December 22, 2002 | 11:03 PM

I am home now pillowed in the Christmas lit bosom of comforting Suburban Upstate New York, exactly where I want to be, far from any pain or drama and surrounded entirely by nice memories and chatty people. This is just what I need, for I too have been in quite a slump as of late.

Tonight I saw The Two Towers and since there are far too many fawning movie reviews already over it, I won't go into great descriptive lengths except to say that I loved it more than most anything else I can think of at the moment including pink hearts, yellow stars, and green four leaf clovers. It was just AMAZING and I would like to watch it again and again and again.

Afterwards, I took my Mom and my kid sister out for ice cream sodas, and then back home. Tomorrow my whole family will go to the Degas exhibit at the museum and then x-mas shopping.

There's something so nice and Edwardian about my jolly family at Christmas that stands in stark contrast to the rest of my life, not that the rest of my life is by any means bad because in it's own way it's quite lovely if frought with tension and a certain amount of adolescent peril. Being here is just so pretty and relaxing and I like listening to Sinatra with my cat on my lap, watching the Christmas tree blink in the semi darkness.