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Whacha Doin' this Holiday?


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Just curious...some people are defying the odds and going places, other people aren't leaving their houses, some are just irreparably bummed out, and others are making the best with what they have.

 

My Christmas is going to be spent on making music, a walk around the neighborhood to see the downsized (but nonetheless cute) Christmas lights, watching a Star Wars-related (or otherwise CGI-intensive) flick, a really good bottle of wine, mastering Martha Davis's next song, and some serious snuggling time. Frankly, that seems like a pretty good way to celebrate the holidays:) Probably worth a re-do for new year's, now that I think about it...

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Our basic family is in two households about 4 hours apart. We all are quarantining (the full 14 days) before we all get together here at our place on Christmas Eve. Five people total, no teens, no college-age kids, no risk-takers.

 

Christmas is, for us, the main family get-together each year, so we're excited. Taking all the precautions, you get to do stuff like this, we feel.

 

Just the usual - open gifts, listen to all the favorite Christmas albums, eat and drink and talk and laugh and watch an old movie or three.

 

Best of all - we all get along, love and enjoy each other, no exceptions. Who needs more than that?

 

nat

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The traditional family holiday is a nice memory for me now. Dad is gone and Mom is in permanent long term care, and I lived alone since my 2004 divorce. I stopped doing the gift exchange since 2002, shopping is too stressful and I reached a point I don't need any more stuff. With no one to share the holidays, I have no plans. No I am not depressed, it's a lifestyle I have accepted and am comfortable with. This was way before covid.
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It's strange. It's like a double whammy; my mother died in July, and my only family is my wife and my father - who is 86.

 

I am staying out of my father's house. I have literally gone nowhere since March, but my wife has to work alongside many other people; she could have it, I could have it. I can't risk losing my father as well.

 

First Christmas without my mother for my father and I, and we have to be separate. From my vantage point "Christmas" is gone.

Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com

Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/

 

/ "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien

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I've mentioned this many times on many threads but for anyone who might not know I am considered "essential personnel" at my place of employment in downtown Washington DC. I will be "in the office" on 12/23-24, from 14:00-22:00 EST. Hopefully leaving a few minutes early on Christmas Eve so I can get home in time to live stream Mass at 22:30 with my youngest son. Home all day 12/25, just the 6 of us. :) Not going to visit any sisters, cousins, elderly aunts, etc. Back to work on boxing day, 12/26.

 

@Chip, my dad passed in May of this year. This is the first Christmas in 35 years, since I moved out of my childhood home, that I won't recieve a Christmas card from him, laugh with him near a tree full of decorations, pour him a glass of my latest, greatest, favorite beer. I'll raise a glass to him, but I know he wouldn't want his passing to put a darkness on our family holiday celebration.

I will pray for you to find some healing.

:nopity:
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No family. I've invited two very long time friends for dinner, and my across-the-street neighbors for dessert (they already have their turkey). Nobody is firmly committed yet, so I might be eating a lot of turkey myself. Other than that, the usual stuff - check the 'net forums, read the newspaper, take a walk, take a nap.

 

I'll probably have WWOZ on the radio for most of the day, listening to some non-conventional Christmas music. In fact I'm hearing some on that station right now.

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My condolences to everyone who has lost family and/or otherwise had a rough 2020.

 

My family is planning a group Facetime session for the 25th. We're all staying in our respective homes.

 

I'm challenging myself to learn to play at least one of these tunes from memory by the 25th. It'd be fun to play for the fam during Facetime.

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

"White Christmas" is the more realistic possibility. Both teachers clearly worked hard to create arrangements that are beginner friendly, and thus fairly quick to learn.

 

After the Facetime call, I'll probably work out, go for a walk in the 'hood, etc. Probably get some more quality time w/ my new Moog Matriarch and eat a stollen.

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I am friends with a small and sensible family who are very Covid cautious.

That said, if I had been careless I would avoid them so as not to spread anything.

 

We will have a quiet meal, a few drinks and some music. Their home is large and spacious. Masks will be worn some of the time (good luck stuffing your pie hole with a mask on!!!!).

 

There are almost zero people on this planet that I would consider joining in this way.

 

And, I will hide away after for some time to come. My job allows me to work from home, the computer and iPhone are here - almost everything I'll ever need to get work done.

 

Happy Holidays to all!!! Peace, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Low-key. Dinner. No visitors this year, unfortunately.

 

Day after, going to do night photography at a decommissioned WWII airfield.

