Observations from the Abbatoir

At Christmas Eve Mass (which I was, alleluia!, able to attend, despite much sniffles and tissues - oh the joys of winter), we sang Adeste Fideles for the processional - as we seem to do every year. But this year it struck me: "O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant." The and triumphant hit me. Despite everything, despite all the horrors we can inflict upon ourselves, no matter how bleak the state becomes, no matter how wretched we make the world - God has already triumphed. With His Nativity, an infant saved us. A child triumphed. It was good to remember. As Lewis said, we don't need a new morality, but we do need to be reminded of the truth.

The rest of this break has, thus far, been spent trying to get well. Honestly, as soon as I go on holiday, so does my immune system. Good grief. Doing much better now, despite the absence of several tissue boxes from what had once been a well-stocked cabinet.

In the nonce, as well, have been doing up extras for Hamlet. Finished all the Film Friday thingummies and am debating how I want to proceed next. Ich weiss nicht. Was contemplating stealing Jules to Boston tomorrow, but there is, alas, very little playing - so we shall see about that as well. Howsomever, Dad stole me out for coffee today and then I in turn stole Julie and now no one's stealing anyone, but 'twas verily muchly good.

Last night, Mom stole me to see Dreamgirls which was far more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. But once again...the musical form fell apart in the second act. What is it about the musical that it almost never has as good a second as act the first? My current theory is that the difficulty with the musical genre is the intermission. We have to end with a bang to let the audience know that they need to come back after the interval (with plays, everything's much more genteel and low-key so folk are glad to watch the play or to get up and stretch for a bit), however by so doing we lead up to an early climax. This then results in most of the second act feeling like "filler" before we finally get to the real climax and the denoument. So the question becomes, how do we make the bit between the end of Act I and the end of Act II work? I'm not particularly sure, right now, but as thoughts crop up I'll try 'em out. *sigh* Musicals. What a terribly difficult structure.

And for la piece de resistance (may I present your lute!...no, no), Jules and Mums and Dads and Johnny and Peter were good enough to get me for Christmas - much to my surprise! - an actual sapphire ring, with six diamonds (three to a side), set in white gold. It's lovely. And fits perfectly, too, which is even more lovely. And best of all, I've been assured that the stone will not fall out. Here's to hoping!

I suppose there are other observations to be made. Christmas is wonderful. Praise God for His mercy. (Praise the Lord and stay in line!) Alles gut. Amen.

Mood: Mieux
Music: Mental "Always True to You" from Kiss Me, Kate
Was Listening to: Les Miserables. One day, precious!