Merry Christmas and Happy New Decade

My favorite Christmas carol has always been "Angels We Have Heard on High," I love the joy of it, the idea of the mountains rejoicing in the birth of the Savior, and how happy it makes me feel to sing it. However, this year the song that has touched me the most is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" based on the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow :

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! ...

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Longfellow wrote this poem during a particularly gloomy moment during the Civil War, and while life for me this year hasn't been anywhere near that difficult, singing this last verse in church brought me to tears.

I was listening to a radio program today that said that Time Magazine declared the last ten years to be "The Decade From Hell." Apparently they pointed to the September 11th attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the economic crisis as their proof of this. While this last year has been a little crazy for Tracy and I, I look back at my life over the last ten years and see a decade full of joy and growth. My life is undeniably better. Do I think the rest of it will be perfect? No. But I do feel a sense of hope and optimism. Like Longfellow I know that in the end "The Wrong shall fail, The Right Prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

Favorite Things of 2009 - Part I

I'm calling this Part I because I'm sure I'll think of some other things, but two of my favorite things (pop culture wise) of 2009 are:

1. Forest Born by Shannon Hale
This might be my favorite Shannon Hale book, and that is saying something. This book was on my brain for about a week. The thoughts it created weren't always comfortable, for example the main character is a teenager who manages to find absolute balance between, in fantasy terms anyway, public and family life. Something I haven't even come close to figuring out. This book was absolute page-turning entertainment but it stuck with me, a major achievement.

2. "Welcome to the Future" by Brad Paisley
This isn't the first Brad Paisley song that unexpectedly moved me to tears, and it probably won't be the last. In terms of both my own life, and the world in general, this song makes me very grateful to be where I am today. Surprisingly deep for a song that starts out talking about a Pac-Man game. His story about singing this song at the White House was one of the few "celebrity" news stories that actually made me happy. www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/23/brad.paisley.white.house/index.html

I Love Bookstores

I love bookstores. I went tonight for a Christmas/Birthday shopping run and crossed six presents off my list as well as donating one of my favorite books (which was a hardcover on sale for $7.95) to a kids charity for Christmas. Even when I'm not buying the books for myself I still love bookstores!

Cards

I have my Christmas cards written, finally. Now if I only had stamps!

You're a Writer...And This Thing Is Your Blog??

Just for the record, the title of this blog wasn't actually said to me, it's just been running through my head this week. I watched the movie Julie and Julia about a woman who cooked her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and wrote a blog about it. The woman, Julie Powell, had aspirations to become a writer and her blog eventually became a book, and of course, a movie. I'm also a reader of a couple of blogs, like author Shannon Hale's and (my friend from graduate school) Melanie's that are sometimes so clever or touchingly written that it does reach the level of literature.

While I liked the movie for the most part, it made two things very clear to me. 1. I will never blog like Julie Powell (and not just because I've heard she used some nasty language in hers) 2. I will never cook like Julia Child. I'm generally happy enough just to know this blog is read by my mom and my grandmother and that my cooking is good enough to keep my husband and I chubby and happy.

Still, I've found myself wondering why it is that I'm more comfortable writing about fantastical people and places than my own life? Maybe it's because I don't think my life is that adventurous and exciting, which is kind of a good thing actually. I don't know. I don't have any grand cosmic answers to this, it's just been on my mind this week.

New Resolution

I solemnly swear that I will stop reading the largely idiotic comments that usually follow news and entertainment stories online. They almost always make me cranky at the lack of diplomacy, civility, compassion, and (if I'm being honest and snarky) intelligence that people display in writing 90% of those things.

Christmas Decorations

Today I was able to get some Christmas decorations up. Tracy was nice enough to put up the outdoor lights, which always make me happy. I also finished one Christmas present today, worked on another one, and was able to actually wrap two of them. Now, if I can only keep at it I might actually finish in time.