I don't know. I think Mr. Head makes a scary looking Santa myself but, the Headline Awards, totally awesome. And, you know, if I weren't totally inept I'd have a link to the site where they're going to be held.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. - Wendell Berry, "To Know the Dark"
This is a beautiful song. Apparently it's traditionally sung on the third Sunday of Advent. Apparently Advent is more than just chocolate-filled Advent calendars.
The Innter Alchemy Center has a neat article on the winter Solstice, "a point of absolute stillness, receptivity, and movement inward." Of course today I'll be seeing two movies: The Hobbit with Leslie, and Shaun of the Dead as my traditional winter solstice ritual. The second year makes it a tradition, right? Also grocery shopping, cooking, hopefully time to get some writing in.
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away. They lighted candles in the winter trees; They hung their homes with evergreen; They burned beseeching fires all night long To keep the year alive. And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake They shouted, revelling. Through all the frosty ages you can hear them Echoing behind us – listen! All the long echoes, sing the same delight, This Shortest Day, As promise wakens in the sleeping land: They carol, feast, give thanks, And dearly love their friends, And hope for peace. And now so do we, here, now, This year and every year. Welcome Yule!