New dawn, new day

Feeling more like myself and happier than I have been in longer than I'd care to admit. (Ok, it's been years.) Funny, you might be able to fool your head into thinking you're happy but the heart always knows. Mine did and I should have listened.

I won't make that mistake ever again ...

The lesser of two evils . . .

... so, what's worse? Doing something you live to regret or living to regret something you didn't do?

You, me and Fate . . . our own lil ménage à trois . . .

Everything happens for a reason. I think that reason is Fate. If you know me, you know about me and Fate. I am a big huge enormous humongous fan. Coincidence is, well, just coincidental. Fate is deep and meaningful.


I think Fate sends people our way to teach us. To teach us about ourselves and about others, teach us about what we need or what we may have to offer, teach us to see things from a different viewpoint or to believe in the way we see things ourselves.


If we are lucky, every once in a while we come across a kindred spirit - someone so much like ourselves that it is uncanny. They just get us. They get us without our having to explain about ourselves, they get us without our having to drop any clues. We don't have to fill in the blanks because there do not seem to be any that need filling.


I will be the first to admit to there is a great sense of comfort in being got by someone else. Especially when it seems to happen so seldom. There is an ease in the flow of conversations, thoughts are transmitted in a seemingly effortless fashion and without feeling the need like you have to explain your thoughts after having voiced them. It's like slipping into your oldest, softest, most well worn, faded jeans. Your spirit just seems to relax and exhale contentedly. Ahhhhh ...


In my case, it also sends off the faintest of alarm signals. Only because it's very off putting to find another me (on the rare occasions when it's happened). I'm more accustomed to feeling like a stranger in a strange land who, although she can speak the same language as the natives, speaks it with an accent. It seems I spend a lot of time explaining my thoughts and feelings to those who nod politely, as though they get me when we both know they don't. Imagine what it feels like to have someone glance inside you and instantly know your innermost thoughts and fears, look past all the things you're saying and see all the things you're working hard to keep inside. Yep, completely discombobulating.


For some reason, Fate has seen fit to make our paths cross now. I don't fight Fate and I've learned not to question it much either. I'm curious to see what Fate has in store with this and for now, I'll embrace it and enjoy the ride. 

"It does not always pay to have a golden tongue unless one has the ability to hold it."  (Paul Johnson)

2011's first (and counting) . . .

'If it doesn't make you smile, bring you joy or isn't useful, get rid of it'


That's my new mantra. New year, new outlook. Lord knows, the old way of doing things has produced eff all. I won't call this a new year's resolution (a, because I never make those and b, because the few times I have, I never kept them, ergo reason a!)


So let this be a lesson to you all ... make me smile, bring me joy or be useful ... or hit the road, Jack! (Well, no - not Jack! He makes me smile, brings me joy AND is useful. He also listens (for the most part), loves me unconditionally and doesn't drool, which is more than I can say for many men I've known in my life.)


If I were going to make a resolution (and I'm NOT!), I'd say that I will sincerely make an effort to de-clutter. My surroundings AND my life. I'm getting too old for a cluttered life and as I age, I imagine not having to maneuver around useless shit will make more sense.


It's a Monday so I'm feeling inspired. I'm waiting for people to call me back so I have some time on my hands. Laundry's up to date, but I feel a cooking bug coming on, so I think I'll head to the kitchen and make stew. 


Of course, if I were TimBit, I'd just sleep all day ... 

Eff you, 2010

I had such hope for you ... what you had for me was a screwing over.

You taxed me, made me work so hard for every happy moment but there were so few of them. You fooled me, promised things that you never delivered on. You strung me along and kept me hopeful, but only disappointed in the end.

It would be easy to say that I will remember you for the piece 'o crap that you were but it's about six and a half hours until your demise and I'm already working on forgetting you ever existed.

All in all, you were a waste of time and a sheer and utter let down. I won't be sad to see you go and won't miss you once you're gone.

Eff you, 2010 ... eff you.

Twelve Days Later . . . the Honourable Mentions

This was a challenging undertaking ... narrowing down contemporary Christmas carols to a mere 12 choices. Some were obvious - Band Aid, John Lennon, Bob & Doug. Others, not so much. So, on this Christmas Day (and in no particular order), I salute those who didn't make that first chop:

This Christmas - Diana Ross ... for my Robbie ♥

Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You - Billy Squier (1981) ... Julia totally and immediately nixed this choice. I love it. Something about a bunch of people all singing the same thing at the same time and swaying in unison, I guess.

Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms (1957) ... In the movie Mean Girls, singer Janis Ian remarks, 'Everyone in the English speaking world knows that song.' Indeed!

2000 Miles - The Pretenders (1983) ... Please. Chrissie Hynde? Please! (While most people believe 2,000 miles to be the distance between two lovers missing each other over the holidays, it is actually meant for James Honeyman-Scott, the group's original guitar player, who died of heart failure induced by cocaine intolerance in 1982.)

Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney (1979) ... McCartney recorded the song entirely on his own during the sessions for his solo project McCartney II. Although the members of Wings are not on the recording, they appear in the video.

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley (1968) ... Elvis turned this 1948 country music staple into a rock-and-roll holiday classic by recording it in his signature style in 1957.

