It’s Christmas Eve!! I’m sitting in the Queen’s Room upper level watching a calm seas of the Gulf Stream roll under the ship in a nearly windless morning listening to samba tunes. Getting into the spirit of an island holiday.
Breakfast was good, healthy with fresh fruit and yogurt. Roslyn chatted with me. She finishes a 7 month tour of duty in January but has extended for additional 4 months so she can complete another world cruise. She surprised me with a box each of my favorite Twinings teas (ones I am unable to purchase in the USA, even through Amazon) Golden Darjeeling and Cranberry/Raspberry. I left Kings Court in a very good frame of mind, which lasted until I pulgged in my ear buds to the iPhone to listen to an audio book while I worked on transcribing Mom’s journal (I am trying to maintain my schedule) and was greetd with a nasty message - This device is not compatible with this Apple product. WHAT?!?!?! I’ve been using this cord for a while and NOW it chooses to be picky. I fiddled with the connector - still no go. Same result when I tried to use the iPad. GRRRR. Now I am unable to isolate myself from the surrounding conversations and practices. I’ll have to go back to the stateroom. Not an awful sentence but an irksome one.
Or I could ignore transcribing and walk on the deck for a bit. That sounds much more appealing. Perhaps the Apple Device Gods are trying to tell me something???
Tidbit learned today: bone conduction of sound was “invented” by Beethoven when he coped with his deafness by connecting an iron rod to his piano and biting down on it while he played enabling him to hear his music perfetly! Amazing!!!!
Reflection on a line from Origin - One purpose of art is to encourage conversation. Huh. Conversation or argument? Are volume and intensity the criteria separating conversation from argument? Isn’t “conceptual art” a kind of redundaancy? Isn’t ANY art conceptual? Isn’t art the physical embodiment of someone’s concept.
Here’s part of the ship’s gingerbread village. The whole thing is 10 feet long!
And here’s the epitome of Godiva chocolate splurging - the company’s homage to Kenneth Branagh’s new version of Agatha Christie’s classic murder is 7 feet long and 22 inches high. I’m wondering what they’re going to do with it?
Sang carols with the crew at concert. Uplifting and others were as atonal as I am! The conductor (Tommi dressed as 6 foot elf!) assured the assembled company it was all about the verve not the quality. Very cool to see a couple of hundred folks gathered sround the Christmas tree in the Grand Lobby open stairwell and balcony all belting out tunes from Silent Night and Rock around the Christmas Tree to several brand new to me, like When Three Ships Come In. (My guess - the ships were the magi’s camels, but no one around me coculd verify that theory.)
Dinner in the dining room. Met Adrian’s aunt (Judy) and mother (Elizabeth). Kenny is an engineer for an aerospace firm and helps in his mom’s restaurant; Adrian is an account for the Defense Department. Gossipy and interetsing. They raved about the wine luncheon they’d attended. INtriguingly they collect Swarski Christmas pins. Shdes of the Glasgow boys!
Christmas Eve dancing. Kelly crooning carols and songs; she must get tired of these by the end of the season.
Tired and happy, I returned to stateroom to find a gift from captain and crew - a Wedgewood dish with this year’s ship’s wreath emblazoned on it. Not my type of thing. I wish Mom had had the chance to receive one; she would have loved it.
So “malaga yang pasko” which is Merry Christmas in phoentically spelled Phillipino.
I was too tired to post last night on Christmas Eve. I hope all’s well and Santa visited.
No comments:
Post a Comment