This is a very simple video with images of King Wenceslas. What I like the most about it is the music, sung by Loreena McKennitt. The origin of the legend of King Wenceslas is said to be Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia (907-935). It is written of him that he would go during the night to churches where he would give generous alms to the poor.
Several months ago, around the time of the recent presidential election, one of my neighbors spearheaded the effort to start a food pantry in our county. At the time, I was planning to vote for Sarah Palin, and I thought, "She's just a regular mom, and look what she has accomplished just by getting involved with her community." I am, by nature, sort of a hermit. I have no political aspirations, but I thought a food pantry was something I could support and it would get me out of the house once in a while. So in all my naivete, I began attending the meetings. My eyes have been opened.
My contribution to the operation of the food pantry mostly consists of sitting in on the occasional meeting to listen and nod agreement to whatever is going on. I nod a lot. Occasionally I put in my two cents worth, like during a recent discussion of whether donated funds ought to be used for things like toilet paper or reserved strictly for food. (Believe it or not, someone had once strongly objected to buying toilet paper if there wasn't enough donated.) I was pro-toilet paper, but so was everyone else, and the bylaws were amended to include the use of donated funds to purchase some personal hygiene items, such as soap and toilet paper.
Other than being another warm body at meetings, I have helped to put together some shelves that were donated, helped to sort cans and stock shelves, and two or three times I've worked at the pantry on the days when the clients come in to receive boxes of food (and a roll of toilet paper). The pantry is only open twice a month, or when there is an emergency need. The idea is not to supply all needs, but to supplement other resources. I am in awe of all the other volunteers and the board members who put in so many, many more hours than I do.
I've seen seasonal workers who have no work in the winter. I've seen large families who have trouble making ends meet. I've seen people whose monthly income is less than what I make in a good week. I've seen people who don't make enough to pay all their bills and buy groceries, but who make too much to qualify for welfare or food stamps. I've seen people who have lost their jobs and are living out of a truck.
The sad thing is, until this year, I didn't know that this kind of need existed in my community. The sadder thing is, it's getting worse. Our tiny little food pantry is serving more people all the time. To paraphrase an old poem (I don't know the author) "God forgive me when I whine. I have a warm home; running water; cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer full of food; warm clothes; two cars; health insurance; a decent job; and my husband has a job. The world is mine."
So my spotlight today is your local food pantry or soup kitchen. Please make a donation this month. Tell them King Wenceslas sent you.
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Remember, if you leave comments on my blog this month, you will be entered in my Boxing Day Giveaway. (One entry per blog post you comment on.) The winners will be drawn December 26th. Did you know Boxing Day was traditionally the day when rich people would take boxes of food to the poor? Just so you know.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
What Child is This, Free Christmas Video
Would you like a free Christmas DVD? It is called Joy to the World, and it is a beautiful depiction of the Savior's birth featuring music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. You can order your copy at this link. It is a free gift from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elvis, Bono, and James Dashner
Such a cool video! This is Elvis at his best, in color. He's cool, and he knows it.
U2, especially Bono, define cool. They don't need to flaunt their coolness, they just are.
And what does author James Dashner have in common with Elvis and Bono? . . . (crickets chirping) . . . Well, he does have one of the coolest book trailers I have ever seen. (Warning! This might scare little kids.)
Seriously, though, James Dashner is one of the coolest authors I've ever met. Doesn't that trailer make you want to run out and get the book RIGHT NOW? You can find it on Amazon if it's too cold outside, or if you're out shopping, make a detour to Barnes and Nobel. It's published by Delacorte, so it's out there everywhere.
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Remember to enter my post-Christmas giveaway. Maybe I should call it the Boxing Day Giveaway. Yeah, that sounds better. You can have one entry per post you comment on. I'll put everyone's name in a hat and have someone impartial pull out the winners on December 26th.
See you tomorrow!
U2, especially Bono, define cool. They don't need to flaunt their coolness, they just are.
And what does author James Dashner have in common with Elvis and Bono? . . . (crickets chirping) . . . Well, he does have one of the coolest book trailers I have ever seen. (Warning! This might scare little kids.)
Seriously, though, James Dashner is one of the coolest authors I've ever met. Doesn't that trailer make you want to run out and get the book RIGHT NOW? You can find it on Amazon if it's too cold outside, or if you're out shopping, make a detour to Barnes and Nobel. It's published by Delacorte, so it's out there everywhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember to enter my post-Christmas giveaway. Maybe I should call it the Boxing Day Giveaway. Yeah, that sounds better. You can have one entry per post you comment on. I'll put everyone's name in a hat and have someone impartial pull out the winners on December 26th.
See you tomorrow!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Carol of the Bells, 12 Days, and Missing
Thanks to Stephanie Black and her commenters over at Six LDS Writers and a Frog who helped me find this wonderful acapella group.
And they're funny, too!
