Do I wake or sleep?

Hungry and very tired.

I'm meeting up with Lori later tonight to exchange Christmas gifts--I'd rather wait until Sunday or so but Kevin is taking down the tree tomorrow and it wouldn't be kosher, so to speak, to exchange Christmas gifts after January 6.  Although I suppose we could call them Epiphany gifts?  Hey, they do that in Spain.  I am giving her some homemade peppermint bark and one of the holiday soaps I bought from Holly.

Speaking of Epiphany--Happy 12th Day of Christmas! Today kicks off the season of Epiphany which means you know what is coming up: Mardi Gras!  Mark yo' calendars for February 21 and get ready to laissez les bons temps roulez!  I think i'm going to have it back at my place this year--last year was convenient but not that many people showed up anyway (although I did get out the invitations late) and I just think it's probably easier.  But looking forward to it!  Hurricanes and jumbalaya and King Cake and The Big Easy playing in the background...

I used to hate January because it was so cold and crappy.  Still not crazy about the dark and the weather but it's a nice change from December which was a little crazy this year.  It's always that second and third week that kills me--my birthday is ALWAYS the same week as my work party and then someone's always visiting from out of town and there's a performance of Christmas Carol or something.  Lots and lots of high-profile events that I can't miss.  This year too I was working on a project for a friend of mine--she commissioned me to knit a Christmas stocking for her step-daughter.  What made it tricky was that I didn't have a pattern--she wanted me to replicate a stocking knit by her granmother.  With no pattern, I had to reverse-engineer it, which was actually kind of cool and fun.  And I learned a couple of new skills, including the kitchener stitch which is a way to remove the seam from a sock so that it looks seamless.  It's pretty cool and makes me want to knit some socks now!  But I still (STILL!) have to finish up the purse I've been making for years now...almost done, I should finish it this week and then I just have to felt it.

Aaaaaand speaking of which...Drunken Knitting is coming up!  Lori and I will decide on a date tonight and then we'll let y'all know. I want to do two dates this year, one in January and one in February.  Ladies, sharpen your needles!  (And rev your blenders for all those drinks :)

Since I've been having so much fun with softball (and spurred on by a FB ad pimping out an indoor soccer league at Chelsea Piers), I joined a Meetup group that plays soccer every week.  They play at different locations all over the city but it seems the ones that meet my schedule best are in Long Island City at Queens West Sportsfield.  I played my first game last Saturday--the format is 3 30 minute games, among four teams, played on a field that's about 3/4 the size of a full-size field.  Generally speaking, the smaller the field, the more running.  In a normal, regulation game, you can rest more because the ball can actually be away from you, whereas in indoor soccer, you are CONSTANTLY running.  When they were assigning positions, I said sure, put me at wing (which is where I spent the majority of my soccer career).  Oh my God.  That 1st game was BRUTAL.  Nonstop runningrunningrunning.  I was in agony after the first game and I couldn't stop coughing.  The second and third games went a little better.  Or maybe my system was in so much shock, I just couldn't feel anything!  As soon as I got home (which was difficult enough, my thighs kept buckling whenever I had to go up stairs) I drew the hottest bath I could stand and soaked as long as I could.  This didn't stop me from spending the next two days pretty much on the couch anyway, but if I hadn't, I would've been literally bedridden.

But I gotta say, I didn't do too badly considering I haven't played for 15 years.  I assisted on a couple of goals and got all up in the faces of a few of the guy players :)  And I overheard a couple of admiring "hey, she's not too bad." I just love how brutally physical soccer is.  They always pigeonhole me as some small player that's easily intimidated and I ALWAYS prove them wrong.  Especially the big players :D  Some of these players have amazing ball skills--it's like playing against Pele out there.  Although as I said I played wing for most of my career, I was never an amazing ball handler--I was on the front line because I was very fast and had very quick reflexes, so I was able to score a lot.  (And I did :)  I was the lead scorer on my team--my coach used to call me Green, Green, the Scoring Machine.  Isn't that adorbs?)  Anyway until I get my wind back and can handle all that running, I need to upgrade my ball skills, maybe do some practicing out in Inwood Hill Park or something.  I'm playing my next game tomorrow--hopefully I'll be slightly less physically devastated afterwards!

Christmas Carols for the Disturbed

Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....
Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why
Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy, can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Complete exhaustion. I slept a good eight hours last night and nothing is helping.

Yesterday was nice. Mom and I stayed in our pajamas and watched the Yule Log on TV, then two different versions of A Christmas Carol. Stocking, presents, etc. then we saw Peter Pan. It's FANTASTIC. I must reiterate--FANTASTIC. If you have any love for this story, RUN OUT AND SEE IT. The cinematography was literally breathtaking, and the chemistry between Peter and Wendy is electric. I've never seen two child actors with that kind of chemistry before--they were incredible. There's a lot of subtext in this version; as one review said, with this version, it's there, whereas other versions (notably the disappointing Disney cartoon) ignored it. I was especially impressed with the kid (Jeremy ?) playing Peter--he was word-perfect. Even his American accent didn't bother me, because everything else was so good. That's such a difficult role to cast, and they hit the jackpot with him--he's obnoxious, charming, cocky, remote, self-centered, cute, a show-off, mysterious. He was simply perfect. Wendy was great too; the actress was good and they emphasized her more tomboyish elements. And the whole story is so much more complex and interesting--both Peter and Wendy are approaching adolescence and that brings so much more to the story, because Peter is shown not just rejecting adulthood but seeing it as a possibility, fearing it. "Come with me and you will never, never have to think about grown-up things again." "Never is a long time."

