The Christmas Movies Tag

I love Christmas.  I love movies.  Today, I'm inviting you to join me in combining those two delightful parts of life so we can talk about our favorite Christmas movies! 

The Rules:

• Fill out the prompts (expound as much or as little as you like)
• Tag some friends (however many or few you feel like)
• Have fun (this is mandatory)

The Tag:

1.  A favorite funny Christmas movie:  We're No Angels (1955)

It's only one of the absolute funniest movies I've ever seen, AND it's a Christmas movie!  Who can resist the hilarious tale of three escaped convicts (Aldo Ray, Humphrey Bogart, and Peter Ustinov) who set out to rob a storekeeper (Leo G. Carroll) so they can get off Devil's Island and instead end up helping him and his family escape the clutches of a merciless relative (Basil Rathbone).  Comedy genius AND Christmastime gold all at once!  (And if you think Humphrey Bogart isn't funny, boy, do you ever have another think coming.)

2.  A favorite poignant Christmas movie:  It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is the perfect blend of darkness and hope.  It's remarkably gritty, with enough desperation and anger simmering in it to fuel several noir films, and yet it's also imbued with so much hope and love.  

3.  A favorite romantic Christmas movie: The Holiday (2006) grows more loveable every time I watch it.  Yes, there's a bit of "adult content," but most of it is alluded to, not shown on-screen.  But the themes of standing up for yourself, learning who to trust and how to trust them, and caring for others even when you've only just met -- all so good!  And "W-i-d-o-w-e-d" never fails to make me tear up.  If you know, you know.

4.  A favorite feel-good Christmas movie:  White Christmas (1954)

Have I seen White Christmas a few dozen times?  Of course!  Will I be watching it next weekend when it's on the big screen at our local theater?  Absolutely!  Man, this movie has everything I love in a Christmas movie -- soldiers, war zones, trains, horseshoes, romance, sparkly dresses, earworm songs that make me happy every time I think of them, miraculous snowfalls, and the occasional small, internal muscular hemorrhage.  Magic!

5.  A favorite movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol:  For me, it's a tie between A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and A Christmas Carol (1999) starring Patrick Stewart.  They both bring me to tears, make me laugh, and make me want to clap.  Sometimes I do clap. 

6.  A Christmas movie you watch any time of year:  While You Were Sleeping (1995)

I mean, it's technically a Christmas movie.  You have a Christmas gathering and a Christmas tree and a gift exchange and snow and mistletoe.  But I watch it any time of year because the fact that it's Christmas is only a sort of backdrop.  And also because it was released in April, and I saw it in late spring at the second-run theater with the girls who were becoming my best friends, and... it's so Christmassy, but I almost never watch it at Christmas time ::shrugs::

7.  A Christmas movie that surprised you:  Holiday Affair (1949)

The first time I watched Holiday Affair, the story and characters kept taking these random left turns that would seem to come out of nowhere, but yet made absolute and total sense.  I just could not ever see them coming, and that entranced me.  Which is a bit odd, because usually when movies start zigging when I am quite sure they will zag, I start to get frustrated.  But every single surprising turn of events made the story So Much Better, and I was spellbound.  I now tend to watch this during the week before Christmas after everyone else is in bed, while sitting on the floor in the living room and wrapping gifts.  It's a private, cozy little pleasure I look forward to and savor.

8.  A favorite "but is it really a Christmas movie?" movie:  The Three Godfathers (1948) is kind of hard to describe.  It's a John Wayne Christmas movie.  You've got three desperadoes and an orphaned baby and a desert and people quoting the Bible, and Ward Bond playing a guy named Perley Sweet... and it's generally considered a Christmas movie, but I am not sure I have ever watched it at Christmastime.  

9.  The oldest Christmas movie you've seen:  The Thin Man (1934), which is one of the most delightful murder mysteries ever filmed.  I think we will introduce it to our kids this Christmas season.  Nick and Nora Charles are #MarriedCoupleGoals, and I find this movie funnier every time I watch it, which is pretty rare.

