Greetings
and salutations! Welcome to the tenth
day of THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR! And for the tenth day of the calendar, I thought that I would use
this "WHO AM I WEDNESDAY" entry to write my Christmas list.
My
(sort of) grown-up Christmas list, that is.
Before
I go into the actual blog post for today, I want to give you a little
background behind the creation of this song.
I
was quite amazed to learn that the song was originally recorded and released
back in 1990. For some reason, I had
believed that the song was as old as "Frosty the Snowman" or
"White Christmas".
The
original version of this song was penned by composer David Foster and
songwriter Linda Thompson-Jenner, and was made specifically for Foster's album,
"River of Love", in which he performed the song with Natalie
Cole. The single was released in time
for the 1990 holiday season, but it did not chart, nor did it make much of an
impact in the world of music.
Fast
forward two years later, and the song would be given a new lease on life,
courtesy of contemporary Christian singer Amy Grant.
Following
off of the success of her 1991 album "Heart In Motion", Grant decided
to release the holiday album "Home For Christmas" in time for Christmas 1992 (her third holiday album
overall). "Grown-Up Christmas
List" was one of the singles that Amy had chosen to record.
However,
the version that Amy recorded was not quite the same as the one recorded by
Foster and Cole. She changed a couple
of the lyrics around, and added an extra verse to the song. Whatever changes she made to the song seemed
to work. Soon after the album's release
in October 1992, Amy's version of "Grown-Up Christmas List" became
extremely popular - even more so than the version recorded back in 1990. The song certainly helped the album reach
the top spot on the Top Contemporary Christian album charts for almost two
months.
(Ironically,
the album first hit number one on December 26, 1992 - the day after Christmas.)
Here. I'll post a video of Amy's song below. It'll put me in the mood for my own
(sort-of) Grown-Up Christmas List.
December 10, 2014
Well, here we are. I am about to type out my own version of my own Grown-Up
Christmas List. And, well, aside from a
couple of things I want that may make me seem like an unapologetic grown child,
I think that this list is quite poignant.
After all, the items requested in the song
"Grown-Up Christmas List" are not material things, but wishful
things. Hopes and dreams for all
humanity. Peace and goodwill to
all. Isn't that what we all want for
this and every Christmas to come? I
know it's something that I would love.
It's so easy to forget that Christmas is
supposed to be a time of peace and happiness...especially with the way that the
holidays sometimes bring out the absolute worst in all of us. But, somehow, I think it all works out for
all of us in the end.
Okay, so let's get the silly stuff out of the
way first.
SILLY REQUEST #1 - For some reason, I really
would love to have a Crayola Marker Maker.
This is no joke here, people. As
someone who admittedly has a mild art supply addiction, the very idea of being
able to make my own markers brings me so much excitement! Then again, that could be the fact that my
favourite activity in kindergarten was mixing different colours of paint at the
paint station.
SILLY REQUEST #2 - I've recently become
addicted to the television series "Bones". Problem is, I was a late watcher (I started around Season
8). Thanks to cheap DVD's and Netflix,
I've caught up to season 5. That said,
I still need to watch 6, 7, and the first half of season 8. So, my second request is the last half of
"Bones" up to season 9 (as we know, season 10 is currently
airing).
Added note:
It's really depressing seeing Dr. Sweets in the early seasons, knowing
what happens to him in Season 10.
SILLY REQUEST #3: To send my neighbours a one-way ticket to Russia. Even after I move.
See what I mean? Silly stuff.
Materialistic stuff that I really don't need, but want. Oh well...at least I didn't ask for an Aston
Martin or anything like that.
But now that the silly stuff is out of the
way, I'm going to shift this list into serious mode. These are the grown-up things that I have on my own Christmas
list this year.
GROWN-UP ITEM #1: I would like to have a spot all to myself where I can be free to
be myself. Looking around at things
now, I don't really have that safe zone where I can truly let my hair (thinning
hair, but hair mind you) down. It
doesn't even have to be a fancy place, or even a place that has matching doorknobs. Hell, I'd even settle for a place done up in
neon orange and hot pink (though remind me to bring sunglasses if that really
is the case). I just want somewhere
where I can zone out. Meditate. Be at peace with myself. Even if it happens to be within my own brain
for now. It's not an unreasonable
request, is it?
GROWN-UP ITEM #2: This one was inspired by a comment that someone made to me at
work, and the more I think about it, the more I wonder if I could start up a
little side business. I did up
Christmas cards for my workplace family, and I wrote fancy lettering on the
envelopes and inside the cards.
NOTE:
I had a fascination with duplicating fonts when I was younger, and
learned how to mimic several of them, and I own a calligraphy set that a friend
from the States sent me that I practice with as well.)
Anyway, one of my co-workers told me that if I
painted every single word in the world on her bedroom walls, she would consider
paying me for it! At first, I took it
as a joke, and then a compliment...and then I thought...could there be a liable
side business in calligraphy?
It's just something I am mulling over...but
for my second request, I'd like to know if it could be possible. I would have to study up on business though.
GROWN-UP ITEM #3: This is the big one. I
want to be able to see myself the way that other people see me. Well, okay, not the people who hate me, use
me, or treat me like dirt. I mean, the
people who have always stuck by me no matter what. There's more of them than I ever thought there were, and many of
them seem to believe in me. I suppose I
owe it to myself to listen to them.
They can see the good in me, so I really want to be able to see that
good in me too. Lately, I have been
struggling with that, and I don't want to have that struggle any more. It will take time (and potentially some
outside help), but I'll get there.
And, lastly...
I want all of you to have a safe, happy, and
joyful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and any other holiday that you celebrate
in December. After all, people who have
happiness in their hearts are the greatest and luckiest people in the world.
That's my grown-up Christmas list.
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