Venite, adoremus Dominum!

"Adoration of the Shepherds"
Tiepolo



Light, Hope, Love

     I've celebrated, so far, over half a century's worth of Christmases. All have been spent in the loving and boisterous bosom of my family; all have featured torn gift wrapping strewn about the living room, good food that took hours to prepare and minutes to consume, laughter, hugs, and general good will. There were many Christmases long ago when the whole family climbed into our huge Chevy station wagon in our coats and Christmas finery, to drive to the Main Chapel on post for Midnight Mass. The colored lights cheered our way and the very air smelled of something joyful and comforting.

     There have also been Christmases that, on one level at least, were not so joyful. There was the Christmas of 1995, when I was going through the deepest depression of my life. Not yet returned to the sacraments at that time, I nevertheless experienced an inexplicable but undeniable solace when I walked into the church with my parents for Vigil Mass. Perhaps that was the beginning of my religious reversion.

     There have been three Christmases dimmed by the shadow of death: just days before Christmas 1977, my sister died, shot at point-blank range by her so-called boyfriend. The month before Christmas 2011, my father died, a peaceful early morning passing after years of physical and, I'm certain, mental suffering. And this year in Connecticut, twenty-six souls were taken from this earth in one mindless, brutal act.

     Through them all, there has been light. There has been hope. There has been love. These are things given by a merciful God to sustain and strengthen us, and can never be taken away.

 



Christmas Time Movies!

     On this past Thanksgiving Day, I remembered that on Thanksgiving weekend 1994 I went to the cinema twice to see the new but old-fashioned romantic comedy called Sleepless in Seattle. At the first viewing, I remember my sister whispering during the Christmas dinner scene near the start of the film, "Oh, it's Niles!" Not having yet seen Frasier, I had no idea who Niles was. Nowadays, of course, one of the reasons I watch Sleepless is to see David Hyde Pierce in his two brief scenes.

     Another main reason I watch Sleepless, at least during Advent and the Christmas season, is for its Christmas scenes at the beginning—even though it's all very secular, it's still jolly, and I always love Meg Ryan singing "horses, horses, horses" with the radio.

     Besides Sleepless in Seattle, there are numerous other movies I love to watch specifically at this time. It might surprise you that It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street (any version) are not among them. I think there are two reasons for their omission: 1) they're both on TV ad nauseum around Christmas time, and 2) I've always disliked following the crowd. "What's your favorite Christmas movie?" Seven times out of ten, the answer is It's a Wonderful Life. The other three times, it's Miracle on 34th Street. (Those are my own arbitrary statistics; don't go quoting them.) While I concede they are both wonderful films, I'm just ornery and choose to march to my own drummer boy. Pah-rrum-pum-pum-pum.

     So here, in random order after the first four, is my Christmas viewing list—most of these films are not specifically about Christmas, and some are emphatically non-religious (yes, I still retain some of my pagan past when it comes to movies), but all have Christmas scenes in them.

The Bishop's Wife - probably my favorite Christmas film
     (Cary Grant, Loretta Young)
The Shop around the Corner - probably my second favorite Christmas film
     (James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan)
White Christmas - probably my 3rd favorite Christmas film
Come to the Stable  (Loretta Young, Celeste Holm) - probably my fourth favorite Christmas film

Little Women 
     1933 (Katharine Hepburn)
     1994 (Winona Ryder)
     1978 (TV mini-series w/ Susan Dey)
     [Don't like the 1949 version with June Allyson and Elizabeth Taylor!]
Meet Me in St. Louis  (Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien)
The Trouble with Angels  (Hayley Mills, Rosalind Russell)
Holiday Inn  (Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby)
Sleepless in Seattle
Desk Set  (Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy)
When Harry Met Sally ...
84, Charing Cross Road  (Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins)
Love Affair  (1939, Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer)
     and its 1957 remake An Affair to Remember  (Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr)
Falling in Love  (Meryl Streep, Robert de Niro)
The Holiday  (Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz)
Love Story  (Ryan O'Neal, Ali MacGraw)
You've Got Mail
Love, Actually
Christmas in Connecticut  (Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan)
Holiday Affair  (Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum)
Never Say Goodbye  (Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker)
A Christmas Carol  (just about any version)
The Tangerine Bear  (animated - David Hyde Pierce voices the Cuckoo)

For something emphatically religious, and therefore most truly about Christmas:
The Nativity Story

My Favorite Family Christmas Memories

Midnight Mass at the Main Chapel at Ft. Sam Houston. When I was little, I remember my sisters and I always got brand new dresses to wear at Midnight Mass. We, my brother, and our parents somehow all fit into the old red and white Chevy station wagon, and we'd drive to the Main Chapel through the chilly dark, enjoying the colored lights which all the houses sported then. (Nowadays, outdoor lights seem to be the exception rather than the norm.) Our lights were always red and blue, very simple. One of my sisters recently reminded me of one particular year when a classmate of hers, one of Cole High School's finest students, sang "O Holy Night" and crashed and burned on the high note. It was one of those things that, being normal kids, we thought horrible and funny at the same time.

