Happy New Year and fire beans!

In what I can only assume was another essential rite of passage in my transition toward being a Real Live Texan, I made the acquaintance of this peculiar object yesterday:

 

My colleague discovered it in the parking lot and, at his behest, I rubbed it against the asphalt and then pressed it against my skin because a.) I do everything I’m told and b.) I was skeptical of his claim that this would produce a burning sensation. It turns out that c.) it really does, and it hurts. A lot. Like making contact with a baking sheet fresh out of the oven.

Who knew?

If I were inclined to stretch this incident into an augury for 2012, I would hope that it would be something along the lines of the continued discovery of things curious and fantastic, and calculated risks, even if that means getting a little bit burned.

Which is to say, happy New Year, dear readership. May it herald health, wealth (whatever you perceive that to be), wisdom, and joy for y’all.