10.  The newest Christmas movie you've seen:  A Christmas Love Story (2019), which was also the first Hallmark Christmas movie I had ever seen!  My mom is living with us part of the time now, and we don't have the Hallmark Channel.  She was missing getting to watch lots of Hallmark Christmas movies, so I hunted up a few on DVD that sounded like I would also enjoy them, and which were made before Hallmark kowtowed to the pressure to push unbiblical agendas on their audience.  We watched this last week, and it was cute and fun.  I'm pretty sure my youngest is going to want to see it because it stars Kristin Chenoweth, and my little ballerina was just in a ballet version of Wicked, which led to her being a bit obsessed with all things Wicked at the moment.  And you know what?  This movie would be totally fine for her watch.  Yay!

I Tag:

18 Cinema Lane

I'm Charles Baker Harris (and I Can Read)

Ink Calamities

The Maidens of Green Gables

Meanwhile, in Rivendell...

Movies Meet Their Match

Musings of an Introvert

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies

Sidewalk Crossings

Silver Scenes

Taking Up Room

YOU, if I didn't tag you and you want to play!  

Here's a clean copy of the questions, if you want them:

1.  A favorite funny Christmas movie:

2.  A favorite poignant Christmas movie:

3.  A favorite romantic Christmas movie: 

4.  A favorite feel-good Christmas movie:

5.  A favorite movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol:

6.  A Christmas movie you watch any time of year:

7.  A Christmas movie that surprised you:

8.  A favorite "but is it really a Christmas movie?" movie:

9.  The oldest Christmas movie you've seen:

10.  The newest Christmas movie you've seen:

My Ten Favorite Non-Scary Movies for Fall

I don't like scary movies.  At all.  But I do like a good, broody, atmospheric, gothic-type movie, especially in October.  Something with dark vibes and dark shadows and dark characters, and maybe a little supernatural or psychological eeriness tossed in, but not actually a scary movie, you know?  Perfect for curling up on the couch with a mug of hot cider and a cozy blanket while the wind howls outside and the rain taps gently against the window...

Well, if you like those sorts of movies too, here's a list of ten I love and recommend!  Just in case you're craving some dark, moody, shadowy goodness yourself right now.  Links go to my own reviews so you can learn more about those titles if you'd like.

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988)  Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Dr. Watson (Edward Hardwicke) help Sir Henry Baskerville (Kristoffer Tabori) uncover the dark truth behind his forbear's death out on the wild and gloomy moors.  I crave this every October, really.  Some years, I make myself watch a different version, just to make this more fresh the next year, but this is my favorite fall watch.  I often reread the book in October too.

2. Jane Eyre (1983)  Lonely governess Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) finds understanding, companionship, and love with Mr. Rochester (Timothy Dalton) in this pitch-perfect BBC miniseries that absolutely kickstarted my devotion to the book it's based on.  (If you don't have time for all four hours, the 2011 version is my other favorite, and it's half as long.  If you want to go really classic, the 1943 version is shrouded in shadows and mystery.)

3. Hamlet (2011) Hamlet (Bruce Ramsay) suspects his uncle Claudius (Peter Winfield) killed Hamlet's father before marrying his mother (Gillian Barber), and he spends the night after their wedding trying to find out.  They trim all of Hamlet down to 1 hour and 27 minutes, give it a neo-noir feel, and it is spectacular.  However, please note that it is rated R for some easy-to-skip adult scenes.  (If you can't get your hands on this version, or don't want to deal with the adult content, the 1948 Olivier and the 2009 Tennant versions both have excellent shadowy vibes and are tamer.)

4. Laura (1944) Detective Mark MacPherson (Dana Andrews) tries to solve the murder of a beautiful woman named Laura (Gene Tierney).  Her family and friends all insist she was lovable, intelligent, talented, and altogether wonderful... so why did someone want to kill her?  This is my favorite noir film, and it has one of the best twists in any movie I've ever seen.  Go into it not knowing much more than this and prepare to fall in love with Laura yourself.

5. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)  A beautiful young singer (Emmy Rossum) reunites with her childhood sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), but her mysterious singing mentor (Gerard Butler) turns out to be an obsessive, possessive killer who wants her for himself.  The whole production is over-the-top lavish, dripping with candlelight and shadows and emotions.  

6. Dead Again (1991)  An amnesiac woman (Emma Thompson) keeps having nightmares about scissors.  A kind P.I. (Kenneth Branagh) tries to help her recover her memory.  And then they discover they may be the reincarnations of two doomed lovers who lived back during the Roaring Twenties, and solving that long-ago murder may be the only way to secure their own peace and happiness.  This one is also rated R because Robin Williams cusses a LOT in his few scenes, and there's some violence.  It would clean up easily with a filtering service, though.

7. Rebecca (1940)  A young bride (Joan Fontaine) is haunted by the suspicion that her new husband (Laurence Olivier) still loves his dead first wife, Rebecca.  Such a fascinating look at doubt, obsession, misconceptions, and consequences.  It's one of Hitchcock's best.

8. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)  A teen girl (Theresa Wright) adores her visiting uncle (Joseph Cotten) until she begins to wonder if he's connected to a recent string of murders.  Another masterpiece about doubt and fear from Alfred Hitchcock.

9. Cry Wolf (1947)  A widow (Barbara Stanwyck) thinks her late husband's uncle (Errol Flynn) is hiding a terrible secret.  It turns out he is, but it's not the secret she's expecting.  There's murder and madness and a gloomy old manor house dripping with shadows -- and also combative romance, just to keep things peppy.

 

10. Meet Joe Black (1998)  Death (Brad Pitt) takes on a human body to experience life, manipulating an aging man (Anthony Hopkins) into helping him.  Death romances the man's daughter (Claire Forlani), tastes peanut butter for the first time, and learns what it means to be both human and kind.  This one is PG-13 mostly for a short and easy-to-skip love scene.

Have you seen any of these?  What are some of your favorite non-scary movies to watch in the fall?

Not Shouting Hooray

All the kids marched into church today, holding palm branches and singing the first verse of "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna."  They do that every year, and it's a fun way to give them a special part in our Holy Week celebrations.  I co-teach the toddler Sunday School class, and every year, we have a little rehearsal for our toddlers where we give them pretend palm branches and practice walking in a line around our classroom and not whacking each other with the branches.  This is very important for 2- and 3-year-olds to remember.  For them, singing is optional, but not-whacking is mandatory.

As I was walking through the sanctuary this morning, herding toddlers in an orderly and non-violent fashion while singing the first verse of the hymn myself, I realized something.

We're not singing "Hooray for Jesus."

When we go to a parade and see someone we think is important, we make noise.  We might clap, we might cheer.  We might yell, "Hooray!"  I once hollered, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Keach!" at a Christmas parade.  Stacy Keach smiled in my direction and called back something like "Thanks!" or maybe even "Merry Christmas!"  That certainly made me want to shout, "Hooray!"

But we're not singing "Hooray for Jesus!" on Palm Sunday.  We're singing, "Hosanna, loud hosanna."  After all, that's what the crowd was chanting when Jesus entered Jerusalem the Sunday before he died.  But 'hosanna' does not mean 'hooray.'

It means, "Save us."

The Jerusalem crowd didn't know it, but that's exactly what Jesus intended to do.  Not save them from the Roman invaders.  Not save them from hunger.  Not save them from having to pay taxes.  That might be what they wanted him to save them from, but it's not what they really needed.  What they needed was someone who could save them from death.  From spending eternity in the abject, incomprehensible agony that is separation from God.  Which is what they deserved.  What you and I deserve.  Every one of us, whether we want to believe it or not.

And the only way Jesus could save them -- and us -- from that eternal death was by... dying.  And then coming back to life.  Those people were all in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, to sacrifice lambs and consume them.  Jesus was there to be sacrificed, to allow his body to be consumed by the grave.  But he was there to do more than that -- he was there to save.  Only he could, and only he did.

Hosanna!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy birthday to the land of the free and the home of the brave!

We're having friends and family over for a cookout this evening, and to shoot some fireworks off (if it stops raining), so Cowboy and I have been busy getting some goodies ready.  Here are my two contributions!  Fruit kabobs and a bluebarb pie :-9

I hope my fellow Americans are all having fun celebrating this weekend too!

Two Takes on "Ten Thousand Angels"

It's Good Friday.  The day God's plan to save sinners from their own filthy selves came to its bloody, brutal climax.  All through my entire childhood, in Michigan and in North Carolina, until I left home for college, every Good Friday, our church would have a Tenebrae service, or "service of darkness."  My dad, the pastor, would wear his black cassock instead of his usual white alb.  We'd have candles on tall candle sticks at the ends of the pews, lining the center aisle.  At the beginning of the service, all those candles would be lit, and all the lights would be on.  As the service proceeded, after various Bible readings and homilies about Christ's arrest, trials, and crucifixion, the ushers would extinguish the candles, a pair at a time, and the electric lights would be dimmed gradually, so that by the end of the service, the entire church would be in darkness, with only the Christ Candle still lighted.  One man would carry that candle out of the church while my dad would walk behind him, carrying our giant family Bible, the biggest Bible we had -- basically a coffee table-sized book.  When he got to the back of the church and the Christ Candle had gone outside, Dad would say loudly Christ's last words on the cross, "It is finished."  Then he'd slam that Bible shut, to signify Christ dying.  Then they'd carry the Christ Candle back in to signify the fact that Jesus did not stay dead, but is still alive now.

Well, during that service, the choir would also sing various songs.  Different ones different years, except they always always always sang two:  "It's Over" and "Ten Thousand Angels."  When I got old enough, I joined the choir and got to sing those songs too.  Either my Googling powers are weak today, or "It's Over" is a really obscure song... I'm going to have to ask my mom to tell me who wrote it, and maybe I can share it next year.  But today, I'm going to share two very different renditions of "Ten Thousand Angels" that I found on YouTube.  They are radically different -- one traditional, one bluegrass -- but I think they're both awesome.

Our church here doesn't have a choir, but we will be having a Tenebrae service tonight, which I'm very glad of.  I never seem properly prepared for the joy of Easter if I don't go through the dark journey of Good Friday first.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to any of my readers who are mothers!  Do you have any Mother's Day traditions?  My family always took Mom out to eat after church when I was a kid, and one such excursion turned out to be very memorable indeed, as we were involved in a pretty serious car accident on the way home.  That's always made me kind of have mixed feelings about the day -- none of us were seriously injured, but my mom got whiplash that has given her neck problems and headaches for the last twenty-some years.  It was a pretty scary experience for an eight-year-old, and ever since, I've liked staying home on Mother's Day more than going off to do something.

So this year, after church, we just stopped at a farmer's market on our way home.  We bought so many wonderful things!  Hearty apricot bread, wildflower honey, homemade kettle corn, beets, and pickles!  We came home and feasted on our finds.  Cowboy gave me a whole case of 24 glass bottles of Mexican Coca-Cola (made with real sugar, not corn syrup!), and my daughters gave me something they made in Sunday School this morning: a little mitchella plant in a pretty jar that they filled with colored sand and dirt.  My son told me "Happy Mother's Day!" accompanied by a hug :-)

My two gifts, plus some of our farmer's market haul

Now my hubby is also giving me some time to catch up on the computer.  Caffeine and computer time -- what could be better?  He's taking Dano out for a bike ride while the girls nap.  So I'd better start catching up on all the stuff I haven't read or written over the past week!  My best friend came to visit, and we had so much fun that I barely had a moment to check my email, much less blog.  So I have some movie reviews coming up (for Robert Downey, Jr.'s two Sherlock Holmes movies and for Iron Man 3), as soon as I can get them written.  

Meanwhile, enjoy your Sunday!

Because Chocolate is Too Pedestrian

Cowboy, aka my husband of 10 years, was in LA for two weeks on business.  He flew back on Valentine's Day, but explained that, while he'd bought me something perfectly splendid, he couldn't figure out a way to get it on the plane.  So he sent it by mail.  He's been giving me tantalizing hints ever since, trying to get me to guess what it was.  And this morning, it arrived.  The doorbell rang, and what to my wondering eyes should appear on my front steps but:

THOR!  Odin's Son, mighty Avenger, heir to the throne of Asgard!  And, as you can see, he's nearly life-size.

I invited him inside, where I just had to give him a hug and reassure him that even though Loki is a brat, Thor has my undying affection, so everything will be okay.  Now he's here in the living room, watching over my shoulder while I type.  Amazingly enough, I've actually managed to teach school, do a few chores, and run an errand, all while the mighty Thor is right here, in my house, looking fierce and fascinating.

All this is to say... I have the best husband in the world, don't I?

"From the Dust Returned" by Ray Bradbury

I've been meaning to read a Ray Bradbury book ever since he died earlier this year, and I finally did.  I quite enjoyed this volume of quiet, spooky stories well-suited to Halloween.  You can read my full review here on the Novel Book Ratings blog.

Particularly Good Bits:

"I have no name," he whispered.  "A thousand fogs have visited my family plot.  A thousand rains have drenched my tombstone.  The chisel marks were erased by mist and water and sun.  My name has vanished with the flowers and the grass and the marble dust." (page 96)

We got a couple inches of snow here today, so Cowboy and I are spending a quiet New Year's Eve at home, playing with Dano and drinking hot Dr. Pepper with lemons. So I raise my mug to you and wish you a wonderful new year full of health and happiness. L'chaim!

I have finally had roasted chestnuts! They weren't roasted on an open fire, but hey. Cowboy found a recipe online and roasted them in our oven, and we ate them when they were still warm, as if we were in a Sherlock Holmes story or a Christmas song.

I'd like to try some that were roasted over a fire, as they're supposed to get a smoky flavor going on. These were pretty good, though. They smelled just like baked ham, and tasted a little like it too. The only thing I didn't care for was their texture, which was akin to baked potato, and as we all know, I am not so much a fan of potatoes.

But still, I have now had roasted chestnuts, which I happen to think is quite cool.

Happy Birthday, America!

I don't think I'm going to be able to carve a pumpkin this year for Halloween :-(

Every year when I was a kid, Dad would get the most enormous pumpkin, and we'd carve something Christian in it. Back when I was really little, he experimented with words like "God is Love", but they were too difficult, so after a couple years he settled on carving a big cross. I was always Dad's enthusiastic helper with this project. Although he got to do the actual carving, I got to scoop out the squishy, slimy insides. My little brother Johnnycake, on the other hand, loathed scooping out the pumpkin -- we have pictures of him when he was probably three years old, standing next to the pumpkin with a handful of innards and bawling. He never has liked getting his hands dirty.

Anyway, when we moved here to Ruralsburg, I picked up the pumpkin carving tradition again. I don't get enormous ones like Dad does (when I was two or three, he carved a pumpkin that was big enough I could sit inside it!), but I usually get a nice one that I can get a good-size cross out of and stick a candle stub inside. One year I even got a cool idea for a story while carving my pumpkin here, and it turned into a Halloween fanfic story called "The Carver".

But this year we had this ferocious hailstorm at the beginning of this month, and I think it ruined the pumpkin crop. All I can find are little stunty pumpkins, and most of them have pockmarks from the hail. We did get in some nice-sized ones at work last week, but they want $14 for them! No way! I can usually get that size for like $6!

So it looks like I won't be sitting on the cement floor of the garage wielding my trusty knife this year :-( I was hoping the price might come down after a few days, but no such luck.

You know, Columbus Day was a whole lot cooler when I was a kid. We got to do stuff for school like color pictures of Columbus and his ships, read books about his voyage, or make little models of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, depending on how old we were. It was a special day, a mark on the calendar that meant a break from the ordinary autumn education routine.

Now, it's like, "Oh, Columbus Day. No mail." End of story.

Hmph. Wonder if there are any downloadable pictures of Columbus and his ships I could print up and color?

Happy Birthday, USA!!!

I love the 4th of July. When I was a little kid, we would spend the whole month of July in Iowa visiting my grandparents, and on the 4th we would all (both sets of grandparents and my family) go to this little town and watch fireworks together. The grownups got to sit on lawn chairs, and Johnnycake and I had to sit on the ground once we got too big to sit on laps, but it was lots of fun.

I've watched 4th of July fireworks in lots of places, and seem to have great memories of them. Huddling with my friend Christy on a blanket with her family in MI. Lying on the hood of the Green Car with my family in NC. Sitting in the Blue Car in Washington DC one year, my heels blistered because I'd proudly (and foolishly) worn my new Chris O'Donnell Shoes while we walked through pretty much the entire Smithsonian. (My friends and I called a particular kind of black-and-white retro sneakers "Chris O'Donnell Shoes" because there was this photo shoot where he was wearing shoes like that, and we were all nuts about him at the time, so we all went out and got shoes like those, only each pair was different according to our personalities.)

But I don't think I've ever had as spectacular a spot to view fireworks as we had tonight. Cowboy and I walked with Banana and the Leatherneck and Papoose to this field thing on the edge of town where the Ruralsburgers like to gather to watch their fireworks. And we found an empty spot to spread our big blanket. And when the show started, it turned out we were basically directly beneath where the fireworks exploded! So we all lay down on the blanket and the fireworks filled our entire field of vision. Sometimes it looked like the sparks would fall directly on us, and we actually did get peppered with bits spent explosives. They were cool by the time they'd hit us, and usually just felt like little bits of charcoal. Cowboy caught one piece, though, that was the size of a large postage stamp and felt like petrified cardboard. Anyway, it was amazing, and we felt like the whole show was just for us. Couldn't have picked better seating if we'd tried.

Valentine's Day is over. Some people might be rejoicing about that fact. Not me! I got lots of cool stuff for V-Day! Besides that oven rack I mentioned a while ago, Cowboy also got me a new dish drainer (I hated our old one) and plenty of chocolate! I got him a poster of Shakira, which is now adorning the big blank spot in the Crypt's dining room, where we used to have bookshelves before we realized they were blocking a big heater vent.

But the coolest thing about Valentine's Day is that it is Vic Morrow's birthday! He would have been 77 this year. So I did something very special in his memory today. I drank a little bit of brandy made at the Korbel Winery in California, I ate some ten-year-old cheese, and I watched the Combat! episode "The Gun". Not only had I never seen that ep before, but it was filmed at the Korbel Winery! What a perfect way to celebrate Vic's career, particularly his role as my favorite tv character ever, right?

Cowboy gave me an early Valentine's Day present yesterday: a new rack for my oven! I know what you're thinking: what a sentimental fool he is, eh? But I really wanted one, because our oven only has one rack and with as many cookies as I bake, two racks is essential, really. I've been making do with only one for the last two-and-a-half years, and Cowboy finally decided enough was enough. Just think: my cookie baking will be twice as fast now! I love him!

After I get home from work in the morning, I will change clothes and help Cowboy pack the car, and then we will drive to the airport and fly HOME!!!!! Because I have 9 days of vacation! This will be the first time I have spent Thanksgiving with my parents since I was 17, and the first time I've spent it with my Grandma O. since I was probably 3. I can't wait! We're gonna have a blast too--we're going to Myrtle Beach over the weekend, I get to see Freestargirl and Jewels again...I

I haven't been home since July of 2004. That is way too long.

I'm afraid the trees will start budding soon. It's still so dogburned warm! We did get a lovely bit of snow on Christmas Eve (my hubby and I went wandering through a graveyard while it snowed...very peaceful), but now there's not a speck to be found. Grrr.

I'm off work today, and I must admit I'm a bit bored suddenly. I think it's the jeans. All my (3 pairs of) jeans need washing, so I'm wearing the ancient pair with gawking holes in the knees. I used to love these jeans. But today they're assuring me that I have indeed gained weight this winter (I wish I didn't love to bake and cook so much), and that's made me a bit irritated with myself, and this led to not wanting to do anything and that led to being bored. I baked blueberry muffins this morning and watched L A Story (ED loaned it to me over break) and now there's nothing on except a John Wayne movie I've seen recently. I should drag the laundry down the hall and wash it, but it's full and heavy and I want to wait with it until noon when Cowboy comes back and can help me with it. He has to work today :-( But not tomorrow! I kind of want to watch a movie, but one I've never seen before. But I have several of those, and can't decide between them. Hmmmph. Hey, just noticed that it turned a new hour, so maybe now there's something on. Or I could figure out what to make for lunch.

This has been an eventful morning. They're tarring the roof of the place I work, so it's been really noisy all morning. Then suddenly, one of the ceiling tiles fell down! And a few more looked ready to follow, including a big air-duct grate. And there was a big piece of metal sticking through the hole in the ceiling. So the people who work on that side of the room had to move, and then this woman brought in a huge ladder, climbed up, and started yelling at the roofing crew. They finally got the point, I guess, because now there are workmen wandering around and climbing ladders and talking on little radios.

Today is the beginning of NaNoWriMo. If you don't know what that is, go to www.nanowrimo.org. The Writers Group I belong to is doing its own version of NaNoWriMo. Instead of writing 50,000-word novels in a month, we're writing 30-page novellas. That's a little more workable for the group, considering that all of them except me are still in college. I've started mine this morning, jotting down a few words while I work. Its working title is "Rudolph Valentino Reincarnate".

Last night was fun. We got our portraits made for $10, and then went trick-or-treating in the mall. The dance at college really sucked though. We only stayed for 3 songs, which all reeked, and then left. The school decided to try out a new dj, which was a big mistake. They should just stick with our pal 'Draven' (that's his pen name, so if he gets famous some day, you know I knew him in college) for a dj, because his dances rock!

"I'm sick and tired of these stupid things happening to me! And somebody had better do something about it!" --Prudy in Support Your Local Sheriff.

As has happened the last couple years, my carefully-planned Halloween costume has disintegrated the night before Halloween. Last night I melted a hole in my costume with an iron. So now I'm throwing together a quick costume to match my husband's. He's going as Wolverine from "X-Men", and now I'm going as Rogue (thank you, ED for having long gloves I can borrow!). We're patterning our outfits after what they're wearing when they first meet, about 17 minutes into the movie. You know, kinda normal clothing. Because there's no way I could get him to wear yellow-and-blue spandex. It's our hair that's going to make us recognizable. We got "hair glue" for his to give him that great pointy Wolvie hair, and I'm going to quick run to the mall after work to find some sort of impermanent white (or maybe silver?) dye to do a quick streak in my hair. But I'm afraid that as has happened all too often, our costumes will be too subtle and only a few people will get it. Let's see...my freshman year a friend and I went as sort of a photo and its negative--I wore a white shirt and black pants, she wore a black shirt and white pants, etc. Nobody got it. Sophomore year I was a genie, but just ended up looking like an Bohemian MC Hammer. Junior year my friends and I went Goth Glam, so that was quite fun and people understood that. But last year we decided to all go as vampires dressed as something else: a vampire as an elf, a vampire as a fairy, a vampire as a military commando (that was me), and a vampire as Ringo Starr from the film Help! (that was him, and only one person besides our group got it without us explaining the whole thing). I don't remember having this problem as a kid. We'll see if anyone figures us out this year. Maybe I should start thinking more garishly.

Just a couple more thoughts from Chamberlain (this time regarding the aftermath of battle) for you to ruminate upon:

"But we had with us, to keep and to care for, more than five hundred bruised bodies of men,--men made in the image of God, marred by the hand of man, and must we say in the name of God? And where is the reckoning for such things? And who is answerable? One might almost shrink from the sound of his own voice, which had launched into the palpitating air words of order--do we call it?--fraught with such ruin. Was it God's command we heard, or His forgiveness we must forever implore?" (p 42. Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence. The Passing of the Armies. New York: Bantam Books, 1993.)