Yep, survived Christmas. Yesterday was but a taste of what I normally got in Orange County: clear skies. We didn't have much in the way of warmth, though - however, consider that it got up into the 50s yesterday afternoon. There was a distinct lack of snow, and current weather predictions have clouds coming in tomorrow, with rain returning to the Seattle area in time for Tuesday.

(OK, so that's not a forecast to make Dr. George proud, but I can only do so much with a quick glance at Weather Underground's 5-day forecast.)

The only downshot is that, during a call from my youngest brother (who is currently working at the ski resorts in Big Bear), he got word that his cousin, Lauren, has turned up missing, and this was at 17:30 last night that he got the call. For those inclined, prayers and happy thoughts, please?

For those who sent cards: THANK YOU! For those who sent postcards, note that postcard postage is something like 60-70% of letter postage; save yourself money next year with the special stamps for the purpose!

(Hmm... maybe that's something I can do next year.)

Right now, bourbon balls are made up for a party tonight, cranberries may be made, and I depart for werk shortly.

Onward to the next step in the journey....

o/~ Come on it's lousy weather... For a flu ride together with you. o/~

Yep, walks_far is here enjoying the holiday with me, while purrzah has spent the better part of the day sleeping of getting sick to her stomach due to something going on with her. I'm just hoping Walksfar or I don't end up sick with anything that she might have picked up from work, and that it's something she ate yesterday at lunch, like she's thinking it was. The trouble is, the only thing it might have been would have had to be something giving her a case of salmonella poisoning to react on her so much later than a normal case of food poisoning.

We did have a fairly fun and relaxing day, though. This morning we checked stockings, and then opened gifts. Purr and I both got a bunch of new DVDs to watch, which both of us have already seen one each, and I've watched another with Walks that showed various regions of Ireland's landscape accompanied by nice tranquil Celtic tunes. It's very serene footage that would have done even better as a screen saver than a DVD that one watches in their player.

Walksfar got us each a cologne, too, which is funny since neither of us wears the stuff on a normal basis, but this was something of a collectors piece anyway, since they are Tiberius and Pon Farr. He also got one for DaalRakken which was a bottle of the Red Shirt cologne. Reading the boxes, I couldn't help but laugh. They don't smell all that bad, though the sandalwood in the one I have, and also in the one Purr has will make my nose a little stuffy, if we do decide to use them. Cute and clever gifts, for certain, though.

I managed to get something he really appreciated though, which turned out to be a nice little anthro-rabbit statuette in a blue long-coat and spectacles. It turns out that he doesn't have many bunny pieces to display around his domicile like he wants to be able to do. Now I know of something that he'll enjoy that we can pick up as gifts for him from time to time.

It was a nice day, and we had a wonderful dinner. Walksfar and I were just wishing Purr would have been able to enjoy it with us. Now, though, it's late after having gotten up at 5am to start some of the cooking and food prep. So, Happy Kwanzekahmas to all, and to all a good night!

Current Location: Home, still.
Current Mood: Good, but sleepy
Current Music: Alkaemy - Enchantment

So, I'll be gone from December 25, 2009 till January 1, 2010.

I will be spending Christmas with my mate's family in SC, USA.

I should be back after the 1st, and the TNSC Art Contest should be updated after I return.

(To my webmaster staff at DWS, if there is no updates to this journal by January 5th. Assume I was killed during the visit and am buried in a swamp. Please then update the art contest and take care of the sites for me. Thanks)

*flutters his wings* I'm really nervous about flying...

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TNSC Art Contest

This month's Theme is:
Halos - Submit anything with characters with Halos. (Angels included.)

Submission Deadline: January 1, 2010
Voting Deadline: January 10, 2010

So head on over to http://tnsc.ath.cx to submit and vote!!

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One of my favored songs of the holidays has to be this one particular song. There hasn't been a version of it I've heard that I don't appreciate, even when it's off-key or done with that back-woods country twang. I can even handle the rap version that was done of it in the early 90's. Here is the one version, and light display that I love best of all. The details of lyrics and information about the song can be seen below that.

Carol of the Bells - 2008 Holdman Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Carol Of The Bells

Hark! how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say,
"Throw cares away."
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold

Ding, dong, ding, dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling
One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From ev'rywhere
Filling the air

Oh how they pound,
Raising the sound,
O'er hill and dale,
Telling their tale,
Gaily they ring
While people sing
Songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas

On, on they send
On without end
Their joyful tone
To ev'ry home

Ding, dong, ding, dong.


Composed by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877-1921) in 1916. Originally titled Shchedryk, this Ukranian folk song is about a sparrow and the bountiful year that awaits a family. It was first performed in the Ukraine on the night of January 13, 1916, on the Julian calendar this is considered New Year's Eve. In the United States the song was first performed on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall.

Carol of the Bells, also known as the Ukrainian Carol, was adapted from Shchedryk by Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921), which was first performed in December 1916 by students at Kiev University. The original Ukrainian song is based on an old Slavic legend that every bell in the world rang in honour of Jesus on the night of his birth.

Tags: songs videos holdman christmas
Current Location: In the zen
Current Mood: Inspired
Current Music: Monique Danielle - Carol of the Bells

So with the drop in the local mailbox here at our apartments last night, with two exceptions, the last of my Christmas cards have been dispatched to the US Postal Service. This last stack o' cards is all local, including said exceptions, so everything here should arrive tomorrow. With a little luck, everything gets to its destination tomorrow.

