Karen’s Opinion

When asked what gets me into the Christmas spirit, I had to stop and think. I love the huge decorations that the malls put up. I can remember, as a little girl, walking through the cosmetic department of a huge department store and feeling mesmerized by the huge, sparkling ornaments. These days, the ornaments don’t look nearly as big! Could it be that being so small made everything look big? I wonder how many employment recruitment agencies it took to hire people to decorate and then take everything down again? And to think, I dread putting it all away at my house!

I miss singing in the choir at our church, especially at this time of year. In the fall, the recruitment for choir members begins. I thought about joining again this year but remembered how my back ached after standing so long each Sunday. I miss singing in the annual cantata. Does your church have a choir? Do they sing a cantata? Our church teams up with two other churches to sing the cantata. That makes a huge choir that sounds amazing. I know how much practice goes into performing a choir and that causes me to sit in awe as I listen each year. This production involves many talented singers as well as instrumental accompaniment. Violins, flutes, and other instruments add a professional flair to the movements. Goosebumps? Yes, I get them.

One of my all time favorite Christmas songs, Mary Did You Know?, is sung by Vance Perry. His songs are unbelievably awesome. His range is spectacular. I could go on and on. Listen. Enjoy.

I was reading a post on one of my favorite blogs, New York Traveler by Mrs. Mecomber. On this particular post, she was posting pictures in reference to the word “surprise.” I happened to notice that in one of her pictures, her children were visiting a museum display featuring the wonderful guitarist, Elizabeth Cotten.

Elizabeth Cotten taught herself to play the guitar. She started learning how to play a string instrument when she borrowed her brother’s banjo. At age 11 she was able to scrape together enough money to purchase a guitar for herself and named her guitar, “Stella.” Cotten developed her own original style. Her approach to left-handed guitar playing involved keeping the guitar in standard tuning but holding it upside down. This position required her to play the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb. Her signature, alternating bass style has become known as “Cotten picking”.

Since its release, her songs, especially her signature track, “Freight Train”, written when she was 11, have been covered by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Devendra Banhart, Matt Valentine, Laura Veirs, and Taj Mahal.

The following video shows her unusual style of guitar playing as she performs with Pete Segeer.

In 1984 she won the Grammy Award for “Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording” for her album on Arhoolie Records.

My daughter mailed me her Christmas list but has already given me an update for it. Who the heck is Taylor Swift? Wasn’t he on American Idol?

My daughter quickly corrected my thinking that Taylor Swift was the gray haired guy on American Idol. I am not in the know! I admit it.

From Wikipedia:
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American Grammy-nominated country music artist who began her career as a teenager. Signed to the independent Big Machine Records label in 2006, she made her debut on the Billboard country charts with the release of her debut single “Tim McGraw”. This song, which peaked at #6, was the first of five singles from her self-titled debut, which was released in late 2006 and re-issued in 2007, and has been certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. Following “Tim McGraw” were the #2 “Teardrops on My Guitar”, the six-week Number One “Our Song”, the #3 “Picture to Burn” and another Number One in “Should’ve Said No”. All five singles from her debut were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, as was her song “Change” from the AT&T TEAM USA Soundtrack. Her second album, Fearless, will be released on November 11, and its lead-off single “Love Story” has become her highest Hot 100 hit.

Now wonder I didn’t know who SHE was. She was born in 1989! I have her name and the name of the cd in my title. That should jog my memory.

Do you ever have a song stuck in your head? I enjoy music and I love my DVD’s but enough is enough. I cannot get the song Mercy, by Duffy, out of my head. Mercy!

You got me begging you for mercy!
Why won’t you release me?
You got me begging you for mercy!
Why won’t you release me?

When my niece was around three years old, my mom bought her a banjo. It was a toy that played music whenever you stuck your hand into the center of the instrument. I think most of the adults in our group regretted the purchase of that little toy. LOL

When my kids were somewhere around the ages of eleven and seven, we went on a road trip with my sister, Grace, and her son, Jason. Jason had a cute cassette tape that was full of music from the Cabbage Patch Kids. I can still hear the song, Cabbage Patch Kids, growing in the garden. Cabbage Patch Kids having so much fun. Over and over it played until I thought I would lose my mind! LOL I still have that cassette tape. Somehow it ended up in my kids’ collection. I am saving it for my grand kids. Revenge is sweet.