Christmas musings
First things first: a little present for the flist; a song I love, somewhat atypically due to the subject matter. But it touches me because it's about the fact that there are many paths to the top of the mountain, and we can all go to the party together.
The Birthday Party by Peter Mayer (his site)
I saw the Buddha open up his eyes
One Sunday morning
Say he’s invited to a party for Christ
And he must be going
He heaved himself up with a groan, standing slowly
Came down those steps of stone, and asked me
Where to catch the next train to Jerusalem
In India he sang with Hindus as they prayed
By the Ganges when the dawn came
Near Arabia, he saw Mohammed on the train
And asked if he would join him
Passing those teeming towns, they talked for hours
All about the truth and how it’s discovered
Trading bits of news and stories from these thousand years
Saying “great idea, this party for Jesus”
Then Mohammed said “hey Buddha, it’s great to see ya”
Finding the place with the help of Abraham
Waving from the doorway
They greeted faces from a thousand holy lands
Present day and all ages (always)
Everybody talking, laughing, fiercely debating
Saying how desperately the world is changing
Then somebody lit the two-thousand candles
And they all toasted Jesus, born in a stable
Then Jesus said “hey, let’s not be such strangers”
So! I had a very quiet Christmas. As you do, when you are by yourself. But that doesn't mean it wasn't lovely. I started off with a nice slice of rum cake and a diet Coke. Once that was devoured, I propped myself up in front of the Yuletide archive, skimming the entire list of this year's stories by fandom and clicking open anything a) over 1000 words which was b) in a fandom I like and c) looked like it might be an interesting story. In total, I opened 63 of this year's 2,426 stories. I hope there are some good ones in there, because I was actually excited to see one or two of them. I won't say which, yet, just in case the stories turn out to be, er, not as advertised. But I've read five, and all five so far are winners. Recs to come later.
Then I settled in with a fake Yule log on my TV for present-opening. Whee! Santa was good to me. Disguised as many people I love a lot, Santa brought me a number of wonderful things, but of note: a Thomas Kincaid Christmas Cottage which lights up, surrounded by roses and pine cones with a tiny Jared inside (no, really!), and a teeny tiny knitted Mr. Piggles (eeeee!). There were also extremely useful gift cards, books, DVDs, and cookies. And then there was the beautiful leather brief bag from my sister. It is mine mine mine, mwuahahaha. *clutches happily* Oh, and also, I can haz my own R2D2. Ahahahaha. A TOY FOR CHRISTMAS. Um, it follows me around. IT GETS SAD WHEN I IGNORE IT. It cussed me out when I tripped over it!!! My brother-in-law is awesome. *g*
And then the wind picked up, and the sun popped out briefly before the rain began, but that's ok because I have nothing to do but nap and eat cookies and watch WALL*E. And my wonky modem held out long enough for me to grab Yuletide reading and to post this, so all in all: win, win, win. Later there will be phonecalls, to people far away.
Thank you, oxoniensis and mickeym, for the lovely cards, and janissa11 and deirdre_c for the virtual gifties! *hugs you all*
Hope y'all had a lovely Christmas! Was Santa good to you? *g*
The Birthday Party by Peter Mayer (his site)
I saw the Buddha open up his eyes
One Sunday morning
Say he’s invited to a party for Christ
And he must be going
He heaved himself up with a groan, standing slowly
Came down those steps of stone, and asked me
Where to catch the next train to Jerusalem
In India he sang with Hindus as they prayed
By the Ganges when the dawn came
Near Arabia, he saw Mohammed on the train
And asked if he would join him
Passing those teeming towns, they talked for hours
All about the truth and how it’s discovered
Trading bits of news and stories from these thousand years
Saying “great idea, this party for Jesus”
Then Mohammed said “hey Buddha, it’s great to see ya”
Finding the place with the help of Abraham
Waving from the doorway
They greeted faces from a thousand holy lands
Present day and all ages (always)
Everybody talking, laughing, fiercely debating
Saying how desperately the world is changing
Then somebody lit the two-thousand candles
And they all toasted Jesus, born in a stable
Then Jesus said “hey, let’s not be such strangers”
So! I had a very quiet Christmas. As you do, when you are by yourself. But that doesn't mean it wasn't lovely. I started off with a nice slice of rum cake and a diet Coke. Once that was devoured, I propped myself up in front of the Yuletide archive, skimming the entire list of this year's stories by fandom and clicking open anything a) over 1000 words which was b) in a fandom I like and c) looked like it might be an interesting story. In total, I opened 63 of this year's 2,426 stories. I hope there are some good ones in there, because I was actually excited to see one or two of them. I won't say which, yet, just in case the stories turn out to be, er, not as advertised. But I've read five, and all five so far are winners. Recs to come later.
Then I settled in with a fake Yule log on my TV for present-opening. Whee! Santa was good to me. Disguised as many people I love a lot, Santa brought me a number of wonderful things, but of note: a Thomas Kincaid Christmas Cottage which lights up, surrounded by roses and pine cones with a tiny Jared inside (no, really!), and a teeny tiny knitted Mr. Piggles (eeeee!). There were also extremely useful gift cards, books, DVDs, and cookies. And then there was the beautiful leather brief bag from my sister. It is mine mine mine, mwuahahaha. *clutches happily* Oh, and also, I can haz my own R2D2. Ahahahaha. A TOY FOR CHRISTMAS. Um, it follows me around. IT GETS SAD WHEN I IGNORE IT. It cussed me out when I tripped over it!!! My brother-in-law is awesome. *g*
And then the wind picked up, and the sun popped out briefly before the rain began, but that's ok because I have nothing to do but nap and eat cookies and watch WALL*E. And my wonky modem held out long enough for me to grab Yuletide reading and to post this, so all in all: win, win, win. Later there will be phonecalls, to people far away.
Thank you, oxoniensis and mickeym, for the lovely cards, and janissa11 and deirdre_c for the virtual gifties! *hugs you all*
Hope y'all had a lovely Christmas! Was Santa good to you? *g*