Is it December yet?

[oloriel]

Tonight, while I was waiting for the train after Kendô, some guy walked past, singing. Aloud. Into the West. In a loud clear voice, and apparently totally unaware of anyone listening. Long, blond dreadlocks; "I wish I'd been there in 1969" kind of clothing. Your friendly neighborhood hippie, so to say. And he walked along and sang Into the West.

I so can't wait.

So. I should seriously start to think about Christmas presents by now. Both things I want to be given (BOOKS! Many new precious books!) and I want to give out. The Christmas market season has started as well as the movie hype season, but I'd hate to do last-minute-present-shopping again (between two showings of LOTR, so to say). It's hard enough to find stuff I assume my family would like, anyway (at least the family that goes beyond my dad, mom and brother - I know what I'll get for them, alright). Hm, maybe I'll just try to get some Gondorian coins for the boys. They'd probably be delighted.
They actually helped me a bit for my stupid Númenorean fan fic, whatever. I figured that since Isildur and Anarion knew each other since they were kids (well, d'uh) they'd probably not call each other by their rather long given names, but have some sort of nickname. I didn't know what sort, though (Isi and Ani? Garg), but when my cousins, talking about FOTR, also talked about "Ildur", I went for that. Ildur and Anon. Feels real enough.
This random bit of information was somehow totally pointless. Huh.

Anyway, Christmas. I don't like the whole thing as much as I did when I was the good, faithful lil' girl I once was, because by now there are members of my family that I really don't care for and I hate the kitschy stuff you just can't overlook and the commercial insanity, but I like the spirit of the season once you get behind the present-hunting, stressful part and behind the dreadful, totally exaggerated decorations. But I like cookies. I like the smell of fir twigs, I like candles. I actually like singing Christmas songs. And I love the way that my
little cousins love Christmas.

An idea I got from etoilepb and liked quite a lot even though I am not the biggest card writer, really: If you want a Christmas (or Yule, or whatever holiday it is you celebrate) card from me, e-mail me, let me know your adress, and I'll send you one. Savvy?

This will be the second Christmas without my godfather. He was among the people I really did care about.

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Heut Abend, als ich nach dem Kendô auf die Bahn gewartet habe, wanderte eine Gestalt vorbei, die laut sang. Into the West. Richtig laut und klar, und anscheinend völlig ahnungslos, dass ihm jemand zuhörte. Lange, blonde Dreadlocks; "Ich wünschte, ich wäre 1969 dabeigewesen"-Klamotten. Der freundliche Hippie aus der Nachbarschaft, sozusagen. Und da latschte er also an der Haltestelle Weyertal vorbei und sang Into the West.

Ich kann es so nicht mehr erwarten.

Also. Ich sollte mir mal ernsthaft Gedanken um Weihnachtsgeschenke machen. Sowohl Zeugs, dass ich gern geschenkt kriegen würde (BÜCHER! Viele liebe neue Bücher!) und Sachen, die ich verschenken will. Die Weihnachtsmarktsaison hat mit der Movie-Hype-saison zusammen angefangen, aber ich würde ungern wieder auf den letzten Drücker einkaufen gehen (sozusagen zwischen zwei HdR-Vorstellungen). Es ist auch so schon schwer genug, für meine Familie Sachen zu finden, die ihnen gefallen könnten (jedenfalls für die Familie, die über Vater, Mutter, Bruder hinausgeht - was die dreie kriegen, weiß ich immerhin schon). Hm, vielleicht versuche ich, meinen Cousins ein paar gondorianische Münzen zu organisieren. Vermutlich fänden sie die echt toll.
Schließlich haben sie mir sogar ein wenig mit meiner dämlichen Númenor-Geschichte, Fan Fic, was auch immer, geholfen. Ich dachte, da Isildur und Anarion sich ja nun von Kind an kannten (ach nee), würden sie vermutlich eher Spitznamen für einander benutzen als ihre doch eher langen richtigen Namen. Ich wusste nur nicht, was für welche (Isi und Ani? Garg), aber als meine Cousins über Die Gefährten redeten und dabei dann auch über "Ildur", habe ich mich dann dafür entschieden. Ildur und Anon. Passt scho.
Irgendwie war das jetzt so richtig sinnlose Information. Huh.

Weihnachten, jedenfalls. Ich mag das ganze nicht mehr so sehr wie damals, als ich noch das gute, gläubige kleine Mädchen war, der Traum aller Großeltern, weil ich nun ein paar Familienmitglieder nicht leiden kann und ich den ganzen Kitsch und Kommerzkram, den man ja nicht übersehen kann, verabscheue. Aber ich mag den Geist der Saison, jedenfalls, wenn man mal hinter die stressige Geschenkejagd und die grauenvoll übertriebenen Dekorationen gelangt. Ich mag Kekse. Und ich mag den Duft von Tannenzweigen, und Kerzen. Ich singe sogar gerne Weihnachtslieder. Und ich liebe es, wie meine kleinen Cousins Weihnachten lieben.

Eine Idee von etoilepb, die ich sehr hübsch fand, obwohl ich eigentlich kein großer Weihnachtskartenschreiber bin: Wenn da draußen jemand eine Weihnachtskarte (oder eine Julkarte, oder was auch immer ihr nun feiert) haben mag, e-mailt mir, verratet mir eure Adresse, und ich schicke euch eine Karte. Klar soweit?

Das ist das zweite Weihnachtsfest ohne meinen Patenonkel. Er gehörte zu den Leuten, die ich sehr sehr gut leiden konnte.


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Comments

[ninquelote.livejournal.com]

*nod* Family visits over Christmas can be... well, stressful, to say the least, and most of our cousins are closer to our age by this point, so there aren't many people in our family who really get excited over the holiday season. We still remember how it -was- when we were little, though. And how we'd be so excited to get out the Christmas decorations every year because we had this ongoing game that we played with some of the Christmas ornaments every December, where they would go on a journey, and I don't think we ever finished the game-- we couldn't, because we had to find a way to continue it every year-- but we don't play it any more either. But even today when we put them on our tree we still remember what roles most of them had in the game, and we insist on putting some of them in certain places on the tree, or next to each other, or so on, just as if we were getting ready to play the whole thing again. There was always... something warm about it, like coming back to a home which only existed temporarily, but was home nonetheless.

(not sure if that made any sense, but oh well.)

they'd probably not call each other by their rather long given names, but have some sort of nickname. I didn't know what sort, though (Isi and Ani? Garg), but when my cousins, talking about FOTR, also talked about "Ildur", I went for that.

Heh, well, that sounds believable to me. Kids (in my experience at least) will often give nicknames based on how they pronounce each other's names, so if Anarion couldn't pronounce his brother's name (or vice versa) then he'd probably get used to calling him that even after he knew better...

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a game my brother and I used to play when we had to tidy up his room (where all of our Playmobil and Lego and so on was stored) - everyone on a large journey, eventually reaching for each the place where it belonged (that is, some drawer or box or other), with adventures resulting from their meetings (like when the "Middle-ages" figures met the "Wild West" figures). Of course, tidying up took much longer that way, but at least it was more fun.

Glad you like the nickname thing. ;)

[vashachu.livejournal.com]

I emailed the account listed on your userinfo page.