Music for your Midweek: "O Holy Night"

 I think this one turned out sweet and nice.

Peace on earth, good will to men.

Thursday Verse: "For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio" - W.H. Auden

This poem (actually a short book) was written during World War II. Below is an expert from the last portion of the poem:

III
Narrator 

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes --
Some have got broken -- and carrying them up to the attic.
The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school. There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week --
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted -- quite unsuccessfully --
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away,
Begging though to remain disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off. But, for the time being, here we all are,
Back in the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid's geometry
And Newton's mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.
It seems to have shrunk during the holidays. The streets
Are much narrower than we remembered; we had forgotten
The office was as depressing as this. To those who have seen
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,
the Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.
For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly
Outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be
Grew up when it opened. Now, recollecting that moment
We can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious;
Remember the stable where for once in our lives
Everything became a You and nothing was an It.
And craving the sensation but ignoring the cause,
We look round for something, no matter what, to inhibit
Our self-reflection, and the obvious thing for that purpose
Would be some great suffering. Wo, once we have met the Son,
We are tempted ever after to pray to the Father;
"Lead us into temptation and evil for our sake."
They will come, all right, don't worry; probably in a form
That we do not expect, and certainly with a force
More dreadful than we can imagine. In the meantime
There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance. The happy morning is over,
The night of agony still to come; the time is noon:
When the spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God's Will will be done, That, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph. 

IV
Chorus 

He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures. 

He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years. 

He is the Life.
Love him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy. 

-- W.H. Auden 

Music for your Midweek: "Silent Night"

Hope you all have a Happy Christmas tomorrow. Here's something a little jazzy to get your holidays started:

I'm reading Chet Baker's biography right now. Heartbreaking.

And one in German, for my dad:

Happy Birthday Dad

Today my dad would have turned 55. My family and I are celebrating by going to Brick Oven for pizza (my mom worked there the whole time she and my dad were dating) and visiting the Sacred Gifts exhibit at BYU. I wish he could be here with us. Here is a great performance from the Berklee College of music:

Dad would joke that this was his song ("Oh Mike Devine" vs "Oh Night Devine"). Soooo funny. I miss his dumb jokes too.

Music for your Midweek: No Doubt - "Oi to the World"

This is one of my absolute FAAAAAAVORITE Christmas songs. I remember bouncing around our house in Wendover, dancing to this. My extreme No Doubt phase. Those were the days...

Click here for the original by the Vandals if you're into that sort of thing...

December Mix:"Come in"

This mix was the hardest to put together! Hope it was worth it.

1. I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
2. Pain Au Chocolat - JHAS
3. Kangaroo Court (Forever Kid Remix) - Capitol Cities
4. Don't Wait - Mapei
5. We Used To Wait (Arcade Fire Cover) - Clare Burson
6. Little Toy Gun - honeyhoney
7. Radio - The Royal Concept
8. Give It Up - E X R O Y A L E
9. Step - Vampire Weekend
10. Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song) - Oscar Isaac & Marcus Mumford
11. Picture Of You - Mr Hudson & The Library
12. In The Backseat - Jonas Alaska
13. Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn
14. Lacuna - Last Lynx
15. Goodbye England (Covered in Snow) - Laura Marling
16. Shelter From The Storm - Bob Dylan
17. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland

NOTES:
1. Babe.
6. These guys opened for Jake Bugg back in September. I like them.
9. Don't hate. Vampire Weekend will always have a special place in my stone cold heart. And the lead singer Ezra is super funny on Twitter. OMG have you read his review of Drake's new album? Gold.
10. Need to see this movie ASAP. Need to own this soundtrack yesterday.
11. For Dad.
13. Still listening to it er'day
17. The saddest sad Christmas song to finish

Music for your Midweek: Bastille

This is your new favorite Christmas song by Bastille. You're welcome:

Christmas Mix #3: Mistletoe

This last mix for people in love :) So cozy.

Christmas Mix #2: Holy Night

Here's some Christmas music fit for your Sabbath. I'm singing "The Angel Gabriel" at Relief Society today. My room mates told me it sounded like I was from the shire while I practiced it. I love those medieval melodies at Christmas time.

Christmas Mix #1: Fruitcake

Hey guys! For the next few day, I have some mixes to get you into the holiday spirit. This first mix, "Fruitcake," has some of my favorite weird, witty, and winsome Christmas songs. Hope you like it!

Peace on earth, goodwill to men

Here's to hoping we can find the peace we need this Sunday:

Kid Krismas

Everyone has memories of the movies they'd watch or the music they'd listen to during Christmas time. I did some searching on YouTube for some shows that we used to watch when we were little. We would record them off of the TV onto VHS, and watch them over and over. Some of those shows maintained their charm while others... not so much. 

1. "Will Winton's Claymation Christmas Celebration"

We would watch this ALL the time. I don't have the same stamina now as I had then. Do you remember this part? 

