Note To Self: Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

Have you ever had "one of those days" that turns into a week of those days? You know what I'm talking about; the kind where you're so crazy-crazed that you dash from one project/appointment/task to the next with barely a breath in between, losing valuable bits of brainpower at each stop and winding up at the end of the day so depleted that you can barely manage to prop your head upright? And then like a scene from "Groundhog Day", you keep waking up to the same thing over and over again?
(Pen ink and watercolor by Thomas Rowlandson, 1757-1827)

Please tell me I'm not alone...even if it's just to make me feel better.

Is it just me or does everything seem to accelerate come December? After Thanksgiving, the days seem to race full-tilt ahead toward their fin d'année conclusion, the minutes speeding by faster and faster, gathering relentless speed until December 31st, at which point one either drinks a glass of champagne from the comfort of one's bed at 10pm and calls it a year, or behaves like a party-loving Bright Young Thing and goes clickety-clacking off into the glittering night.
('The Bright Young Things' at Wilsford:
Cecil Beaton, Hon. Stephen Tennant, Rex Whistler and others, 1927.
Photo by Cecil Beaton, available HERE, for £1400.)

I suppose the lesson amidst all the mayhem is to slow down, embrace the chaos and greet unanticipated events with style and humor.
(Photo by Tim Walker)

After all, I did manage to get one thing done last week.


Editor's Note: To those of you who commiserated so kindly on My Computer Saga, Carlos, the data recovery genius at Melrose Mac, managed to save most of my photos. The only ones I'm still missing are a trip to India in 2007 and one year of Luca's childhood (he will now magically morph from one to three in his albums, skipping the terrible twos entirely. Perhaps not a bad thing). The files may well be lie somewhere in the murky depths of countless bits and bytes, but it will necessitate another lengthy and expensive search and I'm not up for it at the moment. As for all my bookmarks, alas, they have proven unlocatable, so your wondrous lists will be a source of inspiration for 2010.