Noise, noise, noise, noise

December 9

Nice hot cocoa, sweet and yummy, cures the rumbly in the tummy.

Ben Folds: Lonely Christmas Eve
Ben Folds: Bizarre Christmas Incident

I'm not sure how true it is, but Ben Folds claims that he wrote "Bizarre Christmas Incident" (sample lyric: "Santa is a big, fat fuck") for the soundtrack to Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Obviously, that didn't fly, so legend has it that he wrote the far more appropriate "Lonely Christmas Eve" for the album instead. Either way, here is your piano-rock for the season.

Churchin' It Up

I rarely go to church anymore--a fact I chalk up in part to the fact that I was forced to go every Sunday until I graduated high school, and in part to the fact that beliefs and I tend to drift away from one another more often than not. Still, there is one church service that I would not miss: Christmas Eve's nighttime service.

The massive nave of our church is always beautiful, but it's never more beautiful than when it's glowing with well over a hundred candles. The choir is always in top form, and instrumental soloists are par for the course. Even for somebody as uninspired as myself, every Christmas Eve is a spiritual experience. The family gathers together in our front pews. Sometimes my sister and I make faces at one another. Sometimes people cry. All in all, though, every December 24 is a sort of rebirth for me. I'm looking forward to it.