A glorious run along Lake Washington Boulevard. During my 4.5-mile jaunt (and to think that there was a time when I was huffing and puffing after running for two consecutive minutes!), I received

• one sunrise bursting with hues of purple, peach, and orange
• a glimpse of the bottom two-thirds of Mt. Rainier
• sightings of a mammal (beaver? otter?) swimming silently through the rippling water, a kingfisher stretching out the arc of its graceful neck, and numerous smaller water fowl dipping their heads into the lake in search of breakfast

I also witnessed the silent, flashing red lights of an ambulance and a fire truck parked outside of a brightly decorated house. Santa and his reindeer were taking off from the roof and headed for the moon. Later on, as the ambulance raced up the hill, lights on, siren off, I spied through the rear windows an elderly woman laying on the gurney. Her eyes were closed and nasal cannula slithered out of her nostrils.

I also continue to receive the gifts of mobility and good health.

Snow. On Christmas Day. In Seattle. Most of it was the big, slushy kind that bonks you on the head before sliding down your neck, only to be thwarted by your scarf.

Dim sum with the company of two good friends. As observed at Racialicious, one can rely upon Chinese restaurants to feed the masses on Christmas Day when the rest of the city shuts down. The Four Seas Restaurant fed us today. Their dim sum is not bad, though I still believe Jade Garden has the best dim sum in Seattle. Glutinous rice balls and egg tarts make for good Christmas desserts.

Sweeney Todd? The movie is not exactly a warm and fuzzy gift. Let me first highlight the aspects of the film that I enjoyed:

• The cinematography is wonderful. Nice use of colors, contrasts, and settings.
• Good singing! I was particularly impressed with Jamie Bower’s (who plays Anthony Hope) voice. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are pretty good, too.
• Helena Bonham Carter’s fashion. It’s quirky, but she pulls it off with confidence. I particularly enjoyed her striped socks underneath her foofy, girly dresses.

However, I felt stressed out for the majority of the movie. I have this thing about neck slashing. Stabbings, injections, shootings, and other forms of direct interpersonal violence do not cause me nearly as much distress as neck slashing. As a medical student, I even had difficulty watching the head and neck surgeons perform neck procedures—though those I could watch, since those were delicate, detached operations.

Neck slashing, though, gives me the willies. Just writing about it makes me feel anxious. (I’m now rubbing my neck to ensure that it is still intact.)

I couldn’t bring myself to watch any of the neck slashing in this movie. Which means that I missed a good portion of the film. In an effort to calm myself down after leaving the theatre, I started to laugh—and even that wasn’t entirely successful. I still felt stressed out.

I cautiously recommend this film—I’m glad I saw it (or at least saw all of the parts that didn’t involve neck slashing), but I will never watch it ever again.