Holidays and a whinge...
I woke up today really early for a change and felt a random blog post coming along. So, several cups of tea and a whole lot of net surfing later I thought I'd better write this before going for dinner. I can't believe it is that time of the year again, yes, the countdown to Christmas, has begun and I've been avoiding the shops not only because of the crazy rush but also because I'm skint. Frack. Wish I'd win the Lotto or something. On top of that I have heaps of work and deadline related guilt which is causing me sleepless nights apart from the fracking students who seem to think that shrieking like banshees at 4 am in the morning is perfectly acceptable behaviour. So to divert my attention from all that and the weather which has been uncooperative lately (read wet wet wet and dark by late afternoon) I've been online shopping and planning holidays. Did I say I was skint?! ( Amazon and Ebay are really not helping)
I have been daydreaming of the parties to come and the mulled wine and presents and the holiday fun. Did I tell you I'm going awa' for a week to the Lake District after the end of term. It should be good to get away and just hibernate for a bit in Wordsworth / Coleridge country ... I hope it snows and we can go and sledge in the hills. I've checked out the lodge and there is a real fireplace and if its bad weather we 'll just have to stay in and drink hotchocolate and roast some marshmallows!:) I can even hope to catch up on my reading ... Maybe, I can even skate on the frozen lake ( is unlikely) like Heaney imagines Wordsworth to be doing in his poem 'Wordsworth's Skates'.
Hey, I am no Grinch but all the tinsel and the garish advertising in shopping malls seriously gets me annoyed. I went into Boots the other day and not only is that place disorganised but with all its 3 for 2 deals its like getting lost in a jungle of crammed stuff that you don't want to buy because its all so so unexciting. Even supermarkets are full of tasteless decorations. All the countless stuff on offer in the shops confuse me and I just can't decide what to buy which defeats the entire purpose of shopping for gifts as I end up exhausted and frustrated. I just thought that life used to be easier at boarding school when I'd get all excited about being promoted from playing the shepherd to enacting the role of the king in our annual Nativity play. We'd sing carols with gusto and tuck into our special christmas dinner and look forward to going home for the holidays. Happy memories. At other times, my sister and I would hang up stockings and eat fruit cake to celebrate in our own little way at home. We even had a mini tree one year. In Calcutta, Park Street is always delightfully done up for Christmas with the sparkling lights that dispell the Winter smog and the shops in New market which overflow with scrumptious goodies and fruitcake with marzipan.
Its probably a result of my early influences but I find churches very peaceful and comforting. I remember the little chapel that the nuns in our school would use for their personal prayer. I'd go in there and sit for a while whenever I was upset . I remember the smell of incense mixed with the dark wood of the pews and the quiet air of reverence about the place. It was more spiritual than religious really and somehow now in all this glitz and glamour and sequined dresses and drunken dancing the quietude of the holidays is lost. I guess this is a slightly bad tempered post is because I'm away from home and Christmas is a time to be with family. Anyway, a trip away from grey city should help. I'll be cheerier in the new year I promise.
So, I hope the rest of you are all in good spirits and looking forward to the holiday season. Have a blast troops.
ps: if you're wondering about my liberal use of 'frack' in this post I blame it on my current obsession with watching Battlestar Galactica. Its a great show. ( Who's the fifth cylon folks? Any ideas?)
pps: I'm going to go watch 'The Golden Compass' next week - hope it is good.
I have been daydreaming of the parties to come and the mulled wine and presents and the holiday fun. Did I tell you I'm going awa' for a week to the Lake District after the end of term. It should be good to get away and just hibernate for a bit in Wordsworth / Coleridge country ... I hope it snows and we can go and sledge in the hills. I've checked out the lodge and there is a real fireplace and if its bad weather we 'll just have to stay in and drink hotchocolate and roast some marshmallows!:) I can even hope to catch up on my reading ... Maybe, I can even skate on the frozen lake ( is unlikely) like Heaney imagines Wordsworth to be doing in his poem 'Wordsworth's Skates'.
Hey, I am no Grinch but all the tinsel and the garish advertising in shopping malls seriously gets me annoyed. I went into Boots the other day and not only is that place disorganised but with all its 3 for 2 deals its like getting lost in a jungle of crammed stuff that you don't want to buy because its all so so unexciting. Even supermarkets are full of tasteless decorations. All the countless stuff on offer in the shops confuse me and I just can't decide what to buy which defeats the entire purpose of shopping for gifts as I end up exhausted and frustrated. I just thought that life used to be easier at boarding school when I'd get all excited about being promoted from playing the shepherd to enacting the role of the king in our annual Nativity play. We'd sing carols with gusto and tuck into our special christmas dinner and look forward to going home for the holidays. Happy memories. At other times, my sister and I would hang up stockings and eat fruit cake to celebrate in our own little way at home. We even had a mini tree one year. In Calcutta, Park Street is always delightfully done up for Christmas with the sparkling lights that dispell the Winter smog and the shops in New market which overflow with scrumptious goodies and fruitcake with marzipan.
Its probably a result of my early influences but I find churches very peaceful and comforting. I remember the little chapel that the nuns in our school would use for their personal prayer. I'd go in there and sit for a while whenever I was upset . I remember the smell of incense mixed with the dark wood of the pews and the quiet air of reverence about the place. It was more spiritual than religious really and somehow now in all this glitz and glamour and sequined dresses and drunken dancing the quietude of the holidays is lost. I guess this is a slightly bad tempered post is because I'm away from home and Christmas is a time to be with family. Anyway, a trip away from grey city should help. I'll be cheerier in the new year I promise.
So, I hope the rest of you are all in good spirits and looking forward to the holiday season. Have a blast troops.
ps: if you're wondering about my liberal use of 'frack' in this post I blame it on my current obsession with watching Battlestar Galactica. Its a great show. ( Who's the fifth cylon folks? Any ideas?)
pps: I'm going to go watch 'The Golden Compass' next week - hope it is good.