Christmas Carol Countdown.

Christmas music has been everywhere since the day after Halloween. Of course, out of respect to Turkey Day, I refuse to really listen to it until after Thanksgiving, but by then, it's on until Christmas Day.

Different Christmas tunes have been important to my family and me throughout my life, and like most music, certain ones play more important roles at different times. Here's a list of some I've always been into as well as some I've started to appreciate in more recent years:

1. Charlie Brown Christmas. Can't beat it. Most of it's instrumental, but it's so classic and mellow that it's the perfect background music to the end of the night. It's quiet enough that it's not overpowering to the room, but obvious enough that it takes me to the famous Linus speech whenever I hear it. I used to play it in my boombox when I was a kid and fall asleep to it during the holiday season. My favorite way to listen to this one is when the presents have been opened and the only lights on in the house are the lights on the Christmas tree.


2. O Holy Night. This one gets me the most of all of the spiritual Christmas carols. The crescendo of the song gives me chills as the music rises and the lyrics hit the line "fall on your knees/and hear the angels' voices!". I love every version of this song, from the traditional styles to the newer versions from Josh Groban and Christina Aguilera. Aaron Neville also DOMINATES the song in a Motown way with his adaptation of the song. Love it.


3. Jingle Bell Rock--the Bobby Helms version. This one will ALWAYS remind me of Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandaddy's house in Gastonia, NC. Grandaddy had a tape that was ENTIRELY made up of this song on one side, and he'd take pride in playing it every year. The cool thing is that, suckers for tradition that we are, we STILL play that tape over and over on Christmas morning every year. I'll always think of him getting the tape started, and I love that we play it in his honor even today. I'm ready to hear it again in a few weeks...


4. Blue Christmas--Elvis. Love this one, because it's bittersweet and it's catchy. I was never the biggest Elvis fan, but hey, he's the King, and I definitely learned to appreciate him more after visiting Graceland this year. His voice is great in the song, and the background vocals really take it away. Sheryl Crow has a nifty cover of the song too. I don't WANT a Blue Christmas, but I'll blast the song every year.


5. A Wonderful Christmas Time--Paul McCartney. Annoying, but it's PAUL! I mean, come on, it's catchy, right? It's one of those songs that sort of makes me cringe, but I can't change it at the same time. My eleventh grade English teacher HATED it, so what'd I do? Burned him a 12-track CD. The track list? 1-12: A Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney. Come on, y'all! He was a BEATLE! I'll keep rockin' it.


6. Happy Xmas (War is Over)--John Lennon. Great song. Political. Powerful. Love the chorus of kids singing along and the pure PEACE that it stresses. It gets me every time, and balances out Paul's Christmas song. I rock this one too. The Fray has a mean cover of it as well.


7. A Neighborly Christmas--Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. My newest favorite. I had the pleasure of serving a Summer Staff Session with Drew and Ellie Holcomb in 2008. They're great people, and as musically talented as they are nice. Drew carries a Sinatra-esque vibe on this record, while Ellie's voice has an old-school, raspy feel that puts a modern twist on classic music. Every song is fun on the album, but their version of "Baby it's Cold Outside" REALLY stands out. Check out the album on iTunes and watch their video for the song HERE. Also, be sure to grab their other albums as well!



8. A Very Special Christmas (1&2). These two collections are my all-time favorites, because they REALLY take me back to my childhood, and they're probably the ones we listen to as a family the most even today. From the Pointer Sisters' version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to Aretha Franklin's "O Christmas Tree" that always made my sister and I laugh, the two collections include the best variety of classic and modern Christmas songs out there. Can't forget Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis", Madonna's "Santa Baby" (that my sis and I used to fall to the ground for because she was the bad guy in "Dick Tracy" the movie), or Bruce Springsteen's repetitive "Merry Christmas, Baby". Great collections.


Of course, I'm leaving out countless other great Christmas tunes, but these are some of the best. I'm sure you're familiar with most of 'em, but if you're not, check 'em out, turn on the tree lights, pour some egg nog, and ENJOY!