The Little Drummer Boy album. I'm referring, of course, to the old 1950's Harry Simeone Chorale album, not the later version. I learned all the important Christmas carols by listening to that album, and I also loved the brief narrative snippets, both spoken and sung, in between the carols. I particularly love the "Adeste Fideles" -- it starts out with just the men singing a cappella  except for a soft bell; they sing the Latin very softly and take no unison breaths throughout the entire verse. The effect is seamless and stunning, like ancient monks chanting as they process through a dark cloister. The soloists on this album are great, too -- that lovely soprano featured in "O Holy Night," "What Child Is This?", and "Silent Night"; also the resonant bass that sang "Go Tell It on the Mountain." We still have that album.

"Christmas with Ed Ames." The other Christmas album I grew up with. Ed Ames has one of the most beautiful natural instruments I've ever heard; I could listen to him all day. The orchestration of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is absolutely perfect, and spoiled me for any other version of that classic.

Christmas Day family dinner. Filipino style, of course! We always had lechon (roast pork), covered with its crispy skin, and, for those who like it (not me), Mom's homemade liver sauce on top. Pancit bihon -- delicate rice noodles mixed with pork, shrimp, chicken, and veggies; the Filipino version of lo mein, but lighter and drier. Mom's justifiably famous lumpia (egg rolls). And for dessert, leche flan, the Filipino flan, which is much richer and heavier than other flans. For those who want something American, red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.Yummmmm scrummmmm......!

On Making Books for Christmas

     It's no secret to any of my family or close friends. They know they'll get books from me at Christmas -- hand-sewn, hand-bound, and, in most cases, printed at home by yours truly. Usually the book contains the poems I have written that year. However, last year my poetic output wasn't enough for even a decent chapbook (a small, pamphlet-like book, usually of poetry, and usually 18-40 pages); so instead, I typed out an account, originally written by Ron Fellows, of my father's experiences during World War II, bound it as a hardbound, cloth-covered chapbook, and gave that to my parents and siblings for Christmas.

     I love making each book unique, choosing papers and fabrics according to each recipient's taste. That way, each knows that his or her book is absolutely personal. I suppose I could simply have them done by a professional printer, or through one of those websites that specialize in things like wedding books, but I prefer to make them even more personal and special by making them myself. Of course, this takes time. People often ask me how long it takes me to make a book, and that's a question impossible to answer, because I like to take my time, doing one or two steps a day, sometimes skipping days if I feel like it.

     The first step, of course, is choosing the texts. Fortunately, most of my poems are short and can fit on one half of a letter-size page (that is, when you choose the "landscape" orientation rather than "portrait"). This makes it much easier to plan the order of the pages, front and back. You have to count the total number of pages, including the title page, publishing credits, table of contents, etc., and even blank pages. That number should be divisible by four (again, this is if you choose to do it in "landscape" and fold the pages to form a book). If it isn't divisible by four, simply add more blank pages until it is, keeping in mind that the first page of text (usually the title page) should be on the right side, or "recto." When you divide the total number by four, you'll know how many sheets of paper ("leaves" in the book trade) to use for each book. For instance, thirty-six pages of text and blanks combined, require nine leaves. It helps to make a list of all the pages:

     Using this list, the next step is to make a sample book out of scrap paper, making sure to include the page numbers. The sample book is invaluable -- in fact, necessary -- when you finally go to the computer to type and create the document. All that done, it's ready to print! I prefer using 24 lb. 100% cotton paper, but if the book has more than 10 leaves, such thick paper is hard to fold and the book won't stay shut properly.

     After printing, fold all the leaves at once into one "signature," pressing the crease firm with the help of a bone folder or the side of a pen. Never fold the leaves one at a time and put them together afterward; you'll wind up with tiny gaps in the fold between leaves, causing the final product to be less sturdy at the spine. The folding done, the fore edge (the long edge, opposite the spine) should be trimmed with an exacto knife to even it up, and I like to trim the upper and lower edges as well so that I end up with the size of book I want, keeping the pages' side margins wide enough to be pleasing to the eye.

     For the past few years, I've chosen to make my poetry gift books softbound, using beautiful, heavy art paper for the covers and lighter-weight art paper for the endpapers. (Most people wouldn't bother putting endpapers in a softbound book, but I think it's really nice.) Usually I choose a solid color for the cover, because I like to surprise the reader when he/she opens the cover and sees endpapers with a striking pattern. Sometimes, though, I'll keep the endpapers simple and use a paper in a solid color that complements but contrasts with the cover. The cover and endpapers are trimmed to size and folded with a soft crease, not pressed, so that it molds to the spine with no gap.

     Next, I use a fine awl (a push pin works, too) to make the holes in the crease for stitching the leaves, endpapers, and cover all together. If I had the book made at a printer, they would saddle staple the pages. Hand-stitching looks so much better! Most bookbinders would probably do a basic 3-hole pamphlet stitch, which holds the leaves together with two long stitches; but I prefer for this size book to use five holes, which results in four shorter stitches -- I think it makes the spine sturdier. Linen thread is best, as it is stronger than other threads. Embroidery needles have blunt points that won't poke unwanted extra holes in the paper if you should miss one of the pre-punched holes when sewing. Here is one of my first softbound chapbooks and the contrasting endpaper:

     The papers I've chosen for this year's Christmas chapbooks are absolutely beautiful, and I'm proud of the poems I've written these past couple of years -- so I'm hoping the resulting products will be my best yet!