I'm really up for some good willie waught. Who's with me?
Mamacita says: Well, my dears, here we all are once again, celebrating another new year with our real life friends and our other real life friends. Six years ago, I didn’t really consider my internet friends to be really and truly real, but I’ve learned better since the beginning.
Online friends are as real as the other kind.
I hope all of you have a wonderful and positive New Year. I hope nothing bad happens to any of you, and I hope you are all safe, and healthy, and happy, every single day. You, and everybody who is precious to you.
Did you know that the automated Times Square dropping ball was invented by a teenager, by the way? This teenager has become a very amazing adult, responsible for many innovative inventions and wonderful ideas and brilliant concepts. We study Dean Kamen in my college reading class.
This song, which all of us will be hearing and maybe even singing tonight, always makes me tear up. Even back before I knew what it meant, something about it was both sad, and happy, and sentimental.
It also makes me think of When Harry Met Sally, which is and always will be one of my favorite movies of all time.
What does this song really mean? I think it’s important that we all know, since it’s a song that’s become a kind of holiday icon for most people. When you sing or hear it tonight, think about what the words are saying.
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, (Should old acquaintances be forgotten,)
And never brought to mind ( And never remembered?)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And the days of auld lang syne. ( And days of long ago.)
And surely ye ‘ll be your pint’ stowp (And surely you will pay for your pint)
And surely I ‘ll be mine ( And surely I’ll pay for mine)
And we ‘ll take a cup o’ kindness yet ( We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet)
For auld lang syne ( for the days of long ago.)
We twa hae run about the braes (We two have run around the hillsides)
And pou’d the gowans fine ( and pulled the daisies fine)
But we ‘ve wander’d monie a weary fit ( But we have wandered many a weary foot)
Sin’ auld lang syne. ( Since the days of long ago.)
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn (We two have paddled in the stream)
Frae morning sun till dine ( From noon ‘till dinner time)
But seas between us braid hae roar’d ( But seas between us broad have roared)
Sin’ the days of auld lang syne ( Since the days of long ago)
And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere (And there’s a hand, my trusty friend)
And gie ‘s a hand o’ thine ( And give us a hand of yours)
And we ‘ll tak a right guid-willie waught ( And we will take a goodwill draught)
For auld lang syne ( For the days of long ago)
[CHORUS]For auld lang syne, my dear (For the days of long ago, my dear)
For auld lang syne ( For the days of long ago)
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet ( We’ll take a cup of kindness yet)
For auld lang syne ( For the days of long ago.)
To answer the question of whether or not old acquaintances should ever be forgotten, the answer is, most emphatically, “NO.”
Not till the Alzheimer’s makes me say “Oh Baby” to the nursing home orderlies.
I love you, dear friends. And I wish you were all here so we could take a right guid willie waught together. I’m really up for some good willie waught.
Have a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve. Let’s all still be here New Year’s Day. I don’t want to hear of any wonky driving from any of you, you hear? I don’t want to read about you in the newspapers tomorrow, either. Especially on the obituary page. (The police log would be bad enough. . . .)
Happy New Year. I hope 2011 is the best year yet, for all of you.
Happy New Year to you all.
Mamacita, Scheiss WeeklyQuotation Saturday: Christmas Day
Mamacita says: Christmas is almost over, except that for people like me, Christmas is never really gone.
Today has been lovely, truly lovely. My family, all together again, with food and conversation and games and candles and trees bedecked with twinkling stars . . . . People laugh and say that Christmas is a magical time, but for me, it really is magical. Somewhere inside my head, I’m seven years old, and I still believe.
