A Little Weird

An unusually, uncharacteristically long amount of time has passed since I last posted. Perhaps this is due to the nature of my schedule (I'm doing what today? Wait, when will I get on the internet?), or the sheer mass of my schedule. Let me give you a sampling of what has been going on:
-4 parties
-multiple shopping days
-7 work days (6 were in a row)
-5 friends in town (Rosie, Em, Jelly, Daveo and Pamela)
-3 batches of Christmas goodies
-lots of movies (recommendation: Night at the Museum)
-1 snowboarding trip
-1 trip to the coast
-1 drive down Peacock lane
-1 morning of sleeping in (today)
It has been a fantastic first three-quarters of Winter Break - a little crazy, breathless, but fun.

Actual Christmas Break

From my experience, the title of Christmas break needs a few more words. Something along the lines of "Christmas might Break you". The season is pretty insane: gifts, lines, money, food, baking, eating, wrapping, singing, parties, plans, driving, working extra hours, snowboarding, hugging, decorating, opening, inviting - all as much fun as a snowday. If only all that fun could be one day at a time, rather than crammed into three weeks of exhaustion - all piled on right after finals. Oh, the brutality.
But like it or not, that's the note on which we start the season. A season that's supposed to be full of tranquility, remembrance, love, sharing, sitting by the fire, contemplating the "reason for the season". And here we are: tried, burnt out, broke and annoyed. But this year, before my attempt to try to give and love and contemplate, God gave a little something to me: a vacation in South Carolina.

A New Favorite

...Christmas song
(Thanks to Sufjan Stevens)

Come on! let’s boogie to the elf dance

tie up your boots
jump off the ladder
pack up your clothes
nothing’s the matter
mistletoe hangs up in the bedroom
your sister’s bangs, she cut them herself

santa is here
sleigh bells are ringing
twenty one elves
they are all singing
kmart is closed
so is the bakery
everyone’s home watching tv

santa claus is coming
hear the banjos strumming
santa claus is coming
hear the banjos strumming

chestnuts and fire
holly and hay
jesus and mary
what a great day
evergreen tree covered in snow
tower of babel tower of glow

there’s a m_______????
and there’s a ________????
they give us good gifts
like mittens and socks

hijack a snowplow
clear out the streets
tell all the neighbors
there’s cookies to eat

get up off the floor and get in the shower
there’s a lot to shout about
santa claus is coming to town
he’s got the greatest gifts around

away in the manger
no crib for a bed
little lord jesus lay down his sweet head
the stars in the sky look down where he lay
the little lord jesus asleep on the hay
the cattle are lowing the baby awakes
little lord jesus, no crying he makes

Questions of Deliciousness

On feeling unwell and in the mood for something hot to drink, I decided to attempt a "hot chunky drink", as Rosie dubbed them so long ago. Creating these with out a steam wand is not quite the best, but I figured I'd try.

Cranberry-Raspberry juice
Frozen blueberries
Honey
Blender
Microwave

It was almost a Bibo hot drink. But not quite. I can't remember, but I am pretty sure there were three ingredients in that drink. Apple juice and whole cranberries? I remember the Fuji (Rose and I have had equal reproductions from the Energy Bar). I remember the Pike's Peak (easy - hot chocolate). I remember the Mt Vesuvius! But what was the cranberry-blueberry one?
My memory plagues me.
At least my taste buds are satisfied.

Inspired by Emily

I thought, after reading Emily's blog, that I ought to create a projected Winter Break reading list.
I took one look at my bookshelf, crowded and chaotic like an airport at Christmas, and scratched that idea. I think I might just close my eyes, spin around, pin the tail on the donkey style and grab a few - who knows what I might come up with. Or maybe I should just finish things I've non-commitedly picked up (and put down) over the past six months.

As for books not on my shelf... This list appeared out of notes taken during Borges and Calvino:

"Earth, Sea" trilogy Ursula Le Guin
Anything by Ursula Le Guin
Kafka
Kant
"The Periodic Table" Primo Levi
Zamyatin
Brodsky
"One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"
"Slaughter House Five"
Georges Perec
R. L. Stevenson
J. G. Ballard
Octavio Butler
"Stars 'n Bars" William Boyd
"Slowness" Milan Kundera
"Popular Music from Vittula" Mikael Niemi
"Stolen Spring" Hans Scherfig

I'm wondering... has anyone read any of these? School leaves me feeling terribly illiterate.

Good Ol' Traditions

Note: This was not the tree we chose. I liked it and thought it looked like a Martian tree. We got a normal one.
I like hot chocolate and family.
And trees.