While I was gone Jenelle transformed our house into a Christmas wonderland. From the little pine in the front yard to the loft, everything is warm and inviting and ready for holidays. Today we found, erected, lit, and decorated a wonderful balsam in the living room. It feels like Christmas is nearly here and we're ready.

My final thought is the blogifying of thoughts I've shared with others about skyscraper architecture in Shanghai. Towers there are impressive and varied and spread throughout the city, which gives an unusually nice vantage point as Ark pointed out. The tallest few really grew on me this week after initially seeming a bit odd. Despite my enjoyment of the international and post-international towers in NYC and Chicago, Shanghai's have experimented outside the 'extruded rectangle' form (see Aon Center in Chicago) and I really dug the curviness. There's also a certain feminine quality that makes them more approachable, though as I mature the vertical fortress aspect of skyscrapers is diminished in my mind. Feng shui principles dictate openings near the top of the structures to 'let in the light'. In practice this leads to very interesting treatments which stray some what from the HVAC cupolas that seem to be de rigeur in the west... from actual openings to one hotel with a series of mobius strip-like elements connecting the sides of the building. Anyway, hooray architecture.