Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas

from

The Gypsy Scholar

and

Family

Christmas Colors

Family and Friends

Out on the town, late enough that the streets were clear of others, we family and friends strolled beneath lights celestial . . .

Santa Comes This Time of Year

Santa Came Early

I now have a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup from the the big Santa!

A New Christmas Cake and an Old Christmas Poem . . .

Christmas Cake

Christmas of 2017

Merry Christmas

to

All My Readers

I posted this pom several Christmases ago, but it's always topical this time of the year, and I deserve a day off, so here goes:

Christmas Present

A year brings now another Christmas nigh,
And were there still those twelve medieval days
To celebrate a dozen, courtly ways,
I'd greet this time without protesting sigh.

For hardly greeted is it fast foreby
And lost within that sempiternal maze,
Forever hidden from our baffled gaze,
Where every single Christmas past will lie.

And yet, one dozen Christmases to fete
Would soon be just as all forever gone
Into that same dark labyrinth of time.

Such is of every Christmas past the fate
Predictable: it ought to prompt a yawn,
But since I muse, this Christmas Present rhyme.

You can also find it on page 104 of my collected poems, Radiant Snow. If only there were eleven more days . . .

Still Christmas in the Ozarks . . .

Seoul Morning
Google Images

But 'Boxing Day' sits upon the Seoul throne for now . . .

Anyhow . . . I woke up early yesterday morning - 5:00 a.m., to be precise - and fed the cats before deciding to stay awake and write a little Christmas poem because we didn't actually have the time to properly celebrate Christmas this year, so we had no tree, no wrapped gifts, no multicolored flickering lights, merely the echos of a dream from which I'd wakened feeling guilty that I had received gifts in the dream without giving any in return, and even though no actual gifts awaited me, I elected to write my wife a Christmas poem, a gift to her, as you by now can surely see:

Christmas Greetings, 2016

A merry Christmas morning,
and I awake in mourning --

no Christmas gift to place und-
er our sad and wizened,

lonely little Christmas tree;
still, have yourself a merry

little Christmas, full of cheer,
a sleepy holiday here,

our Seoul Christmas, with much of
what we've ever had: such love.

I sent this poem to my wife who sometime later emerged, concerned that I might be upset at finding no gift wrapped for me.

What fortunate irony . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas 2015
and
Happy New Year 2016
from
International Authors
Presenting
Emanations Series
on
Artwork
by
Tiziana

Isaiah with Two Angels?

Isaiah with Two Angels
Gherardo di Jacopo Starnina
Google Images

I received a gracious, if belated (unless 362 days early!), Christmas card from a very dear old pearl of a friend yesterday, the 3rd of January, 2015, the card showing Isaiah and two angels . . . except I see only one angel and no Isaiah! Let's try again:

Isaiah with Two Angels

Gherardo di Jacopo Starnina

Google Images

Still just one angel . . . but the other one, I guess . . . so let's try again:

Isaiah with Two Angels

Gherardo di Jacopo Starnina

Google Images

Now, we have it - the two angels! But why two angels? Well, the word "angel" means "messenger," and my friend cited two Bible verses, Isaiah 7:14 and John 1:14:

Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

But he was officially named "Yeshua," so let's stipulate "Immanuel" as a nickname (meaning "God with us," perhaps reflected in "dwelt among us"), or even shorter: "Manuel." Note that I refuse to pun on "manual," as in manual labor such as carpentry, even though this would help bring us full circle, for I'm not a full-fledged punster - that prank rank of 'wordiness' waits until I receive my angel wings.

If I do . . .

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas
Click Image for Greater Christmas

My friend Carter Kaplan, editor of Emanations and other books,

sent the above image fashioned by Tiziana (aka Selkis)

to wish one and all a very merry Christmas!

- Passing the message on to all readers of Gypsy Scholar -

And the hour's never too late to have a very scary X-Mass . . .

Season's Greetings!

You BETTER watch out!

Santa Clauses
Google Images

Santa Claus is coming to town, and he's bringing along a few friends, so we'd better figure out his intentions.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

You better watch out!
You better not cry!
Better not pout,
I'm telling you why!
Santa Claus is coming to town!

Ah, now, we see. Santa comes with friends, but he's not friendly. He has his cohorts making demands in threatening language, telling us we'd "better" do as they say. Well, don't give in to such threats! That only encourages more of the same. In fact, Santa and his red-coated friends will not readily back down, even when confronted by resistance:

He's making a list!
And checking it twice!
Gonna find out!
Who's naughty and nice!
Santa Claus is coming to town!

