Well, the "part" that had to "come in" seems to have come in awfully fast.

There is heat in my office today. I suppose they achieved critical mass of faculty complaining (including one colleague who was threatening to go to the administration).

But really - you cannot work in an office that is 55* F. That borders on Bob Crachit territory.

Despite the now-comfortable office, I am still taking off after my class. I have decided that today, I will bake the fruitcakes. Normally I do this before Thanksgiving, but I was just too busy. (I also feel that, as I put in a good six to eight hours solid grading yesterday, I am justified in taking the afternoon off. Especially as my final exams are already written.)

I did take a few minutes last night, after I was done grading, and knit a bit on the Barley Sugar Column socks. One of my goals before break is to (a) finish them and (b) write up the pattern in a comprehensible form. Sort of a little Christmas-or-other-winter-holiday-if-you-don't-celebrate-Christmas gift to you.

I also watched part of "Miracle on 34th Street" (the original version however sadly, the colorized version of the original. I'm sorry, AMC may call it an "upgrade" however much it wants, but I don't particularly like colorized versions of things. Leave it in its original state, thanks.). But anyway. "Crayon treatment" aside, I'm always struck when I watch the movie how GOOD it is. How perfect Edmund Gwenn was as Kris Kringle. How right the dialog sounds, especially for the era the movie was made. How the people who would deny the possibility of there actually being a Santa Claus - the cynics - are portrayed as either full of themselves or vaguely ridiculous.

My favorite scene in the movie (well, other than the last scene, which I didn't stay up to watch this time) is the one where there is a Dutch orphan girl (it is implied but not said she was a war orphan) whose adoptive mother takes her to see Santa Claus, and the adoptive mother sadly says, "I told her you wouldn't be able to speak to her in Dutch, but she insisted you were Sinter Klaas and could," and Kris Kringle smiles, and starts talking to the girl in Dutch, and even sings a traditional song about Sinter Klaas with her. That scene always kills me.

I haven't seen the "remake" so I cannot comment on it but I would be very surprised if it were as good as the original. (I tend to be of the opinion that with good movies, there is not much point in remaking them; better to come up with an original idea and make a totally new movie. But whatever.)