First life update of the new year...for whatever extra that's worth. This edition is a real grab bag of random tidbits.The latest in random thoughts & searches:

• How long is a giraffe's neck? (1.8m, if you were wondering.)
• Capybaras in Japan why?
• Breyer black horse white mane
• alpacas compare llamas
• biochemistry neurotransmitters

Recent doings:Reading

• Blackfish City by Sam J Miller. Epic amazing wonderfulness. Bleak, beautiful, but brimming with hope.
• a variety of romance re-reads. Fluffy and forgiving of my inability to focus on ANYthing.

Viewing

• The Lord of the Rings extended editions & the Hobbit (yes, again...)
• All of Game of Thrones including the animated history prequel.
• WestWorld season 2. And then, because I needed a long, cleansing bubble bath for the inside of my brain...
• Wreck-It Ralph and season 3 of The Good Place. Ahhhh, much better.
• Crazy Rich Asians arrived at the library, so I watched that too. SO GOOD!!!

Kitcheninglotsa cookies. Lotsa soups n casseroles. Many breads. Because winter = great excuse to use the oven as much as possible.Acronyms which resulted in long, meandering internet click-journeys from site to site to site : ASMR, BDS, PEDD, ILOH, TNVR, HGH.  None of them are related to each other, and none of the official definitions come from Urban Dictionary, so it's safe to satisfy your initial curiosity if it's been piqued.Have a random cat pic:(edit to add pic that didn't ADD the first time)Flashback to Scootercat's third Christmas.And a bit of the WIP because it makes me smile. It might be the new first line for Sharp Edge. I'll post the other possibility in the next update. (I have two scenes that are equally suitable as openings, haven't decided which to use.)

Nothing made Valerie Wade more nervous than meeting someone else's eyes for the first time. Would her vision reveal inner beauty or hidden monstrosity? She saw essential truths as well as externals, and that made every introduction an exercise in courage.

Until next time!