sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

December 23, 2022


preference, let’s play together, and kudos, jersey
posted by soe 1:09 am

Three beautiful things from my last week:

1. As one of the top teams in the league, we have a bye week for the first week of this season’s playoffs. I complained to two of my friends that that seemed unfair. You’d rather, one asked, that we’d lost games so we could play sooner? Fair point, well made.

2. I signed up for a second night of volleyball thinking I’d be playing with strangers. But as it turns out, two of my teammates want to join me, so we have a little mini group.

3. As always the residents of northern New Jersey who live along the Garden State Parkway did a wonderful job lighting up their homes and neighborhoods for those of us traveling afar. Thank you for making our trip so enjoyable.

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December 22, 2022


virtual advent tour 2022: day 22
posted by soe 6:00 am

Virtual Advent Tour 2022

When my brother and I were young, we took piano lessons with Mrs. Wheeler, an older lady who lived nearby who also served as the organist for her local church. (Incidentally, Mrs. Wheeler was a popular teacher in our neck of the woods. Her other clients included, all before I personally knew any of them, the older sister of a classmate, the pitcher on my softball team my sophomore year, and most coincidentally, Karen, my dearest BFF, who was amongst the advanced students.)

Twice a year, we’d have a concert in her living room — once in the spring for our parents and once in December, which I think was just for the students and after which she’d serve us refreshments and give us handmade ornaments. (If my parents put any of ours up, I’ll add a photo later today, but I didn’t think of this post idea until after we’d left home, which is where most of mine are.)

But essentially this meant that we started learning our two Christmas carols in mid-November so that we’d have them in good shape for mid-December.

There’s a possibility there’s an old program downstairs in the piano bench, where our sheet music lives, but I don’t want to wake anyone to find out. Since I don’t have any reference materials for the songs we all would have performed and without video confirmation to the contrary, let’s assume the songs we all would have played went something like this:

Karen, this is how you remember it, too, right?

Tomorrow, maybe I’ll sit down and see if I can play something Christmassy if there’s a time when no one’s around.

Did the rest of you have Christmas performances with instrument teachers?

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December 21, 2022


virtual advent tour 2022: day 21
posted by soe 6:00 am

Virtual Advent Tour 2022

Happy Solstice, everyone! By this evening, we’ll have passed the shortest day of the year and be on our way to lighter times once more. Hold onto that fact with both hands if you need to. You’re nearly there.

Also, somehow I got distracted and did not wish any of our readers who celebrate a Happy Hanukkah. I hope the first three nights have treated you well.

Are you a fan of the Peanuts’ Christmas special? I can remember being allowed to stay up late and it being so memorable that I can tell you that the sponsors when I was a kid were McDonald’s and Peppermint Patty.

If you have equally strong memories about the special, head over to Rudi at Random Duck, where he’s got some of the back story on that special and the soundtrack to it by Vince Guaraldi.

Three more days, folks. We’ve got this.

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December 20, 2022


virtual advent tour 2022: day 20
posted by soe 6:00 am

Virtual Advent Tour 2022

The advantage of living with someone with a blog is that they can take a look at you and decide the easiest and kindest thing they can do is to take another post from your holiday to-do list.

Which means I’m sending you back across the living room to Rudi at Random Duck for some more weird, but mostly wonderful, Christmas tunes for today’s stop on the Virtual Advent Tour.

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December 19, 2022


virtual advent tour 2022: day 19
posted by soe 6:00 am

Virtual Advent Tour 2022

Because we’re planning to head north on Wednesday, our earliest departure in years, I’m defaulting to updating a classic post, first published in 2010:

Christmas music is as intrinsic a part of my holiday season as is a tree or presents. Each year my family looks to see who has new holiday albums coming out and breaks out the old favorites from years past. Each of us has a pretty sizable collection of Christmas albums crossing genre and spanning a variety of delivery formats from LP to 8-track to mp3.

My dad used to make an annual Christmas mix. He made a few Christmas tapes when I was growing up, but making it a yearly event definitely became much more feasible once you could build your playlist on the computer and then burn it to disc. Each year you eagerly look forward to seeing what he’s included on his holiday cd.

