730

English below... (Yes, it is my first bilingual post in months.)

Ceci est mon 730e billet cette année. Ca n'a l'air de rien, mais ça veut dire que j'aurai écrit autant de billets en anglais et en français que de jours de l'année. Cela veut dire que j'ai été très productif cette année et, j'ose espérer, créatif. Je sais, qualité n'est pas quantité. Je ne crois pas écrire à moitié autant pour l'année 2012. Mon objectif en tant que blogueur n'est plus tant de bloguer plus, mais de bloguer régulièrement et d'aggrandir mon lectorat. J'ai aussi d'autres rêves, comme par exemple de vivre (un peu) de ma plume un jour, ce qui est arrivé à certains blogueurs. On peut rêver...
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This is my 730th blog post this year. It looks like nothing, but it means that I have written as many posts in English and French as there are days in the year. So I was very productive this year and I do think/hope that I was also inspired. Although to write a lot does not mean that I wrote quality stuff. I don't think I will write nearly as much for 2012. My aim as a blogger is not to blog more, but to blog regularly and to widen my readership.I do dream sometimes of making a bit of money with the blog, as some bloggers managed to do it, either by being paid to produce, or the blog because a gateway to more serious writing. One can dream...

Primitive (but gloomy?) happiness

After re-reading my earlier post in English, I was worried that my readership might think that I am feeling miserable, what with having short holidays and lousy working days and all. Well, no, not really. Not yet anyway, as I try to do things or enjoy little nothings that make life. Earlier on tonight, before and after dinner, it was very windy outside, there was rain and a bit of rain. We feel the elements more in this flat, as it is an attic. You can hear the wind blowing, feel it even shaking the windows, it gives you shiver just to listen to it, even more so when the hail hits the window or the roof.

I enjoy the spectacle of a furious, or at least a temperamental, nature, especially when I am home and dry. Like Coppola said in his audio commentary of The Godfather, it's free special effects. As far as I am concerned, it's a free show. In a way though, enjoying such display of temperament might tell something about my state of mind. It's not like watching the sun going down on a Summer evening or watching the snow falling quietly. There was a nastiness to the weather tonight. Still, it was a nice show of sound and... shadow.

Il me manque un jeu de société (et une société)

Je pensais à ça ce soir: entre Noël et le Jour de l'An, quand les Fêtes deviennent creuses et que les visites familiales s'espancent, mes frères et moi jouions à un jeu de société, en général Clue, Monopoly et Scotland Yard. Quand on ne pouvait pas jouer à Donjons et Dragons. J'ai déjà blogué là-dessus. Or, je n'ai pas un seul jeu de société ici. Pas un traître seul. L'appart est déjà rempli de toute façon, mais c'est quand même un signe des temps: je ne joue plus de jeux de sociétés durant les vacances de Noël. Mais pour cela il me faudrait des gens avec qui jouer.

Home early

As there was little to do at work and I did not take my lunch break while my colleagues were feasting at the pub (since there was little to do, yet I was suddenyl busy), I was allowed to go home early. Two hours early. I am glad as I was tired. I am getting used to the empty, or almost empty trains. Of half empty offices, not so much: I feel like I am in a morgue and I am one of the corpses. I do feel zombie, getting in and out of the place. Less work to do is not less exhausting. I do feel the post-Christmas blues still/already and I wonder why I was not allowed to take holidays if there was so litle to do.

Question existentielle (98)

Puisque les vacances de Noël s'achèvent déjà, cette question existentielle s'impose:

-Quand est-il temps de cesser d'écouter de la musique de Noël?

Blue Wednesday? (And early post-Christmas blues)

Today I was back to work, after the shortest Christmas holidays I ever had in my life. There is alledgedly such a thing as a Blue Monday, the most dreadful day of the year, which I blogged about before. Going to work reluctantly today, I was wondering if there wasn't a Blue Wednesday. I am still not sure whether my day was good or bad.

