tavie.com

Let us take a break from anthropology for a moment (I finished the last response! Nothing left but to read those stinkin' ethnographies and write a lengthy paper on them!) and examine the role of mittens in the act of Christmas merry-making. This will be particularly useful in light of my current projects, which are: the reclaiming of my Christmas spirit, which seems to have gotten lost in the homework and pennilessness of my existence; and the fact that I am currently knitting a pair of Kool-Aid mittens for someone who shall remain nameless.

It's in the giving of a gift to another/a pair of mittens that were made by your mother

Ah, let us substitute "Tavie" for "mother"; I am no one's mother.

Bright copper kettles/and warm woolen mittens

While not strictly a Christmas song, it lists favourite things, as we do when we make our lists for Santy Claus; it speaks of snowflakes that stay on your nose and eyelashes, and silver-white winters.

Couples skating on the pond/Making angels on the lawn/Five red mittens drying on the rack/And needles shedding tannenbaums

Although I refuse to see that Grinch movie because it terrifies me to my very core, I do very much like the Barenaked Ladies song that goes with it. And who better than Canadians to recognize the cozy-fying importance of some nice, warm mittens?

Grandma, nothin' tastes better/Than snow on wool mittens!

Who is this guy? What is this song? I don't know-- but, look! Mittens!

Now we're cooking-- we almost have enough for a Mittens Mix. Let's keep going, Google! I'm creating a Google-collage here!

Who spends Christmas Eve alone/With peppermint tea and a cranberry scone/Knitting mittens for the kitten's paws?/Mrs. Claus!

From that tv-movie starring Angela Lansbury, I wager? I have only the vaguest memory of that. But why would a kitten need mittens, anyway? Because it rhymes? I'm a human, and I don't need cumin*. Now that's just silly.

Snow can wait/I forgot my mittens/Wipe my nose/Get my new boots on

Gee, thanks, Tori. For that. Are we starting to stretch, here?

Raindrops on roses /and rabbits and kittens /Bluebells and sleighbells /and something with mittens/la la la la la la something with string....

Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. I've definitely exhausted the topic. Back to work.

*Well, sometimes I need cumin. I am a huge fan of Indian cuisine. Which is itself almost as warming as a nice pair of woolen mittens.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 5:02 AM | shower me with attention