An early Happy New Year to everyone. Creative Slips will return on January 4 or sometime afterwards.

"God bless us, everyone" indeed.

For all the peeps who participated in the Holiday CD Exchange: here is the songlist for my album.

1. "Silent Night"
This has always been my favorite Christmas song, and I found a rendition that I liked on the WoW Christmas album. If I had the pipes for it, I'd do a solo of this song, but since I don't, I'll spare everyone the horror.

2. "The Restroom Door Said 'Gentlemen'"
When my cousin came for a visit from Oregon earlier this year, he brought a cd called Twisted Christmas that I fell in love with. It was a bunch of parodies that would probably offend members of the politically correct persuasion - which is probably why I liked it so much - but this song got me laughing the most.

3. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
Last year someone in my family bought Nicole C. Mullen's Christmas album, Christmas in Black and White, and I gained an appreciation of this song for its prophetic elements. This song is basically about hundreds of years of prophecy that Christ's birth fulfilled.

4. "What Child Is This?/Where Is He?"
Carman is an oldtimer in the Christian music world, and his Christmas album is one of my all-time holiday favorites. "Where Is He?" is a nice alternative to "We Three Kings" - it let me slip into the wiseman's shoes and discover why it was so important to find the child of promise.

5. "He Is Born, The Holy Child"
This song is off the VeggieTales Christmas album, sung by the French peas. These guys are a riot, but it wasn't until I looked through the CD cover that I found out this song is actually a French Christmas song. I'm not a big VeggieTales fan, but I'll say that for the holidays (in my world) at least, no album can be complete without a VT song.

6. "Sing We Now of Christmas/O Come, O Come Emmanuel/Emmanuel"
I have always enjoyed Michael W. Smith's classical bent in the two Christmas albums he's produced. This medley is a nice mixture of everything that signifies his style.

7. "Welcome to Our World"
I heard this song on the radio when the holiday pageantry started appearing everywhere and figured I'd better find a copy of it before I lost interest. Chris Rice composed and recorded this simple, beautiful song.

8. "O Holy Night"
The girls from Point of Grace recorded a great version of this song, my second favorite Christmas carol. I don't think anymore needs to be said so far as this song is concerned - it speaks for itself.

9. "Our Blessed Savior Has Come"
This is another song off Carman's Christmas album, a duet he did with CeCe Winans. I guess one can call it a Christmas inspirational classic, because it has the marks of one: background choir, thrilling crescendo, the whole works. The message about the Messiah's coming is probably the most poignant part of it.

10. "God's Own Son"
Nicole C. Mullens toys a bit with the blues in this song. Immediately after I first heard it, I put it on repeat for the next several hours.

11. "Merry Christmas With Love/Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
Another Christmas inspirational classic, this one by Sandi Patty. Okay, okay, I admit it - I like all the Christian oldtimers, and Sandi Patty's no different.

12. "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
A friend of mine sent me this version by Vanessa Williams when I first started putting together this album, and I immediately decided to include it. I mean, this is Vanessa Williams!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

And they're all still sitting up in my closet, peering at me anxiously whenever I open the door and wondering, fretting if I'll ever touch them. Never fear, dears, I'll get to you one of these days - whenever that is.

Glad I ain't the only one with this problem, either.

California weather at its best is a mixed bag of water, temperature and light. I don't mind, I mean, I've experienced the weather myriad for as long as I could remember, but I hope to feel the snow again sometime.

I'm not quite in a Christmas-y mood, yet, but I do think this is a really kool present to get, eleven days before Christmas. In the meantime, celebrate the Advent with Leslie - you won't regret it.

The one lesson that's hit home for me today is this: I can't hold on to my worries. Take that, Scratch.

...when you get ten messages on your answering machine and all of them are hang-ups?

Oh yeah: Argh.

This is probably my lamest post ever, but I'm too zonked out from end-of-the-semester projects to put up anything substantial. More when my gray matter actually feels like cooperating.

A snake encounter changes everything.

Mullings, mullings, mullings.

And military blogs.

I hate term papers. Back to the mill...

UPDATE: Click for Cans. (via Greyhawk)

UPDATE II: I wonder how our guys on the ground feel about Kucinich's latest campaign ad. 'Course, someone whose run for office is endorsed by Grandfather Twilight shouldn't be taken too seriously, I suppose. (Sorry - ain't linking it. via Jay)

Thanks to some generous folks who already sent out their CDs, I'm now enjoying these songs:

1. "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" - Brenda Lee
2. "Heaven's Got A Baby" - Sarah Masen
3. "Breath of Heaven" - Amy Grant
4. "The First Noel" - Bing Crosby
5. "Silent Night" - Andrea Bocelli
6. "Carol of the Bells" - Vienna Boys Choir
7. "Feliz Navidad" - Jose Feliciano
8. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" - Dean Martin

I've read a few books on prayer, and I've always had a heart for intercessory prayer especially, but I find that I'm pretty guilty of keeping my prayers limited to selfish personal needs because I'm too "busy."

I need to change this arrangement because frankly it's become burdensome, tiresome and petty.

Prayer is basically defined as talking to God, but limiting it to my own needs makes it a one-sided conversation. Time to start over and open things up so my prayers can actually get responses that are aligned with God's will.

I don't remember who said it exactly, but I heard this quote from somewhere and it's spot on: "If we focus our prayers on others' needs, God will take care of our own."

And now that bad idea's been repealed by the State Assembly.

Good show.