Did you ever have one of those weeks where nothing you wanted to get accomplished seemed to get done?
I've barely had time to visit Daily Kos this week. How's everyone doing? Major Meta? General Drama? Corporal Chaos?
I'm afraid it's just going to be a fairly generic open thread this time. I haven't even been paying attention to politics.
The usual disclaimers apply. This is a community open thread diary. It's being posted to the Street Prophets group but we've no membership requirements in the comments. All are welcome to join in, relax, have a cookie. You don't have to react to my blithering; it's an open thread. You can decorate the comments in your own style.
So, as the year winds down are you all wound up?
Ah, that's better.
I was just digging through my Photobucket bucket and realized that I hadn't shared a single photo from my little world at Christmas. I've been at this bloggery business for several years now and yet I haven't posted any pictures of my city of Prague all dressed up in her Christmas finery.
Thinking about what makes this season in this particular place special for me and I start to ponder things like how to take photos of the smells of frankincense, mulled wine, hot mead, mildly charred chestnuts, warm sugary, cinnamon and almond smells, candles, walnuts, or the greasy smell and sizzle of a sausage. Those are the market stalls for me. I barely look at what they're selling; I'm too busy smelling.
Maybe next week I'll manage some photos... maybe next week will find a few quiet hours.
Czech Christmas carols anyone?
The snap, crackle and pop of real vinyl!
I remember learning to sing some of those songs in Czech class. Some will probably be familiar to you. Chances are though, if you're not Czech, you won't know at least half of them. While running around downtown today accomplishing nothing I heard both Czech and English carols and, curiously enough, a bit of Frank Zappa. I suppose there's a point where people get sick of hearing the same songs over and over again-- especially with every store playing them from sometime around the end of October.
Learning to sing Czech songs with my family has really helped me feel at home here and yet I hardly ever sang with my family as a child.
Hearing certain songs can trigger some strong, happy memories--
I like how things are hooked together in my brain sometimes. Just the connections themselves can make me smile-- like listening to Boston's first album or Robin Trower's "In City Dreams" can make me remember the taste of burnt peanuts candy and pictures from Howard the Duck comic books.
Often the memories are of people that I've known, loved and lost.
I suppose I'm looking forward to some of the running around with my family the next few days. Visiting with friends and taking a walk together in the wooded valley near us. Practically each day between now and New Year's Eve has something planned. Busy, busy, busy ...