We expected this, of course. When Santa and his thuggish friends see their initial threat dismissed by a confident people, they hide their dismay beneath false bravado and claim to be making a list of their friends and enemies. We, in turn, must maintain vigilance and courage!

He sees you when you're sleeping.
He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good,
so be good for goodness sake!

Mindless threats, this time backed up with a ludicrous claim of omniscience, as though such a groundless boast could subdue us!

Oh! You better watch out!
You better not cry!
Better not pout!
I'm telling you why!
Santa Claus is coming to town!
Santa Claus is coming to town!

Idle, repetitious threats, by now ignorable. Let us enjoy our freedom, fruit of our united vigilance, and have a safe, un-Santanic Christmas!

"Frosty the Snowman" - The Evil Behind the False Jollity

Frosty the Snowman
Does "Pied Piper" ring any Christmas bells?
Google Images

Yesterday, we looked closely at the outrageous immorality of the Rudolph song, and we're looking today at an even more evil song, this one about a Christmas interloper from Hell:

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the snowman was a jolly, happy soul,
with a corncob pipe and a button nose
and two eyes made out of coal.
Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale they say.
He was made of snow but the children
know how he came to life one day.

Came to life? All abruptly and all? Hardly a fairy tale! And with those coal-dark eyes, more like a nightmare! And the thing smokes, too, despite being frozen! Rather demonic!

There must have been some magic in that
old silk hat they found,
for when they placed it on his head,
he began to dance around.

Magic? Dark magic, I'd say! Undoubtedly, the hat was cursed!

Oh, Frosty the snowman
was alive as he could be,
and the children say he could laugh
and play just the same as you and me.

See how this insidious song brings "you and me" into its spellbinding realm? Now, think about that line "alive as he could be." Does it not imply that this 'snowman' is not entirely alive? That it might need to feed on the life of others? That it might need "you and me"?

Thumpity thump thump,
thumpity thump thump.
Look at Frosty go
Thumpity thump thump,
thumpity thump thump.
over the hills and snow.

We might hope we're now rid of this abominable snowman, but despite its thumpity-thumping all over the hills, we find in the next stanza that it's still around:

Frosty the snowman knew
the sun was hot that day,
so he said,
"Let's run, and
we'll have some fun
now before I melt away."

Before it melts away? We can only hope.

Down to the village
with a broomstick in his hand,
running here and there,
all around the square, saying,
"Catch me if you can."

The broomstick should be a clue to the 'witchy' character we're dealing with.

He led them down the streets of town
right to the traffic cop,
and he only paused a moment when
he heard him holler, "Stop!"
For Frosty the snow man
had to hurry on his way.
But he waved goodbye. saying.
"Don't you cry,
I'll be back again some day."

We see the sort of evil Frosty's leading these children into, flagrantly challenging the authority of the law! And even threatening to return!

Thumpity thump thump,
thumpity thump thump.
Look at Frosty go
thumpity thump thump,
thumpity thump thump
Over the hills and snow!

The way it's behaving, looks to me like Frosty the "No-Man" isn't about to melt any time soon - certainly not that frozen soul with its chilly jollity. The thing may seem to be thumpity-thumping away, but it'll be back! We know because it headed for the hills once before - most likely to reconstitute itself with snow - and was yet mysteriously again here among us!

As though it had never left . . .

Getting into the Spirit of Christmas . . .

Rudolph, the Bloody-Nosed Reindeer
Google Images

Christmas is approaching in all its post-Thanksgiving glory, and what could be more glorious than Rudolph's strobe-flashing nose? Soooo . . . let's take a look at the lyrics of "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer" and get into the spirit of Christmas:

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,
But do you recall?
The most famous reindeer of all?

Listen fella, I didn't even recall most of those first eight till you recited them! You sure they're all American? Those names look foreign . . . Anyway, here comes that infamous interloper to tradition now:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Has a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows.

Hard to imagine that a shiny nose actually 'glows'. Shiny, fine, but glows? Well, maybe if this little newcomer was hitting on too much of the eggnog!

All of the other reindeers
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

And Santa didn't notice this abuse? Or didn't care? Or was some sort of distant paternal figure?

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say,
Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Oh, so now that he needs that 'shiny' nosed one, the plump elf is all polite and flexible. The other reindeer, too:

Then all the reindeers loved him,
And they all shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nose Reindeer
You'll go down in history!

