Lawrence Shadows Christmas Gaiman

I watched Lawrence of Arabia this past week, and started watching The West Wing. Both are good things to watch. A single sentence has been stuck in my head. "Who are you?!" The movie was beautiful. I really, really like the aesthetic of the desert. I was extremely pleased when Lawrence gave his reason for being drawn to the desert. Perfect. It's a long movie, but if you don't mind long movies, I'd recommend you check it out. If you do, pay attention to each time a motorcycle appears on screen. I feel like all instances of motorcycles are threaded back to the first scene. Very powerful.

I've very recently learned that shadows and shading are vital. I've been taught it a few times, but I'm pretty sure I just learned it a day or two ago. They're also everywhere. The visual world is so complicated. It's sort of freaking me out a little. How did I just glance over all this detail? What am I still missing?

I did a bunch of Christmas shopping yesterday. I think I've got everything sorted out for all but three people. I haven't been to the Tucson mall in a long time. More than four years, definitely, but I went yesterday. It really feels like a different place entirely. Like, a different city or part of the world. I also went to Michaels. I hadn't been there in quite a long time, but the smell was the same. Scent is the weirdest thing. The details of my memories are often fuzzy, but smells stick. It's like they root themselves in my brain, but not with your average tree roots. These roots are Greek cement.

 I watched a portion of Neil Gaiman's thing at Google. I think I'm sort of dreading being an author and having to take questions. I wonder if that's weird.