Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Blog

Continued festivities. (Not festivus.)

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 6 comments link this post

L to R: Naomi, me. Piano in the middle.

On Christmas Day evening, the Neidlingers visited the Damschens. We ate. We talked. We laughed. We shared stories of people falling down, slips, spills, and all things in between. We played a game.

And Naomi and I played piano duets, as we are like to do when we get together. At my house, we play Rogers and Hammerstein. At her house, we play out of book that is "pure cheese" -- themes from Terms of Endearment, Cagney and Lacey, The Godfather, and...Axel F.

I killed Axel F. Got the video to prove it.

During the theme from Terms of Endearment -- a cheesy heart-breaker of a song if there ever was one -- dad, having difficulty hearing Naomi's grandpa Frank, hollered "What?! I can't hear you!" It was in the midst of a most climactic part of the music, which caused Naomi and I to burst into laughter.

"Great audience, yelling in the middle of the performance," I said as we broke into giggles. Naomi, who mans the peddles during our duet performances, began using the middle peddle to drop the volume. The guys eventually moved into the kitchen and the rest of the women into the living room.

Essentially, our great playing cleared the room. Naomi is pretty good as the Secondo part, but I, the Primo part, really crack. I tend to..."improvise." Scream. Panic during sixteenth-note runs. You don't even want to hear my attempts at the ever-challenging 5/4- metered "Take Five" (a favorite song -- love Dave Brubeck).

Nome and I also sprinkled a few quotes from the movie Elf throughout the evening, quotes that, if used with someone unaware of the film, would be insulting:

"You disgust me."
"You sit on a throne of lies."
"You don't smell like Santa. You smell like beef and cheese."

I am going to use these in casual discussion and see where it leads. Probably to more isolation in life.

::You know, I need to start understanding that during times when I am out of the house, there will be cameras and video tape, and, as such, I need to:

brush my hair
put on some makeup
wear my normal glasses or contacts
not dress like a slob
because I want to look nice when people see me and not some kind of schlump!

Gee.::

Today, at 4 p.m., the Neidlingers and Damschens will be going to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets, in Devils Lake. (We saw the first movie together a few years ago, around this time.) Afterwards, we will go out to eat.

A very fine holiday season. As long as you aren't Axel Foley.

Labels: christmas, friends, my life

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6 Comments:

Well, was the movie good? Tessa and I are still wanting to see it. Hopefully she will be healthy this next weekend and we will make it there!

By Jacqui, at 26/12/07 06:50

Aww ... you don't look like a schlump. It just looks and sounds like you're having a great time.

We saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets last weekend. If you enjoyed the first one you'll like this one, too. It's all set up for a third sequal (tease, tease).

By Rey, at 26/12/07 09:22

We haven't seen the movie yet -- not 'til this evening. I'll let you know.

By Julie R. Neidlinger, at 26/12/07 10:03

I love Elf. Great movie. I even bought a copy so I could watch it every Christmas.

My previous favorite was It's A Wonderful Life but I got tired of that after so many years. I'm also coming around to a mature understanding of A Christmas Carol. I read the book this year for the first time and again watched the Patrick Stewart version, which is faithful to the book. Interesting how the passage of time can change one's perspective even on stories told repeatedly.

Elf has a sweetness that doesn't become treacly until the end. It's a difficult thing, in these heavily ironicized days especially, making a story that is sincere and real without being cheesy. Look at what weird lengths Napolean Dynamite goes to in order to tell a simple, old story. People look at me strangely when I tell them that I think that movie has a sweet charm in addition to all its bizarre humor.

Feeding the llama remains one of the strangest things I've seen on film. The big spoon with that slop in it.

By deniro, at 26/12/07 18:06