It's a funny thing. Last year, while I had to do some marginal hunting, I was able to find cards that were funny at Hallmark. This year, though, was a different story, leaving me excessively disappointed with them - apparently they had three Shoebox cards in box sets, but the one at the local shops were run out, one would be OK (but didn't put a grin on my face), and one, though of a naughty smirk variety of funny, would only only be appropriate to send to anybody if I were Glenn Quagmire.

So with that, then, I resorted to buying some not humorous cards from Fred Meyer.

I think I'm going to pay a little attention to the cards this coming year. I'm probably going to commission some at this point. My brother and his family in Phoenix sent one of those photo cards, so that's an option - and I think Kevin is the only one of my siblings who did this. (I suspect this is at the behest of my sister in law. =^_^= ) At the very least, I plan on griping at Hallmark - however diplomatically - in the hopes that something will come out that's actually funny.

Yesterday, I was out running around, tending to getting last-minute gift items and last minute drop-offs and chores. I started at 10am, I came home for a bite of lunch, and was then out again. I dropped things off and took a 10 minute breather, and then was right back out there. It was chilly, but I find that is when I'm most active as I keep myself moving so I stay warm.

I now have everything needed for while walks_far here for his visit over the holiday. purrzah will be picking up the pre-made dinner for our Yule feast tomorrow after work. Tonight, she and I need to do a little bit of grocery shopping for larger/bulkier items that I just can't walk with or ride a bus with.

I found myself meeting up with Purr at one of the stores, on my last run out in the cold, and going with her along the rest of the route back toward home (with a few stops along the way for her to finish up the last of her shopping). She was very disappointed, looking at the glass as half-empty with not being able to get some people gifts they said they'd like or that she had in mind for them because the stores were sold out or had already removed things off the shelves to get ready for Valentine's Day. I hate advanced marketing ploys like that, and the retailers who continue to do it have lost a lot of business for it. (I'm not sorry to say that in most cases, I'm one of the customers they've lost, except for a couple of specialty stores where they are the only ones who have particular things I need for my art or cooking projects.)

Today, I need to get things a little straightened up around here, making sure it's comfortable for us and walks_far to relax and enjoy ourselves. It's funny, when I was a small boy, I always loved when particular relatives would come to visit. I knew that we were bound to have a lot of fun, interesting conversations and just generally share in good companionship. I would actually get excited to the point of being unable to sleep when I knew they would be expected. In some ways, a hint of that excitement is there when getting together with Walks, too. There are few people who can still manage to do that in my life, but those who hold that special relationship are the ones I think - as a child - I would associate the most strongly with magical attributes akin to Santa Claus,and believe - today - are the type of people that help a soul understand what being alive, whole, and healthy (not in a physical, but a spiritual/emotional sense) is really like.

Current Location: Here, as usual
Current Mood: Achy, but grand!
Current Music: Michelle Branch - Drop In the Ocean

This weekend was a busy one. Cali did get over and managed to get my computer up and running again. IE is hosed, but that's not important in any way, since I use Firefox on a regular basis. And I also have Chrome, if something won't work with FF. He also managed to get a really good working anti-viral software installed and a detection program that he pointed out many businesses use to alert them to any potential problems. I learned a lot from what he was saying, I can only hope I'll be able to retain it over the course of this next year.

We also went to share in services for the passing of a good friend, mentor and the minister who married purrzah and I. His son is one of our dear friends, and while he seems to be holding up alright through the loss, he does have a very strong network of support to help him cope, and knowing that - he said - helps immensely. There were some great memories shared of this wonderful human being, and I even shared a couple of my own fond memories of what a spectacular person he was, which surprised those who know me and realize how hard it is for me to get up and speak in front of a large group of strangers, particularly with my vocalization troubles. (A naturally deep voice, coupled with breathing problems from a very early age, means that audibility and projection aren't something that normally goes hand in hand for me.)

Still, we spent a lot of time socializing through the weekend. My computer is working properly, and Purr's car is now running without the interior fogging up or her freezing herself on the way to and from work. It's been a productive time, though there's a lot to do and deal with through this week, before we get to enjoy walks_far's company over the holiday. And, if things work out right, we might even be able to visit with baphnedia who's in the region, too.

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Conjure One - Face the Music

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Until Cali can get over here to help with the problem of a smartvirus taking over my computer (starting with the anti-virus and security software) I'm stuck using Purrzah's system. This means less use of the keyboard, as I really don't like how hers is arranged or the fact that you have to press so hard on some keys and others type out a letter with the barest graze of a finger.

Today, walks_far will be sharing in a nice experience with me, as we bring in a little business for a friend who has just opened a new coffee shop here in Everett. I'm looking forward to his company, and to see how this cool building has been remodeled for the business that occupies it now.

purrzah is going to be dealing with her car today, as well. It simply means we have no funds for buying any more gifts for one another, this holiday season. But that's alright, because we have been able to get some things that we know the other will appreciate. And, at least we'll have money to get some groceries, still. I just wish things didn't always end up so tight around this time of year, due to some new problem cropping up on us like is becoming habit for the start of the winter season.

And the back is still giving me some problems. At least today I'm not crawling or staggering from one room to another, like I was a couple of days ago, though.

Current Location: Here, for now.
Current Mood: sore
Current Music: None, atm.

I am grateful that when the Gremlin-who-shouldn't-be-named-who's-name-starts-with-M-and-is-usually-called-a-leprechaun decided to attack my car again, it was while we had a second, if small, income coming in.

On a different note, yesterday marked the 2nd year that breimh and I have been in our apartment.

Tags: car
Current Mood: frustrated