That was a bonus.
• surprise! Powers Boothe, playing one of the baddies.

There are more baddies than you can shake a stick at. When Raylan killed a Sioux in a particularly brutal scene, I turned to the historian and said, "I don't know if I can keep watching this if it turns out I hate everyone." But it's such a good show, the characters keep surprising you. And the writing is amazing: the most scruffy, profane almost-Shakespearean dialogue possible to imagine.

I messaged my son's friend, who loved Deadwood and even let us hold on to his DVDs until it was ridiculous. 

I suppose I ought to note that I have not yet watched one actual Christmas movie, for whatever that's worth.

2. Getting your Christmas tree! Obviously/finally. 

list-o-rama on my screen.

3. Making your list and checking it twice. I have lists of stuff I've got to do to get ready for when the people arrive at my house. Lists of stuff I have to buy to get the house ready for when the people arrive at my house. Lists of stuff I have to do for work over the break. Lists of butter to buy for when I start baking. What I honestly like is that when the grading is over (mostly), the list making is actually a signal to myself that I can turn my attention away from work (mostly) and give myself over to things like getting my house ready, and listening to music, and winding strings of little lights around a tree, and thinking about some new kind of cookie I will make.

Oh yes! There will be a new cookie! and I will blog about it!

4. Getting the grading done. (Obviously/mostly.)

so effing close.