Hypocrites! What the perditionating infernality are we supposed to gain from this story? What moral lesson does it teach? What are we to tell our kids? That they can ridicule some poor soul to their heart's content, but if they suddenly need that person for some reason, they can just start shouting praises, and all abuse is forgiven?

Jae Youn Chung Writes Home . . .

Jae Youn Chung in Dark Glasses
Facebook

One of my former students, Jae Youn Chung, also worked in the E-Lounge, so we grew to know each other quite well since my weekly three required hours in the lounge often fell during her own work hours, plus she had an art exhibition there in the lounge that served as inspiration for discussion, and I came to be sufficiently impressed with this triple-major (or quadrupal-major?) student to readily agree on proofreading her application letters to various graduate schools! In return, she sent me a brief just-past-New-Year's-Eve note from the school she decided on:

Hi, Jeffery,

How are you? It's 2014!! How crazy is that?! Hope you are great and well with your beautiful family. Have a blasting year!

Best wishes from London,

Jae Youn :)

Jae Youn entered London's Courtauld Institute of Art last autumn to study art restoration, but promised to keep in touch, and she has! I replied:

Dear Jae Youn,

Thanks for the note -- I was wondering how you're doing. I know you must be very busy.

I'm doing well (aside from the flu) -- I've even joined Facebook. As you see, though, it's not a personal page, but a business site, so I can't 'like' other people's Facebook pages -- I guess that'd be a sort of 'spam', since a business shouldn't just go about linking to personal sites.

Anyway, scroll down to the photo of me and my wife to see some good news about our translation work on The Soil, by Yi Kwang-su! And my Amazon page now has four good reviews. The book is slowly selling . . . but sometime, I expect a surge of sales.

Yours,

Jeffery

PS I also gave a reading of the first chapter.

She replied on my Facebook page:

Amazing!

I think she was amazed that I had actually dressed up! Speaking of AMAZING:

Sartorial splendor and feminine charm . . .

Portraits of the Artful Dodger as an Aging Man

Sun-Ae and I went out on the late morning to mid-afternoon of Christmas Eve for a movie, a lunch, and a year's end talk about what we've resolved to do in the coming year. Sun-Ae wants to write more blog-post book reviews, and I want to finish the story I'm currently working on. The film we saw was About Time, a sweet little film about time travel in which the men in a certain family could travel back in time to the same moment over and over until they get it right, and though the film doesn't get into the science fiction complexities one might expect, it really made me think about its main point, namely, that we should each experience our life here in this universe as something truly extraordinary, regardless how ordinary our life may be. With that in mind, I have also traveled back to the same point in time, 2:30 p.m. yesterday, and attempted to crack a smile for the camera:

2:30 p.m.: Unprepared . . .

2:30 p.m.: "You want a smile?
Okay, I'm smiling now. See?"

2:30 p.m.: "Not good enough? Okay,
how's this? Eh? You don't see one?"

2:30 p.m.: "Let's try a different angle.
See? I can smile. What? You still can't
see it? Maybe you need new glasses!"

2:30 p.m.: "But I am smiling! No, I
don't wanna show my teeth -- that'd
be a sign of aggression amongst
our nearest cousins, the chimps."

2:30 p.m.: "No, and I'm no orangutan,
either! I said 'cousins,' dammit! But
there might be some chimps lurking
nearby, and I don't wanna get attacked!
Now, how many times I gotta smile
for this damn camera? Just once more?"

2:30 p.m.: "What? Still not good enough? And
you say you aren't a perfectionist?
All right, fine. I'll give you my best
frickin' smile ever in the next photo!"

2:30 p.m.: "Great. I finally offer a
beatific smile bright enough to illuminate
all of North Korea for a year, and
you get the damned lighting wrong!"

So much for getting the moment right. I gave up. Or maybe she did. We drank our coffees, enjoyed a slice of chocolate cake together, and picked up where our conversation had left off.

Oh, by the way, Merry Christmas! At least, I got that right . . .

Have Yourself a Scary Little X-mas!

Remember That Yule Log You All Stole

When You Thought Nobody Was Watching?