1. The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has no Christmas in his heart. — Helen Keller
2. Off to one side sits a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him – and so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds. — Max Lucado
3. Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words. – Harlan Miller
4. Of course, this is the season to be jolly, but it is also a good time to be thinking about those who aren’t. — Helen Valentine
5. When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness. — Bob Hope
6. What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. — Agnes M. Pharo
7. We should try to hold on to the Christmas spirit, not just one day a year, but 365. — Mary Martin
8. Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it “white.” — Bing Crosby
9. There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. — Erma Bombeck
10. May we not “spend” Christmas or “observe” Christmas, but rather “keep” it. — Peter Marshall
11. A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. –Garrison Keillor
12. Late on a sleepy, star-spangled night, those angels peeled back the sky just like you would tear open a sparkling Christmas present. Then, with light and joy pouring out of Heaven like water through a broken dam, they began to shout and sing the message that baby Jesus had been born. The world had a Savior! The angels called “Good News,” and it was. — Larry Libby
13. I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. AS for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays – let them overtake me unexpectedly – waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: “Why, this is Christmas Day!” — David Grayson
14. . . . God’s visit to earth took place in an animal fshelter with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn king but a feed trough. . . For just an instant the sky grew luminous with angels, yet who saw the spectacle? Illiterate hirelings who watched the flocks of others, “nobodies” who failed to leave their names. . . . . -Philip Yancy
15. Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind. — Valentine Davies
16. Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. — Dale Evans
17. Remember: if Christmas isn’t found in your heart, you won’t find it under a tree. — Charlotte Carpenter
18. To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world. — Calvin Coolidge
19. My first copies of Treasure Island and Huckleberry Finn still have some blue spruce needles in the pages. They smell of Christmas still. — Charlton Heston
20. They err who thinks Santa Claus comes down through the chimney; he really enters through the heart. — Mrs. Paul M. Ell
21. The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect! — Charles N. Barnard
22. This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone. — Taylor Caldwell
23. My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? — Bob Hope
24. Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart. . . filled it, too, with melody that would last forever. — Bess Streeter Aldrich
25. Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To very child, a good example. To yourself, respect. — Oren Arnold
26. Which Christmas is the most vivid to me? It’s always the next Christmas. — Joanne Woodward
27. Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves. — Eric Sevareid
28. One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly. — Andy Rooney
29. Christmas is the keeping place for memories of our innocence. — Joan Mills
30. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. — Hamilton Wright Mabie
31. So here comes Gabriel again, and what he says is “Good tidings of great joy. . . for all people.” That’s why the shepherds are first: they represent all the nameless, all the the working stiffs, the great wheeling population of the whole world. – Walter Wangerin Jr.
32. Christmas is the day that holds all time together. — Alexander smith
33. A Christmas candle is a lovely thing. It makes no noise at all. But softly gives itself away, while quite unselfish, it grows small. –Eva K. Logue
34. Christmas is not an eternal event at all, but a piece of one’s home that one carries in one’s heart. — Freya Stark
35. The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men, who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. — O. Henry
36. Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. — Unknown
37. Christmas is the time to let your heart do the thinking. — Patricia Clafford
38. I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph. — Shirley Temple
39. Christmas is for children. But it is for grownups, too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts. — Lenora Mattingly Weber
40. Christmas Day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both. — Phillips Brooks
41. The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. — Burton Hillis
42. So if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some quiet morning, the touch will take. — Harry Reasoner
43. A scientist said, making a plea for exchange scholarships between nations, “The very best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person.” That was what happened at Christmas. The idea of divine love was wrapped up in a Person. — Halford E. Luccock
44. As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same. — Donald E. Westlake
45. Ask your children two questions this Christmas. First: “What do you want to give to others for Christmas?” Second: What do you want for Christmas?” The first fosters generosity of heart and an outward focus. The second can breed selfishness if not tempered by the first. – Anonymous
46. Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy. We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience. — Handel H. Brown
47. In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it “Christmas” and went to church; the Jews called it Hannukah and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Hannukah!” or, to the the atheists, “Look out for the wall!” — Dave Barry
48. Nothing’s as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. — Kin Hubbard
49. Selfishness makes Christmas a burden. Love makes it a delight. — Unknown
50. Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes – goodwill among men and peace on earth. — Albert Einstein
51. The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing others’ loads nad supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of christmas. — W.C. Jones
52. There has been only one Christmas. The rest are anniversaries. — W.J. Cameron
53. Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. — Laura Ingalls Wilder
54. Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. — Francis C. Farley
55. Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. — author unknown
56. The message of Christmas is that the visible material world is bound to the invisible spiritual world. — Author Unknown
57. The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin. — Jay Leno
58. The earth has grown old with its burden of care, but at Christmas it always is young. — Phillips Brooks
59. Christmas – that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance – a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. — Augusta e. Rundel
60. Christmas is not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives. — William Parks
61. Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling. — Edna Ferber
62. Mankind is a great, an immense family. . . . this is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas. — Pope John XXIII
63. There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions. — Bill McKibben
. . . if I don’t stop now, I never will.
