Ho, ho, ho!

'Twas 5:30 this morning when, for some weird reason, I woke up almost in hypersonic mode (ya know, how those people in a protracted-a-la-The-Dead-Zone coma, just readily open their eyes after a deep slumber?). Since my mobile phone's alarm won't go off for two more hours, I tried to go back to sleep. Normally, it'll be easy as pie...but this time, I couldn't sleep no more.

Frustrated, I pulled out my PDA and started reading where I left off in Tuesdays with Morrie. I was staring at the same page, reading the same sentences for six minutes, when I resigned to the reality that my capacity to be cognitive, let alone be awake, was still on hold. So I plugged in the headset of my phone to activate its FM radio (my mp3 player was downstairs on my table, and actually getting up to get it was so out of the question). First station on my preset ones was playing static. Second was doing the same. The third was playing some Pat Benatar song (OK, fine, I do know its title: "We Belong". Dammit), and the last one was what made me stop, have a quasi-coronary, and sit up straight. They were playing Karen Carpenters' The Christmas Carol. What the hell?

And then it hit me. Aaah. It's the 'BER months now, it being September 1st. Filipinos always love the idea of celebrating Christmas WAY ahead of time. Pretty soon, Ayala Avenue's lamp posts will be adorned with bright-colored lanterns; malls will have cherubs and angels and reindeers (god forbid, harlequins [i have a major fear of those fuckers!]) hanging on the ceiling; and Christmas Bazaars will be all over the place.

I remember when I was back working in the US, I started humming Jingle Bells at around the 2nd of September, and my colleagues gave me this weird, what-the-hell-are-you-singing-christmas-carols-this-early look. And then I realized that at this time of the year, Americans are far more concerned about planning trick-or-treating costumes and turkey stuffings, rather than pine trees and trimmings. Blah.

Aaaah. I'm just glad to be back home where Christmas is three to four months long. =)

And while I'm at it...here's the lyrics of a Rockapella song I've always loved...

Christmas Without You

Scott Leonard

I crunch across the street to the Maine man

who sells us our tree every year.

He asks how we’ve been.

I just smile and say "bag up that five foot blue spruce please". Nice trees.

The taxi ride home, I’m just fine, it’s just me

and a tree and Abduhl.

He shows me the lights, red or green doesn’t matter, pedestrians scatter 'neath.

A snowflake of light suspended high above 57th.

We slide to my stoop, I track in, put up the spruce, step back and see how it’s gonna be.

Christmas without you, it’s hittin home: I’m all alone.

Christmas without you, so unfamiliar.

Christmas without the love we shared a little much to bear this Christmas.

At least you left the lights. OK half,

probably the ones that blink.

Where are you tonight? Everyday I’m a mess even Rudolph’s depressing.

I hop on a train to Macy’s, thinkin I’ll just replace these memories we made together.

But all the memory shelves are bare.

Christmas without you, it’s hittin home: I’m all alone.

Christmas without you, so unfamiliar.

Christmas without the love we shared is far too much to bear.

Don’t think I’ll ever be the same this Christmas without you.

Lonely are the days, lonely are the nights without you.

Christmas without you...

Lonely are the days, lonely are the nights without you...

OK. Time to go to work...and it's 115 days before Christmas. ;-)