Spectacular Seuss

My break continues to go well, although my back’s a mess after all the post- Winter storm Stella shoveling I did yesterday.  Because it was such a wet and heavy snow all that was on the ground had cemented into something rather brick-like.
But it’s good for cardio, right? And having been semi-sedentary since Winter Ball, the feeling of being so wiped and wrung out was pleasant.  And I have a massage tonight, which will hopefully take care of my back, though I’m not sure what to do about the palms of my hands being bruised.

Anyway, have you heard of Dr. Seuss? A silly question because most everyone has, chances are you even have a favorite story.  I wanted to mention some of my favorites, which tend to be lesser known.
I promise there are some generally popular things I love, but I do tend to go my own way when it comes to literature and film. And there’s a good reason this time! The classic books were all ones we read (or had read to us) in school, while the more obscure stories were the ones I had at home, in a lovely compendium called ‘Six By Seuss’ (which definitely had more than six stories in it?). It’s still on my bookshelf.
And reading a book over and over again at home is always a different (better) memory that reading at school.

Christmas Music: TV Specials

Here’s the fun one where I get to seem like an ignoramus.  Yes, I do know that these songs are not original to the tv specials. Some of them are. Those are the worse ones.  But there’s a whole host of snappy songs that I was introduced to via Christmas specials watched at home or on ABC’s 25 Days of Christmas (is that still a thing?) and those are maybe, for me, the closest to my young child heart because they’re the ones that young child me loved.

Even if as I got a little older I realized that ‘If you sit on my lap today, a kiss a toy is the price you pay’ is not an okay lyric under any circumstances. But when you’re little you’re just like, yeah okay, all smiles here! Creepy ginger man from the woods in strange clothes has toys!

And I’m seriously debating having this be the closing entry in this series. I don’t really like more popular/current Christmas songs (like WHAM’s Last Christmas, etc.) but there are a few that I enjoy… I don’t know? Maybe I’ll tack them on at the end here.

Christmas Specials

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Well, depending on how you feel about it, maybe, maybe not.  For me, it will be once I’m done with this semester and headed home.  And then I can double down on the advent calendar, gift wrapping, holiday preparation whole nine yards.

Because college has seriously cramped my festive style.  (I miss the 25 days of Christmas on ABC (Is it ABC?)).  All they do here at university is get drunk at holiday parties. And the guys next door (not the ones we share a bathroom with, the other ones) blast Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You while I try to do my thesis. Bah Humbug.
Finals aren’t even over until the 21st.

I’ve done a bit better this year.  I cornered a children’s choir and made them sing Go Tell it on the Mountain, which is one of my favorite carols. Okay, actually I ran into them and they were going to sing anyway. But it was such an unexpected coup and I feel so deviously satisfied.
I also got to watch a single Christmas movie one of the days after Thanksgiving.  Still far behind my young self, but doing better than some recent years.
And a horse-drawn carriage giving free rides stopped in front of me today so I hopped on and they took me around the block, which was lovely.  The horses were named Ben and Luke, a Clydesdale and Percheron x Thoroughbred. And I’m very satisfied because I guessed their breeds correctly.  My horse knowledge hasn’t all wasted away.
And I think the performance of the Messiah will be happening soon at the chapel.  That’s always excellent. Last year I went and worked on my fifty page lab report. Woo!

So here’s a list of the cheesy Christmas specials that I’m missing (for now).  They’re kind of in the order of what I love most, which mostly reflects what I liked as a child rather than what is ‘good’. And I’m omitting movies I haven’t seen (and movies I couldn’t make it through- like Arthur Christmas).