And here we are again, Sports Fans.
Back at the blog.
Today, I ate White Bean Chili with Chicken, left over from Saturday night's Decorating Mania with Paula, and also lots and lots of my Cement Spice Cookies (bless their hard black hearts) and also some AkMak crackers which I dearly love and which are yummy-licious with almost any dip on the planet. And probably some Kedem chocolate biscuits. I'm baking brownies tonight because I'm going to ask Paula to hang some towel bars for me. She's talented that way. Honestly, having a neighbor who is totally cool, loads of fun, a really good person AND able to do all things mechanical - it's great. I can cook. That's my contribution frequently. I can cook and I can listen. And boy, can I talk.
I'm feeling better than I have since Advent began. I'm more on top of things - the difficult decision I had to make has for the time being resolved itself. A broken relationship seems fixable if both parties work hard. I hang out with Poodle a lot (that's so great) and Pearl (that's totally great, too) and then there are other events that are fun and exciting. It's a good time right now.
I'm listening to Pandora's Classical Christmas collection, which is outstanding. If you aren't familiar with Pandora online radio, go Google it, sign up and get going with it. Great stuff. And so is Jango, but this Pandora Classical Christmas station is the bomb.
Speaking of music - and I was, wasn't I? - today's Advent Meditation is
CHRISTMAS MUSIC - THE FUNNY
If there is anything funnier than a small child singing Away in the Manger, I do NOT know what it is.
"A-WHAY in a manger, no crib for 'is beeeed,
The little Lord Jee-SUS lay down his sweet HEADDDDD"
And my Junior High favorite:
"We Three Kings of Orient are
Tried to smoke a rubber cigar.
It was loaded - it exploded...
BOOM!
We two kings of orient are..."
Then there's the one that deals with disabilities but I can't say anything about it or Mischa will read this and be Very Disappointed With Me (as well he ought, and no, it's not a Helen Keller joke...)
And there is nothing like an adult choir - a church choir, not an oratorio chorus - trying to wrap its brains and its tongues around Handel. Particularly the Hallelujah Chorus. This includes the melody folks who gripe just as loud as the rest. Hey! I'm an alto, and Alto Hallelujah Chorus is no walk in the park, I guarantee you...here to testiFY!
And Silent Night with its Round John Virgin...I never sang it that way but that's probably just another of the Christmas miracles that I didn't.
Of course, for me, the funny comes from the carols, the oratorios, the cantatas...for others, it's "I Saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Claus" and my all time least favorite (because a friend's boyfriend really loved this one, and I couldn't abide the boyfriend), "I'm Gettin' Nothin' For Christmas."
You know, I make fun of little kids (because I'm nothing if not heart-warming...) but adults mess up the carols, too. Badly. Watch the next group of adults you know start out a carol and then sort of mumble the words because they get lost on line 3...as in, real lost on line 3...
Or they're like me and decide to trot out the descant on Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, but they don't actually know the descant. Great if you know music and can sort of make something logical up. Really lousy if you hit a bunch of clinkers.
And then there are the folks who make the words to the carols Politically Correct. Or as Kathy the Cantor says, "These people who think they know better than the Wesley brothers!" I'm with Kathy.
Do something meaningful today. Slow down. Drive past the lights and enjoy them. Put the carols on. Hum something really Christmas-y. Make some Christmas cookies. Buy a star for the top of the tree. Visit someone alone and lonely. Call a friend who needs to hear a happy voice. Talk to God especially if that's a really new idea. Listen, and God will talk back. And it will be good news. Excuse me, that's Good News.
Independently,
Weltha
Alto! -- A red head, and an Alto -- yeah! another thing we have in common. I sing Alto in the All Lutheran Messiah at First Lutheran Church on 13th and Utica the first weekend of December every year. The runs are incredible. We have different lines than everyone else. and This year? The light switch had a short and we had to sing in the dark. HA! -- oh what fun. My eating has gotten a little crazy the past four weeks. I'm up 10 lbs. sigh. Will do better today. Take care.
ReplyDeleteDeana,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this great post! I have NO idea how much weight I'm up, but yes, we try really hard to do better today (or at least, tomorrow!) A few years ago in my church choir, during Feast of the Nativity on Christmas Eve, we were finishing with the Hallelujah Chorus - the organ accompaniment had been prerecorded on our church organ. We were singing merrily along - I mean, we were gettin' WITH the H Chorus - and suddenly, the accompaniment shut off. For no reason. We finished a capella and the whole church thought we had done this 'on purpose' for the effect...I missed the Messiah this year at First Lutheran but I love it, and wish I had attended. You take care, too. Yes, red-headed altos...