If You Can’t Say Anything Nice…

And you know how to finish that statement, Gentle Reader.

Ah, and there’s the rub. “Nice” has been sort of an endangered species around El Casa Móvil De Pennington of late…almost to the point of non-existence. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to find something…anything…about which to comment upon in a positive manner. It’s all well and good to rail on about politics, but politics gets old after a bit. Especially in this, the extended-play version of an election year that began waay too early and will go on well beyond the point where we’re all sick to death of it. I’m beginning to believe we’re stuck in a Groundhog Day-like version of politics, wherein we repeat the same ol’, same ol’ to the point where we’ll all just throw up our hands and say “Frick It!” Your mileage may vary, of course. And my attitude most certainly will change, of which I have no (real) doubt. But for now?

Frick It.

I know this has been around a while…but it still makes me smile and, well…‘tis the Season! Snowglobe! (h/t to SJS for the resurrection)

And…given as how we’re scraping the bottom of the blog-barrel…I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, Gentle Reader. I’ve decided what my annual self-gift will be this Christmas. And, in so doing, I’ve also made my one-and-probably-only New Year’s resolution. First, the self-gift:

OK, sez you, WTF is it? It’s a Canon 9950F scanner…for prints, negatives, and slides. The box is extremely well-reviewed (a PC Mag’s Editors Choice back in ‘05), albeit a bit pricey. But I want/need something that does a good world-class job and handles prints, negatives, and slides…of which there are many thousands in the archives. Which brings us to the resolution.

I’m going to retrieve the photo archives from SN2’s custody when I go up to Omaha for the holidays. And, upon my return to Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park I’m going to scan them into digital form. I’m thinking this project will last much longer than a year and will severely test my perseverance.

Ah, but going public only serves to reinforce my resolve. And…think of the blog-fodder! Embarrassing baby pictures! Amateur travelogue pics! Motorcycle racing pics! Isle of Man TT pics! And so much more…

Makes me want to jump in the car and head out to Omaha right this minute. But you can’t rush the holidays, and that’s the chief reason I’m making the trip this year. The archives are just a pleasant and useful by-product, in the final accounting. Still and even: I'm getting ALL excited!