 

49594426342_44db92b7e7_b.jpg

 

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46843903975_5f08701326_b.jpg

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My wife and I are okay by ourselves for the most part, as we have been since this thing started. We are doing something similar but different than we did for Thanksgiving. Her parents liked the deep-fried cajun-style turkey we picked up for Thanksgiving so much they want it again. However, since cases are up and the temperature is down, we won't be getting together outdoors. Instead, we're picking up the meal, dividing it in two, and they will drop by for a short time to pick up their half from us. We will do that outside.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Leilani and I have been following the 'safer at home' guidelines since we became unemployed on March 17th.

 

Especially with a vaccine in the future, we see no sensible reason to let our guard down.

 

We'll spend Christmas together, no one else is invited, no one else will show up. Our parents are dead, my children from my first marriage are over 1500 miles away. Some of our siblings have invited us, and some of them are getting together, but we respectfully declined the invitation and they understand.

 

Leilani and I enjoy each others company immensely so it'll be like any other day - a great day to be alive with my very best friend. Nothing is planned except to do whatever we want to do.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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Interesting to hear about all the loss and family sort of peeling away over time. I certainly know what that's about, but at least in the past I never had the overlay of "if you have dinner with your parents you might kill them."

 

Christmas brings back memories of being a child with my parents and brother. To me, the trappings of Christmas are for kids, but the "spirit of Christmas" - or whatever you want to call it - can be invoked any time we want it.

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My wife and I will be doing some serious road tripping in my 2018 Ram that I just paid off. Leaving Christmas day and headed towards Texas and other parts unknown until we must return to work on Jan 11th.

 

As an employee of the university hospitals and clinics my wife had been given a choice of a two week furlough or give up three weeks vacation, that was a no-brainer. The avionics/aerospace company where I work is always closed between Xmas and New Years so I took an additional following week of vacation and we'll go have some fun exploring in warmer weather.

 

We had a get together with my daughter and granddaughter last week and have also done the same with her children and grandchildren. We'll stay at her parents Xmas Eve before leaving on our trip Xmas Day.

 

My dad has been gone for quite some time and mom died in 2018. My full sister who was supposed to administer the family estate actually ended up stealing it all behind our backs and so has been expunged. I'm hoping to go see my half brother in Chicago perhaps in Jan or Feb. We had made plans for earlier in Dec to go see my half sister in Lincoln NE but had to cancel because some people in her building came down with covid.

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Just chillin'

 

My son and his wife drove to us in NJ from Colorado. They're moving back east and we're accommodating them until they settle and find a place. As a result, we're in a semi-quarantine mode. Quick runs to the grocery store when necessary, but no socializing. We're not seeing my other son for Christmas this year, but probably a week or so afterward. My parents and mother-in-law are all in their mid-80's so we want to minimize the exposure. I'm making a quick video to send them good wishes, which I think they'll enjoy.

 

My son's in-laws are still active in their community and church, so the kids have elected to keep their distance for now.

 

The four of us are ordering sushi for take out on Christmas Eve and making lamb chops on Christmas Day. We'll probably watch a movie. I'm off from work starting tomorrow afternoon and have a few music projects lined up for my time off.

 

Overall, I'm ok with the low-key nature this year. This time of year is usually hectic and stressful for me, so I'm enjoying the change.

.

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I'm the only one of my siblings who still lives in the same city as my parents, and my roommate moved out at the beginning of the month (someone else coming in Jan 1). And yet, I told my dad this morning that I more than likely won't be at theirs for the 24th (also my mum's birthday) or 25th. This second wave is hitting hard, but the end is in sight. Gotta lock it down. We'll be Zooming with the out-of-towners on both days anyway, so there's no sense risking it when I could go over sometime in the next few months and be able to have dinner with them without spending time shouting at the screen.
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My local family doings are largely limited to package drop-offs, because we do sensible Science & mask stuff. Same with 2 friends. Several out of state already got books and the like, so the phone call time has had that added holiday sheen. I'm lucky to have lost no one so far, but that's a hook from which any of us can hang suddenly.

 

I'm catching up on several good books, but also some compositions that were still on my old Mac. I found four I never fleshed out, but they were pretty good, so now they're in the queue. I'm still combing through my colossal wad of D-50 and DEXED/DX7 patches as well. I'm 95% finished with a current mini-epic that's gone well. I posted this in the Post Your Music Here! section, but I thought I'd add it here, just because. Yes, it has a solid whiff of John Williams' "Harry Potter" work, but its mainly one of those small flights of fancy you take once in a while.

 

Sugar Plum Blotto

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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Music of all kinds: curating for the radio station, rescuing old archived live performances for possible release, preparing new releases, and doing some live improvs, including two online live concerts on Dec 29 and Dec 31. Somewhere in there I might squeeze in some work, but I have to admit I'm not feeling it right now.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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I spent a delightful quiet day with my wife. Played some music, had a fish dinner, watched a rented music, and had a lot of quality time together.

 

It was an untraditional Christmas, but we liked it just the same.

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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