Back!

Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but I'm so glad to be back in Boston. Whenever I go back to Pennsylvania I get used to being there, but there's always this weird transition vibe in the air, or a "disturbance in the force," if you will. Now that I'm back on my couch in my apartment in the Town, I feel that all is right in the world again.

Highlights of being back home:

• I cooked and baked quite a bit. I made a Cranberry Pear Pecan pie with Pecan Streusel Topping, Orange Peel Cookies (that involved putting a whole orange in the food processor), and lots of fancy pasta dishes that were amazing. I tried to make a cinnamon pie with a recipe from the internet, but it was kind of awful and very unlike the non-awful cinnamon pies I've made in the past. I was all over the Christmas dinner with roast turkey and Pancetta Chestnut Stuffing and cranberry sauce from scratch (that's right, boys).
• I watched way too much TV. It's not really my fault; we don't have real channels at our apartment here, so I have to get the network syndication in as much as I can. My mom and I hit up all the NCIS and Big Bang Theory marathons.
• I got to sleep in the giant queen bed that daylights as the family room couch. Space-saving, yes, but it doesn't really give one much privacy.
• I spent time with my sister. My sister is awesome. We spent most of the break watching old movie musicals starring Howard Keel and Christmas specials starring the Muppets.
• I went to church in my home ward. They had their Christmas program on Christmas day, so I got to listen to tons of musical numbers using the incorrect choral pronunciation of "angel." It's a schwa, people! If you don't say "ain-jell" then don't sing it! Also, I told the choir director to tell the tenors that there's nothing shameful about falsetto. She disagreed.

That was pretty much the all of it. I'm definitely glad I had the break, but also glad that I have texting so I could keep in touch with people that aren't my immediate family.

Now that I'm back, be prepared for some amazing blogging. I've got a few things up my sleeve (and by up my sleeve, I mean, saved in my drafts) that are pretty stunning, if I say so myself!

Blog Giveaway Over!

My blog giveaway has officially ended as of ten hours ago. This is not going to be an easy decision. There will be much hemming and hawing. I shall announce a winner after the first of the year! I have already compiled most of the playlist for the prize (I did this early as to not skew the theme of the mix toward any one contestant).

In other news, today is my last day in Pennsylvania before I go back to Boston. It's been a nice break; I'll fill you all in on the details a little later. For now, I'll just say that I pretty much outdid myself from a culinary standpoint.

Infidelity

Yesterday I succumbed to a moment of weakness. I'm very ashamed to admit it, but I cheated.

With Five Guys.

Oh my dear UBurger, would you forgive me if I said it meant nothing to me? That I was thinking of you the whole time? I was in a different zip code; hundreds of miles away from any of your three locations in the Boston area. I was laid over for nearly four hours; I had to do something!

It could have been worse. I could have gone with some cheap and classless joint like McDonald's or Burger King. The fact that I went to a place with freshly cut fries and malt vinegar should only prove how totally still into UBurger I am.

They didn't have your special sauce, UBurger, or your fancy napkins. If you can take me back, I promise I'll never look at another burger ever again.

But really, it was pretty fantastic. I'm still going to stay married to the U, but I'll keep Five Guys as my little something on the side for whenever I'm in the A Terminal of the Dulles airport.

A Chrismukkuh Giveaway

Confession time, guys: I love "The O.C." Shut up, it's really well-written, and you know you secretly like it, too.

At any rate, this secretly works out well for all of you readers, as it has inspired my very first blog giveaway (because giveaways are things that blogs have to do now in order to be legit). If you recall, on "The O.C.", "Chrismukkah" is a holiday invented by half-Jewish teen Seth Cohen as a way to blend the best features of Christmas and Hanukkah. It's rumored to have "twice the endurance of any normal holiday." In the Season 1 Chrismukkah episode, Seth is torn between two girls, Summer and Anna, and decides to give them both the same gift (which, men, if you don't already know, is a terrible idea): the "Seth Cohen Starter Pack," consisting of movies, books, and CDs representing Seth's core values.

So here's the deal, readers: read this blog, and make a comment. If your comment is my favorite comment, you will receive the "But You Are Made of Bones Starter Mix," which will be a mix CD compiled of any songs that I deem necessary for you to know in order for our virtual friendship to continue (NOTE: music in this playlist may consist of tracks from any of the "My Music" posts, found here, here, or here). And just as Seth Cohen couldn't choose between Summer and Anna right away (he ended up marrying Summer), I might have two favorite comments, in which case I will make two copies of this CD.

I guess there should probably be a deadline. How does December 28th, the eighth night of Hanukkah sound? Good? Okay.

Good luck, and may the witty commenting skills be with you!

A PhD in Christmas

I bet that in the universe in which Santa Claus lives at the North Pole and every year fights a secret battle against dark forces bent on destroying Christmas, one actually could get a PhD in Christmas (or Nativity Studies, or Christian December Cultural Practices, or something a little more academic sounding). I already have a dissertation idea:

"Determining the Coefficient to Calculate the Maximum Radius of the Cone of Influence of Phoradendron serotinum (North American Mistletoe)"

With such a coefficient, one could complete the following story problem and find out if our two stick figures (let's call them "John" and "Mary") are really "under the mistletoe":

Let's call the coefficient "M" (for mistletoe). There'd have to be some equation like this one:

r = M * [(Attraction Level of Party 1)(1/Attraction Level of Party 2)]^(-1)

I'm sure law students could join in the fun, as well. Check it out:

If John is standing within the cylindrical realm of the mistletoe (with diameter "d"), does he have the right to sue for sexual harassment if Mary kisses him?

