A Pretty Grab Bag of Shiny Objects

1. In German, only the first word of the title is capitalized. Wie zum Beispiel, "Eine schoene Tasse von helle Dingen." (Such as, for example, "A pretty grab bag of shiny objects").
2. I fly out to Austria on Monday, 18 straight hours of travel. Normally I can't sleep on planes, but between the sheer amount of time involved, the fact that I haven't been sleeping much lately, and how early I'll be getting up that morning, I suspect I may discover new and exciting sleeping abilities.
3. One of my favorite things about cold and/or cloudy weather is that drinking tea becomes much more rewarding. So far today I have had a white/green mix, a cup of Violette (French violet scented black tea), and (right now) peppermint with a teaspoon of sugar.
4. Do you know any poets who don't end up being pretty repetitive? I can't think of any. I love Billy Collins and Dylan Thomas, but I was reading them both last night and most of the p0ems I don't like read like parodies of themselves. Even the ponies with quite a few tricks seem to run out eventually.
5. On the subject of poets: one of the things I have most enjoyed hearing said was from a poet at his reading who explained very slyly that he did not like T.S. Eliot, because he loves T.S. Eliot. People who hate on Eliot: we are on to you.
6. I am bringing four DVDs with me to Austria: It Happened One Night, Howl's Moving Castle, Colbert Christmas Special, and Robot Chicken Star Wars II. That's two favorite movies, one godawful yet wonderful holiday tradition, and one thing I haven't seen. Maggie, come the holidays I will make hot chocolate with nutmeg in your honor.
7. I have no idea who my roommate in Austria is. I just hope she lives up to the standard set by my last roommate, who is seriously awesome and has one of my favorite qualities in a person, that of encouraging wacky things to happen.

Und das, meine Freunden, ist alles.