People Collecting Yule Log
Chambers Book of Days (1832)
Wikipedia

Well, It Was From Santa's Magical Forest

Go Ahead, Try To Burn The Evidence

Nothing Can Change Your Fate

Santa Has Eyes Everywhere

He's Coming For You

You Better Watch Out

For

Santa's

Claws

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas Greetings from Terrance Lindall

'Tis Boxing Day here across the International Date Line, but I've posted these Christmas Greetings emailed to me (and others on his e-list) by Terrance Lindall, an image from his ongoing aesthetic commentary on John Milton's Paradise Lost:

Dear Friends,

Merry Xmas Day!

This is the Enamoured page form the Wickenheiser Elephant Folio.

God gave the gift of creation and invention to Lucifer. That is the gift of godhood. Only gods can create ex nihilo. Upon the birth of the Son in Heaven, Lucifer looked inward and opened this gift of creation from God and discovered to his joy SIN!

May you open your own presents with such joy on this Christmas day!! But may your greatest gift be the fruit of the motto of our great benefactor Yuko Nii, "PEACE, HARMONY AND UNITY."

Terrance

The words about Lucifer are somewhat tongue in cheek, of course, but Terrance is also actually making a good point on Satan's fall in Milton's epic poem -- the Devil's fall ensues upon sin springing to life from his own self-conception. Every spring brings a fall! Hence today's "Season's Greetings." Think about that . . . but not too deeply.

Merry Christmas to those of you still behind the times!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

FOR 2011

FROM

GYPSY SCHOLAR

AND

FAMILY

Christmas Presence . . .

My good old Baylor friend and fellow NoZe Brother Tim Anderson, now living in Spain, sent me a Christmas card of the Three Kings of Orient, who are already on their way to see the Christ child bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh -- gift-wrapped, no less! -- but who always arrive a couple of years late with news that precipitates a bit of political instability and occasions a rather unsettling event, which you can read about in Matthew 2:1-18, but let's not go there today and thereby disturb the holiday spirit. Instead, enjoy the card, which depicts these Oriental kings as speaking Spanish, English, and French. Odd . . . though if one looks far enough eastward, the West appears. Anyway, Tim writes:

I hope all is going well with you all and the latest developments up North will have a positive effect. Here is our Christmas card, a rendition of the 3 Kings by Jan (4 yrs).

Very lovely card! Thanks, Tim. Give my regards to the young artist, who has made East meet West.

I've been very busy this holiday season, but some of my editing work for journals is being appreciated, for I received an email yesterday evening with these words:

Every author thanks you for your proofreading . . . . [and] the author of . . . [one of the papers] said, "Your lovely English Studies prof had several very good suggestions to make, and the paper is considerably improved because of these. Please thank him for his work."

Nice praise, especially the part about being "lovely" . . . but I guess that this writer has never seen a photo of me.

Similar thanks arrived from one of my students. There had been some plagiarism by too many students on the first draft of a paper, but in the spirit of Christmas, I decided to toss out that first grade (many D-minuses) and allow all students in the class a second chance by having only their second draft count, which the class received as good tidings of great joy, a joy enhanced at seeing their final grades -- at least for this student:

I checked my grade this afternoon, and I was surprised at the result . . . . I don't know how to thank you for the final grade. I really couldn't expect that high grade. I got D- for the first draft because of my fault, and I was totally confused during the end of the semester. I'm really happy that you forgave my fault, and I could correct my essay the right way.

I'm not a Christian, but I really thank God that I could attend your class. Your class was the toughest class for my entire undergraduate course, but, it was also the most meaningful class that I learned the real joy of studying novel.

I already told in my course evaluation, but I want to tell you again. I really thank you for all your kind and patient help for my essay. I will keep the lesson that I learned in mind.

Hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!

Goodness! Who knew that a final grade could occasion a religious experience? Well, Christmas is nigh upon us, so miracles do happen . . .

[UPDATE: From Tim Anderson, a report as of December 21, 2011: "Jan was tickled pink to see his drawing on the internet!!!"]

An Early "Merry Christmas" from Terrance Lindall

Milton Harrowing Hell
Terrance Lindall
A Dungeon Christmas Card Greeting

The surrealist artist Terrance Lindall is sending his holiday cards out early this year, and the artwork this time will look familiar to readers of Gypsy Scholar because Terrance is borrowing an image from his recent illustrations for Paradise Lost, which he allowed me to post about. Originally, the figure with the sword was identified with the Son of God, but Terrance later decided to identify the figure with Michael the Archangel. That seemed to me to shift the meaning of the symbolism from the prediction in Milton's Paradise Lost that the Son himself would defeat Satan in a final battle -- though Terrance reinterpreted this to mean Satan's redemption -- to a prediction in St. John's Revelation that Michael will defeat Satan in a final battle. Terrance therefore added an "M" to the angelic figure's belt buckle.

