Winter Notes

I actually felt sorry for the ravenous black birds in the neighborhood this morning and put out a bag of sugarless granola my daughter has been snubbing on a cardboard sheet. The birds won't touch it either, which makes it unanimous, including Mouffe the cat, who has a taste for cereal and will eat crackers and cookies ( in the evening).

Indeed, winters are pretty long, and increasingly monotonous and temperature oscillates between artic cold and puffs of rain quality humidity, sometimes in 24-hour cycles. I remember quite different winters of biting cold for days on end but there were rewards as well, sparkling snow rising in whirling clouds, blinding sun when one went outdoor- skating. We haven't missed for snow, and the city snow removal crews come soaring in the night with a rattle that makes one suspect road rage. It all quickly turns to mush, humid mush.

Skimming through Figaro Madame, I came across a review of a new device called Wii-Fit by Nintendo, which has just become available in France. It looks like a bathroom scale and it acts as one, but also as an exercise mat, game interface, fun for the whole family in fact. One can see if one is balancing one's body properly from readings on the machine. It had to come - exercise on a scale - but it is also a little crazy. I'm not the only one loosing it from cabin fever. Lyse is sure to howl for one if I tell her about it. They don't sell them here yet, so there.

I'm also getting a little dizzy from following all the fashion shows available on the Net. The industry plans ahead so one is actually seeing what will be available next winter mixed in with what is coming for spring. They try for effect by layering disparate elements on models. I sleep in layers of day-wear this time of year. Take it easy on me.

I've pretty much given up on the hope of deploying the neat mathematical animations I can now make on the Web. Video is a category, as are images, but animation is a no-man's land. I'm tempted to call my internet provider to find out how to do it but it is the phone company and, everyone knows, they don't answer the phone but rely on computerized voice systems. I think I'll go out for a walk in the slush and buy some blank C-Ds. Maybe I'm on to something!