It's amazing that it's happening again, don't you think?
We've all felt it because it's definitely come early this year: that shimmering, chill-like tingling that runs through you're veins as soon as you smell the chilly, crisp air. The comfort that fills your chest when you catch a glimpse of some distant light in the ever-darkening afternoons. The hope and confidence that something good is coming back.
Yes, Christmas is coming.
Like it or not, we are overwhelmed by this magic, which warms everything, even if it is getting colder and colder.
And we are thrilled.
Lights everywhere, hot chocolate with cream, warm hugs, soft wool scarves, the scent of snow...you can smell it, can't you?
Oreste started smelling Christmas specialities in mid-October.
If you think about it, it's not just that one specific day that we look forward to, but everything around it: thinking about others, making cookies, being together, unwrapping candies, being able to slow down and enjoy a few extra moments for yourself...
There is a moment for everything, and Christmas is all of that for us.
This Oreste's slight addiction is represented in this song by her favourite Icelandic artist, Daði Freyr.
So get ready to hum it everywhere, moving your shoulders and shaking your butt to its rhythm.
Reindeer forewarned, half crashed.
I can't believe that it's happening again
Just like last year
And the year before that
And the year before that
And the year before that
I'm not sure what it is
About this time but
There is something magical
About Christmas time
I can't put my finger on
Why it feels so divine
There is something magical
About Christmas time
When I get to spend it with my baby
Baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby
Baby baby baby baby baby baby baby yeah
We go through the same routine
Just like last year
And the year before that
And the year before that
And the year before that
There is something comforting about the repetition
I don't know
We hear the same songs for days in a row
“Why fix if it ain't broke”
It sounds annoying sometimes it is so
I don't know
There is something magical
About Christmas time
I can't put my finger on
Why it feels so divine
There is something magical
About Christmas time
When I get to spend it with my baby
Baby baby baby baby baby baby baby baby
Baby baby baby baby baby baby baby yeah
When Blair leaves for Peru, her parents, Luther and Nora Krank decide they can't celebrate Christmas without her. And they book a cruise to the Caribbean. They also realize that spending time and money on expensive, over-the-top decorations doesn't make sense. This decision triggers a war with their Christmas-obsessed neighbours. The latter is determined to win the annual "best-decorated street" competition.
A funny comedy about boycotting Christmas for those already fed up with the Christmas atmosphere.
On Amazon Prime Video.
by Ella Berthoud, Susan Elderkin, Canongate Books Ltd, 2015
A book about books. As remedies.
This is a medical handbook with a difference.
Whatever your condition, the prescription is simple: read a novel (or a combination of novels) to help ease your pain.
A novel can change your life and can (quite literally) cure you when read at the right moment.
If you are bored or in a midlife crisis, stuck in traffic, can’t fall asleep or are heartbroken, you can find a book as an antidote.
A fresh and funny way to discover new books.
di Elena Molini, Mondadori, 2020