2. "Garfield Christmas Special"
After the Claymation one, we watched the Garfield Christmas Special. For some reason, we used to think that 16:15-17:00 was reeeeeeeaaally funny. I have no idea why.

3. "Disney Christmas Sing-a-long: Twelve Days of Christmas"
Oh man. This video has some great songs on it. Here is part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.



4. "Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger Christmas: Alpha's Magical Christmas"
So bad it's...no. It's just really, really bad. Please, just watch the first 5 minutes, and you will know what I mean.


5. "Mickey's Christmas Carol"
Disney has since blocked the video. Try to find it if you can! So charming.

"I did not live until today..."

I really just need to stop watching these trailers. 

waterworks

EV

-RY

-TIME.

Oh yeah. 

Remember who's singing at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert this year?

ALFIE BOE

Known for...

and guess who just got invited to to the show?

THIS GIRL!!!

Oh man. 

It's going to be a very emotional holiday season. 

Tissues please. 

Some festive photos

I love being back in Salt Lake. My room is still in shambles, but I feel settled in here for the next month. I'll have to make the most of it. Here are some decorations from around our house:

Nativity

We embrace our Scandinavian heritage during this season

Nesting dolls and nutcrackers.

Tree with our initials on it

I felt like the holidays didn't really start for me till Friday. I went to a gingergread house party at Wyatt's, and felt inspired by Katy Perry, apparently:

I thought I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. I watched Elf with Mel and Katie at my house. "Zooey Deschanel: Blonde Version"  kind of weirds me out. I'm more used to her New Girl persona:

ANYWAY. On Christmas Eve, i spent most of the day Christmas shopping. Yep, I'm one of those. And then we went to Irene's for our family dinner. (NOTE: You don't pronounce her name "eye-REAN" but "eee-RE-neigh". We're Latin, a little bit. The English pronunciation bugs me to bits). 

I think I need to get some bangs. My forehead is out of control. Also, I am short. Also, Jeremy is not really suffering, he just looks like it.Also, Christian mostly always smiles like a claymation character: 

And then we went home and opened up our Christmas pajamas. LOOK AT ME AND MY MOM WE ARE SO CUUUUTE!

And then we went to bed. And then we woke up and opened presents!

YAY!

Cool albums from Jeremy and Sennheiser headphones

Jeremy channels the Bolivians

A sneaky smile from Christian. He got me a book about Harry Potter

Lovely Lovely. I had to leave early for church since I sang in the choir. I thought the program was very nice. We had breakfast (ekekow, sausage, and christmas bread), finished opening presents, and watched Scrooge. Then off to family dinner at my Grandma Billie Ann's. Most of my time there was commandeered by Pierce who gave me a play by play of his favorite TV show, Jurassic Fight Club. Specifically this episode. Eww.

Hope you had a happy boxing day!

Christmas and Beginning Again

For those who haven't watched this movie before, this scene might seem a little silly. But it's my favorite scene from my favorite Christmas movie, Scrooge. I feel that it perfectly encapsulates the blessings that came with the birth of Christ. Through his atonement, we too are able to have a new start, and begin again. .

Alma testified about the power of the process of repentance in the Book of Mormon:

Alma 36:19-21 

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

I know that this is true; I've felt it myself.

I hope that you all have a happy Christmas, and that you also find peace and joy in your life, from whatever source guides you.

Merry Christmas Eve

Something Christmasy, or something.

Sorry I've been MIA the past few days. When I have nothing that I need to do, I choose to do nothing at all, even if I generally like doing it. Hence, no blogging.

Some updates:

• I'm slowly, but surely moving home (I'll be there for a month).
• Allison's wedding was great. Such a happy thing. 
• I went to the library and was so excited. I could finally read for fun again! But, I checked out too many books, including: The Princess Bride - William Goldman, Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut, Complete Short Stories of Evelyn Waugh (who is not a girl, by the way), The Commitments - Roddy Doyle, Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury. I also checked out the audiobook World War Z. Yep. It's about zombies. Perfect for Christmas, right? It actually focuses more on the social and political effects of a zombie war. Like a collection of interviews that an anthropologist would compile. Oh man. I'm a nerd. It's good, but not good enough. I should of just checked out the book so I could get through it faster. But I knew that if I read it, I would get to freaked out. Book scare me more than anything else. Some of the images from The Road still haunt me. ANYWAY. I probably will just wait for the movie to come out instead.
• On a related not. I'm listening to Catching Fire. Definitely on a Hunger Games kick. Note to Jade if you are reading this: I hope it's not past due. I'm planning on dropping it off at the library for you!
• I'm working on make a duvet cover/quilt out of some old sweatshirts from high school. I know it sounds lame, but I think it could look cool. Hopefully it will turn out something like this.
• I drove to Provo on Sunday night, and I'm not leaving til Friday morning. It is super weird. Feels abandoned.

So here is something Christmasy for you. My favorite scene from one of my favorite Christmas specials: "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean!"

