Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
As you know, she sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in Meet Me in St. Louis, which was such a sad song it featured a small child crying during the performance. But just this week I was watching In The Good Old Summertime and there she was singing another wistful little Christmas song:
Poor Judy. You kind of want her to belt out “Joy to the World” next. (Did she?)
Here’s a poem about being happy in the snow (about more than boots).
Everywhere, everywhere, snow sifting down,
a world becoming white, no more sounds,
no longer possible to find the heart of the day,
the sun is gone, the sky is nowhere, and of all
I wanted in life – so be it – whatever it is
that brought me here, chance, fortune, whatever
blessing each flake of snow is the hint of, I am
grateful, I bear witness, I hold out my arms,
palms up, I know it is impossible to hold
for long what we love of the world, but look
at me, is it foolish, shameful, arrogant to say this,
see how the snow drifts down, look how happy
I am.
The blankets that I mentioned (and Toby modeled) a week ago got all tied and ready for the shelter over the weekend.
That’s a stack of 20 kitty blankets and the elbow of my work friend (I didn’t get a chance to ask if she wanted her picture posted or not so I just cropped it).
There were six ladies–including our mothers–tying blankets for a few hours Saturday at my friend’s home and it was a lovely time. We’ll deliver the blankets to two different shelters this week, along with food and litter and toys.
What is this feeling? Altruism? I think I like it!
1. It was my sister-in-law’s birthday yesterday, which I forgot to mention Friday. Happy birthday!
2. My friends offered to help me out of a technical issue with my laptop and iPod. Hooray, friends!
3. I think I found a house to make an offer on. (I don’t want to jinx it so you’ll have to be patient.)
4. The sun is shining!
*Some blogs I read are taking a “no complaining for a week” challenge. Do you think I can do it? I’m not sure, which is why I haven’t taken the challenge, but I’m going to try.
1. Roger Ebert is still being awesome. His review of the third Narnia movie (which is based on my favorite book of the series but sounds like it’s been turned into a CGI-fest) contains too many gems to quote, but I liked this one:
No one knows how far away the Dark Island is. Lucky thing they know in which direction to sail. If they overshoot the island, they may sail off the edge of the Earth, Columbus having not existed in Narnia.
2. Have you all seen the Hungover Owls blog? Yes, I said hungover owls.
3. I knew there was a good reason why Toby doesn’t get his picture taken with Santa:
This picture makes my heart so happy.
I’ve been joking lately about “First World Problems,” such as not being able to find a suitable new and fancy house, or being irritated with aspects of my specialized office job, or not liking any of the coughfivecough winter coats I have, and you know what? Those are not even problems. It just took Irving Berlin and Bing to remind me.
“Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” from White Christmas:
I know I just posted a space picture from the Big Picture Advent Calendar, but this one is REALLY cool:
Each of those specks is a galaxy–which in turn has billions (and billions) of stars in it. The photo caption tells me that, “The amount of mass in this sea of galaxies is huge, and is great enough to visibly bend the fabric of spacetime.” Mind boggling!
(And speaking of spacetime, have all the Dr. Who fans seen this video? Jason wrote about it Monday and it made my day.)
What’s this?
No, this isn’t for a friend or a co-worker’s baby. I haven’t lost it and started making clothes for Toby. And I don’t have any personal scandal I need to confess. There’s a much better explanation:
I’M GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE!!
My brother and sister-in-law are expecting a BOY! It’s their first and the first baby on our side of the family at all, so we are all VERY EXCITED.
As you can see, I have some projects planned. I actually have enough projects planned to keep the kid dressed until he’s about three, I think. And don’t get me going on the toys to make and buy, and the trips to the park to take, and the storybooks to read, and all the free babysitting I will offer…
Very excited indeed! Hooray!
1. I had to wake up my upstairs neighbor and tell him his dishwasher was flooding. How did I know this? My ceiling was leaking.
2. I took my parents to see a potential house that wouldn’t have any issues caused by an upstairs neighbor, but on a second visit I decided it wasn’t The One.
3. I enjoyed some (a lot of) wine while watching my imaginary boyfriend in The Nutcracker.
4. I got some polar fleece kitty blankets ready for a kitty-blanket-tying party next week. (My work friend and I cooked up an idea to donate supplies to local shelters for Christmas.)
5. Toby helped:
1. One month from today is my birthday. I don’t think I’m going to have a very good success rate on the 30 Things.
2. I’m reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy again after a lapse of about fifteen years. Now that I’ve seen some Dr. Who, I realize how derivative the book was. It’s still fun, though–gotta love Marvin the Paranoid Android.
3. Something to remember:
(From here.)