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Dear Blogging Friends,

I am sorry I had to revert not to allow various comments anymore.

Blogger only allows me to not permit "Anyone (including anonymous)" to comment on my blog.

I changed that for a week or two but I had some nasty comments almost every day. Someone wants me to die (always writes "Die! Die! Die!" over several pages). Probably someone doesn't like my (liberal) political views and who thinks anyone who is compassionate to refugees and people from other countries is too woke. I don't even post very political articles, just say my mind when it gets to this. 

Welcome! I love hearing from readers, but please keep the conversation respectful. 

🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄

🎅 Merry Christmas! 🎅

May your holiday be filled with awkward family photos

and too much food!

I have been trying to find a good list of the the most popular Christmas carols of all time. Unfortunately, there are a hundred different sites with a thousand different lists. So, I have used AI to help me and here is their list:

Traditional:

Silent Night: A German carol known for its peaceful melody, famously sung during the WWI Christmas truce.

O Holy Night: A French carol reflecting on the birth of Jesus.

Joy to the World: A classic praising the coming of the Lord.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: A popular hymn celebrating the birth of Jesus.

O Come, All Ye Faithful: An invitation to worship the newborn king.

The First Noël: Tells the story of the first Christmas. *

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen: A traditional English carol.

Away in a Manger: A gentle carol about Jesus's birth.

In the Bleak Midwinter: Based on a poem by Christina Rossetti, with music by Gustav Holst.

O Little Town of Bethlehem: A reflective carol describing the town where Jesus was born.

🎄🎄🎄

 
Popular:

Jingle Bells: A quintessential winter and Christmas song.

Deck the Halls: A festive Welsh tune with "fa la la la la".

We Wish You a Merry Christmas: A carol with wishes for good cheer.

Frosty the Snowman: A beloved winter classic.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A story about Santa's most famous reindeer.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree: A popular, upbeat holiday song.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Celebrates the festive season.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: A warm, comforting song.

Feliz Navidad: A bilingual Christmas hit.

Winter Wonderland: A joyful song about a snowy scene. 

🎄🎄🎄

What do you think? Did you recognize them all? Is your favourite song among them? And which one is missing in your opinion?

* Yes, I know they write Noël differently in English but it's a French word and I refuse to write it incorrectly.😉

Quotes on being Woke

I came across some quotes about being woke lately. And since I am a proud "Wokonian", I just had to put them all together. In most cases, I have no idea who said them first, so if you are or know the originator, please, let me know.

* * *

Originating from African American English, "woke" was first used to mean being aware, informed, and conscious of social injustices and racial inequality.

I found that woke is a professional word for enlightened, multiculturally sensitive. aware, conscious, evolved, inclusive, politically correct. leftist, liberal, progressive. And the opposite would be "slept" or "fell asleep". So, what's wrong with it?

Some people use the word "woke" as if it's supposed to be an insult.
But mostly, they use it because they can't spell "empathetic", "educated", or "enlightened".

Woke = well-informed, up-to-date and alert to injustice in soiciety, especially racism.

Woke = aware, knowledgeable about your community and the world, with the willingness to access and critique systems of oppression.

Proud to be woke - It sure beats being willfully ignorant and racist.

If woke is the opposite of fascist, I am superwoke.

Wokery: a term hi-jacked by the far right to demonise the following values and characteristics, amongst others:

•     Compassion for and empathy with others.
•     Love of truth/facts and hatred of lies/gaslighting and manipulation.
•     Support for social, economic and climate justice.
•     Support for human rights.
•     Anti-corruption/nepotism/cronyism.
•     Respect for and compliance with the rule of law.
•     Upholding democracy and the democratic process.

In other words, people who give a sh*t for more than themselves and who want society to work for the good of all and to leave the world a better place.
(found here on West Country Voices).

10 Symptoms of Woke Mind Virus:
1. You read books, and don't burn them.
2. You embrace science.
3. You are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available.
4. You understand that most issues aren't black and white.
5. You belive in true equality for all people.
6. You like to share.
7. You embrace cooperation.
8. You respect others' rights.
9. You believe culture and arts has value.
10. You care for the planet and all of its life.

If you know more, please, feel free to share. If you disagree, please, think again!

✊☮😴☮✊

🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄

🎄🎄🎄

Isn't this a beautiful Christmas ornament for a book lover? It was a present from a dear friend a few Christmasses ago.

🎄🎄🎄

I wish a very merry Christmas to all my friends and readers. May you have a lovely time towards the end of the year when you can forget for a little while what is happening all around us.

