Christmas is coming

There are things about my childhood that I miss, and one of them is paper advent calendars. They were simple and pretty, and since my birthday occurs close to the end of advent, they always had something of a personal meaning for me.

The advent calendars I had as a child came from Germany. The pictures were old-fashioned and somewhat religious, although some had secular scenes. Each hinge I opened had a pretty picture behind it. I bought the last one I had in grade six, a memorable year in my then-young life. I haven't seen an advent calendar like this in decades, probably since before I left my parents' house. (And of course, I know there are advent calendars with chocolate and other treats in them; these were not the ones I grew up with.)

So imagine my delight when I recently found a paper advent calendar in the style of, if not exactly like, the ones I had as a child. (Sadly, I think there were others, but I waited a week to buy one and the selection was diminished.)

Here is my new advent calendar!

And now that I know they still exist, I can look for another one next year.

As wise people have said, it's never too late to have a happy childhood. Indeed.


 

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 16

Another once-fresh song now rendered ubiquitous by covers. Not that I dislike the covers: the Michael Andrews/Gary Jules version from the Donnie Darko soundtrack is finely interpreted. But the original still hits me like a punch every time.

**

"Mad World" (as recorded by Tears for Fears)

All around me are familiar faces

Worn-out places, worn-out faces

Bright and early for their daily races

Going nowhere, going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses

No expression, no expression

Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow

No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

Cos I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it's a very very

Mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good

Happy birthday, happy birthday

Made to feel the way that every child should

Sit and listen, sit and listen

Went to school and I was very nervous

No one knew me, no one knew me

Hello teacher, tell me, what's my lesson?

Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

Cos I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it's a very very

Mad world

(repeat and fade)

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 83

Once startlingly fresh, now ubiquitous: the story of so many songs of the 1980s. But this one holds a special place in my heart. Is it, as the video suggests, a ghost story? Or just one's emotional weather?

**

"Here Comes the Rain Again" (as recorded by Eurythmics)

Here comes the rain again

Falling on my head like a memory

Falling on my head like a new emotion

I want to walk in the open wind

I want to talk like lovers do

I want to dive into your ocean

Is it raining with you?

So baby talk to me

Like lovers do

Walk with me

Like lovers do

Talk to me

Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again

Raining in my head like a tragedy

Tearing me apart like a new emotion

I want to breathe in the open wind

I want to kiss like lovers do

I want to dive into your ocean

Is it raining with you?

So baby talk to me

Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again

Falling on my head like a memory

Falling on my head like a new emotion

I want to walk in the open wind

I want to talk like lovers do

I want dive into your ocean

Is it raining with you?

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 2

Consensus says the lyrics are about a girl getting involved with drugs, and perhaps that's what the writer intended. But when I first heard this song back in elementary school, I heard a different story. Boys, beware.

**

"Magic Man" (Heart)

Cold late night so long ago

When I was not so strong you know

A pretty man came to me

Never seen eyes so blue

You know I could not run away

It seemed we'd seen each other in a dream

It seemed like he knew me

He looked right through me, yeah

Come on home, girl

He said with a smile

You don't have to love me yet

Let's get high awhile

But try to understand

Try to understand

Try, try, try to understand

I'm a magic man

Winter nights we sang in tune

Played inside the months of moon

Never think of never

Let this spell last forever

Well, summer lover passed to fall

Tried to realize it all

Mama says she's worried

Growing up in a hurry, yeah

Come on home, girl

Mama cried on the phone

Too soon to lose my baby yet

My girl should be at home

But try to understand

Try to understand

Try, try, try to understand

He's a magic man, mama

He's a magic man

Come on home, girl

He said with a smile

I cast my spell of love on you

A woman from a child

But try to understand

Try to understand

Try, try to understand

Try, try, try to understand

He's a magic man

He got magic hands

Come on home, girl

He said with a smile

You don't have to love me yet

Let's get high awhile

But try to understand

Try to understand

Try, try, try to understand

He's a magic man

The Boat

Since relatively few people opt to live aboard a boat for months at a time, it occurred to me that you might not understand what our life in Victoria is like. Here are some pictures I took of the boat, most of them back in August, to give you some sense of our space. 