Merry Christmas, my dear ones. I hope this day was memorable for all the right reasons.
The Twelve Rules of Christmas
Mamacita says:
There are, of course Twelve Actual Rules of Christmas, according to the law, and in case you don’t know what they are and have intentions of storming the school or business that’s maliciously ignoring your rights as a Christian/Jew/Catholic/Protestant/Wiccan/Pagan/Atheist/Order of Elfland/Kisser of Mother Earth’s Backside, etc, perhaps y’all should take a glance at the law concerning such matters.
. . . interrupting my Christmas Eve blues (it’s almost here, which means it’s almost over!), my wallowing in Love Actually, my longing for visits from family, my worry about family members who are ill, my total digging (hippie language) of the White Christmas Blizzard happening outside as I type, and my dread of taking down all my holiday decorations in a week or so, with another version of the Twelve Rules of Christmas, just for you:
1. Christmas is always better than you thought it would be, even if it’s not.
2. Christmas brings people together, even if it’s by contrast and not comparison.
3. Christmas gifts made by childish hands are the best. Christmas gifts FOR a child are even better.
4. Christmas dinner is always great, even if it’s frozen pizza. Because it’s Christmas.
5. No one is alone on Christmas unless he/she chooses to be alone. There are just too many places to go or to volunteer, to stay at home or in one’s room and whine. Feeling left out? Put on your coat and drive to the soup kitchen/homeless shelter, etc. If being needed and appreciated is what you’re after – and who isn’t? – head for places where you’re definitely needed and genuinely appreciated. It’s your own fault if you’re alone and sad at Christmas, or any other time, actually.
6. Every Christmas tree is beautiful.
7. Every wrapped package under the tree is beautiful, especially the ones wrapped by inept fingers.
8. Christmas M&M’s taste better than ordinary M&M’s. Ditto Christmas Snickers and Christmas Reese’s Trees.
9. Christmas fruitcakes make great footballs, doorstops, and stories for next year, unless you actually like to eat fruitcake, in which case, bon appetit. Watch your teeth. And what exactly are those green slimy things?
10. Christmas trees often bring the outdoors inside for our pets, ifyouknowwhatImean.
11. Christmas season begins too soon and ends too quickly.
12. The proper and polite response to “Merry Christmas” is “Thank you,” even if you do not believe in it. Rudeness is always a choice, and it’s never appropriate to throw someone’s well-wishes back into his/her face. If you’re insulted by someone’s wishing you well, keep it to yourself. Charming Fairylit Woodland Seasonal Solstice Nothingness Greetings to you, too. (Thank you.)
I’ve watched Love Actually three times this Christmas week, and I might have to give it another couple of viewings to get the sentiment and emotion out of my system. Otherwise, I might be like Rebecca Randall’s Aunt Jane, so soft and sentimental it’s a wonder I don’t leak out the doorsill.* It’s been suggested before.
Just to hear the music. . . . That soundtrack – it’s blazingly fantastic. Fantastic, and, well, lovely. Just lovely.
Excuse me. I have to go mop myself up off the floor before all of me oozes under the door and out onto the yard.
If you haven’t ever seen Love Actually, what the bloody hell is WRONG with you!!! oh dear Lord, watch it now. Be aware, however, that it’s not exactly family friendly in a few scenes. Watch it late at night, with someone you love. Or all by yourself in your kitchen whilst making homemade bread and fudge and trying not to weep copious tears into the dough.
P.S. #13. Christmas is a time for family and friends, and it’s so magically wondrous when they come to visit! I can believe in God when I’m with family. Without them, it can be difficult.
*Bonus points if you understand the reference.
