in the three weeks since i've been back in minneapolis i have adapted to winter life, learning to tolerate the coldest weather in three years by constructing an elaborate romantic metaphor: i have transformed a domestic situation that could have easily become a breeding ground for cabin fever into a scenario that involves being snowed-in at a ski lodge, where i stock up on supplies, cook at home, make cocoa and snuggle with my rescue dog for warmth at night. all while enjoying the luxury of being able to hike a couple minutes to the nearby village to buy more groceries, rent 'six feet under' dvds and use the free wireless as i curl up with baby by the firepit at the chalet, i mean coffee shop.

this shameless self-delusion has gone along nicely with the general excess grandiosity of aquarian birthday season (mine - and my mom's, and james dean's ! - is on thursday ... thanks stevie for the bday care package* from hawai'i!). i've actually been working in the occasional cab ride on my few forays out into the frozen world - my blacked-out date harassed chris r at the hot p-cons / hockey night show on friday; a little soiree at the caterpillar with kimberland, and her latest fave dj bach, got me out of the house after the super bowl sunday night, to meet up w/ bday bro jcat before he jetted back to his new home in seattle. but now there are actual concrete plans being made to bring tom-A-hawk back to the islands, an urgent airlift to employ me on another solid hawaiian custom cabinet job with steve, and to spare me from at least one more month of what truly is a cold and brutal way to live. it's much easier to deal with winter when you have an escape plan - otherwise i swear my fun little winter daydream could develop into a serious "the shining"-style psychosis.

but i'm not there yet. i'm taking my supplements and i'm on my tonic, i woke to very pretty, delusion-reinforcing snow falling this morning, which has tapered off and i should go shovel now. my mystery neighbor's free wireless has been down for days, so i'll go to the chalet, i mean coffee shop, to post this later.

[*stevie's care package included the new freesurf, including an ad that made tom-A-hawk realize eddie rothman is his big new surf stud ... buttons sez he "literally chained me to a pole in his house for two weeks" ... yea Daddy!]