At Games Group this afternoon, one of the new kids this year, Linus, gave me as a present from his family, a bag containing a card, a handmade candle, a jar of homemade strawberry jam, and some homemade holiday bread wrapped in foil. Looking in the bag, I thanked him and asked, is it Stollen? He just *looked* at me, and then I realized what what I ( Read more... )

The host/organizer of the local shape-note singing group has gotten so busy and so out of town that we haven't met yet this year at all, and last year it was generally once a month if that (except when we were preparing for the Jefferson's Jigge concert), but this afternoon she sent out an email saying that at least for May we'll be on once a week ( Read more... )

Tonight's shape-note singing was actually more of a rehearsal for a concert we're going to be in (scroll down) featuring music from the time of Thomas Jefferson. The host and organizer, Shelley, was advising us to use vowels that were less California and more Cornwall, i.e. talk like pirates. She mentioned Talk Like A Pirate Day but didn't remember ( Read more... )

In Santa Cruz these days the shape-note singings are first and third Sundays from 2-4 (though they get canceled about half the time due to conflicts with other music events), and the Celtic slow jam sessions are also first and third Sundays of the month from 2-4. In general I try to go to shape-note on first Sundays and slow session on third ( Read more... )

Today's shape-note singing was at Tammy's house near UCSC. I didn't feel like trudging up the really steep (and probably slippery) Miramar hill in the rain, so I took the bus over to plaidsuperquid-land, and walked down Meder St., which I had never been on before, happening upon the "Home of Peace" Jewish cemetery which looked really green and shining and ( Read more... )

So, to revisit this message of a month and a half ago, that Sunday I did take the remaining pebbernødder plus a new big batch of pepparkakor over to the shape-note holiday party, where after keeping company with large quantities of many other delicious foods about half of them made the trip home with me again.

Then a few days later violetclm carried the ( Read more... )

As mentioned in yesterday's message, this afternoon I went to a shape-note Mardi Gras potluck/class/singing.

I did myself all up in purple, gold, and green (my neighbor asked, "Why are you dressed up -- is it football?"), and got many compliments on the Mardi Gras cookies I had made using purple, yellow, and green Hersheys Kissables (basically ( Read more... )

Tonight we went to Pepperland Odyssey, a version of the Odyssey with all dialog taken from Beatles lyrics, and much fine singing, dancing, and rapping to live music.

jongod's younger brother (who is staying here for several days -- among other things he can just walk back and forth between here and the theater) was a maniacal taxman and a cell-phone- ( Read more... )

Hmmmph, once again the storm is here and the power isn't ( Read more... )

After some correspondence yesterday with someone I haven't seen in many months because she's off whooping it up in Wales with lots of biking and touristy things, I got an "I've added you as a friend on Facebook..." notification message from her/Facebook, and this with me not even being on Facebook. Maybe I'm the life of the party there, with ( Read more... )