Nothing kicks off the Christmas season like Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. In the South you’ll hear that song a million times on the radio during the month of December. Outside the South, well, I’m happy iTunes had the song.

Which is what got me thinking about the song to begin with. I would also hear plenty of Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and occasionally the morning shows would play Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck 12 Days of Christmas (yuk :-P). Occasionally being only 4 or 5 times a week.

At home though, Christmas was not Christmas without Elvis, Bing Crosby, Dino, and the aforementioned Elmo & Patsy classic, more Elvis, and the classic Tractors Christmas (I almost forgot about Santa Claus is Coming in a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train). Well, this was not so much at home, but at Ninny Price’s house. She was the one who liked to play the music, and these were her Christmas songs, now my Christmas songs.

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Music, Reminiscences by Courtney

Thursday was spent stuffing ourselves silly — well, not really. I never got extremely full like I usually do. So let me revise… Thursday was spent grazing on oysters, grits, and bloody marys, cheese, wine, mashed potatoes and gravy, prime rib and pie. It was a good day, not hectic, not rushed, not stressful. The antithesis of my usual day.

We did get out of the house this weekend, and took Milo to Lighthouse Field and the Beach to frolic with the other dogs. After 4 pm he’s allowed off his leash there, and man did he love it. Well, he loved everything except my favorite part — climbing around underneath the large trees, playing on their branches. It reminded me of being a child, when I would play under the rhodendron bushes in Roan Mountain.

I managed to get a few pictures at Lighthouse Field that turned out nicely. I don’t shoot nearly enough anymore, and I’m not sure I will ever adapt to the digital camera age. Checking my shots as I shoot is such a bother and sucks the fun out of it. Of course, had I done this, I might have noticed I still had my ISO set to 1600 — which was fine later in the evening. I actually discovered one of those happy accidents. When using the higher ISO on the digital camera in light conditions (well, fairly light, it was dusk) you get grain that resembles film grain… I love film grain. This is definitely something I will play with again soon.

Of course, while playing, I’ll fail to check any of the photos I’m taking. Thus the nature of “play”.

Filed under:
Day in the Life by Courtney

I’m not big on posting YouTube videos, but this one was pretty freakin’ funny…

Filed under:
Observances, Silliness by Courtney

It’s been a while since the last post. I’ve been a busy bee, yet I haven’t produced much 🙂 I have a lot of things in my head though, and I’m through with the weddings and such.

In the meantime, enjoy the above pict. Life is one of my favorite games — as a kid I loved the board because it was 3D (and that noise the spinner made). Fortunately real life is actually much more fun than the game.

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Day in the Life, Reminiscences by Courtney

Last weekend I went to a wedding. It was the first of my college friends to get married (actually, I think it may be the first of my friends that are my age to get married). I arrive in St. Louis, the first time setting foot in Missouri since leaving KC two years ago, and get my car and head to the Cheshire Lodge to meet up with friends.

This place was a throwback to another era. Don’t get me wrong, it was very clean, fairly nice, just odd. My friends were staying in a room that had a “Tally Ho!” plaque on the front door. The tv set was a nice 13 inch from the 70s, and the room had fake stained glass windows. In the bathroom, there was a bottle opener attached to the vanity — one of the kind that screw into the marble and is there permanently.

Downstairs was Mr. Bear that you see pictured above. The place was rather surreal. I almost wish I had stayed just a little longer in St. Louis to warrant a night in one of the fantasy suites.

I’m generally not a big fan of weddings. They’re always so formal with everyone acting wedding-ish. But this wedding was short, sweet, to-the-point, with only the parts that meant something to the couple thrown into the ceremony. Then, the rest of the time, spent enjoying friends and family.

And, the place was decorated with the couple in mind. My friend Sean is a toy freak – loves Japanese toys, robots, etc. He also loves skulls, and so, this was one of the two centerpieces:

Then, my favorite part, the bride’s love of Hello Kitty was representing:

She also had Sanrio champagne flutes for the toast. I like this girl already 🙂 And, it was a great wedding — very them, and very beautiful.

After the wedding, I was ready to get out of Missouri though. Something bad must have happened to me in a past life there. Even when I was on the plane headed for Dallas, I kept waking up thinking, “I can’t oversleep. What if I get stuck here? I can’t be stuck here!” Then I would wake up, after a few short seconds of panic I would realize I was on a plane, out of Missouri, and I was headed back home. My heart rate would slow back down as I snuggled back into my seat and pulled my eyemask back down.

This happened 3 times on the plane. Even though it was great seeing friends and catching up, I am so glad to be back home.

The happy groom:

Filed under:
Day in the Life, Observances by Courtney