Good will to all
(First, and foremost - RIP, James Brown. Whatever the man's personal failings, musically he was a giant of almost incalculable importance, and he will be missed. I'll be listening to this when I get home.)
On the one hand, it suggests the wrong emphasis to mention the presents you got for Christmas; on the other, what else are you supposed to mention? Yes, both of the Christmases this year were wonderful (even more than normally, actually). And while I got some really great stuff (thankfully as we get older the emphasis switches from quantity to quality). But I really only want to mention the media; perhaps unsurprisingly this year was more books and DVDs than music, although my little sister did get me Hell Hath No Fury and the superb early-days R.E.M. compilation And I Feel Fine, which I'm listening to right now. But other than that I got the Leonard Cohen movie I'm Your Man (looking forward to that, I've never seen it), the second season of House and the first two seasons of Grey's Anatomy. Plus, in addition to the new Adrian Mole (a series I've been addicted to since I was very, very young), I got a very nice book on Hiroshige's 100 Famous Views of Edo, the third and final part of Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon (not to mention Against the Day, his new one, from Kiernan) and serendipitously enough This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin, which I first heard of here, saw in a bookstore in Ithaca and almost bought.
Not to mention, at long last, a new wallet and coat, both of which I've had since high school (well, in the wallet's case, grade 7!). Is any of this as important as the family and friends I've been able to see? Not even slightly. But it's still pretty cool. Now if only I had time to watch/read it all in the near future...
Whoever reads this, and whatever you're celebrating (or not), I hope you've had a good day, and I hope you have some time off work to relax in the near future. We are all in this together, after all, even if we may only really think about that during the holidays.
On the one hand, it suggests the wrong emphasis to mention the presents you got for Christmas; on the other, what else are you supposed to mention? Yes, both of the Christmases this year were wonderful (even more than normally, actually). And while I got some really great stuff (thankfully as we get older the emphasis switches from quantity to quality). But I really only want to mention the media; perhaps unsurprisingly this year was more books and DVDs than music, although my little sister did get me Hell Hath No Fury and the superb early-days R.E.M. compilation And I Feel Fine, which I'm listening to right now. But other than that I got the Leonard Cohen movie I'm Your Man (looking forward to that, I've never seen it), the second season of House and the first two seasons of Grey's Anatomy. Plus, in addition to the new Adrian Mole (a series I've been addicted to since I was very, very young), I got a very nice book on Hiroshige's 100 Famous Views of Edo, the third and final part of Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon (not to mention Against the Day, his new one, from Kiernan) and serendipitously enough This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin, which I first heard of here, saw in a bookstore in Ithaca and almost bought.
Not to mention, at long last, a new wallet and coat, both of which I've had since high school (well, in the wallet's case, grade 7!). Is any of this as important as the family and friends I've been able to see? Not even slightly. But it's still pretty cool. Now if only I had time to watch/read it all in the near future...
Whoever reads this, and whatever you're celebrating (or not), I hope you've had a good day, and I hope you have some time off work to relax in the near future. We are all in this together, after all, even if we may only really think about that during the holidays.
I think I say without hesitation that I finally feel better than James Brown. I'll miss his crazy soul train wreck of a life.
I also got Against the Day by Pynchon as a gift this year. Let's see who reads it first. Have a great new year.
Posted by
Anonymous |
4:00 PM
I got Against The Day for my birthday, but I haven't given it as much attention as it deserves (I'm only a third of the way through, but am really enjoying). Sounds like your "light reading" should keep you busy for a while. I hope you enjoy the prior Pynchon and the Stephenson - both are wonderful, inventive and amusing reads. I'm do for a re-reading of Gravity's Rainbow - maybe this summer, if I manage to finish his latest by then.
Happy Holidays Ian.
Posted by
Anonymous |
5:24 PM
We should clearly form some kind of book club. But jon, I can guarantee you'll read it first, as I have been ponderously slow at doing non-school reading since September (and I don't think I've seen you around here before, so welcome - I'm enjoying the blog so far).
I actually re-read V fairly recently, so I'm definitely feeling the Pynchon love. But I also got a Chapters gift card for this Christmas, and today I went out and bought the nice new edition of Steven Brust's Brokedown Palace, the trade papaerback compilation of the first three books of Eddings' Mallorean series and a nice new(er) translation of Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. So now I'm either further behind.
Thanks for the comments guys, and happy holidays to you both.
Posted by
Ian |
6:41 PM