It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, no. On my run to Pace Park this morning I passed a couple of out-of-towners--probably Canadians--chain-smoking and videotaping each other, pointing to the background as if to say "can you believe this weather in Christmas time?" I think that's why the holidays sneak up on me every year; there's just no way to tell. (Though a Sirius channel has been playing Christmas music for over a month now.) The only indicator that it might be winter somewhere in the world right now is my brother, who just got back from a semester in London, constantly calling me to complain about how hot it is down here.

Anyway, I'll likely won't be able to post again till next year. I'll be getting my share of winter weather slumming around Budapest and Prague for New Year's. I'm calling it a fact-finding trip into the Post-Soviet, civil law system, and integration into the EU, but, really, I'm just going to get drunk and ogle Eastern European blondes.

Happy holidays, everyone.