It was certainly exhausting. I was overworked all day in a still sleepy and half empty office. And confort food wise, it was sorely disappointing: my favourite sandwich shop was still closed, so were many others, so I had to go to a convenience store to buy an overpriced but disgusting sandwich for lunch. I didn't have time to buy my morning hot chocolate at Café2U. At least I had a biscotti again, which somewhat cheered me up. I think most people, heck, the whole Western world, are still running on holiday mode, so the working people like me are out of phase. The trains are still running on holiday schedule, so I arrived to work late... On the plus side, like last Friday, the trains were almost empty. And the later train coming gave me plenty of time to read. But overall I felt that the Christmas holidays were too short. I know we have New Year soon (and then I have at least something to look forward to), but for me when new year comes, Christmas, the heart of the holidays and the part that I enjoy most, is already gone. So I already feel the post-Christmas blues.

Au moins il y a les atocas

Bon, je n'ai pas eu de Noël blanc, je n'ai pas mangé de dinde, je n'ai pas eu de réveillon non plus, la bûche de Noël n'était pas maison, mais j'ai quand même, au moins, réussi à faire des atocas cette année. Pas assez pour nourrir une armée, mais assez pour que je puisse me sustenter. C'est quand même une particularité nord-américaine, avec la dinde notre apport aux réjouissantes des Fêtes. Je dis "notre", même si c'est une invention américaine. Sauf qu'on produit des atocas au Québec, qu'on utilise ce nom, que la recette que j'utilise, vraiment simple, est la recette familiale. J'en ai mangé encore ce soir avec des papates et de du Brie. J'ai déjà vu ici des sandwiches Brie et "cranberry sauce" ici, ce qui m'a donné l'idée.

Parlant de mélanges inusités et d'atocas, j'ai récemment mangé un sandwich dinde, bacon et chutney d'atocas de chez Marks & Spencer. C'était délicieux. J,espère un jour trouver une recette de chutney d'atocas. Autre anecdote à propos des mélanges inusités: j'ai mangé des atocas comme à côté avec des restes de viande de fondue chinoise (du boeuf). Boeuf émincé, frites, mayonnaise au curry et frites. Un repas d'après Fêtes improvisé que mon frère et moi avions fait un soir de semaine à Montréal. Revenu du travail aujourd'hui, je suis déjà en mode "deuil des Fêtes". Elles ont été particulièrement courtes, le choc a été brut, je me console comme je peux.

The Holly and the Ivy

Christmas day is already technically over and my holidays will be over soon. The Twelve days of Christmas, for an employee of the private sector, is a long time gone tradition. So until I get the post Christmas blues (tomorrow morning), I thought about uploading here one Christmas carol while it is still Christmastime. I once mentioned that the imagery of Christmas reminds me of Viking mythology. This particular carol especially, The Holly and the Ivy, which is maybe more than any filled with Pagan elements. Rising of the sun, running of the deer, this is pure primitivism. It is also directly linked to the story of the death of Balder. The plants were also associated with fertility myths in Celtic cultures. Here it is interpreted by Mediaeval Babes. Maybe the last Christmas carol I will listen to until next year.

Si au moins il neigeait...

C'est aujourd'hui ma dernière journée de vacances. Je n'ai jamais passé des vacances de Noël aussi courtes depuis que je fais partie de la population active. Non, pire, depuis le début de mon existence. C'est un aspect de mes anciens emplois dans le merveilleux monde de l'éducation dont je m'ennuie: les vacances étaient obligatoirement plus longues (en fait c'est bien la seule chose de ma carrière dans le monde de l'éducation primaire et secondaire anglaise dont je m'ennuie). Je pourrais  composer avec ces courtes vacances si au moins il neigeait. Et pour mettre du sel sur les plaies, une tempête de neige va s'abattre sur le Québec aujourd'hui. Il y en a qui ont toutes les chances. S'il neigeait comme ça ici, j'aurais des vacances prolongées. Et en plus ce serait beau.

Two Christmas carols with an Irish twist

You can see at your left the Christmas tree of my family in Chicoutimi. Believe me: it is much more impressive in real, and you have the lovely smell which I miss terribly. because we are still during the Christmas holidays, because we are on Boxing Day, which I hate and I want to exorcise it as much as I can (even though it is practically over now), I thought I would upload two Christmas carols tonight, not just one, as I could not decide between the two. The first one, Good King Wenceslas, I already uploaded last year. It is also St-Stephen's Day, the Feast of Stephen as the song says, so I had to reuse it. The second is Christmas in Killarney, which I discovered a long time ago as sang by Bing Crosby. But is is not nearly as good as done the Irish way. So I decided to put both carols interpreted by the Irish Rovers, who are ironically enough Canadian. I love this song as it is a nostalgic one and it appeals to the expat I am, even though I am not Irish. And I have this love for Irish culture, so I thought I would celebrate it on another day than St-Patrick's Day. The picture of a Christmas tree is a bonus.