Thank God It's Christmas - Queen (1984) ... No promotional video was ever made of this track, written by Brian May and Roger Taylor, which hampered its use on TV music channels. For this reason, it's a lesser known Christmas single but it's still my favorite Christmas message from (the) Queen. *smirk*

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee (1958) ... She was 14 when she recorded this. 14. 14!!!

Father Christmas - The Kinks (1977) ... And it failed to make the charts.   :(

Rock and Roll Christmas - George Thorogood & the Destroyers ... Try and not bop to this one. I dare you!

Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry (1958) ... Sometimes known as Run Run Rudolph.

White Christmas - Billy Idol (2007) ... A strangely sexy video ...

Someday at Christmas - Stevie Wonder (1967) ... A pure voice singing about a pure sentiment. It doesn't get any better than Stevie.

The Chanukah Song - Adam Sandler (1994), The Chanukah Song 2 (1999), The Chanukah Song 3 (2002) ... A series of hilarious songs written and performed by Adam Sandler. All of them center on the theme of Jewish children feeling alienated during the Christmas season and the listing of Jewish celebrities, both real and fictional.

Christmastime is Here - Vince Guardini (1965) ... Is there a person alive who doesn't remember this tune from their childhood? Released on A Charlie Brown Christmas as a soundtrack to the TV special of the same name, it's one of the most popular Christmas albums of all time.

Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano (1970) ... One of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the US and Canada and one of the 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.

I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - John Mellencamp (1987) ... 13-yr old Jimmy Boyd's original 1952 version was condemned by the Roman Catholic church in Boston because the songs mixed kissing with Christmas. SHEESH!!!

Christmas is All Around - Billy Mack (2003) ... Bill Nighy' cover of The Troggs' song Love Is All Around for the movie Love Actually. Hilarious video which borrows heavily from Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love.

Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters (1970) ... Richard Carpenter (one of the song's two composers) himself calls the original recording one of his sister's best.

Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - The Ramones (1989) ... Joey Ramone composed and dedicated this one to his girlfriend.

Oh Come All Ye Faithful - Twisted Sister (2006) ... One of the bestest kick-ass rock Christmas songs of all time.

Mary's Boy Child - Boney M (1978) ... Written in 1956 and originally recorded by Harry Belafonte.

On the twelfth day of Christmas . . .

I know I started off this series by saying I'd be featuring songs that CHOM would play. For this last posting, I'm deviating from the plan. Firstly, this is my blog and I get to veer off track whenever I feel like it and lastly, I'm a woman and my very gender gives me carte blanche to change my mind in mid-sentence, mid-step or mid-life.

I had an extremely happy childhood. Christmastime found me indulging in festivities twice - once on the 25th of December and then again two weeks later on January 7th. Not twice the prezzies, mind you, but twice the holiday feeling. Christmas Eve evokes two powerful memories ... our tree, a turquoise blue/green silvery ghastly monstrosity which at the same time was and will always be the most beautiful Christmas tree I'll ever see and the sound of Christmas carols being played on the stereo in the living room. We heard them all: Bing, The Chipmunks, Judy, Dean, Perry, Ella ... but nothing means Christmas Eve to me more than one of the most powerful Christmas carols sung by one of the most powerful voices ever ... enjoy .. (it's) the night before Christmas ...

Silent Night - Mahalia Jackson

On the eleventh day of Christmas . . .

Coming home from a fun filled evening spent with Robbie, I was mentally writing this posting. I'd chosen the day's song and as fate would have it, CHOM even played it, calling it the most awkward coupling ever. I agree wholeheartedly. I mean, how could throwing together an androgynous glam rocker with a child beating traditional crooner be anything but awkward?!? Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself ... while you're at it, try and decide who's wearing more eye makeup!

But, I'm a Canuck and as such, I'm duty bound to include at least one homegrown sampling on this playlist. And what better offering than one whose title encompasses the whole spirit of this latest blogging venture of mine?

12 Days of Christmas - Bob & Doug McKenzie

Bob (Rick Moranis) and Doug (Dave Thomas) McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted 'The Great White North', an SCTV sketch. Quickly becoming a pop culture phenomenon on both sides of the border, the characters were later revived for an animated series, Bob & Doug. The sketch also prompted an album in 1982, The Great White North, which included the brothers' improvised version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. While hugely popular in the US, the album was also #1 in Canada for six weeks.

On the tenth day of Christmas . . .

I never hear this without getting goosebumps. I had the chance to go see them in concert a few years back but got sick the day before. I now wish I'd gone anyhow ...

Christmas Eve/Sarajevo - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, an instrumental medley of Carol of the Bells and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, was first released by Savatage in 1995. Re-released in 1996 by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (a side project of several Savatage menmbers) on their debut album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories, the piece describes a lone cello player playing a forgotten Christmas carol in war-torn Sarajevo.

The song is played twice during every live performance - once as part of the Christmas Eve and Other Stories portion of the show and again as a finale. Together with Wizards in Winter and Christmas Canon, it is regarded as TSO's most recognizable recordings. Due to its use of the melody, the song is often misnamed Carol of the Bells. This leads to it being mistakenly linked to either Metallica or Mannheim Steamroller, who have released renditions of both God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Carol of the Bells.

On the ninth day of Christmas . . .

Keep your candy canes and sugar plums ... I got my own Christmas candy. Jon Bon Jovi ... mmmmmmm!

I Wish Every Day Could Be Like Christmas - Bon Jovi

B-side (in the US) to the single Keep The Faith.