stunt_muppet

*whew* Gosh, it's been a while.

So, in brief; I managed to pack up my things in a last-minute frenzy, get myself checked out, and drive back home, whereupon, after two healthy years at school, I promptly contracted what I thought was a cold but what turned out to be bronchitis. I didn't actually lose my voice until Christmas Eve (it's still gone), so in between my homecoming and then I managed to help put up holiday decor, chitchat with friends at various Christmas parties, and geek out over YouTube videos of Iron Butterfly with my dad.

Christmas Eve with the family went well, composed as it was of a lovely dinner and catching up on the year with some relatives I haven't seen since this time last year (as well as some that I've seen before then). Gifts were exchanged, turron and sticky rice were served, and A Good Time Was Had By All

We missed the Christmas Eve Mass this year, because we weren't ready on time (if you don't get to the church at least an hour early on Christmas there's no chance of getting a seat), so we and our guilty souls headed home to wrap our presents.

A note: My relatives had on an all-Christmas-carol radio station during the dinner, so I had a chance to listen to many, many different artists sing the same five songs over and over and over again. Conclusions:
-After decades of overplaying, "O Holy Night" is still the only Christmas carol that can almost move me to tears.
-Very few people sound as good as the a capella group that Mom has on CD (I don't remember their names).
-"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" sounds really, really creepy when sung by anyone older than eight. Especially when sung by men older than eight. By that point, the lyrics only raise the inevitable question of "And why, exactly, are you still living with your mommy and spying on her at midnight, Mr. Bennett? Hell, why are you still calling her 'mommy'?"
-"Santa Baby" sounds creepy no matter who sings it. But the Madonna version is easily the most unsettling, except for the breathy and tuneless version sung in the Victoria's Secret ads. 

On to Christmas morning, and the obligatory List O' Stuff:

- Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (finished it two days ago, and it is indeed as excellent as I had hoped)
- The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Thanks for the rec,

gorengal!)
- Paladin of Souls (Also thanks for the rec, viralmancer!)
- The Encyclopedia of Useless Knowledge
- Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos, a Third Doctor serial (whirls around in Three-related glee)
- A lovely necklace with a silver bell on it (which became my de facto means of announcing my presence whilst I had no voice)
- Earrings
- An egg-shaped alarm clock (sorely needed now that my body has decided it's not going to respond to alarms anymore)
- T-shirts reading "You have died of dysentary" (Oregon Trail) and "National Sarcasm Society: Like we need your support".
- Beads
- Candy

Got Mom two charms for the charm bracelet Dad bought her; got Dad a set of work gloves; Brother recieved a book on the battle of the Somme because he likes that kind of thing. Uncle got a tie. Grandpa got a model plane, from both Brother and me. Everyone seemed well pleased.

Oh, and Brother received Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii, which we then proceeded to waste the rest of the day on. That game is crack. Pure, sweet rock-star crack. I may go into slightly violent withdrawal once I have to leave it behind.

It's also given me a whole new list of Songs To Buy once I scrounge up some iTunes money.

I've spent most of the days since Christmas reading, helping to clean up the house and half-heartedly take down decorations, playing Guitar Hero, and continuing my valiant yet ultimately fruitless efforts to hack up a lung. I've done a little bit of writing, as well, but I have my sincere doubts that anything of consequence will get done before the end of the year.

Possible reviews of my three new books and Who DVD coming once I've finished them (I haven't finished Doctor Who since, bizarrely, my mother and uncle do not share my love of cheesy 70s British sci-fi, and as such I must wait until they are otherwise occupied to get my Jon Pertwee on).

Merry Belated Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a wonderful New Year to you all if I don't talk to you again before that. I hope the holiday season was good to you!