The scientist in me feels the urge to buy some mistletoe and run some experiments in social gatherings, because nothing encourages holiday making out like a poisonous plant and a nerd with a lab notebook sitting four feet away.

Christmas Visions

If I were the type of person who cross-stitched, I would totally do this.

Maybe I am that kind of person but haven't discovered it yet. I guess give it a couple of years?

"Once bitten and twice shy, I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye."

Pardon me while I wax a little poetic in honor of the Christmas season. A friend and I were talking one night about our favorite things about Christmas. When asked superficially, I usually say that I don't like Christmas, but digging deeper, I do have a thing that is my favorite thing about Christmas.

[I must interject something: of course the best and important thing about Christmas is the birth of Christ, and I recognize that. However, as this is something that we (should) try to remember and honor year-round, when I talk about my favorite thing about Christmas, I mean my favorite thing about the cultural/secular/aesthetic aspects of the Christmas Season.]

The other day, walking through Downtown Boston, I had an epiphany: the Christmas season is like a hot guy (or girl, whatever your preference) that flirts with you but doesn't mean it.

You should and do know better to fall prey to the charm and the eye contact, but involuntarily, your lips curl into a smile and eventually, you stop minding. Slowly and surely you give in to the butterflies and the stolen looks and start to entertain the thought that something real and wonderful might be happening.

Such is the case with Christmas.

As one walks through Downtown Boston, one sees lights, hears holiday music blaring and the sound of the bells playing from whatever building that is with the bells across from the Macy's (the old Filene's maybe?), smells cinnamon-roasted nuts sold on carts, sees stands selling Christmas trees and wreaths and mistletoe and Salvation Army Santas on every corner. You think, "this happens every year; it's nothing special," but somehow, the combination of all of it stirs up wells of excitement and cheer and hope that maybe this year, you'll have the kind of magical Christmas you see in the movies.

And then, either literally or metaphorically, December 25th hits you and everything you built up in your head topples over and gets tossed away with the rest of the decorations on December 26th, as if none of it ever mattered.

I have this vision of a Christmas that couldn't possibly exist: I live in a house with a fireplace* and this beautiful tree and everything is color-coordinated. I sit on my couch in an off-white cable-knit sweater that also coordinates with the house color scheme. I drink tea and look out the window, watching the snow fall perfectly to the ground. Eggnog doesn't taste gross. Mistletoe fulfills its Christmas destiny. I know how to ice skate.

I have only myself (and this song, probably) to blame for my romanticized visions of a holiday that I have never remembered going well, but I still hope. I hope that one day I'll have a fireplace and a cable-knit sweater and someone to kiss me under the mistletoe and hold my hand so I don't fall on the ice. Maybe one day there will be carols and merriment and stillness and peace. This is the hope that keeps my heart from being three sizes too small† and makes me want to bake and send cards and see if maybe this is the year I've developed a taste for eggnog.

This is my favorite thing about Christmas.

*I don't have a fireplace now and never had one growing up. When I was little I used to sit in the utility closet with a book and pretend that the pilot light was a fireplace. Were I not such an odd-looking child, this would have seemed pretty pathetic.

†Actually, right ventricular hypertrophy is what keeps my heart from being three sizes too small.

My Music: Holiday Edition

Because I am very strict about only listening to Christmas music during the Christmas Season, and because I went through a phase where I listened to Sarah Bareilles' "Gravity" a million times in a row this past summer, there is no Christmas music on my "Top 25 Most Played" list on iTunes.

However, because I care about you all so much, I went through all of the Christmas music in my iTunes library and found my favorites. Here are the top ten:

1) "Song for a Winter's Night" - Sarah McLachlan. If I could have one moment of extra-diegetic music in my life, it would be with this song. I already have a storyboard for it (in my head).

2) "Snow Angel" - Tori Amos. Tori's voice is just so haunting. It's gorgeous.

3) "A Snowflake Fell (and it fell like a kiss)" - Glasvegas. How could a song start out with the lyric "the breeze from the graveyard keeps murmuring death" and end up to be so beautiful and hope-inspiring?

[NOTE: I realize that these first three songs are about winter and not necessarily Christmas. They're still beautiful. Get over it.]

4) "Wintersong" - Sarah McLachlan. This is also the title of the album. It is my favorite Christmas album.

5) "The Wexford Carol" (arr. Richard Lakey) - BYU Concert Choir. Even though the accompanist comes back in in the wrong key after the a capella verse, it's still beautiful. It sounds like snow. I'm making my ward choir sing it this Christmas.

6) "The First Noel/Mary, Mary" - Sarah McLachlan. If it isn't already clear, "Wintersong" is the best Christmas Album ever, even if I don't already worship everything Sarah McLachlan does. She really shows off her vocal range in this piece. She hits low notes that I even have trouble hitting.

7) "River" - Sarah McLachlan (or Rachel Yamagata, I have both). I should probably look into procuring the Joni Mitchell version at some point in my life if I profess to like this song so much.

8) "All I Want For Christmas Is You" - Mariah Carey. There are two reasons why the original will outlive the Justin Bieber version: 1) Mariah's vocals now aren't what they used to be, and 2) nobody likes Justin Bieber. Nevertheless, it brings out my dancing self.

9) "Santa Baby" - Madonna. This was my very first favorite Christmas song when I was little. I think I liked the way she said "Santa cutie."

10) "Last Christmas" - Wham! I think I really love the line, "I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye," which is a sentiment that I have toward the Christmas season in general, as well as toward other things, probably. More on that later.

Obviously this top ten list seems incomplete as I only based my ratings on songs I currently own. Maybe later I'll make a list about Christmas songs I don't own. I feel an onslaught of many other Christmas-related posts in the future, though. So stay tuned.