I keep noting thing that would be funny to put in my diary, but now that I sit to write, they're all gone. Suffice to say that K and MJ are doing adorable things. Oh, yeah, y'all'll appreciate this one. We watched The Muppet Movie several times and the two of them started putting on shows. K made a "Don't Shoot Piano Player" sign, and they sometimes put it next to the piano refrigerator magnet, the one that plays part of "The Entertainer." Then they announce, "Show time! Show time at the El Sleazo!" and dance to the music. I had to explain that one to my mother-in-law.

I have a new toy. My old Kyocera smart phone, one of the first integrated Palm/phone products, literally started falling apart, as in pieces breaking off. I exhausted my options on Verizon, which is a good network for metro-Boston. Either the smart phones were Windows, and to synch with my Macs I'd have to upgrade the operating system to use the Mark/Space MissingSynch products ($ for both), or they hurt to use. The Blackberry especially hurt my poor CTS-ridden hands. The Treo? Same thing, and I'd have to switch to Sprint for a Palm Centro, and the Centro is so small my fingers, which don't have a ton of sensory capability any more, couldn't find the keys. Plus, it hurt, too.

Enter the iPhone. Believe me, I tried not to get one, but the interface doesn't hurt to use. Plus? Oh, so slick. So slick. Just... yeah.

My first attempt to buy one in an ATT store ended with me walking out. I told the guy I wanted an iPhone, and waas looking for a plan that didn't have features I didn't want/need, like music and video. (I didn't know there was a specific set of iPhone plans from all the literature I'd looked at. Bad on their part.) He looked at me with a sneer and said, "Then why do you want an iPhone?"

"I need a smart phone that synchs with a Mac, and I've exhausted my  options on Verizon."

"If you just want web and phone, you should get a Blackberry."

"Fine. If you don't want to sell me the one thing that would make me switch networks, then I don't have to buy it from you." And I walked out.

I went to the Apple store at the South Shore Plaza yesterday, and got taken care of very well. I have to say, Apple stores have improved in that aspect over the last few years. The guy at the ATT store looked at me like I wasn't cool enough to own an iPhone, and the Apple store used to have that vibe as well. Gone now.

Anyway, I really, really like it. I named it Plex, after one of Matt Howarth's characters, who played percussion and explosions in the Bulldaggers, a band that had Chthulhu playing synth. My MacBook is named Caroline, after another Howarth character. I almost named the iPhone Savage Henry, but that seemed a tad unprofessional. Savage Henry covers guitars and naivete for the Bulldaggers. Plex suits the phone better, anyway.

My in-laws left earlier than they planned, as they usually do, but this time it meant that we had to find a sudden babysitter for the New Year's Eve gig. Lucky for us, our new sitter was available and willing. She will get a bonus, for sure!

Work is going to be interesting over the next two weeks. I've got to

• re-tool my grant writing seminar for humanities grad students,
• read an R01 on neural regeneration and make suggestions for improving the presentation of some astonishingly cool data,
• put together a herd of cats so big it's best to call them lions, and
• finish stuff on the thing toxicfur was doing.

Should be do-able.

Down in the basement, my partner is playing his bass, and the kids are doing percussion to a very punk-rock Jingle Bells. I should probably practice my mandolin solo for "Boxes."

11:18