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Today, I am feeling a little sleep deprived, and it partly Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen's fault. She wrote this book called Missing. It's a mystery about this young woman who is performing on tour with her college choir and spots a child who was kidnapped from her home town. Ronda is an amazing writer. I stayed up way too late reading Missing. I know I should have just used a bookmark and put it down, but I got so involved with the story and the characters. I just had to know what happened. I was reading late at night because I made the mistake of telling my teenage daughter how good the book was before I had a chance to finish reading it. She started reading it after school, while I was still working, and I had to wait until I could get her to stop reading and go to bed before I could get it back again. She couldn't put it down either without some parental intervention.
If you want to read a sample of Missing, go to Ronda's website. Once you read the sample chapters and you're hooked, you can buy a copy at Amazon.com.
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Remember to post comments to be entered in the drawing on December 26th. One of the prizes will be an autographed copy of Missing by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen. You can have one entry for each post you comment on.
See you tomorrow!
And they're funny, too!
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Today, I am feeling a little sleep deprived, and it partly Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen's fault. She wrote this book called Missing. It's a mystery about this young woman who is performing on tour with her college choir and spots a child who was kidnapped from her home town. Ronda is an amazing writer. I stayed up way too late reading Missing. I know I should have just used a bookmark and put it down, but I got so involved with the story and the characters. I just had to know what happened. I was reading late at night because I made the mistake of telling my teenage daughter how good the book was before I had a chance to finish reading it. She started reading it after school, while I was still working, and I had to wait until I could get her to stop reading and go to bed before I could get it back again. She couldn't put it down either without some parental intervention.If you want to read a sample of Missing, go to Ronda's website. Once you read the sample chapters and you're hooked, you can buy a copy at Amazon.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember to post comments to be entered in the drawing on December 26th. One of the prizes will be an autographed copy of Missing by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen. You can have one entry for each post you comment on.
See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies and Angels
I knew it was possible to make a musical tone by wetting your finger and running it around the rim of a fine crystal goblet. I knew the tone could change according to how much water was in the goblet and the size of the goblet itself. I didn't know there was such a thing as a glass harp, or that it could sound this good.
Here's another contest you can enter. Kathy Oram Peterson, author of The Forgotten Warrior and her latest release, An Angel on Main Street, is holding An Angel in Your Life Contest. Here is what she says on her blog.
"I'm holding a contest...An Angel in Your Life Contest. It started October 15, 2009 and runs until December 15, 2009. All you need to do to enter is write down an experience when someone was an angel in your life and email it to me (kathiorampeterson@yahoo.com). The winner will be announced on my website and here my blog December 16th. The winner and the angel in his/her life will each receive a $25. gift certificate from either Seagull Book or Deseret Book Stores."
Like she said, the contest ends December 15, 2009, so hurry! In the meantime, you might want to pick up a copy of An Angel on Main Street. It would make a great Christmas present.
And remember to enter MY giveaway, by leaving a comment on a blog post. You can have one entry for each post you comment on, or one entry per comment per post. I'll draw for the winners on December 26th. I'll be featuring another prize in the drawing tomorrow, so see you then!
Here's another contest you can enter. Kathy Oram Peterson, author of The Forgotten Warrior and her latest release, An Angel on Main Street, is holding An Angel in Your Life Contest. Here is what she says on her blog.
"I'm holding a contest...An Angel in Your Life Contest. It started October 15, 2009 and runs until December 15, 2009. All you need to do to enter is write down an experience when someone was an angel in your life and email it to me (kathiorampeterson@yahoo.com). The winner will be announced on my website and here my blog December 16th. The winner and the angel in his/her life will each receive a $25. gift certificate from either Seagull Book or Deseret Book Stores."
Like she said, the contest ends December 15, 2009, so hurry! In the meantime, you might want to pick up a copy of An Angel on Main Street. It would make a great Christmas present.
And remember to enter MY giveaway, by leaving a comment on a blog post. You can have one entry for each post you comment on, or one entry per comment per post. I'll draw for the winners on December 26th. I'll be featuring another prize in the drawing tomorrow, so see you then!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Riu Riu Chiu, and a giveaway
So I was out shopping with my daughter and we saw David Archuleta's new Christmas album, Christmas from the Heart. Of course, we bought it. (Love that voice!) We listened to it all the way home, and I have had this song, Riu Riu Chiu, stuck in my head for days. I had never heard it before, so I did some research to see what it was all about. The "riu, riu, chiu" part is supposed to be the song of a nightingale. The song is a Spanish "vilancico" dating from the 16th century, written in a very archaic form of Spanish.Here are the lyrics in Spanish:
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
El lobo rabioso
La quiso morder
Mas Dios poderoso
La supo defender
Quizole hazer que
No pudiesse pecar
Ni aun original
Esta uirgen no tuuiera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Este uiene a dar
A los muertos uida
Y uiene a reparar
De todas la cayla
Es la luz del dia
Aqueste mocuelo
Este es el cordero
Que San Juan dixera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Yo ui mil garcones
Que andauan contando
Por aqui bolando
Haziendo mil sones
Diziendo a gascones,
Gloria sea en el cielo
Y paz en el suelo
Pues Jesus nasciera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Este uiene a dar
A los muertos uida
Y uiene a reparar
De todas la cayla
Es la luz del dia
Aqueste mocuelo.