Captain Hook was excellent as well, not as foppish as in the musical but playing both sides of ridiculous and deadly. The crocodile was terrifying--he was huge, a primordial reptile! Tinker Bell was very well-done, and the scene where she almost dies was very clever. I won't tell you how they handled it but it was clever and moving at the same time. Never Never Land was--oh God, it was perfect, a child's dream. Pink fluffy cotton candy clouds, rich dank greenery everywhere, beautiful and deadly mermaids right out of Homer. The weather scenes are especially gorgeous.

There's one especially breath-taking scene when, on Never Never Land, he beckons Wendy over to watch pixies wooing each other under a hollow tree. Pleased with her delight, he steps back, looks at her and bows. She curtsies and steps into his arms and they dance together--flying together throughout the treetops, against the stars. It was so beautiful I almost cried. It was lovely. I can't describe how this movie made me feel--it was everything I'd hoped for. Mom felt the same way--we both thought it was fantastic. We love the story of Peter Pan--I always loved the musical, and I've read the original play and books. Thank God they did it justice this time.

I do believe in fairies.

My two-day assignment has been extended to the 23rd which is great for money but also meant I'd have to find a way to get my nails done before Thursday, the night of the Real Estate holiday party. I did some research and found a nail salon on 72nd that's open until 9:30, which is amazing for this city. Very nice. I got my nails done last night and got home kind of late. I stayed up a little bit and watched "Blind Date"--they showed this date that was just hilarious. This guy was intensely annoying--kept doing the "You're so reserved...Why are you so quiet?...You don't seem like you're having a good time...Ever had a one-night stand?...Ever do anything crazy?" routine. He was so in this girl's face, it was unbelievable. Hey, dude--when you keep putting a girl on the spot like that, you can almost see her crossing your name off the list. Just fucking relax and enjoy the date, Desperate One. So he was trying to order drinks for her (shots, wine and beer) and she wasn't interested, so he ended up drinking it all. He did quite a few shots of tequila. During the cab ride he had to stop the car and puke three times. It was fucking hilarious. The look on her face...It's nice to find something on TV that actually makes you laugh out loud.

I wanted to go to trivia tomorrow but I don't think I'll have the energy--it's a busy week.

December sounds cold and bright, like candy canes and snowflakes. Those aren't just connotations--the word itself sounds clear, crisp, dark. De-ssssssem-brrr. And of course it's the season of light for so many religions, all in an attempt to banish the cold darkness, when the nights are longest. The light fades after December and then we're stuck with January, with no light, only oppressive cold.

I associate darkness with mystery as well (being the literary Romantic that I am). December is a season of mystery, expressed best by carols that are in a minor key, like "Carol of the Bells" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." O Magnum Mysterium

A lot of sacred anthems written during the 14th century, obsess about the cold, which was of course when the Little Ice Age occurred. The "cold, cold" night, which must have been an oppressive, maddening, inescapable reality for so many, even the rich. Maybe that's why I love the Middle Ages so much; I can empathize with their environmental misery so well.

The Little Ice Age is fascinating (although I disagree with this site on at least one thing--from what I understand, crops began failing much earlier than "mid-14th century," thus softening up the population nicely just in time for the devastation of the Black Death).

Maybe I'll get a real tree this year. My new apartment is big enough. Tatia's never experienced the special joy of knocking over a full-size tree--that should be part of every cat's Christmas. I'd have to buy or make some more ornaments though.

Watched A Christmas Story last night on Dinner & A Movie. I don't find that movie quite as funny as everyone else does--for one thing, I'm always way too distracted by Melinda Dillon's horribly anachronistic hair--but there are several laugh out loud moments, like when the Bumpkiss dogs ravage the turkey. But my favorite moment is when the teacher asks "Does anyone know where Flick is?" and the cute little girl coyly points outside.

Finally got my old logon and email back at work and discovered that I've been invited to a farewell party for Bertrand Badre and his family--they're going back to France soon. How delightful--I love going to parties. It's the day after my birthday, for which Mary and I are going to have lunch at the Rainbow Room, a mere two floors above us. The RR sent out an email to all Rock Center employees offering a prix fixe lunch special. Now I can cross something else off my "New York Things I'd Like to Do Eventually" list.

Richard Welton (with whom I was going to perform a scene--he was auditioning for the Actor's Studio but his girlfriend got sick and he had to call it off) called again. He wanted to try again, although this time he wanted do a new scene. Unfortunately my schedule is tighter this time around, and it won't work out. The scene sounded great--it's from a play called Hurly Burly that now I want to read, but it's probably for the better, as I'd really just like to relax for the next few weeks.

Feel pretty rested today.