Reason #4,591,205 to GO HOME

I know some people who never go back and read their old blog entries or love letters or high school English papers.

I, on the other hand, do.

I have this nagging feeling that there are a lot of things about myself that I either don't know or don't accept, and that only by re-reading and dissecting and analyzing my own written words from months or years ago will I come to the enormous breakthrough of self-knowledge.

I'm not sure if it really works, but I rather enjoy trying.

I was just reading my blog entries from last year at this time, hoping that I really do just hate the holidays (or hate spending them here) and am not entering a whirling downward thought spiral. I was somewhat comforted by this and this. I think my inner Scrooge will eat his fill by Christmas and retreat back to the muddy waters of the Homesick section of my brain.

In other news, I spent my Amazon Gift Certificate today. The GC was a gift from Brian, her husband, for whom I translated some 19-century stuff about some rare salmon species. I found the whole thing rather entertaining, and yet he insisted upon showing his thanks in a concrete way... and I got this marvelous gift certificate. I bought a book! One that some people whose opinions I value have been telling me about for several months now and which I hope I will also enjoy. Interestingly, I paid 5.83 times as much for the international shipping as I did for the (used) book itself. (See title.)