Christmas for me.

I'm so glad it's Christmastime. And I'm so glad that finals are over, and I can finally enjoy it!

     My Sundays have been extra special this month with Christmas on the horizon. It brings all the lessons and talks I hear into greater focus. I know plenty of people who celebrate the holidays without reference to Christ, and they have a wonderful time; I don't feel like it's my place to say they are doing it wrong or that they don't know what the "true" meaning of Christmas is. Christmas means a lot of different things to different people: Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, the true meaning if Christmas is stickin' it to the pagans... but that's a story for another day.

     So instead of talking about the "true" meaning of Christmas, I want to talk about what Christmas means to me. It's a time to spend with family and friends. A time to stop thinking about what I want, and   to remember to think about what others need. It's a time when we can separate ourselves from the rest of the world and just spend time together. Or we can go out, and look for service to be done, find ways to lift one each-others  burdens. We remember the birth of Christ. At Christmastime, we try and show our love for him, by serving others.This is the "truest" part for me. I couldn't be more grateful. 

Last Sunday, our ward had our Christmas program. A group sang this song; it was beautiful.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, 

that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 

For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; 

but that the world through him might be saved.

John 3:16-17

That's why I love Christmas.

A Slightly Haunted Christmas

Did you know that people used to tell ghost stories at Christmastime?
You know, like the carol says:

There'll be parties for hosting,
marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow.
There'll be scary ghost stories
and tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

I wanted to learn more about the topic, and the best (quickest info) I could find was this article in the Deseret News from last year. Here is a bit from it:

     As Lord Protector of England during the mid-17th century, Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell was perhaps not entirely without justification when he tried to abolish the celebration of Christmas. As he argued, nowhere in the Bible does it tell Christians to celebrate Christ’s birth on the 25th of December. Nor, in fact, does it mention any “holy day” other than the Lord’s Sabbath. 

     On top of that, the 25th of December was not an arbitrary choice for early Christians. Rather, it was selected because of its connection with pagan festivals like Yule and Sol Invictus (the birthday of the Unconquered Sun), both of which commemorated the winter solstice or the longest night of the year. These festivals celebrated the death of light and its subsequent rebirth the following day. It was for the obvious symbolic connotations that early Christians adopted dates significant to pagan Romans and Northern Europeans.

     In addition to being the longest night of the year, however, winter solstice was also traditionally held to be the most haunted due to its association with the death of the sun and light. It was the one night of the year when the barrier between the worlds of the living and the deceased was thinnest. On Christmas Eve, ghosts could walk the earth and finish unsettled business, as exemplified by the apparition of Marley in Charles Dickens' Christmas masterpiece.

     In short, the Victorian Christmas celebration, which drew heavily on pagan symbols like yule logs, holly berries and Father Christmas himself, also embraced the winter holiday’s associations with the supernatural to create one of its most popular annual traditions. Unfortunately, of all the traditions and rituals that have survived through the generations, the Victorian custom of recounting blood-curdling ghost stories with friends and family around the fire on Christmas Eve has been almost completely forgotten.

Let's keep this tradition alive; I think it's wonderful. Will you join me?

Actually, what really inspired this post was a certain song that I found. You can listen it on this podcast. The whole session is great, but go to 9:55 to hear a particularly bewitching version of "White Christmas" as interpreted by Ragtime Ralph. It takes a while to load, but it's worth it.



When I listen to it, I can't tell if it make me happy or sad. It leaves me somewhere in between, undecided. I love it.

A time for JOY

I had my first glimpse of true, Christmas joy a little over a week ago. I had been all over Provo; paying rent, buying groceries, running around campus; and finally on my way to the car. I could feel it was going to start to snow, and felt a little excited. Suddenly, this kid who was walking towards the library stopped and sort of spasmed and shouted.
I was confused.
Then he said, "Oh my gosh. A snowflake hit me in the EYE!" But he said it like it was the best thing that could ever happen to him. He had the biggest smile on his face. He started to skip across the quad laughing and shouting. Did a little dance. I was thoroughly amused. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time he'd ever seen snow.
The next night was super busy. Around 10:00 pm after a bridal shower, and working all day, I went to the library. I was exhausted. Then a boy came up, put a rose and a candy on the armrest, and told me Merry Christmas. Lovely.

I am happy that BYU brings these sort of people together.

In that vein, here is one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time, five different ways. Watch now.

1. Macy's commercial! (Otherwise known as the Justin Bieber Mariah Carey collaboration)
You should read this while you watch. JAJAJAJA.


2. A real life "Buddy the elf"
How adorbs. His joy is contagious.


3. Royal Navy Edition!
Could you imagine being stuck on a ship for 7 MONTHS!? I think I would go insane. Glad they get to come home for Christmas!


4. "Real moves" version
That man has better moves then I could ever dream to have


5. Love Actually
I watched this movei last sunday for the bajillionth time. It always makes me tear up.