Author: Jay the Ent-Larch

nonbinary they/them mystical forest cryptid & merwrangler with Orange Cat Energy INGREDIENTS: coffee, books, music, podcasts, NPR, cats, movies, the Oxford comma, and comfort shows - - - WARNING: may contain nuts

Sunday Snapshots: Wonderful Christmastime

The most wonderful time of the year is also the busiest. Between birthdays, Christmas, and the irregularities of the United States Postal Service, celebrations in our family will often last five days or more.

Here’s some of what we did between December 22 and December 26:

 

And then there was this:

 How was your Holiday Season?

 

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Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

It’s a Christmas Music Miracle!

Peanuts Christmas Carolers

Last Monday I complained about the awful songs that play on seemingly infinite repeat during the Christmas season.

Then, on Christmas Day, I woke up to discover two bands had attempted to rectify that situation.

Radiohead

Radiohead released their intended Spectre theme. Having listened to both Sam Smith’s official theme and Radiohead’s offering, I am of the opinion Radiohead nailed it.

The one person to vote in my Twitter poll agreed with me.

If you haven’t listened to Spectre yet, here it is:

Green Day

Move over, Mariah Carey; Green Day gave us a present that makes “All I Want for Christmas is You” sound like scales played on a toy piano. Feast your ears on this:

At they very least I think we can all agree it’s much better than anything Michael Bublé has done. Seriously, this should have dominated the airwaves this Christmas season. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Happy Christmas, Music Lovers!

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Weihnachtsfloskel-Bingo

Trotz der Hektik es gibt Zeiten, die Feiertage zu erhalten geradezu langweilig.

Angenommen die mit anderen Menschen, es ist Zeit für Weihnachtsfloskel-Bingo:
 
Christmas Cliche Bingo auf Deutsch
 
Nach 49 Minuten hatte ich das:
 
Christmas Cliche Bingo auf Deutsch Komplete

 
Als meine Familie nicht zu trinken, würde es nie ausfüllen.
 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Christmas Song Book Tag

Book Christmas Tree

It’s Christmas Day, and hopefully there’s a book or two under the tree with your name on it; at the very least there should be a gift card to your preferred bookseller.

Perhaps as you gather ’round and tear into those gifts so carefully wrapped you’re listening to the last Christmas carols of the season. In that spirit, here’s a little game to play in which the Christmas song inspires a bookish response.

 

Christmas Song Book Tag

 

“You’re A Mean One, Mr Grinch”

Name a villainous character you couldn’t help but love.

Erik [aka the “Phantom of the Opera”]

 

“All I Want For Christmas Is You”

Which book do you most hope to find under your Christmas tree?

See Here

 

“Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Name a character that overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves.

Sam Vimes, over the course of several Discworld novels

 

“Santa Claus is Coming To Town”

A character at the top of the naughty list/ a character at the top of the nice list.

Naughty: V from V for Vendetta

Nice: Virgil from The Divine Comedy

 

“Frosty The Snowman”

A book which just melts your heart.

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett, and not just because it’s his last . . . if you’ve read it, you know why.

 

“Feliz Navidad”

A book that takes place somewhere other than your home country.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

 

“It’s The Most Wonderful Time of Year”

Which holiday themed book do you use to spread Christmas joy?

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

 

“Sleigh Ride”

Which fictional character would you choose to spend the holidays with?

Hermione Granger, but I have the feeling we’re so much alike we’d end up hating each other by the end.

 

“Baby It’s Cold Outside”

Which book that you didn’t like would you sacrifice to a fire to keep yourself warm?

Really? I’m going to leave you with this:

IMG_4106

 

“Do You Hear What I Hear?”

Which book(s) do you think everyone should read?

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Top Ten Thursday: 10 Books I’d Like to See Under the Christmas Tree

There’s no such thing as too many books.

When people ask what gift I like, I always tell them they can’t go wrong with coffee and books. However, since my TBR list is a bit daunting and may send certain friends into a nervous breakdown from trying to pick the perfect book from the hundreds on my list, I’ve decided to give some help. Now, I know that this may be a bit late for this year, but it’s never to early to start thinking about next year . . . is it?

