I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.
Neil Gaiman
This morning I thought to myself:
As far as Christmas goes, this was a good one.
It snowed on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day and I didn’t run out of eggnog AND I had fun with the family.
With that being said I was ready for it to be over.
Holidays are hard.
They’re hard all the way from the Prep work to cleanup day and then the guilt for having a good time, or not having enough fun or not buying the right gifts or for buying to much.
So I was at that stage- you know, if you love something set it free, blah, blah, blah… and then I remember that this weekend
IT
comes back.
And by IT I don’t mean the clown from the Stephen King story.
I mean
I’ll ‘fess up.
My reaction to that bit of news was not good.
I facepalmed myself against a wall a few times and chanted merrily to myself as I sank into an ocean of stars:
Bloody.
Hell.
Daily Prompt: Confess
Note to self regarding Christmas Gifts:
If you have a tracking dog, hiding their Christmas Presents is pointless.
Pointless I say.
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Ho. Ho. Ho.
Photo A.M. Moscoso
On Christmas Eve Day something pretty amazing happened where I live in Washington State.
It snowed.
Photo A.M. Moscoso
We all had fun.
Especially my dog Hamish Macbeth.
Hamish had a lot of fun until he caught sight of something from his lookout spot on the playground:
Photo A.M. Moscoso
When I saw that look through my camera on his normally good natured fuzzy face this quote popped into my head:
‘By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.’
Or in Hamish’s case strike thumb and replace it with ” Paw”.
Photo A.M Moscoso
Hamish did this Ninja move from his perch and started to belly crawl – something he learned from my cats, towards his target.
Through the snow and ice- around a bush and a tree he made his way towards this:
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Hamish hates Garden Gnomes and Frogs with crowns and yard art in general.
You can give him his vaccinations, accidently step on his paw, take garbage from out of his mouth and not have to worry those giant white teeth of his biting down on your hand.
But if you are a plastic fairy, a wheelbarrow of flowers being pushed by a bee in overalls Hamish will try to take you down.
I wasn’t sure if destroying a snowman on Christmas Eve would have earned Hamish a visit from Santa or Krampus- but in my heart I’d have to say we’d have been fine with either one.
PS: No Snowmen were injured or destroyed by Hamish Macbeth on Christmas Eve but if that Snowman doesn’t melt soon I can’t guarantee his well being much longer.
amm
Photo A.M Moscoso
I ‘ve done a few posts about what my favorite Christmas films are- so what I’d like to share with you is how one in particular became my absolute favorite and how it went on to inspire me in my own writing.
That film is A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim.
I saw A Christmas Carol for the first time when I was a little girl. Very little. I was about five or six years old. So this would have been around 1969
I remember sort of catching bits and pieces of it, but the part I zeroed in on, the part that got my attention was when Scrooge came face to face with the The Spirit of Christmas Yet-to-Come .
I was a scary movie buff by this time ( one of my favorite TV shows was called ” Nightmare Theatre” ) and it had recently brought me into the universe of spooky movies and educated into the world of Ghosts, Witch Doctors, Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, Mad Scientists and things from Outer Space.
So when Scrooge ran into this dark, faceless obviously merciless apparition I was impressed beyond words-enchanted and pulled into the story right then and there with my blanket over my head and my arms wrapped around my dog who was NOT into being squeezed to death by his young mistress judging by the way he desperately tried to get out of my arms.
Not to worry. I was not defenseless.
I just ran after him and dragged him back to the front of the tv with me. It took some doing because I refused to turn loose of my blanket and that was one strong little dog. He was fond of taking lungfuls of air. What can I say?
Anyway.
I was terrified and falling in love with this movie scream by silent scream on that Christmas Eve.
It was a magical experience and from then on not only had I become a life long fan of the movie I went on to read every single book from Dickens that I could get my hands on.
To this day I read those books slowly- I savor each word. I only allow myself a chapter a night so that I can prolong the experience.
