Mammon!
Having always been a bit of a follower (har har), I figured I had better jump on the bandwagon and post the Xmas gift list:
From mom, dad, and the kids
- Piano sheet music (slobber slobber)
- Chopin, Nocturnes and Waltzes
- Debussy, Children's Corner and assorted Piano Pieces
- Bach, Das Wohltemperierte Klavier
- two Nepali Learning CD-ROMs!
Family
- Óreiða á striga by Kristín Marja from my paternal grandma
- A sweater from my maternal grandma and step-grandpa (God rest his soul)
- A Þjóðleikhús theater ticket gift certificate from Guðný, Gunnar, and Karól
- Heima, Sigur Rós DVD, from Guðrún, Joddi, and Unnur
- The Secret, DVD, from Helga, Alli, and Valur
Friends
- Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien and Hounds of Love / Without You I'm Nothing from Alda
- A beautiful amethyst geode from Halla Halldórs
- Trilogy of novellas on religion and society by Eric-Emannuel Schmitt from Lísa
- Gorgeous Chinese chopsticks from Mindi
- Einige Favoriten von Rolf Zuckowski and Miriam Mix from Miriam
- Kuldakast from Halla Halls
- Love Actually soundtrack (rawr Billy Mack!) and Jakobínarína's The First Crusade from Jón Þór and Þórarinn
Additionally, I got myself somewhat of a Christmas present when I was at Nexus the other day: two DVDs. One is Astrópía, which I am going to have to show over and over and over again to all my friends in the US. The other was more of an impulse buy - it's a movie I stumbled across on IMDB not long ago and fell pretty much in love with the trailer. No, Scottish accents and a yellowish color palette have nothing to do with it, I swear...
Anyway, it's called Dear Frankie, and is about a deaf 10-year-old boy and his single mom. The mom has been forging letters to her son from his absent father for years, pretending he's a sailor on a ship that cruises around the world. Things come to a head when the ship shows up in Glasgow, and to continue the charade the mother is forced to hire a stranger to impersonate Frankie's dad for a day.
The movie's a rare gem in that it doesn't feel the need to explain every single minute detail within the timeframe of the film. The audience is left with questions to grapple with (gasp!), and the resolution is emotionally satisfying in an understated way, without the orgiastic perfection of so many Hollywood dramas and romcoms. It even features an awkward pause that rivals the one before Mr. Darcy's first proposal in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries.
It's a quiet film - and not just because it's about a deaf child. None of the characters feel the need to wax eloquent about every single thing that's on their minds. The casting and acting are also spot-on, and the film has a lovely visual feel to it without trying to stylize every single frame. Highly recommended if you like quiet, open-ended happy endings, fable-like stories about everyday people, or (need I say it) Scottish accents.
Last but not least, thanks to everybody who went out of their way to make me happy this Christmas and this year! It is a privilege and an honor to know so many creative, industrious, caring people. Merry Christmas, happy lengthening of the days (for those of you north of the Equator), and a joyous New Year to all of you!
From mom, dad, and the kids
- Piano sheet music (slobber slobber)
- Chopin, Nocturnes and Waltzes
- Debussy, Children's Corner and assorted Piano Pieces
- Bach, Das Wohltemperierte Klavier
- two Nepali Learning CD-ROMs!
Family
- Óreiða á striga by Kristín Marja from my paternal grandma
- A sweater from my maternal grandma and step-grandpa (God rest his soul)
- A Þjóðleikhús theater ticket gift certificate from Guðný, Gunnar, and Karól
- Heima, Sigur Rós DVD, from Guðrún, Joddi, and Unnur
- The Secret, DVD, from Helga, Alli, and Valur
Friends
- Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien and Hounds of Love / Without You I'm Nothing from Alda
- A beautiful amethyst geode from Halla Halldórs
- Trilogy of novellas on religion and society by Eric-Emannuel Schmitt from Lísa
- Gorgeous Chinese chopsticks from Mindi
- Einige Favoriten von Rolf Zuckowski and Miriam Mix from Miriam
- Kuldakast from Halla Halls
- Love Actually soundtrack (rawr Billy Mack!) and Jakobínarína's The First Crusade from Jón Þór and Þórarinn
Additionally, I got myself somewhat of a Christmas present when I was at Nexus the other day: two DVDs. One is Astrópía, which I am going to have to show over and over and over again to all my friends in the US. The other was more of an impulse buy - it's a movie I stumbled across on IMDB not long ago and fell pretty much in love with the trailer. No, Scottish accents and a yellowish color palette have nothing to do with it, I swear...
Anyway, it's called Dear Frankie, and is about a deaf 10-year-old boy and his single mom. The mom has been forging letters to her son from his absent father for years, pretending he's a sailor on a ship that cruises around the world. Things come to a head when the ship shows up in Glasgow, and to continue the charade the mother is forced to hire a stranger to impersonate Frankie's dad for a day.
The movie's a rare gem in that it doesn't feel the need to explain every single minute detail within the timeframe of the film. The audience is left with questions to grapple with (gasp!), and the resolution is emotionally satisfying in an understated way, without the orgiastic perfection of so many Hollywood dramas and romcoms. It even features an awkward pause that rivals the one before Mr. Darcy's first proposal in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries.
It's a quiet film - and not just because it's about a deaf child. None of the characters feel the need to wax eloquent about every single thing that's on their minds. The casting and acting are also spot-on, and the film has a lovely visual feel to it without trying to stylize every single frame. Highly recommended if you like quiet, open-ended happy endings, fable-like stories about everyday people, or (need I say it) Scottish accents.
Last but not least, thanks to everybody who went out of their way to make me happy this Christmas and this year! It is a privilege and an honor to know so many creative, industrious, caring people. Merry Christmas, happy lengthening of the days (for those of you north of the Equator), and a joyous New Year to all of you!