The first

For the record, I'm not crazy about the fact that clicking on the photo now leads to having to open a file. Yes, that one extra step is annoying me. If it's annoying you too, just go down to the Look At Something section of the sidebar. There's a link to the blog's photo album there, and you can look at pointless photography in all its glory without having to open Picture & Fax Viewer or whatever photoediting software you're using.

Or, you know... you can always just admire the small versions right here on this page.

Whatever works.

----------

So, it's the first. December first, to be more explicit.

December first means a couple of things in my world. It means calendar flipping day, for one thing, and since I'm here at my father's place it meant flipping quite a few calendars.

That's a good thing.

I like flipping calendars.

I like the new pictures. Oh, there's a whole bunch of pseudophilosophic nonsense that goes with marking the passage of time blahdiblahdiblah as well, but I'm not in the mood to wax poetic about all of that stuff today.

December first also means the end of the moratorium on the singing of Christmas carols.

You didn't know there was a moratorium on the singing of Christmas carols? Well, there is in my brain. You see, I have a bit of a thing for Christmas carols, and if I didn't ban myself from singing them you'd probably find me humming them when it's +30C in July. As a matter of fact, that's happened more than once in the past and I've been called on it by my friends.

To prevent that, then, I give myself limits. No Christmas carols until the first of December, and all carolling must cease after New Years. That's plenty of time for carols.

I'm tough, but I'm fair.

I do sometimes have a little difficulty adhering to the rules (especially now that Christmas advertising starts in what? April? Something like that, anyway), but for the most part I can stop myself if I hear the voices starting to deck the halls in October or November.

They're to be allowed unrestricted access now, however. Watch out, anyone within earshot.

Of course, not everyone's going to know when I'm singing Christmas carols even now, because I tend to go for things that are slightly obscure. I collect carols, you see (not recordings, but written music), and when you've done that for a while you find yourself looking for things that aren't Frosty the Snowman. Not that there's anything wrong with Frosty the Snowman; it's just that once you get to a certain point in collecting anything you start to look for things that aren't quite that easy to find.

In my case, I have an interest in early music. That led pretty quickly to an interest in early carols (here's an updated example, she says with a wince. Someday we'll talk about why I don't care for boys' choirs). It usually means I don't get a chance to sing them with anyone else, which is kind of a pain for someone who really likes actual, going-out-with-a-group-of-people-and-ringing-doorbells carolling, but I find the pieces and their construction musically very interesting.

I also find the effort that people go to in reconstructing historical performance interesting, but sometimes for different reasons than I find the songs interesting.

Erm... but that's a whole 'nother topic, and I need to go change laundry loads.

Let's just end by saying that those who are (un)lucky enough to know me in person have officially been given fair warning that carolling season has started.

For those of you who know me only through print, just let your eyes glaze over anytime you see the word carol and you'll be fine.