After making a few gift tapes myself back in college, I found the process to be a lot of work and stopped making mixes. But the allure remained and, after mulling it over for a couple of seasons, I resumed making mixes about a dozen years back. It’s a surprisingly involved process if you’re like me and prone to getting a bit obsessive about getting your mix just so. But I thought today, in honor of being a stop on the Virtual Advent Tour, that I could offer some insights into creating a Christmas mix that you and your loved ones will enjoy for years to come:

  • Start with a wide selection of music. It helps to have a collection of cds, records, or mp3s from which to draw. It is not imperative, however, as you can find plenty of holiday tunes online from which to draw. Clearly, free options are your friend, particularly if you’re starting from scratch.
  • Begin early. Prep now for next year. Just create a playlist labeled Christmas 2023 in your preferred music playing program and dump songs you like there. Consider this your vault. It’s not too late to create one for this year, but if you want one done by Dec. 25th, don’t wait!
  • Song selection is key. Here are my rules. Obviously yours will vary by taste and inclination:
    • I like to keep it pretty even between male and female singers. That’s a personal preference because I definitely notice when a mix slants one direction or another. (Although, usually I find that if there’s a noticeable bias it tends to be toward the mix creator including a mostly male line-up.)
    • Shorter songs are preferable. Aim for roughly three and a half minutes per song. Older songs are usually shorter; more modern ones tend toward the five-plus minute mark. I’m not saying to exclude long songs, although I try to keep those to a minimum. Christmas songs tend to get a bit repetitive and the longer one goes on, the easier it is to get tired of it. Plus, if you choose to burn your mix as a cd and you pick long songs, you get to include fewer songs.


    • Include some artists you love even outside Christmas. You might decide only to include artists you listen to year-round, but I tend also to add artists I’m not familiar with who have songs I find very catchy.
    • Find a balance between modern and traditional holiday music. By traditional I’m referring to songs everyone can sing along to. Marvin Gaye’s “Purple Snowflakes” is a song you can groove along to, but it’s not one that’s likely to get a carload of people singing along with it on first listen. But those unique tracks tend to be ones that people remember because, honestly, nearly every singer with a Christmas album has done a version of “Silent Night.” (I also like to throw in an instrumental or two. If your audience’s attention has wandered, a lack of vocals can help recall it to your mix.)

  • Once you’ve assembled a collection of songs you like, it’s time to start playing with them. First, know your target number. If you’re putting this mix on a cd, you have 79 minutes to play with. If you’ve picked mostly longer songs, that’s probably 15 tracks. If you’ve gone with shorter pieces, you could get 20 or more songs on the cd. But it’s good to check this number regularly because there’s nothing worse than putting together a mix you love only to find that the last five songs aren’t going to fit on.
  • I find it’s important to get your first and last songs right. The first song needs to draw your audience in, so I like an upbeat song to get you started. And the final song is that last taste you’re leaving people with. I like something a bit quieter here to send your listener out on a peaceful note. “Silent Night” would be a good choice here or “O Holy Night.”


  • In between those I try to alternate every couple of songs, upbeat for a couple, then slow for one or two. Listen to your mix several times. If you find you’ve stopped hearing it or you get bored, move your songs around to create better transitions or bump the song that bored you. Sometimes a song sounds perfect by itself but just refuses to play nicely with any of its neighboring tunes.
  • Finally, don’t forget to come up with a catchy title for your mix and artwork for it if you’re making cds.

  • And, as with any holiday endeavor, try to remember you’re doing this because it’s fun and you like Christmas music. If it becomes too much of a hassle, by all means stop. There’s nothing wrong with just putting albums on the stereo or computer or listening to an all-Christmas radio station. This way gives you a unique and special holiday mix, but it’s definitely less important than spending time with your loved ones. And there’s always next year.
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December 18, 2022


virtual advent tour 2022: day 18
posted by soe 6:00 am

Virtual Advent Tour 2022

Don’t panic folks, but we have one week left until the big day. You can do it. Pick one thing on your to-do list and cross it off today. I believe in you.

Today, I’m sending you back out on the road for a tour stop at Staircase Wit. Constance has a review (and giveaway) for you of a Christmas-themed novel, which you could pick up today and read while eating delicious holiday treats. (Trust me, I’m reading it now. You’ll want a cookie or two on hand and maybe a glass of egg nog!)

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