Do You Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas?
Check out the song!
And if you want an alpaca instead, check out Victoria, smiling at the Photoshop job:
Check out the song!
And if you want an alpaca instead, check out Victoria, smiling at the Photoshop job:
The Wikipedia article on the Winter Solstice (which happens sometime tomorrow) has a good section about “paralleled traditions” for celebrating the solstice in many cultures. I especially liked the part about solstice celebrations really being a therapeutic device to cope with winter:
“…Being indoors causes negative ion deficiency which decreases serotonin levels resulting in depression and tiredness. Also, getting insufficient light in the short winter days increases the secretion of melatonin in the body, off balancing the circadian rhythm with longer sleep. Exercise, light therapy, and increased negative ion exposure (which can be attained from plants and well ventilated flames burning wood or beeswax) can reinvigorate the body from its seasonal lull and relieve winter blues…Midwinter festivals and celebrations occurring on the longest night of the year, often calling for evergreens, bright illumination, large ongoing fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing, are examples of cultural winter therapies that have evolved as traditions since the beginnings of civilization.”
Whether your celebration is therapeutic or not, remember that the worst is over. I’m going to light a candle and get some negative ions now.
Woot! I have a day off tomorrow from BOTH jobs, so it feels like my Friday!
1. After realizing one coworker was going to be out the rest of the week, I decided against a marathon knitting session last night for the other coworker. Instead, I did a marathon knitting session on a different gift. How marathon, you ask? Well, we started and finished the miniseries from the new version of Battlestar Galactica. Mr. Isbell is hooked.
2. As you might be able to tell from the late posts this week, it’s been hard to get up in the mornings. It seems even darker than usual. I’m glad the solstice is coming.
3. Speaking of dark and winter, I think this will be appropriate today:
“It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbirds sat
In the cedar-limbs”
(
That’s not Japanese, it’s the last section of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”
I think I was still waiting to fight more Crazy 88’s yesterday morning, because I didn’t even mention any projects. I can only mention, not show, because they’re gifts for Christmas–Christmas, which is less than a week away, and yes, I am still knitting them. I even added one to the schedule. I had plans change and tonight became free, and in my current frantic ninja-fighting mindset, that’s more than enough time to knit something to give to a coworker tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Of course I can do it. Bring it on!
Remember “The Gift of the Magi,” about a penniless married couple having mishaps with presents? Here’s my version of it: I was following Mr. Isbell home last night after an evening at his parents’ house when his tire blew out. So we both pulled over and put on the hazards, and Mr. Isbell got the donut spare and the jack out of the trunk—no problem, really. Except my Christmas present was in the trunk, too. I pretended not to notice but he said, “There’s your KitchenAid” and it was a happy Christmas moment at the side of the road.
Once we got on our way again and convoyed to my apartment, Mr. Isbell helped me unload the car. I was putting away laundry when I remembered I had one of his presents in the bags he was unloading, so I dashed out of the bedroom saying “Don’t look in the Harmons bag!” but he was already putting things back in the bag, pretending he hadn’t seen his present. So I said “There’s your Carhartts” and it was a happy Christmas moment in the kitchen.
(We’ve both decided this is turning into the “Christmas of No Surprises, but yes, I am giving Mr. Isbell more than pants.)
1. I have a friend who’s all about “asking the universe” for things and then “trusting it to answer.” Well, if you ask the universe for a couch, the universe must give you an idea to look at Target.com, where you find this. Thanks, universe!(Next I have to ask the universe to make my brother let me store the chairs I’m using right now in his basement. Come on, universe!)
2. Going back to another childhood memory this week: does anyone remember this animated Sesame Street color-wheel clip? I remember the music made it especially scary because the voices never made discernible words and just repeated the same pitch. Apparently, the music was by well-known Minimalist composer Philip Glass. Still scary.
3. Could the universe be moving these rocks across Death Valley? Or is it the wind? Here’s a science article that has a thrilling title: The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa.
I’ve started what I’m afraid will be a very long search for a loveseat/small couch that 1.) will fit in my apartment; 2.) looks modern; 3.) doesn’t look or feel too cheap and foam-y (I hate foam; it makes me cringe); but 4.) costs three digits instead of four, preferably the lower half of three digits.
I’ve considered having two jobs through January, just to give me a larger couch fund so I have more options, but I realized there’s a problem: I also want to get a kitty in January (maybe Ponch the kitty!). And should I introduce the kitty to a new couch? Or get a used couch and not mind if kitty takes out its anxiety on it? Where are the answers?
Are they in there, kitty?
1. Christmas: The blog of Disney animation backgrounds that I mentioned a few Fridays ago posted a background from “Pluto’s Christmas Tree” (1952), a short that I remember watching as a kid. The cartoon was silly but the scenes that showed Chip and Dale inside the decorated tree were just magical for me. Colors! Pine needles! Secret hiding places! I wanted to get into our Christmas tree like that. Seeing it now, it’s still fabulous: (If you can stomach Pluto, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube here.)
2. Birthdays (well, we weren’t speaking of them, but we are now): My sister-in-law’s birthday is today! She is a rocket scientist and a gardener, has started taking piano lessons, and is crafty, too. Also, she married my brother. All of these things make her pretty cool.
I’ve had to ration out the crafty time since I started working so much, so most of that is going to gifts which obviously can’t be posted on the internet for all (six of you) to see. Instead, I thought I’d show you how I decorated this year.
There is a garland that got the Peanuts Christmas serenade (“loo loo loo, loo loo loo loo loo”) from Mr. Isbell after I plugged it in:
But the garland didn’t accommodate all the ornaments, so I decked the ceiling fans:
And the plants:And the cuckoo clock:
Meanwhile, up at Blue Moon Ranch, the alpacas got their own holiday decorations: