When Greg Lake started working on ““I Believe in Father Christmas” he didn’t start out thinking it would be a Christmas song. But when he worked on it with his writing partner who suggested turning it into one, Lake agreed it would be a cool idea.

I wonder how many of the songs we play at Christmastime, weren’t really intended to be a Christmas standard. “My Favorites Things” from The Sound of Music is played a lot during the holidays. Is it really a holiday song? Is it because it mentions packages? “Let It Snow” could be played any time during the winter, right? I like snow in February. Would it be too weird to hear it on the radio then? “Winter Wonderland” is another that comes to mind.  I guess we only have a tolerance for the hokey songs when we are feeling in good cheer around Christmas.

It would be fantastic to actually have a white Christmas. I can’t even remember the last time we had one. We might have had one a few years back but it was old snow in the dirty piles left after a big snow that hasn’t melted for a while. I can’t remember ever waking up and seeing fresh snow outside.  Maybe this will be the year! It certainly is getting cold enough. “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!”

Today’s obvious choice for a song is “I Believe in Father Christmas” one of my favorites. When I heard of Lake’s death today, I thought of this song and these lines from the song seem to be a nice sendoff for him:

“All anguish pain and sadness

Leave your heart and let your road be clear”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjggWxGYLdo

Today I accidently dialed my friend John who answered singing my most hated Christmas song “Happy Xmas (War is Over). Then he called me while I was on my way home so I could hear the song playing on the radio while he screeched out “war is over” a few times. I told him if he kept it up, the war was not over, it had actually just begun. Like I can’t torture the hell out of someone too.

John and I worked together at a consulting company. Our COO (not her real title but the best one for her) was a member of the PC (politically correct) police. She spent a lot of energy this time of year correcting us when we said “Christmas party” instead of “holiday party” and frankly, it was a bit over the top. This was during the time people were making the subtle title change for the annual event so it wasn’t that common to say holiday instead of Christmas. Takes a bit of getting used to – not all of us are early adapters.

While we were getting the smack down on incorrectly labeling the party, the place was decorated to the max in Christmas wreaths. Someone might argue they were just holiday wreaths but they were decorated in red and green bows. For most of us that means Christmas. Being a smart ass, I looked online and found you could purchase Hanukkah wreaths. I presented her with this great news but sadly, she did not take my decorating suggestion and buy some.

Any kid that participated in chorus growing up learned “I Have a Little Dreidel” so we could balance out the plethora of Christmas songs we unashamedly sang. I don’t even know if there are other Hanukkah songs but that song was a fan favorite of all us Christians. When Kathryn was in elementary school, her music teacher led us in a semi-holiday sing-a-long. I say semi-holiday because most songs were about peace not Christmas, not that the two are mutually exclusive but there was a definite effort not to mention Christmas.

I haven’t organized any sing-a-longs myself but my gut tells me people either have to already know the songs or at least have the words or music to be able to participate and enjoy it.  We did not know the songs nor have any reference to help. There was also a clapping part that we screwed up and the teacher got mad at us. So much for peace on earth. Kathryn’s brother Jonathan had the misfortune of going with us that night and if it ever comes up, he’ll remind us we shouldn’t have made him gone since all we did was get yelled at.

Sometimes you hear Adam Sandler’s song on the radio just in case anyone wonders if the radio stations are taking care of everyone but I still love the one Hanukkah song I know by the one and only, Raffi. 

Wow, so many good terrible Christmas songs were named yesterday and today! It just goes to show that you need more than a good voice or a good tune or words to make people appreciate a song. There truly are some bad songs out there. I’ve been listening to Pandora at work. There was a song on today by Colbie Caillat “Christmas In The Sand” and it was bad. I gave it a thumbs down. No new standard there.

I think it’s hard to make a new Christmas song popular. Hard to break in when people love certain traditional or familiar songs or certain versions of the song. But once you do, your music becomes perpetual. Especially when radio stations start earlier each year playing holiday music. You need songs to play 24/7 from Thanksgiving on!

I think Mariah Carey has done a good job breaking into Christmas music royalty with “All I Want for Christmas is You.” I like it. Catchy and not too terribly annoying, a bit of an ear worm, but not too bad.  I looked it up and she released it 22 years ago. Hard to believe it has been that long. I feel like I’ve heard it more the last few years than 20 years ago.  According to Wikipedia, it’s also her biggest international success, the 11th best-selling single of all time and as of 2013, the song was reported to have earned $50 million in royalties. There’s some serious money in Christmas music.  Who’s up for working on a song with me?  I’ll get working on some lyrics. 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY

What’s the one Christmas song you never hope to hear again? Mine is “Happy Xmas (War Is Over”) by John Lennon. Hate it. I despise any version, especially his. I remember when I lived in Richmond there was a fundraiser on one of the radio stations. Someone paid close to $20k to have that song played. If I had the money, I would have paid that amount plus one cent NOT to have had it played.

Mike hates “Carol of the Bells” which unfortunately is played as the music for 90% of the ads this time of year. He hates all versions of that too. Kathryn came home from work the other day complaining about having to hear both “Carol of the Bells” and “Little Drummer Boy” over and over. I don’t think there’s a great version of “Little Drummer Boy” either.

When most people think of crappy holiday songs, it seems like they tend to think of the gimmicky ones – “Rudolph” or “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” or even the classic “Christmas Don’t Be Late” by everyone’s favorite Alvin and the Chipmunks. I think “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” is funny but I know people that hate song. My sister said today she likes “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” although it is an ear worm. The post office is using it this year for one of their ads so I think I’ve heard it more this year than any other.  One the plus side, at least it is sung by a real child, not someone pretending to be a child or rodent.

So tell me, what’s your leave favorite holiday song? I’d love to know. Let’s share our misery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dec9Jb_Ac4

When “Feliz Navidad” came out in 1970, I was six. I remember thinking it was so exotic since it was partially in Spanish. This seems so ridiculous now as Spanish is so widely spoken in the US now, but it wasn’t back then. But even to this day, when I hear that song, it seems a bit more special than the others. The song’s singer and composer José Feliciano, was on Live from Daryl’s House (http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com/) and honestly, I was surprised because I don’t think of him being a big star but boy, I was wrong. Eight Grammys to his name, acclaimed by critics as “The greatest living guitarist” along with many other awards and accolades, Feliciano’s career spans over 50 years. I heard on the news that “Feliz Navidad,” has become a top iTunes download and The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) named it among the 25 Greatest Holiday Songs of the Century. Guess I’m not the only one that finds it special.

The strange thing with Christmas music is that some songs, like “Feliz Navidad” are truly best when they are done by the artist that made it popular. Other songs can be good or at least respectable regardless of the singer.  Some artists have made the songs and some of the songs have made the artist. It’s an interesting phenomenon. So many singers have Christmas albums. Even non-Christian artists have them. I remember hearing an interview with some singer that said that producing a Christmas album was the singing equivalent of “jumping the shark”, the term used for something that was once good but has become dragged out or ridiculous. That feels a bit harsh because people can bring new life to old songs but I guess it could apply in a few cases.

One of my holiday things is to buy new Christmas music each year. Sometimes it is truly a new piece of work and sometimes it’s just new to me. I’m really the only one that enjoys the new music. That’s ok, it’s a treat for me and who knows, I might uncover a new classic. But today, I’ll stick to a true classic done by one of the greatest living guitar players in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwRIBpw7EwU

A while back, I made a list of types of movies I wasn’t going to go see anymore:

1. Religious
2. War
3. Excessively Violent
4. Horror

Obviously, with a list like this there aren’t too many movies I can go see. I want to have a good laugh or enjoy a thrilling story. Sadly, not all comedies provide a good laugh.  I recently found this out when we went to see Bad Santa 2. Not only was it terrible but all the previews before it were awful. When the trailer features maggots coming out of someone’s eye as they ride in a car, I can tell you pretty quickly that that is a film I will never see. I do like a good suspense movie too but so many have excessive violence in them too.

Not liking violent films really reduces the number of films available for viewing. Sometimes this overlaps with the war movies, but not always. This may seem counter-intuitive as I love my crime shows but you usually don’t see the actual violence in those. Oddly, I’m ok with shooting but not physical violence like punching etc. I’m so complex – ha!

As for war movies, I feel we’ve covered most of the big ones a number of times so what’s the point? Same about religious movies. I think we all get the story of Noah – how can you really put a new spin on it? We all get it – two by two except the unicorns who were hiding, playing silly games. Oh wait, that’s part of a song by the Irish Rovers…”Green alligators and long-necked geese…”

I heard the soundtrack for the film The Nativity and loved it, but never saw the movie. Again, I think we all know the story of the birth of Jesus.  Some of the songs are familiar but one, “Mary Did You Know?” was new to me and quickly became a favorite. A number of people have covered it but I like this version the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQM2rszMAfY

Kathryn informed me the other night that many of her friends were not allowed to watch some of the shows she did as a kid. I wasn’t quite sure where this conversation was going – was I going to be a hero or once again, proven to be a questionable parent? Thankfully, this time she was on Team Ellen.

Every parent makes choices and decisions for their kids on what they think is right and wrong and I fully support those individual decisions. I don’t always understand them but I support them. Parenting is hard enough; you don’t need outsiders to weigh in on what the type of influences you do or don’t want your kids to have. Kids TV shows were just not something I spent a lot of time worrying about. I know that every show geared toward a child isn’t necessarily great but in moderation and with some supervision, I was ok with most.

Sure, I made a few blunders along the way. One time we were at the beach with my sister and her family and I got a Ren and Stimpy video. That show was weird and its creepiness fascinated the kids. I didn’t exactly read the full description and it turned out to be very inappropriate. I mean very inappropriate, even for my lax standards. But if we had let on it was not a good choice, they would have wanted to watch it even more so we had to create a distraction and then turn it off. Oh, the games you play as a parent.

Kathryn and I discussed the different shows that were on her friend’s list of banned shows, I finally concluded that given she’s the 4^th child in our household, things might have been a little less strict. This is classic parenting, in my opinion. The first child is the lucky recipient of all the reading and fresh enthusiasm of parenting there is, the second child is still getting some of those effects, but in a lesser manner and 3^rd on down, well those kids are practically raising themselves. I joke but we all know there’s some truth to it. Kathryn experienced a hybrid of sorts – she’s my first biological child so she got some benefits of my new parent readings and philosophies but as the 4^th in the household, she always benefited from the experiences of her siblings. I need to remind her of the charmed life she’s led…

Kathryn and I watched a lot of shows together on PBS, Disney, Cartoon Network, Food Network and Animal Planet. I think this represents a good smattering of topics, a balance of educational and not so educational. One show we did watch was Hannah Montana. This might have been on the banned list for others but I didn’t then and thinking back now, see it has too bad. This was my first introduction to Miley Cyrus. A lot can be said about her but I think she’s extremely talented.  Like so many Disney stars, she’s grown up in an age of social media and no privacy and all her missteps and normal teenage rebellion have been captured for the world to see. Regardless, I think she has a great voice and so today, my Christmas song of the day is from her.  I think Miley just needed to find her balance, just like the rest of us.

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io-fgDPm5go

In our family, Kathryn is our historian and tradition monitor. She’s the one who likes to pull out the old movies when everyone is home and reminds us of the various traditions she’s noted throughout her lifetime.  From an adult perspective, sometimes it is surprising what has become a tradition but then again I remember stuff from my own childhood that I might think of as a tradition but my parents might not have.

The first rule around the holidays for Kathryn is “one holiday at a time.” There is no mention of Christmas lists or playing of Christmas music before Thanksgiving for her. She doesn’t like how Thanksgiving gets pushed to be back burner as everyone races towards Christmas. I played a bit of Christmas music in the car, when she wasn’t there, during Thanksgiving week. A song here or there isn’t going to cause me to not cook turkey for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving comes with its own set of traditions, mostly centered around food. We can add dishes, but not take any away. My stepson Jonathan has his own Thanksgiving tradition. He likes to say things like he hopes the turkey isn’t dry this year. This has been his (annoying) tradition for quite some time. I don’t remember, not does Mike, any dried out turkeys served here but Jonathan enjoys the torment. As I tell him, that’s what gravy is for – pour it on and enjoy. This year he did say the turkey was good and took a fair amount home with him. Maybe an end to that tradition?

Now that Christmas season is here, we must carry on a few more traditions. While everyone else in the world seemed to be out buying and then decorating their tree the day or weekend after Thanksgiving, the Motleys were not. When we had cats, we used to wait until the last possible moment to put up the tree thus giving them less time to climb or knock down the tree before Christmas. Even with them gone, we wait a week or two into December to get the tree and then we get it on a Thursday because that’s the tradition. Mike’s tradition is to wait until the coldest, windiest day to put up the Christmas lights. No lights are up – hasn’t been cold enough yet!  

 Every year we set up the nativity set my family had when I was growing up. My sister and I would fight over who would put up the angel. No one fights me to put up the angel anymore. In fact, with the older three kids out of the house, there’s no one to fight with Kathryn over lighting the advent wreath candles either. What are the holidays without a good tug of war over matches or crying episode because of an angel?

I think holiday and Christmas music is one of the greatest traditions of this time of year. Songs seem to be in 3 categories – religious, holiday but not religious and campy/awful. I like songs in all groups and I thought it would be fun to share a song a day – a musical advent calendar of sorts – of my favorites. Tonight I’ll begin with a traditional song sung in a more modern way. Enjoy!

When I was receiving those emails from Donald Trump asking me for money and saying he would remember me and thank me personally, I didn’t take it seriously. I wasn’t going to vote for him under any circumstance and secondly, lots of people give money to campaigns, how would my very small donation (at best) be noticeable? Little did I know, I could have donated my way to a cabinet position. Maybe that’s not technically true, but it’s about as logical as some of his picks to date.

I haven’t said too much about the election because there’s little I can add to the millions of voices already out there. I know many people voted for Trump and every day they wake up thrilled. I know many people did not vote for Trump and like me, wake up scared and dismayed. And there’s the third group, who don’t care, didn’t vote etc. They probably sleep ok too. But wow, I feel like every day is a new punch in the face. Between the unqualified cabinet selections to the unqualified president-elect, we are screwed.

Trump truly seems perplexed by the gravity and overwhelming amount of work this whole presidency thing is all about. A friend said she thought he wanted to win, not do the work associated with the job. Others have said he must not have thought he would win since he’s so unprepared – didn’t even think about having to move his son to a new school. The fact that Barron will stay in school until the end of the school year and then move with his mom to the White House, is the only unselfish thing Trump has done in my opinion.  Maybe this was Barron’s year to run the math club or be line leader. Good for him! His life will be turned upside down soon enough.  Let the kid alone. You too Rosie, stay out of their business.

Trump’s continued fast-fingered moves on Twitter continue to distract and dilute his presidential stature. I think whether or not you like Obama, you can see that he and his family have been hit with the worst of the worst in terms of comments, drawings and jokes. Do you ever see him responding via Twitter? Fly off the handle at what you know has to be hurtful insults? No, because when you are the president, you don’t do that. Trump is going to have to wean himself off Twitter and fast, before he gets us all blown up. He’s supposed to keep us safe – not spend his time putting us in danger with his thoughtless remarks. He needs to stop worrying about SNL and get in those security briefings.

My one joy is when yet another Trump promise is dropped or retooled and each time I hear one, I smile.  So, you thought Hillary was going to jail? Not so fast.  You thought Trump thought climate issues were crap – guess what? He’s rethinking that stance a bit too. Thought that he was going to repeal same-sex marriage? Ha – he said that’s already been settled and he’s not going to do anything to change it. Now granted, these small wins for me may be short-lived – he may change his mind tomorrow, but at least this is something to keep me going.

If we really want America great, we need a strong, even-keeled leader who thinks before he acts, and surrounds himself with intelligent, experienced people who may or may not share his view on things. Republicans out there, please fight for qualified candidates. You can do better.

We have to do better.

Mike and I took a quick trip to Chincoteague Island, VA on Friday, staying over until Saturday. We’d planned this trip around the day off for Veterans Day without consideration of the election being the same week. So nice to get away and turn off the news.

Chincoteague Island been our getaway for a number of years. Most famous for the pony round up and its oysters, this sleepy beach town is a great place to unwind. Ironically, as it is a beach town, we’ve never been in the summer. We’ve gone to ring in the New Year, for Easter, for a September or October getaway but never during its peak season. It’s small town charm, with a number of food and ice cream options as well as opportunities to see the wild ponies and migrating birds, makes it a great place to go.

When we got there on Friday, we got sandwiches and headed to the beach. It was cool but nice in the sun. After we ate we starting walking down the beach and I looked over to see a bald eagle in the trees by the shore. We knew from previous visits they live there but we hadn’t seen them by the beach before. I was also thrilled to see either Amish or Mennonite or “my people” (as I like to called them) , at the beach. I’ve always had a strange obsession with the Amish and in my next life, hope to be one. By that time, I will have cleaned up my language, learned a few skills they need and be ready for the change in lifestyle.

Many birds stop through on the way to their winter location or winter in Chincoteague. The large pond area was pretty dry and outside of the egrets and herons, we didn’t see the snow geese or swans we expected.  We saw a few of the horses at a distance. On the Virginia side of Assateague Island, where Chincoteague is, the horses are out pretty far from view. There are some horses in town, at a hotel next to the McDonald’s and also some near the fairgrounds. In Maryland, they wander more freely close to the road. Of course it is a thrill to see them but then we got stuck behind them when we drove over the Maryland side. I told Mike I feel like they try mess with us humans. They poop on all the pathways. Why? A “screw you” to people? They stand in front of the cars and s-l-o-w-l-y move out of the way. They are still beautiful to see.

Saturday we got up and checked out the wildlife loop again after riding our bikes around it the day before but there wasn’t much there so we headed over the lighthouse and climbed to the top. The views were spectacular and while a bit windy, was worth the hike up the steps. After that, as I mentioned, we drove to the Maryland side of Assateague, about an hour away. We saw a number of ponies there and I loved the one pictured here with the heart on his side. A few people were in the water either surfing or paddle boarding – no brave swimmers though.

If you haven’t been to either side of Assateague, I’d encourage you to go. Such a beautiful place – it makes it easy to forget the rest of the world.