List 72

Love: Christmas in general.  I'm a softie for it - the lights and decorations, the songs, all the social get togethers, the decadent once-a-year food and drinks, the Rankin-Bass Christmas shows, etc.  We are looking forward to hosting rather than traveling for the first time ever, with visions of a cozy fireplace, Christmas vinyl, holiday dessert trays (homemade cookies but also See's peanut brittle and Williams Sonoma's peppermint bark) and our family's traditional Midwest potato casserole for Christmas Eve dinner dancing in our heads.

Like: Zone One, my final apocalypse and/or zombie read of the year.  Author Colson Whitehead, as expected based on his past books, brings a depth and thoughtfulness to the genre, and in character Mark Spitz's ruminations of the world that ended, comments on contemporary culture.

Discovery: A few weeks ago the New York Times featured in article on old school supper clubs in Northern Wisconsin.  The article made me nostalgic for our summer trips to a cabin on Lake Julia, which was in the same area, and eager to plan a trip like that for the coming summer, with a stop at The Al-Gen, which looks straight out of Twin Peaks.

Obsession:  That same Times article also, perhaps even more importantly, reminded me of the greatness of ice cream cocktails for dessert, something that's never gone out of style around Rhinelander, and something I remember my parents drinking (and giving us little tastes of) when we were kids.  There will be many a Grasshopper whipped up in my blender and served in a coupe glass this coming Christmas weekend. Ice Cream + equal parts creme de menthe and creme de cocoa.

Complaint:  In the spirit of Tiny Tim, not Ebenezer Scrooge...none.