This is Halloween, This is Halloween....errr Christmas?

So it's Christmas eve and i'm sitting here watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.....not the most festive Christmas eve i've ever had. It's not even really a Christmas movie - the plot is actually kinda frightening and morbid. I had a friend confess to me that it used to scare him....but i guess when the main character is a skeleton and his girlfriend is a rag doll who consistently loses limbs and poisons her creator that might be kind of scary.

There are children throwing snowballs here
instead of throwing heads
They're busy building toys
And absolutely no one's dead

The plot, for those of you who have never seen it, is basically a skeleton named Jack who is bored with halloween so he stumbles into Christmas town and decides that he wants to take-over Christmas and do it the halloween-town way.

[JACK]
Listen now, you don't understand
That's not the point of Christmas land

Now, pay attention
Now we pick up an over-sized sock
And hang it like this on the wall

[MR. HYDE]
Oh, yes! Does it still have a foot?

[MEDIUM MR. HYDE]
Let me see, let me look

[SMALL MR. HYDE]
Is it rotted and covered with gook?

My favorite sequence is actually the one where the evil little trick or treaters, Lock, Shock and Barrel, go kidnap "Sandy Claws" so that Jack can take his place.

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick
Lock him up for ninety years, see what makes him tick

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, chop him into bits
Mr. Oogie Boogie is sure to get his kicks
Kidnap the Sandy Claws, see what we will see
Lock him in a cage and then, throw away the key

SO how is this Christmassy? Am i just morbid and enjoy twisting tradition?

I wouldnt' go that far. I quite like tradition and it always bothers me that my family doesnt' seem to care about it as much as i do. Nothing is the same from when i was a kid and nobody else seems to care about the fact that we hardly spend any time with one another even during the holidays. I think Christmas is a time for family and togetherness and people get too caught up in the gift-receiving of the season. So maybe if we did kidnap the "sandy claws" and get the "I want" mentality to lessen we'd all be better off. Regardless of what you believe, I think most people can agree on the importance of being thankful for one another and being there for the people that you love. And really the people of Halloween-town all love Jack (afterall he does make walls crawl) and they do come together to help him create his dream of Christmas...and although they fail in completing the Christmas vision, they fail together and bounce back together with an even better Halloween.

Together sounds pretty good to me.....
..5 days till Ottawa.

Where one story begins, Another ends....

Prospero:
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

The Tempest Act 4, scene 1, 148–158

I've always liked colour. They say that not everyone is able to dream in colour, that most people dream in black and white. Some specialists say that this is because they don't pay attention to colour in real life - i can't imagine not paying attention. I love colour, it takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. It takes a feeling and gives it presence. It can bring warmth, coldness and comfort to a space.

I love snow and it never feels quite like Christmas if it's not a white one. It gives off this glow that can be seen emanating from behind curtains and blinds and when you step outside it makes the world feel crisp and clean. You almost get blinded by the sheer whiteness of the world. And even though the world is so cold, in that moment I feel warm.

I always have people giving me odd looks in classes because i insist on taking notes with a blue, red, pink, purple, dark green and light green pen. The colour helps me organize my thoughts and makes me want to reread my notes. It lends shape and texture sets the stage for great ideas.

So when i dream, i dream in colour. I want to feel as though i can reach out and touch what i'm seeing - "we are such stuff as dreams are made" - maybe if we dream in colour, these dreams will not dissolve and sleep will not be the only way in which they become tangible.

SO i'm reaching out, holding on tight and dreaming in colour....next stop Ottawa.