10 Books I’d Like to See Under the Tree

Buried Giant Goodreads CoverThe Easy Ones

The Buried Giant

[Kazuo Ishiguro; hardcover]

The Relic Master

[Christopher Buckley; hardcover]

V for Vendetta

[Alan Moore & David Lloyd]

The Slightly Expensive (Comparatively)

Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated…All the Bits

[Luke Dempsey]

Louvre: All the Paintings

[Vincent Pomarède and Erich Lessing]

The Louvre All the Paintings Goodreads Cover

The Difficult, Expensive, and/or Nearly Impossible Ones

American Gods

[signed by Neil Gaiman]

Divine Comedy

Hogfather Book Cover[Dante Alighieri, author; John Ciardi, translator; Gustave Dore, illustrator]

I thought this book impossible, but apparently a leather-bound edition was released back in the 70s.

The Godfather

[signed by Mario Puzo]

Hogfather

[signed by Terry Pratchett]

Any signed Pratchett will do, but Hogfather was my first

Lord of the Rings

[J.R.R. Tolkien; Red Leather (real, not faux) Edition]

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

What I Did On My Birthday

People always want to know what one did on their birthday. As a teacher, I abhor repeating myself unnecessarily, so I’m keeping this list and when someone asks me what I did I can just say:

Check my Blog!

Smokey woke me up at 6:00

I may be on break, but he certainly is not

Then, I . . .

opened Overcast and started catching up on unplayed podcasts

logged into Facebook and played some Scrabble

talked to my Mom and Dad

They call me every birthday at 7:15 AM

Birthday Time 2015

typed two blog posts: Teaser Tuesday and Twenty Questions

tried helping Krystal get ready for work

I was more in the way than anything else

went into town dressed like this:

Birthday 2015 Assassins Creed Hoodie

finished shopping for Krystal

OK, I shopped for me, too

Using a gift card, I purchased these books:

Birthday Books 2015

Panera Bread gave me a free pastry for my birthday:

Huzzah for the cobblestone!

came home

had lunch

chipotle-barbecue boneless wings from Buffalo Wild Wings

talked to my cousin Eric

he wished me Happy Birthday and told me about crazy people at Wal-Mart getting free wine samples

started typing this list

wrapped the presents I bought for Krystal

messed around some more on Facebook

paid bills online

helped a friend in Canada fix a vibration problem with their iPhone

made some coffee

Dunkin’ Dark – a Christmas present from a wonderful 7th grader who paid attention when a fellow student asked my favorite type of coffee

warmed my cobblestone

coffee + cobblestone =  afternoon snack

browsed BuzzFeed while consuming said snack

finished my podcast binge

logged into Netflix to watch X-Files

I’m in season eight which means David Duchovny isn’t around as much as he used to, and the show suffers for it

I’m determined to see it through, though

I want Mulder’s “I Want to Believe” poster

browsed social media

waited for the mailman to come

received a card from an aunt in New York

checked the Goodreads giveaways

switched from X-Files to the BBC show Myth Hunters

The second episode “Hitler and the Spear of Destiny” annoyed me to no end by constantly referring to Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor

While it is true Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans on December 25, 800, Otto I [Otto “the Great”] was the first Holy Roman Emperor

I’d expect better of the BBC

tracked down my copy of A Christmas Story

texted with David, my best friend since the day he was born

IMG_4534

 

made supper of grilled cheese, Doritos, and Moxie

Birthday Dinner 2015

for my birthday? Yes, you see

Krystal, her sister, and our cousin Alex went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

I have no desire to see Odysseus/Oedipus in Space, so Krystal gave me the best present an introvert can receive: alone time.

Let me repeat:

There is no greater gift for an introvert than planned alone time!

No obligations

No distractions

It’s amazing

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. I

watched A Christmas Story while enjoying my nostalgic dinner

since I own the DVD, the 24-hour marathon begins when I say it will and is entirely independent of TBS

watched more X-Files

ate all the coconut candies from a box of Russel Stover Elegant Chocolates

brushed my teeth

Krystal is allergic to coconut; no sense giving her a headache or worse

Krystal came home @12:30

switched from X-Files to The Munsters

fell asleep

a satisfying birthday indeed

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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