🎄🎄🎄

I just heard a beautiful rendition of one of my favourite Christmas songs by Aled Jones, baritone (he of "Walking in the Air" fame) and Russell Watson, tenor. Did you know, it's a French folk song called "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight Christians) and translated in 1855 by John Sullivan Dwight into the version we still know today. If you want to hear the song by the two singers, check here on YouTube.

🎄📚🎄

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night divine! O night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from the orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness no stranger.

Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, your King, before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we!

His power and glory evermore proclaim!

His power and glory evermore proclaim!

John Sullivan Dwight

🎄🎄🎄

How many books?

There are always reports about which country read the most books. A while ago, one of my blogger friends talked about that in one of his posts (see here, thank you CyberKitten).

During a visit, my mother counted my books once but she stopped at a thousand. That was about thirty years ago. I would not be able to count them today. I have a list of the fiction and some non-fiction books I read (more than 2000) but those are by far not all the books we have in the house. Not even half.

So, I have no idea. I only keep the books I liked but since I am quite picky in which ones I start, there are not that many that I don't keep. LOL

According to statistics, 53% of German citizens had fewer than 50 books, 23% had 50-100 and only 6% had over 200 books at home. On average, around 100 books per person (household). The statistics are from 2008. Then my household is certainly in the 6% with around 1000 books. And if they had another part with several thousands, we'd be in there.

I doubt I need to ask any of my fellow bloggers what group they belong to. All I know is, we always had a lot of books in our house. We always read to our children. They both became avid readers.

If you are interested in the nitty-gritty, I did find some information on how many books are read supposedly in Germany. I translated directly from the sites what I thought might be interesting for this post.

"On average, a household with children between the ages of six and 13 has 132 books, and the children have an average of 26 books of their own. In households with higher formal education (high school diploma/university degree), the inventory is significantly higher at 297 books (children: 43 books).

Reading and reading frequency prove to be extremely stable over time. 83% of the population aged 15 and over read at least one book (including e-books) in 2019, and almost 30% even read more than one book per month.

This was the result of a recent YouGov survey (see here). According to this, 13 percent of Germans estimate their private book collection to be 10 books or fewer, 30 percent to be between 11 and 50 books. According to their own estimates, 22 percent have between 51 and 100 books on their shelves, and one in three (31 percent) have even more.

April 23 is celebrated as World Book and Copyright Day following a decision by the 28th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1995. (see here). In India, the country where the most books are read in the world, every citizen spends about 10 hours and 42 minutes reading per week.

Research has shown that reading books regularly can likely help reduce the risk of dementia. Researchers found that the disease rate was lower in intellectually active people. And not only that. Normally, the performance of the brain decreases with age. 

Although people still read a lot in Germany, who reads how much is unevenly distributed. The biggest readers are those aged 50-59; in this age group, 28 percent read almost every day."

"An average of 151 books in German households

The study collected data from adults between the ages of 25 and 65 from 31 countries. The results were astonishing: The average number of books per household is 115, with Scandinavian and former Soviet countries showing the highest number at 212.

The front runner is Estonia with 218. The lowest number of books is in Turkish households with an average of 27, while Germany is in the upper midfield with 151.

The research shows that with about 80 books in the home library, the children's literacy rate increases to average.

The connection between reading books and professional success, or at least a higher future salary, is also clear in a 2012 study by the economist Giorgio Brunello. If adolescents voluntarily read at least ten books in their youth, they earn around 21 percent more as adults. The amazing thing was that the type of books read had no influence on the result. The main thing is that there were ten or more..." (see here)

🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄

 

🎄🎄🎄

We saw this bauble at the Brussels airport one year. And I thought it was a good picture for this year's greating:

☮ on 🌍

There is so much going on in this world right now, that this is the only message that is important right now.

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas.

🎄🎄🎄

Did you know there is a song where you don't need to know all the lyrics and can still sing it? Try this:

Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing,
Hark the Herald Angels sing.

But, if you do want to do it right, here are the whole lyrics:

🎄📚🎄

🎼Hark the Heard Angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Refrain:
Hark the Heard Angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord:
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving pow’r,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Final Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
Oh, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

Text: Charles Wesley, 1707–1788
Music: Felix Mendelssohn, 1809–1847

🎄🎄🎄

Fat-Headed Censors

I saw this reblogged post via From Pyrenees to Pennines by Travel Between the Pages, and Brian D. Butler kindly allowed me to reblog.

