crushedcorn

I don’t know of many phrases more cheerfully delivered and more sincerely spoken than “Merry Christmas.” The whole holiday season is full of apple-cinnamony warm salutations and frosting-sweet scenes of snow dripping over eaves and sparkling in the space between tree tops and the frozen ground.

Even the words we use at this time of year prompt us to use an otherwise archaic dialect. Words like “merry” and “jolly” are suddenly brought to life, and the thought of using any other expression in their stead would be considered sacrilege. Imagine how you would recoil if someone urged you to have a “Cheerful Christmas.” And “jolly?” How could Santa be anything else? But it’s not just words that change – entire modes of thinking and speaking are turned towards the sun, even at a time of year when that fiery orb has taken an absence. During Christmas we speak in cheery, bright tones which, if written down, would be colored in vivid yellows and oranges with italics and boldface abounding. I know this sentiment has been expressed and the wish for Christmas-like sincerity and care cried for over pages and pages of blogs and editorials, but I just had to add my voice to this call: Why can’t we all be as animated, bright, and sincere year round as we are during the holiday season? When I see trees and ornaments already being taken down, this cry feels more and more desperate, a plea to be taken up before the last bright holiday light is resolutely unplugged until next year.

To see pictures of a Very Handyside Christmas, click on the Flickr link to your right!

I’ve always been in to fashion and makeup, though these interests have never yielded sufficient knowledge to make themselves known through my outer appearance. But that may be because I find it so hard to to find magazine tips and internet hints on what colors work best and how to mold it all into one cohesive, yet personalized, look. I went to the bookstore for some bound advice, but the closest I got was Iman’s “The Beauty of Color: The ultimate beauty guide for skin of color,” a promising start, but still not what I was looking for. So I got my unprettied little self back on the internet and searching for Filipina-specific makeup assistance and found myself here, a website devoted to “reshaping the Filipina image online.” And if you check out this website quick, like a bunny, you’ll see my contribution to the cause posted under the alias “crushedcorn” (if I’m not on the cover page, find me here). It’s been a while since I’ve submitted something for publishing to be read by people other than my friends, and although submission for this site was as simple as cutting and pasting on to the board, I’m still a little bit elated by the feeling of seeing something of my own creation put on display. And no, there are no children in my immediate future, so this feeling is completely isolated.

The bumper sticker question is still an issue, and in an effort to take all of the simple work off of my mind, I thought I’d put it to the blog-reading public:

web surveys – Take Our Poll

There’s nothing like trying to make people make your own decisions for you. Heh.

In true fashion of anyone making conversation at this time of the year, I’m obliged to comment on the holidays, the purpose of which I fear people are severely losing sight of. And that’s the only solid comment I’m going to make about the whole thing. I still love Christmas and don’t yet feel the pain of trying to find the perfect gift for everyone I’ve ever known and their child and their mother’s dog. I just hope, for those people who are lost in that mess of want lists and receipts, that you don’t let that sparkle die from your eyes when you realize you’re not done shopping or that you’ve been waiting in the wrong checkout lane. We should be giving from sincerity, not from obligation. Oh, how social graces can be an affliction to holiday survival.

I’ve been taking this time of sales to cross some things off of my list. Particularly, the 10 essential items named by Tim Gunn. If I can remember them correctly, they are (in no particular order)

1) jeans

2) jacket

3) white shirt

4) skirt

5) nice work pants

6) day dress

7) sweat suit alternative

sweater

9) trench coat

10) little black dress

Everything lavendar-ed has been effectively crossed off of my list, and with some good bargain hunting and the luck of the season, I’ll be mixing and matching these essentials with the best of them. I’ve been very image-conscious lately, and though I have to reconcile my more fashionable instincts with my desires to be eco-friendly and hippy happy, I’m ok with it.

The weather outside wasn’t too frightful today, and the clouds that I occasionally allow to nest over my head have lifted since the 3:30pm end-of-the-day bell. This is significant since we’ve gotten more snow than a little town in Colorado has. How often do you hear of Wisconsin residents sending pictures of their ample snow to the inhabitants of the dry Colorado mountains? When Wisconsin looks like this:

I can’t say that this sight makes me happy, but it is impressive and made bearable when taken as a sign of the season and not a harbinger of winter woes. Driving through the snow and listening to the all-Christmas radio station does conjure up some holiday cheer, although I don’t think I could hear Nat King Cole’s rendition of “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire” more often than I have in the past 2 weeks.  I’m not Grinching, though; I love this time of year for the internal and external changes it brings about.  What’s on your wish list?

Speaking of, one significant external change in my life is my new car, “Kelpie.”  This completely arbitrary name is made to replace the moniker and the car that came before her: my beloved “Sea Otter.”  But I’m going to stray from the tales of sorrow as this is a happy occasion.  The Kelpster is almost exactly like the Otter except for a few missing bells and whistles and the color.  I pledge to take some pictures and introduce her to the extended family here.  I love my new old car!  Now, I’m keeping my eyes open for the perfect sticker to adorn my rear right bumper.  And no, I won’t “Drive it like you stole it” and it’s not true that “My child is an honor student at (insert school here) high.”