Farewell 2020!

NO ONE'S going to miss you, 

YOU BASTARD.

NEXT YEAR 

will be MUCH better . . .

WON'T IT?

Oh c'mon --

PUT ON A

HAPPY FACE!

Contest Winners!

To recap yesterday's contest question --

What is this box used for

when it's reassembled?

The answer is --

CANDY CANES!

This box was a bitch to reassemble, by the way.

If I'd been smart, I would have taken 

the photos in reverse order.

Incidentally, I bought candy canes for 

the first time in years because I made some 

white chocolate candy cane bark 

for Christmas. 

What? 

We didn't already have 

enough calories in the house,

I swear it.

Actually, we have quite a few winners!

I guess this contest wasn't as hard

as I thought it would be!

Congrats and a hearty elbow bump

go out to the following

who got the answer right --

Grace

Travel Penguin

Laurie

e

Anonymous

Marcy

Tundra Bunny

(who sniffed "Too easy!")

Bruce.desertrat

(who had conveniently watched

the candy cane episode of

The Discovery Channel's all-day

"How It's Made" marathon on

Christmas Day)

Old Lurker

(who pretended he

thought the box was for my

"collection of slender, minty-flavored

dild...uh...pleasure devices")

Mistress Maddie

(who of course referenced

 his own "covid dildos collection")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

And for those who didn't come up 

with the right answer -- 

thanks for all the imaginative guesses!

It's Contest Time!

But alas, there's no prize 

for the correct answer, 

only bragging rights! 

This contest is brought to you 

courtesy of doing the recycling, LOL!

What is this box used for 

when it's reassembled?

Any guess in the comments today 

that is incorrect will be published 

right away. Correct guesses will not be.

The correct answer will be revealed tomorrow, 

along with the names of those who got it right!

And Now, In Nordic News

Hail, Sister Valkyries and Brother Berserkers!

Earlier this month, My Rare One and I had occasion to dress in our best Viking finery for a photo shoot. 

Despite appearances, we are not bedecked in red feather boas. That's the blood of our enemies. FEAR US.

But the photo shoot wasn't the only Scandihoovian excitement this month!

One of My Rare One's neighbours is a wonderful artist and crafter. She very generously gifted each of us with a Nordic Gnome that she made this Christmas!

When a Gnome enters your home, it is critical to give them an important, useful job to do or else they'll simply run amok making mischief.

So My Rare One's Gnome is busy guarding Ukrainian Easter eggs that My Rare One has made over the years.

Meanwhile, my Gnome is wrangling Christmas cards, keeping them neat, tidy and orderly.

Aren't they adorable?

Squeeeeeee!

"For Unto Us A Child Is Born"

 

This year, for the first time 35 years, I was unable to attend a live performance of Handel's Messiah at Christmas. Thanks, Covid-19! But I made do by listening a couple of times to a full recording of the oratorio. Hopefully next year, I'll hear it performed live once again.

Over the decades, I've heard every conceivable performance variation of this work -- including outstanding soloists, mediocre soloists, downright gawdawful soloists, with female contraltos/mezzo-sopranos or male countertenors, featuring big choirs, small choirs, on one memorable occasion a massed choir of 500 voices, the music played on modern instruments, baroque instruments, at the traditional slower tempo, at a modern faster tempo, etc. etc. etc.

This recent 2019 performance by Boston Baroque features the same kind of small, stripped-down orchestra and chorus that would have been common in Handel's day. Its breezy tempo is almost too fast for my taste but it's still preferable to the traditional tempo's ponderous, overly-reverential pacing.

I hope you enjoy this particular chorus which is perfect for Christmas day. 

Merry Christmas

To All Who Celebrate!

It's Santa's Big Night!

OF COURSE SANTA IS REAL!

And he's got the SWEETEST GIG in the world.

He only works ONE DAY PER YEAR,

the lucky bastard.

And THESE DAYS, it's even

LESS EXERTION --

And speaking of AMAZON --

Yes, with its SURVEILLANCE ALGORITHMS,

Amazon would probably be better

at bringing us OUR HEART'S DESIRE

than Santa's old-fashioned methods --

But Santa still enjoys a pretty 

STELLAR reputation.

Of course, like anyone, 

Santa DOES have his FAULTS, 

such as:

✻ Endorsing some DUBIOUS PRODUCTS

✻ Not always being 

the BEST EMPLOYER

✻ Dumping MRS CLAUS 

during a MID-LIFE CRISIS

 

Hmmm, 

he and Jeff Bezos 

actually have a

LOT IN COMMON,

don't they!

Winter Solstice Blessings

You know, I wasn't even going 

to bother decorating for 

the holidays this year. 

But getting out my Sankta Lucia statue 

to photograph her for this earlier post 

inspired me to dig through a few 

drawers and cupboards and 

LO AND BEHOLD

all of a sudden I had put together 

a nice little Winter Solstice 

altar arrangement on my sideboard.

So now on this, the shortest day

following the longest night,

I WISH YOU ALL --

[First photo © Debra She Who Seeks, December 2020;

Second image comes from the internet]

Another MARVELous Advent Calendar!

Well, isn't THIS perfect!

My sister's Xmas parcel arrived mid-week

and now I've got another FAB advent calendar

to eat my way through!

And THE AVENGERS!

Does she KNOW ME or WHAT?

Okay, so technically it's a "Christmas and 

New Year Countdown Calendar" 

going from December 1st to January 1st. 

But that just means "32 Days of Chocolate," YAY!

Doesn't EVERYONE love advent calendars?

Even if you DON'T have one,

you can STILL participate!

HRH's Christmas Message

Greetings, my poor, downcast minions!

Yes, rejoice, for it is I, 

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE CAT

gracing you with my presence once again.

Every Christmas morning, my cousin Betty Windsor

(you know, "the other HRH")

gives a televised message to inspire her

inexplicably devoted subjects.

Well, if cousin Betty can make the effort,

I guess I can too.

Hell, even my other royal cousin,

The Black Panther,

(King T'Challa of Wakanda)

makes an effort to have fun

at this time of year and

they don't even celebrate

Christmas there!

So, because all of you are effin' miserable right now,

I am determined to set a good example

this Christmas to cheer you up.

Here goes nuttin' --

If that last one

didn't cheer you up,

you're beyond hope

and to hell with you!

. . . err, um, sorry . . .

Man, I don't know how

cousin Betty does it,

that relentless cheerfulness,

year in, year out.

NO! NO!

I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE!

I GOTTA BE ME!

And may the Cat Goddess Bast 

bless you all this holy season.

Thank you and good day.

Coronavirus Christmas

Don't be GLUM, chum!

We can still DECORATE!

And okay, maybe we can't 

GET TOGETHER.

But we can still have FUN!

Right? 

RIGHT?

And we can always 

BAKE GOODIES!

Don't forget the 

JOY of GIVING!

That's OKAY, Santa.

We understand.

Besides, HERE'S the 

CHRISTMAS SLEIGH 

everyone REALLY wants 

to see this year!