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 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Invalid Item" "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
 | Day 8 | "Christmas Without You" by Ava Max I just discovered this song this year thanks to a Spotify playlist of Christmas pop songs. It was originally released in 2020, and I've heard a couple of songs by Ava Max before (notably "Sweet but Psycho" and "Kings & Queens"), but this is the first one that I think really showcases her voice since those other two songs are so heavy on the beat and instrumentals. She actually has a pretty decent voice and this is a quality feel-good Christmas song that's a good option on a playlist during a Christmas get-together or party. |
| Day 7 | "Where Are You Christmas?" by Faith Hill While I generally think that the animated 2018 version of The Grinch is a superior version of the story compared to the 2000 live action film starring Jim Carrey, the one thing the live action version has going for it is this outstanding song by Faith Hill. The thing about this song that I think is the most fascinating is that it was actually originally written and performed by Mariah Carey (making a strong case that she really is the Queen of Christmas!), which was sung by Taylor Momsen in the film. Carey subsequently recorded a full-length pop version of the song, but a legal case between Carey and her ex-husband Tommy Mottola prevented it from being released so it was re-recorded by Faith Hill for the soundtrack. |
| Day 6 | "Here It Is Christmastime" by Kevin Bacon and The Old 97's The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was released the day after Thanksgiving, and this is the song at the end of the movie. At first I wasn't super into the song while we were making the movie, but the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me. Kevin Bacon has a surprisingly good voice that goes with the country twang of the song. It's also the perfect song to end the Holiday Special on; that last scene is really touching and a lot of fun. "I Don't Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)" by The Old 97's This other song from The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is also a lot of fun, and I'm including it as a bonus. The idea behind the song is that it's an alien band writing a song about what they thing Earthling Christmas is all about from their outside perspective based on stories they've heard. It's super wacky, but kinda catchy and fun at the same time. |
| Day 5 | "Underneath the Tree" by Kelly Clarkson Like "Santa Tell Me" , this 2013 hit from Kelly Clarkson is often considered one of the modern successors to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas (Is You)" in terms of contemporary holiday standards. The song has repeatedly made the list of "best Christmas songs" by a variety of outlets including Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Metro, O, The Oprah Magazine, Redbook, Men's Health, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, and Time Out. A 2019, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution listed it as the only new song from the past 20 years in their list of Top 50 Christmas songs.This is one of my favorite songs to play when everyone's gathered together. Our family often makes tamales to honor my wife's family's tradition, and it's the perfect song to play in the background while everyone is working to assemble them. It's uptempo enough to keep everyone plugging along and feeling the Christmas spirit, even as we're assembling our hundredth tamale.  |
| Day 4 | "Christmastime" by Smashing Pumpkins Smashing Pumpkins are a hit-and-miss band for me. I know people who absolutely love them and others who hate them with a passion, and I've always been somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure they're ever anywhere near the top of any of my playlists, but when certain songs of theirs come on, I enjoy them and wonder why I don't listen to the band more. This is one of those songs that make me wonder why I never listened to them more, because I remember it being one of the most-replayed songs I listened to on that A Very Special Christmas album it was included on. That and, of course, "Santa Baby" as performed by Reverend Run, Mase, Diddy (back when he was Puff Daddy), Snoop (back when he was Snoop Doggy Dogg), Salt-n-Pepa, etc.  I was reminded of this song after watching The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special last month, and I added it to my holiday playlist and have had it in circulation ever since. I'm probably going to have to add another entry or two from that holiday special to my list this year because there are a couple of great new songs that I'll probably end up listening to in future years. |
| Day 3 | "One More Sleep" by Leona Lewis This is a song I discovered this year, courtesy of Spotify. I had no idea that Leona Lewis even had a Christmas album and, while I don't necessarily think that this is necessarily a straight-up Christmas classic, she has a great voice and I think the cadence of the first verse in particular is really entertaining. I really love her song "Bleeding Love" but, being mostly a one-hit wonder, I haven't really followed her career and didn't realize that she had released several albums, including the Christmas one that this song is featured on. To me, it sounds a little similar to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas (Is You)," or at least shares a lot of the same catchy pop elements. A couple of fun facts that I learned about Leona Lewis while researching this song: 1. Her breakout came as a result of winning the third series of THE X FACTOR in 2006. 2. Her biggest hit ("Bleeding Love") was co-written by Ryan Tedder (of OneRepublic) and Jesse McCartney. 3. She and Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers were jointly named PETA's Sexiest Vegetarians of 2008. |