Question existentielle (97)

Une autre question qui porte sur Noël:

-Que mettre au sommet de l'arbre de Noël?

The Christmas speech of Mrs. Claus

So Queen Elizabeth gave her Christmas speech yesterday. She mentioned her visit to Ireland (not mentioning that she didn't bother to have even a sip of Guinness). She also spouted other clichés about Jesus and the Nativity Story. The problem with monarchs is that they think they are born and in power out of divine right, and in Christian societies it means that they think Jesus gave them power over men. I often wonder what she would have thought of this Jewish rabbi, son of carpenter of very low origins, had she met him in the flesh. Whatever her sycophants say, she never struck me as humble (if she was she would have had a sip of that Guinness). Don't get me wrong: I have no idea if the Jesus pictured in the Gospels was anything close to the real rabbi Jesus who probably preached in ancient Palestine. But I seriously doubt that the foundation of the British monarchy and the Church of England was part of his plan.

I say she never struck me as humble, yet she is a living, breathing monument to the bling bling, vulgar, tacky, brainless rich and famous counter-culture that impress many commoners (and many not so commoners who should know better). Case in point: the head the United Kingdom, indeed the head of many democratic states, including Canada, was again this year dressed like Mrs Claus. I noticed it last year in my own Christmas speech. I may be too harsh: how can you look anything else than ridiculous when you have your title because you were born? But this is still striking: she looks ridiculous, sounds ridiculous, speaks commonplaces and is revered because she is a monarch. It's symptomatic of the institution: when your head of state os crowned, you end up with Mrs Claus at Christmas.

Une photo pour calmer le mal du pays

Parce que j'en ai fait la demande, mon père m'a envoyé hier des photos du Noël de la famille à Chicoutimi. Un Noël blanc comme on n'en trouve pas ici et comme on n'en a pas eu dans le sud du Québec cette année, semblet-t-il (suis-je bien informé ou a-t-on finalement eu un Noël blanc là-bas aussi?). Alors voilà, à mes amis bloguers expatriés qui s'ennuoent de la neige, une photo d'un Noël enneigé. Vous remarquerez aussi dans le coin gauche, la couronne de Noël. Les couleurs des lumières de Noël sont plus impressionnantes lorsqu'il y a de la neige.

Renewing with Christmas excesses

I just checked at the time, and it is nearly 30 minutes past midnight. Where did Christmas go? I wanted to wish Merry Christmas to my readership but didn't have time. I barely had time to do anything today and I think I numbed my blogging muse with excessive eating and drinking. Well, I didn't drink all that much: one pint of beer and two glasses of red wine, but with the heavy food, the fat, sugar and alcohol mix, my brain was numb. It is still. Renewing with excesses after weeks, or months of ascetic life is always a bit of a shock. So I apologise to my fellow bloggers for not wishing them happy Christmas on the day. But I guess you were all busy and being excessive yourself. I don't know for you, but I hope my stomach and liver (especially my liver) can take it tomorrow too. I mean today. After my night of sleep, that is. Christmas is short this year, so I do hope I can be excessive for the little time I have.

Un conte de Noël rérional

Joyeux Noël à tous. Je suis en train de digérer mon repas de Noël végé et je me demandais sur quoi bloguer en ce 25 décembre 2011. Et puis ça m'a frappé: je n'ai que diriger mes lecteurs vers un conte de Noël. Ca m'arrive parfois (ici entre autres) Et ça concerne ma famille. Ma grand-mère pour être plus précis. Alors voilà, une courte nouvelle, un conte moderne pour être plus précis/plus exact , tiré du bouquin de mon cousin Samuel Archibald (en lire plus ici). Vous trouverez donc Madeleine et les jézabelles sur Cyberpresse. Croyez-le ou non, tout est absolument authentique. Vous ne me croyez pas? D'accord, Samuel a peut-être inventé un truc ou deux. Ou peut-être pas. Mais avouez que c'est savoureux.