1. This picture is from ten days ago when we were at Portland Island: the boat at anchor. The boat is 38 feet long with a 60-foot mast. The canvas enclosure at the stern gives us an extra room; on warm days we can sit, cook, and eat dinner out there. Not so much now, though.

2. This is the binnacle, looking from inside the boat on the stairs — a passage called the companionway. The binnacle is where we control the boat; it's where the wheel is, plus the various instruments for tracking wind, speed, and location. The canvas encloses this space. In the background you can see the outboard motor (on the left) and the barbeque (on the right). The area around the binnacle is called the cockpit and is the source of many, many jokes.

3. These are the companionway stairs, from which I took the previous picture. In the background, to the left, you see the entrance to the back berth, which is where we sleep. I'm not going to post a picture of that because it's usually kinda messy and all my everything is scattered everywhere. The door on the right is to the head, another picture I'm not going to post — who posts a picture of a bathroom?

 4. Turning around on the companionway stairs, you see the galley, or kitchen to the less nautical among us. The freezer is inside the cabinetry directly under the towel; the fridge is also in the cabinetry, immediately next to the freezer.

4a. Just took this picture to make to make the galley make more sense (sorry it's so dark: the sky is very overcast today). Here you see the fridge and stove, plus our kitchen storage. Vegetables keep really well in the space between the fridge compartment and the boat wall; currently we have a cucumber, some potatoes, and half a head of cauliflower there, plus some leftover wine for cooking. (I know: leftover wine?!?)

5. Viewed from the galley, this is the settee and would be the dining area if we raised the table (which is beneath the front-most cushions right now). If you've ever been in an RV, you understand this configuration. Two people could sleep here if necessary. The big silver pole is our mast — well, actually it's not; it's a compression post, which connects the mast to the keel, dispersing the weight of the mast from the deck to the keel (it's called a deck-stepped mast, if you're interested). You can see that the aisle is rather narrow; the boat is twelve feet wide on the outside at its widest point (its beam), which is roughly at the frosted-glass back splash in the galley. You can probably get a sense of space from that.

6. Also viewed from the galley, this is the seating area, where we tend to eat lately and where we sit to read and write. The large breaker board on the left side of the picture is where we control our lights, heat, and power; you can also see the VHF radio, for weather and communications on the water. Supposedly one person could sleep on the seating area if we raised the table top, but it would have to be a short, thin person who slept like a rock.

7. This is the settee viewed from behind the compression post. The focus in this image isn't sharp, but you may be able to perceive the curve of the boat. The settee is a good place to lounge, read, or watch "TV" (DVDs on the laptop). It's also not completely uncomfortable if you fall asleep there, IMO.

8. Turning around from the previous picture, you see into the forward cabin. It's a V-berth, which means the sleeping space, intended for two, forms a V from head to feet, pointing at the bow of the boat. It's really tiny. We tidied since I took this picture (because Zak was coming), but it often looks like this; B refers to it as our garage because it's where we store things we don't need often, including canned and packaged groceries and dirty laundry.

9. This is the chart table viewed from behind the compression post. I'm sitting here as I type this blog entry. There was a lot of sunlight when I took the picture, which accounts for the over-exposure — sorry. What's also changed since this picture was taken is the artwork, which we replaced with a triptych of owls to remind us of home

9a. The owls. I'm the one at the top, apparently.

10. Another view of the companionway stairs, to give you a sense of width and space. Also, you can see the barometer (the round, clock-like object in the right third of the image), which has become my little mechanical friend over the last few months.

11. After all this work, I am le tired, so I'm going back to bed. Ha ha. We've now added my Newfoundland quilt to the pile: nights are COLD!

I hope this post has helped you understand (and my future self remember) a little about the boat on which we live. Next I'll have to write about the marina here in Victoria — but that's a post for another day. Cheers!