While I might have worded it a teeny tiny little differently 😉, I totally agree with what the writer says.

This is Nineteen Eighty Four! George Orwell predicted it all. It's rewriting history. We have to remember history in order not to repeat it!!! So, here is my contribution to the lesson.

This wonderful picture is by the highly talented Tom Gauld.

You would have to have been living under a basket to avoid the recent brouhaha over the re-editing of classic books by so-called sensitivity readers and editors. Here in the Colonies we’ve been through this with the books of Dr. Seuss and other popular children’s authors. Now, the UK has gone mad censoring works by Roald dahl and others.

McSweeney’s recently posted a pointed response to this nonsence in an article by Peter Wisniewski aptly titled "FUCK YOU, YOU FAT-HEADED ROALD DAHL-CENSORING FUCKERS."

Dear Fat-Headed Roald Dahl-Censoring Fuckers,

You’re censors. You’re not editors, and you’re not readers. You’re censors. You are exactly what Orwell warned us about.

So fuck you.

Without the author’s consent, you are changing and omitting words that the author wrote. That makes you a censor. An agent of censorship. Only fascists censor books.

What you’re doing is crazy. See? We said it. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.

You will not take words from the human race. You have no fucking right.

When you censor, you condescend. Fat people call themselves fat because they are not ashamed of themselves. But you are ashamed of us. You think being overweight is something to be ashamed of, so you erase this word, and you erase all fat people. Well, fuck you.

You will not take words from the human race. You have no fucking right.

The most telling example of your condescension is when you removed the word "cashier”"from one of Dahl’s books. Apparently, you think the word "cashier”"is offensive. Well, fuckers, hundreds of thousands of actual people are cashiers, and they don’t agree. They don’t think their mere existence is offensive.

You have no right to diminish their occupation or any other.

You have no right to take words from Dahl or any author.

If you were to get away with what you did - and rest assured, you fucknuts will not get away with it - then every book in human history could be subject to the same censorship. Every book ever published has something in it to offend someone. By the precedent you set, even the most carefully calibrated book written today, censored by censors like you, will be censored by someone else tomorrow.

The problem with censorship is that it has no end. Think of it: you censored Dahl’s books in the United States. What if the Germans wanted to censor them to suit their needs? And then the Chinese to suit theirs?

Get it? Once one group of censors gets to do their filthy work, then everyone will have their go.

If literature is to survive, we have two choices. Either:

a) No censorship, period, full stop, because it’s fascist and horrifying, or

b) Endless, unlimited censorship - a world where every craven group like yours has free reign to mangle every book ever written

No one wants your world.

No one supports what you did.

Roald Dahl would loathe you.

All enlightened readers loathe you.

The history of world literature is against you.

You are anti-art.

You are anti-freedom.

Art must be free. Art must be unsafe. Art must be controversial. Art must have dangerous words and ideas in it. Otherwise, it’s not fucking art.

At the moment, the right wing of the US is censoring books. They are fighting to keep non-white and LGBTQ+ narratives from kids. They are pulling books from shelves. They are villainizing teachers and librarians.

You are no better than these right-wing assholes.

Both you and these fascist fuckwads are afraid of books. Afraid of ideas. You condescend to everyone by thinking you should be the judge of what is said and read.

Who the fuck are you to decide this?

You have no fucking right.

If you don’t want censorship from the right, you can’t have it from the left.

Here’s how art is supposed to work: Someone writes a book. They write it with passion, with abandon, with honesty and lyricism and even a bit of recklessness. It is of their time, using the words of their time.

Readers respond to this recklessness, this abandon, this rawness, this timeliness. The only books that ever mattered to anyone are raw, are unbridled, are risky, and timely. Then, if a parent or teacher reads the book to a kid, and there’s a part that’s risky or controversial, discussions can be had. If the book is old, then the words and sentiments of that time can be taken into account.

It’s not hard.

That is how we fucking learn.

All art has context.

All art is born of its time. It reflects its time.

People who come to the art later can handle the context, the different words, the different attitudes. People can fucking handle it because we are complex creatures capable of complex thoughts.

Censors think everyone is stupid.

Fuck you, censors.

Censors think it is their job to dumb down every piece of art till it says nothing to anyone.

Fuck you, censors.

Fascists fear art because it frees minds.

Fuck you, fascists.

Left, right: all censors are the same. Period. End of story. Fuck you, censors.

Fuck you,
All the readers in the world who loathe you.

Brian D. Butler, Travel Between the Pages