| Day 2 | "Please Come Home for Christmas" by Charles Brown Most people are probably familiar with the cover versions of this song by the Eagles in 1978, or the Bon Jovi version in 1992, or more recently Kelly Clarkson in 2013. Or any of the other various covers by the likes of Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Ryland James, etc. But this year I want to pay tribute to the original version, co-written and performed by blues singer and piano player Charles Brown. This ended up being the most popular song he ever came up with, and I love the old vinyl sound of this recording. It's a testament to the quality of the song that so many really famous artists have covered it for their own Christmas albums over the year. This is one of the songs I listen to when I'm feeling a little melancholy around the holidays. I've found this season to be particularly difficult over the past few years after losing my mom unexpectedly in November 2020, and one of the things that's surprised me is how often I want a bit of a sad song to listen to and just sit with my feelings of loneliness and missing her. It's a careful balance though, because if I listen to something too sad or somber then it puts me in a worse mood. But certain songs, like this one, are upbeat and positive enough while still maintaining a bit of the twinge of sadness that it just kind of works when I want to be just a little blue while I'm feeling nostalgic. This song strikes that right balance for me, so while I didn't often listen to it before, it's definitely become one of my holiday standards in recent years... particularly this version. |
| Day 1 | "Santa Tell Me" by Ariana Grande This song is probably my current favorite in terms of "contemporary classic" holiday songs. It was released in 2014 and has charted every holiday season since its release. It's become such a popular standard that Ariana Grande has been dubbed by some to be the "Princess of Christmas," a nod to the fact that Mariah Carey remains the undisputed "Queen of Christmas" thanks to the unbelievable success of her 1994 hit "All I Want for Christmas (Is You)." It's really kind of amazing that any song is considered in the same league as that massive success, and it's even more impressive that this song from Ariana Grande came along twenty years later and is considered popular enough to be the runner-up among modern-day Christmas pop songs. Longtime Soundtrackers might recall my ride or die attitude toward "All I Want for Christmas (Is You)," but if I'm being honest, after being out in the world for nearly thirty years, I might, might be willing to concede that I listen to this song more at Christmastime these days that I do Mariah Carey's hit. Shh, don't tell Beth...  |
| Explainer ▼ Movies  The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special I Am Vanessa Guillen Samaritan The Star The SwimmersTelevision  Partner Track Tales of the Jedi White Lotus (Season 2) The World CupOn the movie side of things, I really liked THE SWIMMERS a lot more than I thought I would. It's a biographical drama about the story of real-life Syrian refugee sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini, who crossed the Aegean Sea by swimming alongside a dinghy full of other refugees to lighten the load. Yusra eventually became an Olympic swimmer, and Sara joined a refugee rights group. I'm normally not big on biopics, but this one was really well done, with a great underlying true story and excellent acting and filmmaking to accompany it. The only other notable movie I watched as SAMARITAN, although not because it was a good movie. On the contrary, it was actually pretty bad, but it's notable because it has a twist at the end of it that I've contemplated for one of my own scripts for years, and it's always a little frustrating when you find someone else has beaten you to an idea, especially when it doesn't quite live up to the potential of the concept. For the television I watched this month, the second season of WHITE LOTUS is decent and I like the idea that the new season is basically a new set of characters at a new resort somewhere in the world. Talk about a great concept. Every time they want to renew the show for another season, they go to the showrunner and he probably goes, "Okay, the next season will be set in the White Lotus luxury resort in... hmm, where do I want to travel next?" And TALES FROM THE JEDI is an interesting collection of shorts. There are six of them and, like any collection of shorts, they're not all winners. I'd say there's probably one really good one, two okay ones, and three that really didn't do much for me at all.The real highlight of this month has been watching the World Cup. I splurged on a Hulu + Live TV subscription so that I could watch a few of the games. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it because the whole thing being set in Qatar has been a real case study in corruption and human rights violations, but the actual sport itself has been great, including some surprisingly results, really intense games, and amazing goals. I'm not a huge soccer fan like my brother, who follows a ton of the international teams throughout the years between, but I get on the bandwagon every four years for the World Cup and have really enjoyed watching it so far. TOP PICK: The World Cup |
| Prompt ▼ I came across this blog prompt tonight and it's the perfect question because I'm currently frustrated with my writing output. This is another NaNoWriMo where I've failed to write much, in a year where I haven't written much, in a season where I haven't written much. You know the saying, you never forget how to ride a bike? I'm not much of a cyclist and a few years back, I decided to try riding again after more than a decade without ever getting on a bike. And even though it's true, I didn't actually forget how to ride, I sure as hell was out of practice, wobbling away and desperately trying to keep my balance at a speed I can only describe as embarrassingly slow. Ever since then, I've had a new perspective on my various skills. I haven't necessarily forgotten how to do anything, but I do get out of practice at things I don't regularly maintain. I'm out of shape physically, and I'm out of shape as a writer, because I haven't devoted the time or focus to maintaining my abilities. All that I've accepted. The frustrating part for me is that I haven't really found anything that's worked to get me back into practice. I join activities like "I Write: Enter the Second Decade" (which I'm writing this blog post for) in hopes that the regular writing will help me shake the rust off, but so far nothing has helped me regain that spark I used to have for writing. Maybe it's just the phase of life I'm in now, as a father with a demanding day job who's still grieving his mother's death two years ago and trying to find meaning and purpose behind everything. Maybe I'm not dedicating enough time to my writing, or not following through enough with the ideas I do come up with.I honestly don't know where to go from here. As I close out NaNoWriMo in a few days, and I Write with this blog post, I'm going to need to really think about what it is that I need to do to get back to my writing, Because my inability to hit my stride with my writing is my current frustration right now. |
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