Este es el cordero
Que San Juan dixera.
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Yo ui mil garcones
Que andauan contando
Por aqui bolando
Haziendo mil sones
Diziendo a gascones
Gloria sea en el cielo
Y paz en el suelo
Pues Jesus nasciera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
El lobo rabioso
La quiso morder
Mas Dios poderoso
La supo defender
Quizole hazer que
No pudiesse pecar
Ni aun original
Esta uirgen no tuuiera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Este uiene a dar
A los muertos uida
Y uiene a reparar
De todas la cayla
Es la luz del dia
Aqueste mocuelo
Este es el cordero
Que San Juan dixera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Yo ui mil garcones
Que andauan contando
Por aqui bolando
Haziendo mil sones
Diziendo a gascones,
Gloria sea en el cielo
Y paz en el suelo
Pues Jesus nasciera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Este uiene a dar
A los muertos uida
Y uiene a reparar
De todas la cayla
Es la luz del dia
Aqueste mocuelo.
Este es el cordero
Que San Juan dixera.
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
Yo ui mil garcones
Que andauan contando
Por aqui bolando
Haziendo mil sones
Diziendo a gascones
Gloria sea en el cielo
Y paz en el suelo
Pues Jesus nasciera
Riu, riu, chiu
La guarda ribera
Dios guarde el lobo
De nuestra cordera
And here is the rough translation:
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
The rabid wolf tried to bite her,
But God Almighty knew how to defend her,
He wished to create her impervious to sin,
Nor was this maid to embody original sin.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
The newborn child is the mightiest monarch,
Christ patriarchal invested with flesh.
He made himself small and so redeemed us:
He who was infinite became finite.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
Many prophecies told of his coming,
And now in our days have we seen them fulfilled.
God became man, on earth we behold him,
And see man in heaven because he so willed.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
A thousand singing herons I saw passing,
Flying overhead, sounding a thousand voices,
Exulting, "Glory be in the heavens, and peace on Earth, for Jesus has been born."
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
He comes to give life to the dead,
He comes to redeem the fall of man;
This child is the light of day,
He is the very lamb Saint John prophesied.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
Now we have gotten what we were all desiring,
Go we together to bear him gifts:
Let each give his will to the God who was willing
To come down to Earth man's equal to be.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
The rabid wolf tried to bite her,
But God Almighty knew how to defend her,
He wished to create her impervious to sin,
Nor was this maid to embody original sin.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
The newborn child is the mightiest monarch,
Christ patriarchal invested with flesh.
He made himself small and so redeemed us:
He who was infinite became finite.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
Many prophecies told of his coming,
And now in our days have we seen them fulfilled.
God became man, on earth we behold him,
And see man in heaven because he so willed.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
A thousand singing herons I saw passing,
Flying overhead, sounding a thousand voices,
Exulting, "Glory be in the heavens, and peace on Earth, for Jesus has been born."
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
He comes to give life to the dead,
He comes to redeem the fall of man;
This child is the light of day,
He is the very lamb Saint John prophesied.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
Now we have gotten what we were all desiring,
Go we together to bear him gifts:
Let each give his will to the God who was willing
To come down to Earth man's equal to be.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds)
The river bank protects it,
As God kept the wolf
from our lamb.
Now here's the giveaway. If you leave a comment on my blog between now and December 25th, I will put your name in a drawing to be held on December 26th for some great prizes. You can have one entry per blog post that you comment on. The prizes will be some of the great gift ideas I will be featuring this month. One prize will be a copy of Christmas from the Heart. (Not mine. A brand new one with all that annoying security sealing tape still on it.) Yes, I realize it's a Christmas album and the person who wins it won't be getting it until after Christmas. There's always next year. Or, if you just have to go out and buy your own copy before Christmas, I can make a substitution.
Now just for fun, I saw this video today and just had to throw it in.
Monday, November 30, 2009
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
I love Christmas music! Every December I turn my regular blog into a musical advent calendar. It's like my Christmas card to family and friends - without the postage. Every day from now until Christmas I'll be posting wonderful Christmas music videos, some old favorites, and some new ones I have just discovered. I'm also throwing in some gift ideas and recipes I like, and a few extra videos or pictures that may or may not be about Christmas, but I like them anyway. I'll also be posting about some fun contests on other blogs, and one of my own.
Let's get started with Bing Crosby singing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."
Now here's a fun contest from author Heather Justesen on her blog. (Click here.) She's giving away a bunch of books and things this week. You could get a jump on your Christmas shopping if you win something. Even if you don't win, there are some really great gift ideas.
And here's the trailer for Heather's book, "The Ball's In Her Court."
See you tomorrow!
Let's get started with Bing Crosby singing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."
Now here's a fun contest from author Heather Justesen on her blog. (Click here.) She's giving away a bunch of books and things this week. You could get a jump on your Christmas shopping if you win something. Even if you don't win, there are some really great gift ideas.
And here's the trailer for Heather's book, "The Ball's In Her Court."
See you tomorrow!
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