Post-Christmas

[tarigwaemir]

Blair Hall Apts., on the Feast of St. Stephen

I've been back in New York for a week, and it's been unseasonably warm and generally delightful. Received clothes (dark-green corduroy pants, silver-gray belted sweater, and dark-gray turtleneck) and books (Thomas L. Friedman's The World is Flat, which I've been meaning to read for years, and Thomas Merton's No Man is an Island) for Christmas. My own gifts to my parents were a complete success: I bought my father the DVD of Casino Royale (since he likes to watch movies in order to practice his English) and my mother a CD of Angela Gheorghiu performing Puccini arias, which I got signed by Gheorghiu herself when jaebi_lit and I went to see La Rondine last month. Mother is now a confirmed Gheorghiu fan; she went into raptures over the recording of "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca. I also gave them $200 in cash from my savings, which also pleased them to no end. (Oh, Asian parents.)

I like giving gifts if I know what to give. There's a special pleasure that comes from picking the right gift for someone. ^_^

Speaking of which, I wrote a pinch hit for yuletide even though I wasn't signed up as a participant, and the mods were kind enough to invite us pinch-hitters to submit requests in case someone might be willing to write some Yuletide Treats before the deadline. I didn't expect to receive anything though, so I was delightfully surprised to find an email on Christmas informing me that I had received three fics:

Christopher's Elephant and The Time for Parting Come, for Diana Wynne Jones' Chronicles of Chrestomanci, both featuring Christopher and Millie.

Stupid and Stubborn, for Hana Yori Dango, featuring Tsukushi's thoughts on Doumyoji (set, I think, early on in the series).

Have already gotten a couple of comments on my fic, and my recipient seems to be pleased with it, which makes me feel happy. I highly doubt anyone will guess the yuletide fic I wrote because it's so different from the sort of fic I usually write, but in case anyone is willing to guess:

Go to the Yuletide Archive.
Read everything that appeals to you in various fandoms.
Guess the story (or stories) that I wrote, and I will write you a story to request.

Hints:
1. I've written for this fandom once (and exactly once) before.
2. It's for a slightly more well-known fandom than the Yuletide fic I wrote last year.
3. It's not for an animanga fandom.
4. It has a real plot (shock! horror! gasp!), referencing a common mythological paradigm.

I haven't really started reading other fics in the archive yet, although I desperately want to, judging from the tantalizing recs being posted at yuletide.

Also, my fifthmus fic was posted today: Homecoming: the haiku diary of Kuwabara Torajirou

(People who actually know Japanese poetry/history, please do not skewer me.)

lanerose wrote Paying the Rent for my fifthmus request, which you should all read because it has Yashiro finally winning his parents' approval with a little help from Yeongha. Actually, just head over to fifthmus and read all the fics posted there, if you haven't already.

Today, tryogeru and I went to see Sweeney Todd, which was quite excellent. The singing wasn't bad, and both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were delightfully creepy. I hadn't listened to the musical before so I didn't have any previous standard to compare it to, but it definitely works as a movie.

Heard while on the way to the cinema: a violinist playing in the 42nd Street station with an unusually smooth, beautiful tone. I'm no expert, but it was a sharp contrast from your usual subway performer, who tends to scrape away at the fiddle without a care as if hitting the right notes was all that mattered. I thought of leaving him a dollar but my stinginess got the better of me. (Apparently Joshua Bell once played in the subway during rush hour without advertising his identity, and he earned a measly $32.)

Seen during Christmas: a group of teenagers, half of them male, performing the dance to the hit Korean pop song "Tell Me" by Wonder Girls (Youtube video for those of you who might not appreciate how hilarious this is), for our church's annual Christmas sing-off. What I find funny is the fact that the boys were probably more enthusiastic about learning the dance than the girls were. Oh, and the fact that our pastor and the emcee were trying to dance along in the background while wearing blond and purple wigs. I kid you not.

Links of interest:

• Literary quotes of the year from the Times.
  
• The cultural year 2007: what was overrated and underrated? Found it a fascinating read, although it's a British magazine, so I had very little point of reference for anything that wasn't a book or movie released in the states.
  
• Delicious-sounding recipe for cranberry snowballs on The Old Foodie
  
• Review of James Joyce from Atlantic Monthly, reposted in Powell's Books blog

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

Yours &c.

Comments

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

I had Act I of La Rondine on when some family friends were over for dinner last week, and Mrs. Dentist asked who the lovely female voice was. Ha!

[troisroyaumes]

Converting the rest of the world, one person at a time! ^_^

[hadriana.livejournal.com]

I adored Sweeney Todd and I say that as a huge fan of the musical. The cast wasn't very strong vocally but the rest of their performance made up for it and the visuals were sooo good. Glad to hear you liked it even without knowing the original.

[troisroyaumes]

Yes, the cast didn't have great voices, but they were such great actors. ^_^ I'm really glad Tim Burton directed the film; he did a marvelous job of creating a creepy atmosphere while making the characters still sympathetic.