Okay, Now it's Time for Christmas Music

In direct opposition to what I posted last week about constantly blaring Christmas music at the hospital I was in, I am now ready to try to use the Power of Christmas Music for good, not evil.  Maybe, at some point, I could even call it a coping mechanism.

I don't hate Christmas music.  I just hate Christmas music before Thanksgiving (and I always hate Mariah Carey and George Michael Christmas music, that's a constant).  Plus, my all-time favorite Christmas song is "Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk this Christmas," by John Denver (from the album Aspenglow). Who in their right mind could hate that song?

Anyway, I dug out all my old Christmas CDs and am ripping them into iTunes and uploading/downloading/sideloading/whateverloading so I can listen to them on my iPod or my phone.  As a side note, if you haven't checked out this whole Amazon cloud thingie, it's kind of cool.  Essentially, you can mirror your iTunes and Amazon Cloud libraries to each other, so you can play any of your digital music library on just about any portable device, Mac or other (like Android). 

I thought I'd share some of my favorite Christmas songs:

• John Denver, "A Baby Just Like You" and "Aspenglow" -- both wonderful in a melancholy-John-Denver kind of way
• John Denver, "Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas" -- as mentioned
• Weezer, "Hark the Harald Angels Sing" -- a house in our neighborhood does this amazing light display set to music, and this is one of the songs they use
• Sarah McLachlan's version of "Happy Christmas" -- I bought this album the year it came out and thought I was so cool, but it turns out everyone has it now
• Harry Connick, Jr., "The Blessed Dawn of Christmas Day" -- another album that everyone has (or at least has heard some of the songs from) of, but this is a nice, peaceful song and very Harry Connick-y.  I also like "I Pray on Christmas," it has a funky gospel sound
• The Muppets' "Twelve Days of Christmas" -- I think I like this one because at my husband's yearly extended Christmas party, we'd sing the song and you had to sing the verse that corresponded to your birth month (first day = January, etc), and my mother-in-law was May (fifth month), and she ALWAYS sang it just like Miss Piggy

And I'd recommended the following albums, in their entirety:

• "Peace," by Jim Brickman
• "A New Age Christmas," Various.   I think I bought this randomly somewhere in a check-out line, but it's really good
• "Christmas Guitar," Boccherini Guitar Quartet
• "Celtic Christmas Harp I," Various. Again, bought this one somewhere but I can't remember where
• "A Windam Hill Christmas, I'll Be Home for Christmas," Windam Hill.  I'm currently pissed because I know I bought this at some point but I can't find it right now

I know I've missed some good ones, but that's enough for a low-impact Sunday post.  Happy caroling!

That's Me Trying

Several years ago, a very odd musical collaboration occurred between William Shatner and Ben Folds.  If you are familiar with William Shatner's previous musical offerings (his version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is my personal favorite), you'd be right to be skeptical.  But -- and I say this completely without irony -- the resulting album, Has Been, is actually not bad.  Shatner mostly does spoken word recitations rather than trying to sing, and Folds sets the tracks to music and does some backup singing (along with others, like Aimee Mann and Henry Rollins).  My favorite song on the album is called "That's Me Trying."

Anyway, the reason I mention this (well, really, who needs a reason to mention William Shatner??), is that I've mentioned that I haven't been doing so well in the mood department for the last week or so.  I've gotten a lot of help, thank God, but everyone just keeps telling me, "You have to try!"

I guess I understand what they're saying, but at this point, I really don't even know what "trying" is.  Is it not cutting myself?  Not bursting into tears every hour?  If that's trying, then I'm not trying.  If it's managing to make dinner (which didn't turn out great), managing to drag the kids to the store (which was a big mistake), then I am trying.  Is it updating this blog, and working on my knitting projects?  Then I'm trying.  Is it fighting the "I want to die" feelings?  Then I'm not trying.

You get the point.

My constant questioning has me coming back to that stupid Shatner/Folds song again and again.  Part of the refrain goes, "Above the quiet, there's a buzz/That's me trying."  I think, I made dinner.  That's me trying.  I took a walk.  That's me trying.  I feel like I want to write on the walls, "Look!  That's me trying!"  The only problem is that  I still feel like shit.

So now what?

Note:  part of "me trying" is continuing work on my little octopus.  Did you know that octopuses have eight freaking legs?  That's a hell of a lot of legs.  I'm tired of knitting legs.  But that's me trying.