An empty, sleeping town

We are Christmas Eve. In less than an hour and half it will be Christmas. I did a last minute run to Sainsbury's before it closed tonight, to buy some last minutes stuff for Christmas (Coca Cola and brussel sprouts, which my brother thought was quite funny). Something struck me: almost everything was close and so quiet. There where some people, many wearing Santa Claus' hats (!), walking to the pubs that were (are?) still open, almost empty, and the roads were empty. Usually there are a lot of cars driving until late at night, especially on a Saturday, but it was so quiet. With the snow it would have felt almost natural, but this seemed so strange here. This is not as new to me as the deserted train, but it was still unusual. I come from a place where people travel to see the family at this time, or go to the Midnight Mass (their only trip to church in a year), anyway you can see people outside until midnight, where Christmas starts with Minuit Chrétiens (O Holy Night) in every church and on the radio. There is a quiet febrility before Christmas. Here it is just... Quiet. I don't dislike it, in fact I find quiet little towns quite pleasant. But I do find it unusual.

Un Noël sans réveillon

Dans quelques minutes, je vais manger mon dernier chocolat du calendrier de l'Avent. Et puis je vais écouter de la musique de Noël (ce que je fais présentement), regarder la télé, lire un peu de lecture de circonstances, etc. Et puis je vais me coucher. Parce que Noël en Angleterre c'est fêté le 25. Je veux dire le 25 dans la journée/soirée. Je ne m'y fais toujours pas. Le réveillon, c'est une tradition bien catholique et française qui existe assez peu ici. Ca me manque moins que la neige, la dinde, le vrai sapin, les pâtés à la viande, la bûche de Noël... Cela dit, le réveillon, c'est quand même un peu ce qui tient tout ça ensemble. Se bourrer la fraise après minuit, développer les cadeaux qu'on aura le temps d'apprécier le lendemain, tout ça fait partie de la fête. Je ne vais plus à la Messe de minuit parce que j'en n'ai rien à cirer.

Je sais que dans bien des familles québécoises, on mange le souper de Noël le 24 au soir, lequel est souvent autre chose que de la dinde (un buffet est quant à moi une hérésie à Noël), ensuite on développe les cadeaux (avant ou après minuit), ensuite... Ensuite ça se termine? Mais dans ma famille, on est traditionalistes: Noël ça se fête après minuit. On rend visite aux voisins avant pour passer le temps, mais le coeur de la fête, c'est le réveillon.

Wintery atmosphere for Christmas eve

I didn't know exactly what to upload here or what to blog about as I am waiting for Christmas to arrive. This post is not very original: I blogged about similar subjects here and here. This picture by Larry Elmore is called Winter campaign. I have no idea what the context is, but judging by the clothes and weapons of the characters here I think they are meant to be Eastern European (or akin to them). In any cayse, it reminds me slightly of our own Dungeons & Dragons campaign: the characters travelling in the snow on horses, the raven/crow/corvid looming over them ominously (my brother had the raven as the emblematic animal of the big baddies in our D&Dr campaign), I wonder if he is part of the party or spying on them, the giant boar accompanying them... I think they are baddies, thinking about it. I might be wrong. But aside from this, the landscape, the setting and atmosphere here, the sense of dynamism Elmore creates so well, all this reminds me of our D&Dr campaign when we play during Christmastime.

As I said, before, I associate Christmas carols with D&Dr. I have already uploaded a song from Jessye Norman's Christmastide here. I have already put McKennit's version of O Come O Come Emmanuel. But as I mentioned before, I associate the interpretation of Jessye Norman with those moments when our characters travel in the snowy landscape, leaving their inn of their castle early in the morning, mounting their horses for a long journey. And now Christmas is coming, almost here, so this carol is fitting to all states of mind.

Question existentielle (96)

Une question qui ressemble aux question 28 et 29:

-Quel est le cadeau de Noël que vous aimeriez recevoir?

Ca a aussi une dimension pratique: après tout, il reste encore un peu de temps...

Deserted trains

I was back home early from work today: I only had half a day. So I am officially on holiday now, for four days. I feel less like Bob Cratchit. It is the very first time today in, well forever, that I was going to work on the 23, so close to Christmas. It didn't look like Christmas, what with the heavy rain and the way too warm weather, but something struck me in the morning commute and the way back: the train was almost empty. The few other people travelling seemed to be going somewhere else than their working places, in fact I was the only one leaving and waiting at my stop. I enjoyed the train journey a lot because of this: I was excited to leave work early and go home, obviously, but there is something less oppressive about deserted trains.