Merry Christmas,
Drew.

Productivity Cycle.

Yesterday was a productive day. You wanna know how a productive day for a 24-year-old college grad who works part time at a restaurant and is still trying to figure out the next step of his life goes? Since I had the day off, here's a quick outline:

9:17 a.m. Alarm goes off, I hit snooze. I never set my alarms on 0's or 5's, but usually 3's or 7's. My snooze lasts 9 minutes, so I often wake up on 5's or 1's, which means I usually hit the button twice for 18 minutes of extra broken sleep.

9:35(ish) a.m. Woke up. Fell outta bed. No comb across my head. Dragged into the kitchen with our dog, Maia, at my heels to pour a bowl of cereal and my first cup of black coffee of the day. She always follows me because she knows I'll drop a piece into her bowl. Here's how it goes: I pull the cereal out of the cabinet, grab a bowl, pour it, toss a piece in her bowl (clink!), pour the coffee, pour the milk, nuke the coffee if it's cold, and walk into the living room to turn on the tv. Most of the time it's Sportscenter, but if it's mid-week and it's early enough, I catch the music videos on VH1 (gotta watch 'em when you can to avoid the ridiculous "Celebreality" they're always brainwashing our youth with...).

10:07 a.m. Facebook. Tryjm.com. Twitter. Johnmayer.yuku.com. In that order. It's embarrassing, but I do it. I'm sure you do too...

11:00 a.m. Gym time. This is early for me. Mad thanks to Harley Pasternak for the 5-Factor Workout. Been using it for two years and I still love it. Yesterday was back and bicep day, which is always crucial. Also ran for a bit to the tunes of "Battle Studies" and others. The chorus of "Assassin" into the guitar solo is killer for when it's time to push it.

12:30ish. Back home. Protein shake (because I GOTS to get SWOLE!). Shower. PB Sandwich, and let the errands BEGIN.

1:15 p.m. Drove Mom to pick up her car. Some douche keyed it a few weeks ago, and now the paint is FIXED.

1:45ish. Men's Wearhouse. Tux fitting for my buddy Luke's wedding. It was quick, and I'm gonna look like a pimp. Can't wait.

2:15ish. Four Season's Mall. My mission: New Shoes. Went into each show place at least once to find the best deal. Ended up with some red and white Air Max 90's and a smile. Could have and SHOULD have knocked out some Christmas shopping, but I'm waiting to save that card for the maximum stress effect which should kick in in about two and a half weeks.

3:30. Back home. Room cleaning time. Picked up piles of laundry and made it so my carpet is visible. It's blue, like my eyes.

4:20ish. Snack break. Stephen King novel. Waiting for my girlfriend to get out of class.

4:45 p.m. Amanda gets out of class and comes over. We kick it for a bit.

6:30 p.m. Amanda and I roll to UNCG for a class discussion she needs to attend for an assignment. I'm not in school, but I like going to these because I feel like a student again. They're fun when they don't matter for a grade. Nice to stimulate the brain again. Grad school might not be so bad after all...(remind me I said this if I ever complain about it down the road.)

8:00 DINNER! At home, with the rents and Amanda. Turkey Sausage Soup. Spicy, healthy, and delicious. Mmmmm.

9:30 p.m. Back to Amanda's so she can get some work done. This is the time of year I definitely do NOT miss from my school days.

1:00 a.m. Back home again.

1:16 a.m. Goodnight text to Amanda, lights out, DONE SON!

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9:17 a.m. Alarm. Snooze twice.

9:35 a.m. Repeat breakfast routine. Get ready for work. Annnnnnnnd here we go again...

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SO, kids, that's how a productive day typically goes for someone in my position. That is BALLER for a day off. Didn't sleep in, worked out early, and got some stuff DONE! The real test comes now in keeping my shoes white and my room clean. Oh, and finding a job or going to school for the sake of a future CAREER. But hey, one step at a time, right?

Until then, I'm gunnin' for grad school apps and Christmas. Woohoo!

DS.