Tinsel Tunes

Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening? Well, of course you are not because all you can hear is janky Christmas music blaring out the radio, the mall sound system, and the tinny speakers in elevators. Sleigh bells can’t possibly compete.

So can we talk a bit about some GOOD Christmas music? It does exist, and is only slightly more difficult to find than delicious fruitcake. First, I mention again, Sara Groves. No, I am not her personal stalker, though I did make a complete buffoon of myself when we met. I always mean to play it super cool when I meet people I admire, and then I turn into Crazy Yipping Woman who needs to never meet celebrities. This is a recurring theme in my life. See here and here and here.

So Sara. I can call her that, right? Since we’re besties? Sara has the best Christmas album ever, no contest. Don’t argue. It’s my blog.

Photo credits.

Secondly, I am not a hipster, but I can pretend and when I’m pretending, I make up a little martini and float some cranberries and listen to this.

Photo credits.

Then one of my children asks for a sip or turns off She & Him and changes the music to A Muppets Christmas and the moment is over.

Also, I am enjoying some tracks on this:

Maybe you’re thinking I just bought this CD because I knew Sara Groves had been one of the organizers and that she loves International Justice Mission and that I hoped maybe she’d stop by for coffee someday and I’d just happen to be listening to this and we’d totally be ON. THE. SAME. PAGE. If you thought that, you’d be correct. But there are other songs on here that are great too, like Jamie Grace’s Away in a Manger. So see? I’m really super stable.

Also, Marc would like to plug this:

I love my husband and my husband loves Neil Diamond. I have a little fear about ND, but I do admire a man who can dye his hair this long and get away with it. Plus he dresses a lot like Marc, which means I owe him a certain amount of loyalty.

(I must point out that Marc received Neil’s CD as a gift from his staff this year. He did not, I repeat, did not know he would be wearing Neil’s outfit. Be afraid.)

Go, then, and stop listening to Karen Carpenter use fake words like “Christmasing.”And please report back on what you find. I can handle Neil for only so long.