lumen/atrum

See that sun-drenched mountain peak poking out over the smog-choked clouds threatening with imminent snow? I think the image encapsulates so much of what the Christmas season has been for many people I know this year. It's been a time of extreme yin and yang - more distinctly, I think, than it has been in the past. I see the juxtaposition reflected everywhere...


Twinkling lights and penetrating dark.


Mountains rising over valleys.


And yet, there's beauty in all of it - no? Since for the most part, I think the cold times have elicited even warmer greetings and more heart-felt gestures of love than usual.

So on that note, I offer you two lovely off-the-beaten-track Christmas tunes that each reflect a sentiment felt during this season. The first is a sing-song happy tune from Lenka and the second is a more melancholy Joni Mitchell-like ballad by Brandi Carlile - both equally gorgeous in their respectively light and dark ways.

Merry Christmas All!

Enjoy!

Step Right Up Ladies & Gentlemen!

Here's a link to a video of The Feeling's latest single Join with Us. I like the song as much for its melody, which touches on being Beatlesque circa Magical Mystery Tour, as I do for the optimistic call-to-action lyrics and the resulting music video with its nods to Surrealism (the apropos parting shot is also a bonus - you'll see).

If you can't be bothered to look at the video, well, at least peruse the lyrics, which I've pasted below. Perhaps after reading them, you'll decide you can be bothered to watch the video.

Enjoy!


Join with Us
Half Past Eight
And you're late
Coffee's cold
What a state
They've dragged you down
Fate's got you scraped
Work to death
Can't you turn them words around

Is it really what you want?
Is it really what you need?
Is it really what you choose?

My, dear...?

Is it really what you want?
Is it really what you need?
Is it really what you choose?

The world is in your hands
The world is in your hands
The world belongs to those of us who still believe we can
And it matters what you do
Though they all look down on you
'Cause it's better that you've come from nothing,
Than nothing comes from you

Come with us
Come with us
Join with us
Join with us

Don't make a sound
Count your pennies
Count your pounds
There's no way out
What will you do,
When all love gives up on you?
Can't turn around

Is it really what you want?
Is it really what you need?
Is it really what you choose?

Uh oh

The world is in your hands
The world is in your hands
The world belongs to those of us who still believe we can
And it matters what you do
Though they all look down on you
'Cause it's better that you've come from nothing,
Than nothing comes from you

Come with us
Come with us
Join with us
Join with us

We've got a place and it's here for you
For all we ever wanted was a different view
I never knew somebody lived with so much pain
If you open your heart come with us and we'll take you away

Come with us
Come with us
Join with us
Join with us

- by The Feeling

"I can be alone... I can watch a sunset on my own..."

These pictures are neither of a sunset (obviously), nor were they taken while I was on my own (my sister was along for this Thames-side stroll), but sometimes it's nice to reminded that one needn't have company to savor such things...

Actually, as I was enjoying this London fluffy-cloud-filled afternoon near the Southbank Centre, I was slightly admonishing myself that I so rarely get out and see the panoramas, like this view from the Thames Path, that really make London so distinctly London.

"Is it because I stay in too often?" I wondered. "Am I afraid to venture out when I don't have someone to hold my proverbial hand?"

But then I recalled that just that morning, there'd been a downpour... that London moments like this are relatively hit and miss and often far between. And that I do try and take advantage of the warm and flawless hours when they occur - with or without someone by myside.

All of which made me feel better. But still... Hmmm.

I ought to watch more sunsets.



{For those of you who'd like a fitting bit of music to accompany your own solitary strolls... this post's title is taken from a lyric in Kate Nash's song Merry Happy, a version of which you can find here.}