Dear Santa,

Since you don't seem to have a claims or complaints department, it looks like I have to address this complaint directly to you. I realize that today is the 23rd of December, and that you're plenty busy putting together packages for all the good little kids, but given that I'm about to fall asleep where I sit, I don't think this complaint can wait much longer.

Give your weblog reader literary joys to last them through the holiday season:

By popular demand (otherwise known as "five of you asked") it's Ask Domesticat - the advice column that is neither columnar nor containing any actual advice! [What is Ask Domesticat?]

On this Election Day I come to you out of sorrow, fear, and this growing urge to register nothing but a protest vote. Geof has reminded me that I can choose to not vote on whichever races I don't feel are worthy of my vote, and suddenly my ballot begins to take on worlds of new sarcastic meaning.

Dear Friends,

I received the following email this morning, and given its urgency and importance, felt that I should both reply and make my reply available to you, the loyal readerbase of domesticat.net:

Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 22:50 -0800
Subject: domesticat.net
To: webmaster [at] domesticat.net
From: Katherine Rappaport [katherinerappaport [at] link-builder.com]

"Isolated showers around the area will die a slow death overnight as lows fall to the lower 70s with patchy dense fog developing in areas that recieved rainfall. Expect more isolated showers and thunderstorms on Monday again with highs in the low 90 s. Hope for some rain it will cool temperatures off and create a nice breeze. About midweek it looks a tad drier with temperatures slipping into the upper 80s and low 90s."