Another thought on music:

Growing up, I listed to WCLV (the well-known Cleveland classical station) and (I can't remember the call letters now) an "oldies" rock station.* So I knew more about rock from before 1965 or so than I did about what was currently popular. (I tried listening to Top 40. Oh, how I tried. It was part of my "normalization" program, to try to make myself more like the other kids, in a brief attempt to see if that would make me more popular. I finally said forget it, realizing that being untrue to myself and my tastes to bring popularity would be a pretty hollow victory. And it would require a level of maintenance I was unwilling to do. So I just accepted that I was a "weird kid" in a very conformist era (or at least it was in my junior high). I was a lot happier in high school; I went to a private school and I think a lot of the other "weird kids" in the region had parents with similar ideas to mine ("I'll send my kid to WRA; they'll have a chance to shine academically and they may be less likely to be tormented for caring about grades"))

(*It's a bit disconcerting to me that they have changed "classic rock" so now it means mostly 70s and some 80s stuff, as for me, growing up, "classic rock" was like Bill Haley and the Comets and the various 50s and early 60s vocal groups. (I wonder, are they now considered Baroque Rock? or maybe Renaissance Rock? if what came after them is now "Classic" period rock?). And it was really disconcerting a couple weeks ago, when I went to give blood, and they had a "classic rock" program blaring, and "Angel in the Centerfold" came on. You know you're starting to get old when a song you hated on its first go-round is now called "classic rock." (And nothing against fans of the J. Geils Band, it was just that when that song was popular - fall 1981 into spring 1982, maybe? - in the town where I lived, you Could. Not. Get. Away. From. It. It was as if it was being played every 15 minutes. Which, as I remember, was the standard joke about Top 40: that there was a tiny subset of songs played again and again and again, and yet, all the 'cool kids' seemed to love it.)

Anyway. I know a surprising amount about doo-wop and girl groups and bubblegum pop for someone born during the Psychedelic Rock era and matured during the disco/New Wave era.

(And I am unapologetic in my love of bubblegum pop. Even if it is a "manufactured" band. I enjoyed the Monkees whenever VH-1 or someone would re-run the show.*
And of the J-pop I've heard, I like that too.)

I guess I also know a surprising amount about classical music, based on my piano teacher's reactions to my recognition of certain terms or composers and my knowledge of odd random facts like that Beethoven never married but was apparently in love with a countess (allegedly for whom he wrote what was later entitled "Moonlight Sonata")

(*And as I said on a Ravelry board this week, I'd LOVE to have a recording of Davy Jones' tagline, "you MUST be joking!" to use when ever someone requested something unreasonable of me).

***

I did finish one thing today - not knitting though.

I did my Christmas decorating today, put up the tree and the mantel-stuff. And then I pulled out something I had bought back in the summer and never got 'round to before.

I had never owned a proper nativity set. I have a small one, in tree-ornament form, but I never had an actual one with figures that you could set up. And I felt like that was a bit of a lack, you know, not having something representing the actual reason why I am celebrating Christmas.

I kept looking for one. Either they were horrendously expensive or were frankly not a style I liked. But then I finally found one of those printed-panel things that you cut out and sew and stuff. I liked it for several reasons:

1. I liked the aesthetics of it; it wasn't too formal and wasn't too kitschy. (Though I will observe that the Holy Family is depicted as Northern European, rather than Semitic, looking - a common "mistake" in nativity sets. Though then again - having been in Black churches where paintings of Christ had African features - maybe we all see God through the lens of our own background, so maybe it's OK for me to have a blond, fair-skinned Baby Jesus in my set).

2. It's not breakable. Because of where I have to store my Christmas stuff this is actually kind of an issue.

3. I have a nostalgic fondness for those cut-and-sew panel items. I said before I had several toys (including a greatly beloved toy giraffe named George) that came as flat panels my mom cut out and sewed up for me when I was a child. So the set makes me happy in a childlike sort of way. (And again: aren't we called to be a bit childlike in our faith?)

Another nice thing: I can set them up on my piano (which is a good display place; it is easily visible and not eclipsed by other things) without worrying about scratching it.



Putting it together was fairly involved. The figures themselves weren't hard - two pieces plus a base, but then when you stuffed them you were supposed to cut a cardboard to go inside the base to keep them upright. (I opted for plastic needlepoint canvas instead; it won't get folds in it and if I ever had to wash the set it wouldn't fall apart) and it was kind of an effort to stuff them without dislodging the piece of plastic canvas.

There is Joseph and Mary, a pair of shepherds, the three Kings, a camel, a pair of sheep, and baby Jesus. And there's a separate tiny manger (which had side seams to make it box-shaped). The trickiest part was the stable; you have to back each side (front and back) with "fleece" (I used very thin quilt batting as it was what I had on hand) and then make "channels" into which you slipped pieces of plastic canvas (I had to buy a six-pack of plastic canvas; that was all wal-mart had, and I don't ordinarily use it, so that's why I used it in the bases as well).

But I think it looks pretty good. It took me about 3 hours all told. (I rarely have time to sit down and do a project start to finish like that). And I think the piano is a good place for it. (I am going to put the lid back up after Christmas; I kept it propped in the half-open position to keep myself from being tempted to use it as a mail catch-all spot or a place to set things.)

I'll post other Christmas photos after Thanksgiving, I think. I did have to set the tree up in a different place this year because of the location of the piano, but I think it's a good new place.