GJ Willis' Art Notes

It’s December 25th so I just want to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and Very Merry New Year!!!

HOLIDAY BLOGGING GOAL: My goal for now until December 31st is to visit and comment on every active blog listed on Crablogs and wish them a Happy Holiday and write one memorable thing that I remembered, liked, or learned from reading their blog. I started yesterday with ExtraHeavy Marcellus’ blog.

I suppose this frenzy to comment on blogs started yesterday when I read DaBrettman Speaks blog. He mentioned a site called Blog Explosion. So out of boredom I joined the site and surfed onto another blog called Michele.

She has a challenge going on where you place a comment on her site and then visit the site of the person who commented before you leaving the message, “Michele sent me”. I decided, “What the hell!” I left comments on every single persons site who commented before and after me. As I write this I’m still playing catch up with the people who commented after me. I think the total number of comments right now is up to 80. I’m off for a couple days so I figure I got plenty of time to play blog tag.

Anyway, while I’m doing this I’m thinking, “Hey, it’s the holidays!” Crablogs, is kind of like a virtual neighborhood. So why not leave personalized holiday comments on every single active blog? You know something just to let them know that, yes, I read their blog, and, “Happy Christmas girlfriend/dude!”

So I guess I’ll continue on with my frenzied blog comment postings a bit later. It’s Christmas and I’m due to appear at my father’s house for the usual Willis family Christmas dinner and gift exchange extravaganza.

WHAT I’M WEARING: This afternoon I have on a red fair isle v-neck sweater that has black, brown and white detailing. Underneath the sweater I have on a black turtleneck pullover. I’m wearing this all with my usual blue jeans and brown leather lace up shoes.

The fill in driver was again on time this morning. The light rail was also on time. My holly sprig fell off sometime yesterday. So right now I just have a red ribbon attached to my coat.

BIG OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY: I’m dreading this with every fiber of my being. I’d rather just head home instead of going over to that Hotel for the noonday Company Christmas Luncheon.

I hate being forced to share a table with co-workers who probably all feel uncomfortable with my silent presence. I hope no one offers me a ride over to the hotel. That way I can say I couldn’t get a ride if asked why I wasn’t there. If I end up going I pray that the torture will be over swiftly and humanely.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I’m wearing a long sleeved paisley mock turtleneck pullover with blue jeans and blue suede shoes.

Miraculously, the fill in driver was on time. The bus I suppose for the next three weeks will be driven by this very rail thin man mustached man. He kind of reminds me of a black pot bellied John Waters.

When I got on the light rail train the makeup monster lady was aboard. As per usual she was doing her nails. Is it really necessary to apply nail polish daily?

BATHROOM DECORATIONS
Yesterday, I added Christmas trees to the 12 inch Star Wars action figure display in my bathroom.

I did this because I own an insane amount of miniature Christmas trees. It seems every year at work someone buys them in our group and hands them out.

In total I have 7 miniature Christmas trees. Two are up in my cubicle. I have 4 up in my bathroom. The above is a picture of two of my bathroom Christmas Star Wars displays. I like to keep the 12 inch Star Wars figures in the bathroom, because everyone eventually has to go there.

Come to think of it, throughout my apartment are Barbie dolls, Star Wars action figures, and comic books. Not surprisingly I’m the only straight black woman in America that’s not a single or married mother. Yep, no kids or husband but plenty of Kenner/Mattel toys. Why? Because I like it that way!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on this red, white, and blue striped sweater that has a bit of glitter in it. I’m wearing a denim shirt underneath the sweater. I'm also wearing blue jeans and blue suede shoes.

Today, is the Winter Solstice or Yule thus I took the day off.

I went to church in the evening for the Winter Solstice Ritual service they were giving. I thought I’d be the only black person there. Surprise, Surprise I wasn’t! I even saw black guys there!

As I looked around the congregation that night I wondered if they were all fellow Wiccans/Pagans or just people with nothing better to do that evening.

One thing’s for sure, I had never said Blessed Be in public before. I felt giddy saying it aloud. This is the most Pagan Wiccany thing I’d ever done in public. I think I said it along with the congregation a zillion times that night.

Also, there was this black woman that got up and read a poem. I did a double take when I saw her because she looked like this girl I went to high school with. I quickly glanced down at the program and noticed that it wasn’t her. I felt a little sad.

The kid that played Joseph in the Christmas pageant was one of the dancers in a Japanese sun goddess dance presentation they put on. He looked a little more enthusiastic than he did on Sunday.

The service neared it’s end with what else but cakes and ale. Ok, cookies and non-alcoholic wassail. They ran out of wassail by the time I went down to get some. So I just had a cookie. At the end of the service they passed out sprigs of holly that were fastened to a red ribbon. Even though the holly pricked my fingers I pinned it to my coat.

