I Suddenly Remembered My Charlemagne

I think this is the first time someone's ever read a book to write me a Yuletide treat? Which resulted in a hilarious note, and also a great fic for BLACK SHIPS, so EVERYONE IS A WINNER.

Across the River

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Also, THE STORY OF OWEN came up in an article series about people who love dragon books. Basically, it's a list of books I love, except MY BOOK IS ALSO THERE. Link

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Waiting on The Sister, because Tiny has apparently decided to celebrate Christmas by sleeping FOR.EV.ER., and then it's time for more family, food and entertaining Angry Bird with shiny paper.

I made it!

I have new pajamas and a bowl of trifle and a [redacted for spoilers] to curl up with in bed.

Good night, y'all, and Happy Christmas. I look forward to reconnecting with you all in the next few weeks.

I got a Yuletide story.

I have absolutely no idea who it is from.

IT IS BLACKSMITH FEMSLASH!

A Longnight Gift

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

(I have some catching up to do!)

There are a bunch of Christmas things I haven't seen, but know the basic plot of. "It's a Wonderful Life", for example, has been ripped of by just about everything, so I understand the concept. At this point I haven't seen it because I assume it will be depressing.

I've also never seen "The Nutcracker", which I think involves a Nutcracker being turned into a dude for a night? Or a girl being shrunk to nutcracker size? And then in the morning someone's uncle breaks the spell? All I know for sure is that there are rats, which TERRIFIES ME, and that when my friend Kristin went to see it, one of the rats fell into the orchestra pit, which I think is weird because ballerinas are supposed to be all coordinated and stuff. Maybe the poor dude was having a bad night or caught a spotlight in his eye or something.

Anyway, I found out today that I had NO IDEA what "White Christmas" was EVEN ABOUT. I had, for some reason, decided that it was set in California and was about how there was no snow, and then that was somehow parlayed into a disillusioned white dude finding the True Meaning of Christmas at the eleventh hour, probably through song and dance, which was the style at the time. Image my surprise when I found out it's actually about a couple of WWII veterans and a ski lodge in Vermont.

(I still haven't seen it, btw. I just know what it's about now.)

I have seen Miracle on 34th Street (in black and white), both versions of Little Women (what? It's totally a Christmas movie!), The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Muppet Christmas Special, and the Grinch. And Elf and The Santa Clause, both of which crack me up more than I expect them to every time I re-watch them.

(SPEAKING OF THE GRINCH: The Miami Project has memorized the WHOLE thing! With all the songs! And the voices! And I had to share a room with him last weekend, so I got to hear the WHOLE THING, and when he got to the part where it was his Cindy Lou Who voice, his Grinch voice and his Narrator voice, I NEARLY HAD A SEIZURE FROM LAUGHING. God, he's cute. Which is fortunate for him, as I only got about five hours of sleep that night and then had to stay awake for 26 hours.)

And that is my rambling thing about Christmas things to watch. What do you like? Hate? Feel ambivalent about?

I'm working on my NaNo round-up thoughts and thank you post, but in the mean time, have a picture of the gingerbread house I made with the mini-cousins (formerly the "baby-cousins" and redesignated due to the oldest one having turned 16 on the weekend):

( NOT MY GUM DROP...LIGHT FIXTURES! )

S (who also does cakes and is 11) and I did the roof and the boys designed the sides while I did the actual piping. You can see all the places I messed up putting it together, but I think next year I will be panicking less and able to do it better.

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AND ON THAT NOTE: READING TIME!

( Dear Sanctuary Santa )

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

(and you can sign up too!)

(Oh, and also Yuletide.)

This is a sad story.

Once upon a time there was a native tribe in Canada who called themselves Wyandot. The Iroquoians called them Wendat. The French settlers thought that their hairstyle was reminiscent of a boar's bristles, hure, and called them the Huron Indians. Lake Huron, and the county I grew up in, is named for them.

The Wendat had the misfortune of getting caught on the wrong side of European Imperialism. The Jesuits corralled them, basically, most famously at St. Marie-Among-The-Hurons, which is north of Toronto, and attempted to convert them to Catholicism. About half converted. Smallpox crept into the camp, killing both Christian and non-Christians alike.

And then the English decided they'd rather have the Iroquois than a native group with French support, so they strongly encouraged the Iroquois to take them out. The Iroquois obliged them, wiping out entire settlements and showing mercy to none. North America has eight Catholic martyrs, and all of them are the Jesuits who were tortured. The Wendat were dispersed, the language nearly obliterated, and the culture shoved into such strange places as Oklahoma.

But there's a song.

Brébeuf wrote it in the Wendat language. He was the first (and probably only) European to master it fully. It was translated into French and English over the years. This version has different English lyrics than usual, but it's Heather Dale which only makes it more amazing.



Jesus your king is born, Jésu est né. Jesous Ahatonhia

This is Canada. Our beginnings. Our cultures. Our epic, epic failures. Our chance.


(um, if someone would rip that for me, I'd be eternally grateful)


ETA: Here is the album (sache8), if anyone (sache8) wants to have a gander (sache8).

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Sleep well, f-list. Keep warm, be safe, eat much, laugh hard, hug everyone.

Dear Yuletide Author,

Hi! I have only the vaguest idea how this whole thing works, and I always forget what I sign up for in ficathons. Thankfully, this website has a good FAQ and emailed me my own requests.

Anyhoodle, I like wit over excessive comedy (Castle), usefulness over damsels in distress (Tortall), and, uh, dragons (Anne McCaffrey).

I can't wait to read it. :)

Kate