Wish List

Since friends and family will be asking soon enough...

Handwritten letters from friends!

I really mean it - that's why this is at the top of my list.

Dansko clogs in Petrol Patent, size 40

I had a pair of black Danskos that were my everyday shoe for about 8 years - the sole has finally crumbled.

Chaco ZX/2 sandals, size 9

These are my everyday summer shoe; I lost one shoe somewhere between Hawaii and Florida and I miss it terribly. My problem is that I have NO idea what color I want. My absolute favorite - Sundae, a pink/white/khaki combo - is long retired... Probably Zebra Aqua? Except the Multi Red is pretty sweet. I don't know.

Prayer of St. Francis Bracelet

I had a cheaper pewter one that cracked, so I'd like a sterling one to replace it.

Virtually everything on this list is replacing something I've over-loved...

Moleskines - Large ruled notebooks

Making swift progress through my most recent book. Can never have enough blank books.

Nars Trans Siberian lipstick

Best red lipstick, ever.

Trish #9 perfume

Any size. A longtime favorite.

9-inch straight-side cake pans

Two, please!

Ramekins - 4-oz, 6-oz, and 10-oz

Breakage has left me a random assortment - none of which could be called a "set"

Tokina 12-24mm super-wide-angle lens

Hey, it's a wishlist, right?

Digital photo frame

Shameless Commerce

What I'm telling those that ask:

13 weeks of pottery studio time! Who knew this existed?? Would be so fun for summer.

Rain boots! I like these and these.

New Dansko clogs. Mine were a Christmas gift several years ago, and I keep leaving sole fragments wherever I walk. At this point, re-soling is likely out of the question. These are what I have. I don't understand how these are different. But these are really cool!

ipod headphones

New David Gray album

Old Brandon Heath album

Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron 5-qt Oval French Oven. Like my stand mixer, this is destined to be on my "why didn't I own this sooner" list, I suspect. Or maybe 6.75-qt. I don't know. Not picky on color, but I don't love the orange/red. I should probably haunt LC outlets, Tuesday Mornings, or Marshalls.

Levenger Empyrean Ink

10x10x3-inch and 6x6x3-inch square cake pans. A turntable too.

HK socks!

Lush Snow Fairy shower gel and solid perfume. Also Candy Fluff perfume.

The wide-angle lens I rented this past summer.

Fa ra ra ra ra

Been listening to my winter playlists, but I need some new songs.  Here are the favorites so far this year:

It's Christmas Time, The Lovemongers

Veni Veni Emannuel, The Gregg Smith Singers

Go Tell it on the Mountain, NeedtoBreathe

O Come O Come Emmanuel, Chasing Furies

Same Old Lang Syne, Dan Fogelberg

Song for a Winter's Night, Sarah McLachlan

Last Christmas, Savage Garden

The Last Noel, The Lovemongers

2000 Decembers Ago, Joy Williams

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Caedmon's Call

The Light of the Stable, Selah

Noel Nouvelet, Apollo's Fire

Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella, Yolanda Kondonassis

I have very distinct tastes in Christmas music.  I tend towards minor keys and solemn chords, more light-in-the-darkness stillness-of-winter than sparkly-glee-club-mistletoe.

I've been meaning to write for years (okay, so I've only had my blog for 1.5.  1.5 is plural...) on just why I love Christmas.  It's not about the presents, I swear.  But I've been swamped.  But I'll get around to it this weekend, perhaps.

Played in our annual Christmas service last weekend.  I have lost whatever musicality I ever possessed.  I play with unexpressive, plodding notes.  Granted, it was easy stuff - quarter notes, simple key signatures.  But 18 years of dust on my technique is hard to shake off in one afternoon.  It's a lovely service, of course, and the theatre was stunning in all its holiday finery, but the real reason I volunteer for this is the same as why I volunteer for the drama productions.  It's fascinating to watch others who are good at what they do.  We get to work with the choir director and theatre director in their element.  To watch them put together a performance from a ragtag group of students.  To see them in the course of their job, which is similar to mine in that it falls under the name "teacher" but yet is so very different in nature to mine.  To see that their travails with students are the same as mine, just a different flavor.  And all the unintended hilarity.  The line of the day doesn't translate to print very well, but another notebook-worthy line was, "Somebody has unplugged my piano to plug in the baby Jesus.  My piano is more important to this production than baby Jesus!"  Which is about as funny as the Pirate in the Pit or the Phantom of the Opera in high heels from productions past.

All I Want for Christmas

Once again, in the spirit of the crass commercialism that is Black Friday, it's all I want for Christmas!

Prayer of St. Francis bracelet

Baker's Edge pan - it's all corner pieces!

Wall poster Chart of the Nuclides.

"I'm So Adjective, I Verb Nouns" t-shirt.  Mens L.

Jemma Kidd I-Tech Eyeliner in Abstract

Nars Eyeshadow Duos in Caravaggio and Rated R

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel

Cake Turntable

Fat Daddio's 3"-Depth Square Cake Pans - 3", 6", 9", 12", 15", 18"

Cake Wrecks refrigerator magnet

Nikon 18-55mm lens

Nikon lens cap (since the Sydney Harbour Bridge ate mine)

Kenko extension tubes (a cheaper alternative to a macro lens)

Personalized 3x5 cards

A ticket (MCO-EWR) for Spring Break.

A fellowship to get a Chemistry Education PhD.  :)

...trim the occupant with floof...

Five Popular (Possibly Irreverent) Christmassy Tunes
Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses
Trim up the Tree, from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original - not that Jim Carrey crap)
Last Christmas, Wham!
Twelve Days of Christmas, The Muppets
Fairytale of New York, The Pogues

...and the whole world send back the song...

Five Christmas Songs Toward Which I Was Ambivalent Until I Heard These Versions
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Jars of Clay
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, Caedmon's Call
Do You Hear What I Hear?, Third Day
In the Bleak Midwinter, Paul Colman Trio
Silent Night, Sarah McLachlan

...oh the love must have been overwhelming...

Five Contemporary Christmas Songs
2000 Decembers Ago, Joy Williams1
Christmas Song, Dave Matthews
Mary Did You Know?, Gaither Vocal Band
Light of the Stable, Selah
Welcome to Our World, Chris Rice


1 This is such a fantastic song, I can't even begin to describe it.

...fall on your knees...

I love Christmas. Absolutely love it. No, I love the entire month of December and the run-up to Christmas. I will blog later (during/after finals, likely) about specifics, but it's such a holiday of possibility, of hope, of beauty, and of love. What's not to like? Well, this.

But beyond that, I very much enjoy Christmas music. So, since I just participated in our school's Christmas musical production this past weekend, I've been listening to Christmas music since mid-November, and also since I'm so far behind in grading I must be ahead, I present a few days of Christmas lists - but not the kind you check twice.


Five Favorite Classic Christmas Carols: 2007
The first two never change. The remaining three selections vary from year to year.
O Come O Come Emmanuel1
O Holy Night
Noel Nouvelet (Sing We Noel)2
The First Noel
[tie] Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
[tie] Carol of the Bells



1 I highly recommend listening to the version by Chasing Furies.
2 I highly recommend listening to the version by Apollo's Fire.