Tonight we decided to ignore Snowpacolypse and head over to Lee's Liquor Lounge and catch Trailer Trash's Trashy Little Christmas. The music was hilarious, the bar was great, but the people watching... Oh, the people watching was phenomenal. These two women on the right are members of the crowd who have jumped up on stage to dance with "the jingle stick." Yeah. Insert your own joke here.

I had a Christmas dinner with Julie tonight so we could exchange gifts before she left to spend New Year's Eve in Argentina (only MILDLY jealous over here, ahem). Anyway, she brought me a box of these Joe Joe's from Trader Joe's as a thank you for something. I can't remember what, because frankly my mind went blank at the sight of a full box of such chocolatey goodness.Have you tried these? Is there a Trader Joe's near you? WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? These are oreo cookies (or a version of them) filled with peppermint and crack cocaine. I prefer them crumbled over vanilla ice cream, myself. And I'm sending the box to work with Jamie tomorrow. I just can't have that many delicious calories beckoning me every minute of the day.

We returned from Kansas today, and after getting home and unpacking, we ran out to catch the new Sherlock Holmes movie and then to play some pinball. While we had a lot of fun in Lawrence playing, our two favorite games were missing or shut down at the Replay. Those games would be Addams Family Pinball and Attack From Mars.So we did an internet search and found one place in town that had both the games we had missed playing (dontcha love the internet?). It was this totally retro arcade in Hopkins (a suburb not too far) that is open until midnight. They even host *pinball tournaments.* There were probably more than 20 pinball machines on site, as well as five dudes, Jamie and me. A bunch of winners all out playing arcade games late on a Monday night. And I was thrilled to be there :)** Note, the image above is from Attack From Mars. See those little green men? They shake during the game. I love that.

We spotted these geese after a little Christmas shopping today, so I jumped out to take their picture. It's a bit of a hazard with me. Whomever is driving might be asked to pull over at a moment's notice so I can snap photos of the "wildlife." But I thought the light was too pretty to pass up.

We went to see the Jayhawks play in Allen Fieldhouse today. What fun! It was the third time we had been back to see them play there since graduating (we've seen the boys play other times, but in tournaments or away). The renovations to the place were super impressive, my favorite being the pregame video that they aired on the scoreboard before introducing the players. It must be a great recruitment tool, to see all that history in such a short clip.This photo is of the fans when Xavier Henry was shooting a free throw. I loved all the blue and the x's they made with their arms. Such spirit in that place. You'll *never* find that kind of fan intensity at an NBA game. EVER.

We met up with some of our old friends in KC tonight before heading into Lawrence. Bob, at right, is one of my very oldest buddies. We were best friends through high school and college, and he managed to marry one of my favorite women on the planet. You might also recognize him from making it to the finals of the VH1 world series of pop culture trivia a few year's back. Or maybe not. But I loved it that my prom date was a semi-star on TV. :)Anyway, we always try to catch up with Bob when I make it back to Kansas. We also met up with Karen tonight, a great friend from Lawrence. We hadn't seen her in several years since she braved the trip to meet us in Vegas for the annual March Madness gambling party (which eventually died as we now go to SXSW instead). She now lives in Alabama. Her accent isn't too bad. :)

Tonight was the 7th night of Hanukkah in our house which celebrates both holidays. Are you tired of this slow week? With no shows? And nothing but work and holiday preparation? Because I am. But we head off to Kansas tomorrow, so maybe I'll have something exciting to shoot. Or not. We'll see.

Tonight Jamie and I met up with Geno and Heather from Brains on Fire for dinner and drinks. We took them over to Nye's, which was surprisingly quiet, for our night cap. This was Geno's Manhattan. I thought it was a proper old-school drink for a proper old-school haunt like Nye's.