Friday, December 28, 2012

A Day Off-Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls is making me happy this week. When I was in college and graduate school, I worked from my apartment, a lot. Because I have watched a lot of Gilmore Girls throughout my life, it is the perfect background noise as I work away on a paper. Or pay bills.

Today I was able to sleep until 9:30 am, throw in some laundry, and curl up with my coffee and paper and watch the 10 am ABC Family airing.

I especially enjoyed it this week (as my pop culture item making me happy) because it reminds me of how things change. I think the episode I am watching is from 2002 of 2003. Clothing and styles have changed, Lauren Graham has a new show, and I am not in school anymore.

This morning the show reminded me of where I have been, traits I admire, and things I am looking forward to next in life.

Friday, December 21, 2012

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"


“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is my favorite Christmas song. I don’t think there is a version I don’t like, but my favorite has to be James Taylor’s rendition, followed by a close-second with Judy Garland’s Meet Me in St. Louis version—it is the original, after all.


When looking up the history of the song (or using Wikipedia, you decide), I discovered that the song has often been called depressing and the lyrics have a changed a little bit over time. Garland’s version was recorded in 1944 and later Frank Sinatra’s slightly altered version was an extremely popular version. Right after the song was recorded in 1944 it was extremely popular among WWII soldiers, as you can imagine.

 I enjoy the song because it reminds me of the peace I aspire to at Christmas-time, as well as how much a year can bring. When I take stock of my life over the past year, it is amazing how things have changed and grown. If you just have a little patience, time can do so much good. And even if things aren’t the way you imagined, have a nice little holiday with those you hold dear and hope for the best.

So, have yourself a Merry Christmas.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Parenthood-and Christmas Peace (what is making me happy this week)


As I think about what is making me happy, I find myself imposing rules on my new blogging tradition. For example, because it is Christmas time I could easily compose a post about my friends, family, getting together, baking cookies, etc. However, they are not something you, as a reader, have access to. (Sorry, you can’t have my mom or her Christmas dinner). So, instead I need to write about something in pop culture & Christmas that is making me happy—perhaps I should post the official rules sometime...
 
For me, Christmas and the winter holidays are some of the best times to watch television. Christmas movies are always on and can be DVR’d and watched at my leisure. As an individual that lives in a VCR-less household, this means I consume the old favorites like White Christmas and Holiday Inn as well as the cookie cutter plots of Hallmark and Lifetime movies. However, my absolute favorites are holiday specials/themed episodes of my favorite prime time television shows.

So…drumroll…the most recent episode of Parenthood from December 11th is making me happy. The episode is titled “What to My Wondering Eyes” (and it is available to be streamed here). For those of you who don’t watch the show regularly, I will provide a brief synopsis (although NBC does a fine job hooking you on-line). The plot focuses on the Braverman family—the parents played by Bonnie Bedelia and Craig T. Nelson and their 4 adult children and their respective spouses and children. You see the families gathering for dinners, taking their children to school, struggling with the challenges we all face in life, and then coming together as the larger Braverman clan.  It is not critically acclaimed in the way that The Wire or Breaking Bad is, but it reinforces that family and community is so crucial to a fulfilling life—in the same way that a show like Gilmore Girls did.
Anyway, back to the Christmas episode that is making me happy and for me, embodies the Christmas spirit. My favorite character, Christina, has been undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and in the most recent episode ends up in ICU with a life-threatening infection. Needless to say, this is an absolutely heart-wrenching episode. A friend of mine created a subtitle for the episode, “Weep, America, Weep.” Christmas Eve becomes the turning point in which we see if Christina lives or dies and the whole family struggles with her health status. Of course, all of this is happening against the backdrop of providing a “normal” Christmas for all the young children in the family—a set of actions that are even more poignant in light of recent tragic events. The narrative juxtaposes Christina’s struggle for life, most poignantly illustrated by a video she leaves for her children in case she passes on, with the desire and need to believe in Santa Claus.



The episode embodies what I value in Christmas: family, faith, and a renewed look to the future. It also reminds us that Christmas is not just a time to be charitable to those who may have less than us (although that is admirable and necessary to live in community) but to also keep in our thoughts and prayers those who are struggling over the holiday season because of health or personal tragedy. You don’t need to a lot of money or presents to celebrate the holidays but I do believe Christmas requires peace—peace within yourself, especially. And this year, especially in a small town in Connecticut, finding peace may be nearly impossible.

So perhaps this episode doesn’t necessarily provide joy, but anything that can provide the Christmas spirit that comes without, as the Grinch would say, presents, packages, boxes, or bags, is making me happy this December.
 
PS A previous version of this post stated that Glen Hansard of Once fame was on the show. My husband kindly pointed out that Glen Hansard made his appearance the week before. I apologize for the confusion and now urge to watch that episode and the one that I waxed on about in this post!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

What is making me happy this week

Every week I listen to a pop culture podcast entitled Pop Culture Happy Hour. At the end of each episode all of the hosts, who are a variety of editors and writers from NPR, go around and choose a pop culture item that makes them happy. There is a catch, it has to be something that the average person has access to.

So, I am going to spice up my blog and try a similar thing every week. This week's item: the pop culture podcast. Today I caught up on two weeks of episodes and I was struck, again, by how it makes me feel intelligent and well-informed while also challenges me and provides some thoughtful stimulation that does not often happen post graduate school. Check it out!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129472378

PS. On a side note, if the visual effects of this post seem a little clunky, I apologize. I am trying out composing posts in a new app. As you can see, links don't look too great!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

My Christmas Checklist

My Christmas shopping is almost done...just 2 gift cards left to purchase. Mom and I shopped at Mayfair while Stephen and my dad went and got our Christmas tree last Saturday. Friday we pasted the final stamp on our batch of Christmas cards. This past week we decorated the tree and today I put the finishing touches of ribbon on it. This morning we had Christmas brunch with Stephen's family. So, we are all feeling festive.

Next on my list? Wrapping the presents and Christmas baking. Ginger snaps and puppy chow are must-haves, but I am looking for something else besides fudge for this year. Any suggestions?






Our stockings are hung with care (no chimney, sorry)



We have trees big...



...and small. Enjoy your holiday preparations!