Drive-By Thinking.

best wishes

… for a wonderful, merry Christmas.

"For behold: I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

May you all find your own great joy today and always.

for your entertainment.

Tonight HSH participated in her very first school concert. (I'm not counting the preschool graduation show, which showed 4-year olds in total confusion over why they were onstage in the first place.) I was very proud. Firstly, she looked stunning.

too good for america's next top model, i think.

She picked it out herself. Sparkles are very "in," I guess. I blame Hizzoner for the gene pool, because I was never that pretty.

This photo bothered me in a way only a mother can be bothered.

look, ma -- earrings are back!*

I don't know if it's the fact that she's lost that baby roundness, or that she just appears to be way older than eight, or that she's showing signs of having definitely inherited my nose. In any case, it bothers me.

The concert itself featured this very small school's very small music program: the 3rd graders, the upper school choir (all 23 of them), and the mass band (5th graders, middle school, and upper school). I won't say it wasn't painful to listen to at times, but they all did their best.

The band played a lot of non-holiday fare, including some Herbie Hancock, and of all things, Freebird. I don't know if that was a special request from the Claus or not, but it wasn't half bad. The music teacher has to direct and play trombone at the same time (there's some holes in the band that need filling), but I suppose it's not that hard to keep time with a trombone slide.

the third grade. hsh is top row, extreme house right.

The choirs sang a lot of decidedly religious music. (The privilege of a private school, I imagine. I think that's great.) The 3rd graders got their own slot, singing four different (and unfamiliar) songs. They did a really good job. I'm being totally honest here. The upper school choir sounded sick by comparison, despite learning a lot of nice pieces, though, including a comical medley from O Brother, Where Art Thou? featuring the only six guys in the school with the cojones to sing in public. Then they brought the little kids back on stage and all sang together.

our heroine is center front, paying attention to the conductor just as she should.

Again, I didn't know the song, but the kids did very well. HSH sang her little heart out. One of the ladies from the bus stop remarked on it, with a smile so big you'd think it was her own grandkid on the stage.

I look at these kids, most of whom I've known for at least four years now, and it's kind of scary. I feel like I can tell you who the troublemakers are going to be; who the cheerleaders and the jocks are; who's going to be on the fringe. Yeah, they're only 8 and 9 year olds now, but how quickly they grow up.

I don't think I like that.

_____

*Oh yeah. Earrings are back in after the great Lost Back Fiasco; had to essentially repierce one ear but so far the sterling wires are being tolerated, and I didn't have to consult a professional.

things get a little dusty

…when you're busy. So I'll just highlight some things that have been rattling around here at Casa DBT:

• Rumors of my demise are highly suspect. I have considered taking down my shingle, just because in two months I've not had the time nor the desire to write anything. Political posts require me to get pissed off and other posts require me to be either witty or verbose, and both take energy I don't have right now. So there. However, the radio silence is deafening in its own way, and I'll do my best to be a little better at updating this space.

• I have been working on stuff. Eight of 20 wee snowmen are knit, and I'm going to finish the other 12 if it petrifies the muscles in my hands. Yes, I'm well aware that I'm crazy, but I've committed myself, and so it will be done.

I finished this before the great snowman invasion:

Yes, that's the famed Alan Dart jultomten. I used all manner of odds and ends, and he's quite content to hang about the house. I accidentally attached his nose off center. It adds to his personality.

• I don't know who are giving me the bigger headache: the talky tweenies in the troop, or their parents. The girls – who are mostly very good – are most bearable when they're very busy. The parents can't be trusted to follow simple instructions, don't check their email, and think they can monopolize valuable – and limited – meeting time with questions that could be easily answered if they followed instructions and read their damn email. I sent home a nastygram with the girls this week that, if read, should minimize future issues.

Oh, calm down. It wasn't "nasty" nasty. It was just … firmly worded.

• The suspension of Mr. Cain's campaign was disappointing. I don't put a lot of credence into the allegations against him. But it doesn't matter what I believe; it matters what the mainstream media can get the average, miseducated American to believe. And apparently the average Jane and Joe swallowed the bait. Thus, the MSM and their leftist allies successfully put down a black man who dared publicly step off the plantation. Note how they've also cleverly put forth into public notice the least conservative members the pack to lead the race for the GOP nomination.

Aaaand the RNC does nothing but stick to the tired old formula of shuffle up the heir apparent while not fighting back. Fabulous.

I'm reserving further analysis until after primary season actually starts. 

• The holiday season has been going well. I drove around the neighborhood to check out the lights, and yes, my whacktastic neighbor has his full show going. He's broadcasting a variety of carols on his own little loop (107.3, if you're driving about), complete with elf voices reminding you not to block the other driveways. Apparently the penguins have developed a notoriety. He's billing them as the [neighborhood name] Penguins.

• I was a bit disappointed with The Sing Off this season. Not that I didn't watch; not that I didn't sense real moments of brilliance. The problem lies in refusing to let a'cappella music shine as its own genre. The producers have evidently decided that it needs to be pushed into existing drawers of the musical card catalog, and the artists should follow suit. Also, allowing groups that have formed for the sole purpose of this teevee show to compete, without a track record or history proceeding them, has dragged down the level of artistry. 

The audio mix isn't helping. It's impossible to tell if what the teevee viewer is hearing bears any resemblance to what the judges are hearing. I have to believe there's either a marked difference, or the judges have suffered marked hearing losses since last season.

That having been said, the winning group was head and shoulders above a lot of its competition and I wish them well. I want the album when it's released.

• And that's about it for this post. I will do my best to not let cobwebs collect in this corner of the innerwebs from now on.