On Christmas Carols and Decorating Craziness

I have to confess something.

I love Christmas.

I really do.

Or that’s how this post was supposed to start before Jayde-Ashe at The Paperbook Blog beat me to it. Oh, well.

There are things about Christmas I don’t like, like the way it has become all about stuff and all the whack-jobs and Scrooges (“Christian” and non-Christian) who suddenly get on their soapboxes to proclaim why we shouldn’t be celebrating Christmas. I could probably think of more, but I don’t want to right now. This post is about loving Christmas.

What I love most about Christmas is the music. I also like giving the people I love gifts. I’ve never been that big on decorating for Christmas – that’s the wife’s department – but this year I got into that as well. In fact, I got a bit too into it this year…

It started with the wife decorating the tree:

Looks nice, doesn’t it? Then I decided the clock needed decoration as well…

Continue reading “On Christmas Carols and Decorating Craziness” →

On Another Milestone

So, not only is today Friday the thirteenth. It is the second Friday the thirteenth of twenty-thirteen and falls exactly thirteen weeks after the previous one. As stated previously, I’m not superstitious, but just in case your computer explodes as you read this, I’ll keep today’s post short.

Yesterday marked the two-hundredth post on if all else fails…use a hammer. No, I’m not going to regale you with two hundred facts about myself, I just thought it worth mentioning.

Last week I did a post on five truths and a lie. I was planning to reveal which one is a lie this week, but Nelson Mandela’s passing and lack of internet last weekend have upset my schedule somewhat, so the reveal will come next week. That means if you haven’t guessed which of the six facts about me are made up, go there now.

I have a couple of song suggestions lined up for the Song Title Challenge, but I’d love it if someone can suggest me an interesting Christmassy song for the week after next. Bonus points if it’s something I’ve never heard of. Last year I did Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (posted here in June). Go read it.

While I did not have internet last weekend I was within fifty kilometres of a cinema, so the wife and I went to watch Catching Fire. I won’t be doing a review, but it’s definitely worth watching. It did what The Hunger Games couldn’t do: convince me that something is missing from my life if I don’t read the books.

Next week Tuesday we’ll be driving 150 kilometres to the nearest cinema to go watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Why Tuesday? Half price (which won’t cancel out the petrol costs, unfortunately). However, I absolutely can’t not see it on the big screen, so it’s a justifiable expense.

The novel has not moved a word since NaNoWriMo ended, I’m ashamed to admit. Perhaps I shouldn’t allow myself to go to the movies unless I finish 10 000 words this weekend…

That’s it for today. Hope you survive your Friday the thirteenth without tripping over black cats, having ladders fall on you, or getting stuck inside broken mirrors. More seriously, if you find yourself in one of the areas experiencing some extreme weather, good luck. The sun is still there behind the clouds. Just hang on.

A Tale of Two Funerals

It was a beautiful day, it was a terrible day. It was a day of celebration, it was a day of mourning. It was a day of great joy, it was a day of deepest grief.

There were two funerals in South Africa on Tuesday. One was for a great man who had touched the lives of millions. He had passed away at a ripe old age, having achieved in his lifetime what he had set out to do. He died peacefully in his bed, surrounded by his loved ones. And while we are all sad that he is now gone, Tuesday was marked by a spirit of celebration as we remembered a man the like of which comes around perhaps once in a generation, if we’re lucky.

The other funeral was for a mother and daughter who were violently ripped from this earth in a senseless accident on the highway. Their deaths were sudden and unexpected, their lives incomplete. There was no celebration at their funeral. Instead, there was wailing and sobbing, and the daughter’s former colleagues singing hymns as the coffin descended into the Earth to remind her loved ones and themselves that God was there, even if it didn’t feel like He was.

I attended the other funeral. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Funerals” →

Song Title Challenge #26: God is a Popstar – Oomph!

As I tried to explain yesterday via the Android WordPress App, I had been suffering this weekend from an incredibly poor 3G signal making it impossible to access the internet. The wife and I were temporary refugees seeking the safety of my in-laws’ house and I couldn’t get a decent signal there. What’s so horrible that I consider my mother-in-law’s a place of safety, I hear you ask? This is:

Okay, so that doesn’t look terrifying, but imagine 7 000 bikers camping out fifty metres from your bedroom window and you’ll have the sleepless nights that made us flee to my in-laws’ to avoid. (I consider it win-win: mommy-in-law is a great cook.)

Now we’re back and I present this week’s Song Title Challenge, a day late. For more info on the Song Title Challenge, how to take part and to suggest a title, click here.

I feel I have to warn you, this week’s story might upset some readers, so if you don’t really get farce or satire, or you firmly believe that those techniques should not be used where religion is concerned, do not read this week’s story as you will be offended. (Honestly, I feel a bit uncomfortable with this story myself, but it’s what came out when I sat down to write, and this whole challenge is about experimenting, after all, and too severe self-censorship will stymie creativity. I won’t be posting the music video, though.)

This week’s song is God is a Popstar by Oomph! and the genre is Fantasy/Sci-Fi. Thanks to bumblepuppies for the suggestion and for once again expanding my musical horizons 😉

God is a Popstar

Continue reading “Song Title Challenge #26: God is a Popstar – Oomph!” →

Service announcement

I regret that there will be a delay in posting this week’s Song Title Challenge, due to a very poor 3G signal at my current location (the in-laws’) and because I’m not going to retype the whole thing on my phone.

Normal service on if all else fails…use a hammer will hopefully resume by tomorrow afternoon (South African time).

My apologies if this has caused you any inconvenience (as if!)

😉