I now see that Terrance might have had another motive, namely, identifying the figure with Milton himself, such that the epic poet ends up not merely defeating Satan but redeeming him, for Terrance explains in his email on the above image: "He is mortifying the great liar Satan with the 'Sword of Truth and Justice.'" How does this redeem Satan? Recall my hypothesis:

[I]f we consider the image of Satan being subjected to "humiliation, stultification, abasement of pride, or mortification," and ask why, we might imagine that "mortification" means Satan's destruction by death, but the term can also mean the rather Catholic expression, "the mortification of the flesh," a type of purging that cleanses one of sin. If we consider the "abasement of [Satan's] pride" and the stabbing and mortifying of Satan's "rebellious alter ego," we can understand these expressions to refer to precisely what Satan is undergoing, namely, the purging of his rebellious pride. He is being prepared for redemption, being made fit again for heaven -- hence leading us to interpret Satan's "fetal position" as a symbolic image of one about to be reborn through the Son, perhaps in the Johannine sense of being "born again" or "born from above," both possible translations being applicable here. This is Terrance's vision of apokatastasis, a universal salvation that for him includes even Satan.

I asked Lindall about my interpretation, and he replied:

MY GOD!! You are one of the people who can put all my work over time together the right way!!!! You interpret me absolutely right! You should write the book on my PL art!

Maybe I will, but I'd best wait till Lindall has finished, for my hermeneutic above is already out of date, which is why I've had to modify some points now that we've seen the sword-bearing figure shift from identification with the Son to Michael to Milton! I guess I can't be right all the time. At any rate, Terrance is offering his cards on the market, as explained in a recent email to those of us on his e-list:

This is this the basic design for the 2011 Xmas card, "Milton Harrowing Hell." He is mortifying the great liar Satan with the "Sword of Truth and Justice." This will be an art print on watercolor paper, signed and numbered. I am not sure how many I will produce. Would any of you like to order them? $25 each (because they are a frame-able art print). Shipping $3. This is the lower 24k gold border panel of one of the elephant folio pages.

Anyone interested in sending Christmas cards of artistic value can perhaps contact Terrance Lindall at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center to inquire about purchasing copies.

Christmas Cake Gift from Student

Christmas Cake from a Satisfied Student

Photo by Jae-kyung Woo

On Friday, a former student of mine for whom I had written a letter of recommendation dropped by my office at Ewha Womans University bearing a lovely little cake that sported Christmas decorations, as you see above.

I can also report that this cake tasted even better than it looked, for despite its cute sugary decorations, it wasn't overly sweet (once those decorations were removed), but instead tasted something like a German chocolate cake. I would have brought it home with me, except that I was heading out to do some last-minute Christmas shopping and simply couldn't carry the thing around that easily, not even in its box with a convenient carrying handle (partly visible in the upper left of the photo), so I went around to the English Program Office and shared my cake with the staff there.

They oohed and aahed and took photos. One of the office staff promised to send an image, and did so. That's the "Jae-kyung Woo" noted just under the photo.

So . . . a big thanks and Season's Greetings to my satisfied student and to the ever-helpful Jae-kyung Woo. Also, a Merry Christmas to my readers on the laggard side of the International Dateline, and a Happy Boxing Day to my readers on the British Isles!

A Happy Mutant X-Mas from En-Uk Sequoya Hwang

While every normal person is preparing to celebrate Christmas, a perverse Mutant X-Mas is being prepared at the South Pole as mutant penguins frolic in the summer wonderland:



Mutant Santa Claws chortles as he visualizes the joyful horror ahead:



The many cloned mutant elves prepare mutant gifts:



Gifts such as X-Mas Present Zombies, a must offering for every mutant child:



But first, all must be delivered -- and here come the reindeer to do so! On Dasher!



On Dancer!



On Prancer!



And Vixen!



On Comet!



On Cupid!



On Donner!



And Blitzen!



And last, but not least: On Rudolf, you Mutant Reindeer!



The team of mutant reindeer fly towards a mutant home, its door graced by a mutant wreath:



Within awaits a mutant X-Mas tree:



But mutant Santa Claws drops straight down the chimney and into a flaming mutant fireplace, his false beard getting dreadfully singed!



And thus ends another successful Mutant X-Mas. Happy Holidays everyone, from all of us here at mutable Gypsy Scholar!