A nod to that Christmas Eve when I discovered one of the best ghost stories on film EVER
Favourite Christmas film (Christmas Special 2017 Writing Prompt #21 answer)
It’s time to go into the weekend and start with the Christmas celebrations ( woo-hoo )
So this is what is on for tonight.
To read with a warm mug of eggnog and some Christmas cookies- a collection of Ghost Stories by one of my favorite authors M.R. James
Photo A.M. Moscoso
It’s not Christmas without Christmas music!
This nifty machine plays Cd’s, vinyl, it has a radio too. Classic King Radio has been playing wonderful selections of Christmas Music along with their usual programming, you can go on line HERE and stream their holiday program too.
So I’m set- are you?
Photo A.M. Moscoso
I haven’t decided which Christmas movie to watch tonight
Christmas Carol
It’s A Wonderful Life
or
Arsenic and Old Lace
What We Do In The Shadows
Decisions, decisions, decisions!
All of these are festive movies that really celebrate the human spirit so I’m torn here. I know what you’re thinking- ” Just pick one Anita Marie, they’re all good!”
No. It’s not that simple This is the movie that will kick off the Christmas weekend. So it’s important to me that I chose the right one.
And of course- what is any festive occasion without your best friend by your side?
No matter how you go about starting your Christmas Adventure this weekend – savor it, enjoy it, make it yours.
AMM
One of the best things about Christmas Carols are the many interpretations of the songs that are out there.
As a Writer I know that a story is meant to be told and that the best thing that can happen to it is that it will grow legs and run on it’s own- and if you’ve really done your job it will inspire others to tell a story too.
Here are three standard Carols ( I couldn’t chose just one as suggested by the prompt )with a new ‘do’ that I really do enjoy.
Give them listen!
Christmas Special (2017) Writing Prompt #18 – Favourite Christmas carol
Today’s Waiting For Godot Advent-ure calls to you to go out and become a Cemetery Explorer.
I’ve done that off and on over the years and I’m thinking that I would like to take my exploration more seriously. I am hoping that in the upcoming new year my trips will become more organized- not that spontaneous trips are bad- they’re a lot of fun. The down side is that the material and notes I’ve gathered are scattered around in draft on two different blogs and my photos are in three different storage sites.
Included here are some pictures from various cemeteries that I’ve visited- all except for one is out of the State and a couple aren’t cemetery pictures at all, but the residents were on tour so I figure they’d count
Please take your time in looking at the photos- as I went through them I realized there was much more going on then I realized when I took them.
amm
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Saint Louis Cemtery #1
Photo A..M Moscoso
Saint Louis Cemetery #1
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Pompeii Exhibit, Seattle Washington
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Sarcophagus For Prince Thutmose’s Cat. King Tut Exhibit Seattle Washington
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Bear Creek Cemetery
Photo A.M. Moscoso
Bear Creek Cemetery
Photo A.M Moscoso
Cemetery Tour, Seattle WA
Photo A.M.Moscoso
Cemetery Tour, Seattle WA
Today I was asked at the Waiting For Godot Advent Calendar, ” What are the things you cannot let go of? What item, that you have a close attachment to, would you be prepared to offer to the muses in return for a cup of the elixir of creativity? What is something you just cannot relinquish?”
The first thing that popped into my head:
My bones.
I write from my bones, feel from my bones and when I’m gone they will outlive me for a very long time.
I love my bones. They make me the person I am. They support me in everything I do and they have served me well for my entire life.
So I wrote a poem about them.
amm
I can’t live without you
be without you
my bones wrapped neatly under my skin.
I am nothing without you
can’t dream without you
my bones held firm by muscle and skin
I’ll live forever
because of you
leave my mark in the earth
because of you
smiling into eternity dreamless with you
my bones
gleaming like diamonds
cradled with love
held soft kept warm
by
muscle and skin
Photo: A.M. Moscoso