I didn’t stay around for the reception they gave after the service. Then again I never stay around for receptions after church. If I’m still going there six months from now then maybe I’ll consider the after church meet and greet....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Right now I have on a purple flannel night gown with blue fuzzy slippers.

I left out later than usual for work. I wasn’t in a rush to be on time. I saw on the morning news that my bus would be delayed. I think I heard a 15 to 30 minute delay. So I called work to let them know I would be in late.

I should have asked for the day off. I have 15 hours of vacation time that I failed to use.

I didn’t have the foresight to know when I scheduled my days off that I would get tickets to see Robert Goulet and Shirley Jones perform at the symphony the night before.

Symphony Christmas Show
Yesterday, I went down to the BSO after church.

It was looking like Christmas outside. It was snowing and everything. Also, it was unusually busy outside for a Sunday evening in Baltimore. Traffic was hectic. I think this could be accounted for the fact that Richard Chamberlain was in town appearing in a production of Scrooge and the Trans Siberian Orchestra was doing a show at the First Mariner Arena.

When I got to the Meyerhoff I was surprised to find that the place was half full. I suppose the majority of ticket holders were scared away by the threat of snow. I had really good seats in the front row. I sat next to this lesbian couple. At first I thought they were just two friends then after the intermission they sat together with there arms around each other throughput the entire show.

Overall the show was ok. I really liked the dancers. I hated the fact that Goulet and Jones read from a script on stage. I was surprised that they didn’t bother to memorize there lines. I thought this was lame.

My favorite part in the show was the tap dancing Santas. I left the symphony hall with a heart filled with Christmas cheer.

When I got outside it had finished snowing, However, it was very windy and cold. Snow caked the ground. I was afraid that if I stayed outside too long it would turn to ice. I am borderline pathologically afraid to walk on ice. It’s my worse nightmare. I become paralyzed with fear when I see ice on a walkway. Maybe I should see a therapist about this....

Anyway, light rail train, after light rail train, went by with a Finished Service sign. Eventually, I got fed up and took tiny baby steps down the street. I didn’t know if the streets were icy or not I wasn’t taking any chances. Then finally a train pulled up to me and stopped.

The driver told me that all light rail trains were out of service. Finally!! How come all the other train drivers could not tell the people they saw standing in the station what was going on? They knew that we were waiting for a train that would never come. Those bastards!

It seems to me that nine out of ten times it’s usually female drivers who will let you know what’s going on. Male drivers could give a rat’s ass about the well fare of there passengers.

I did a lot of things. I went to church today mainly to see what a Unitarian Christmas pageant would be like. When I got there I immediatly noticed that the church wasn’t as full as usual. This I feel was either because there was a threat of snow and rain all morning long and or maybe they weren't all that interested in seeing a Christmas pageant. One thing I have to say is that there was an awful lot of camcorders and picture phones lining the aisles that morning.

Church Christmas Pageant Review

Performed at First Unitarian Church of Baltimore on December 19, 2004

I had a couple of tiny problems with the production. First off it was billed in the handouts not as a Christmas pageant, but a Nativity pageant. Secondly it had a stupid name, Would You Like to Hold the Baby? Thirdly it was written by a Canadian named Joyce Poley.

The Nativity Pageant was basically narrarated while children and adult participants mimed the action. All the participants did a great job. The narrator did an exceptional job guiding the action.

Standout performance goes to the pre-teen/teen who played Mary. I could really feel what she was going through. However, the pre-teen/teen that played Joseph had a look on his face that said he’d rather be anywhere but there.

Favorite costume by far in the Nativity pageant would be the guy that I dub the manger wrangler. He didn’t have a part per se. He just kind of looked after the preschoolers who played manger animals. He wore a plaid shirt, jeans, and reading glasses along with an Arab head dress. The fact that he didn’t fit in costume wise was why I adored watching him.

The choir was pretty good. However there was one female singer who had a squeaky high pitched elderly voice. When she sang it kind of threw me off.

As far as the storyline of Would You Like To Hold the Baby? goes, I found it a bit weak. In short Mary is about to give birth to baby Jesus. There’s this stable girl that wants to stick around. The stable manager kicks her out. She comes back towards the end of the play and Mary asks her, “Would you like to hold the baby?”

The standout song in the production was “Room In The Stable”. It had a kind of a reggae feel to it. The song for which the play was named after didn’t have any real kick to it. It was the most boring song I’ve ever heard. The production ended oddly enough, with a version of the Wassail Song called Here We Come A-Caroling.

Overall, the production was ok for what it was. I don’t envision any Broadway productions or Tony nods. It was pretty good for a one shot deal.