Getting sorted

It's time to clean house for the New Year. And to take a look at the unfinished holiday pages in my journal. This one was inspired by Stephen Colbert's Christmas special. In it, Colbert asks Jon Stewart, who is describing Chanukah in song: Is it merry? Is it cheery? Is it jolly? Stewart in true Jewish style answers, "I wouldn't know from jolly, but it's not my most unfavorite time of year."

This one was done during the 10-inch snow fall we received right before Christmas. I had some calligraphy practice pages left from free-lance work I did for the holidays so I cut them into trees. The entire world seemed white and I wanted to capture it. 

This one was my take on the snowy world after dark. Ever notice how the sky seems sort of pink when we're getting a heavy snow, even after the sun goes down?

Right before Chanukah my synagogue sponsored a concert with Magevet, the only Jewish a cappella group at Yale University (which is about 20 minutes from home). They were incredible performers, but the thing that cracked me up was their name. Magevet means "towel" in Hebrew. It seems they began in a men's sauna in the days before women could join.

What's Chanukah without a dreidel? This year, I found some great takes on the most annoying Chanukah song ever written: Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel. Check out Lights: Celebrate Chanukah Live in Concert. Singer Joshua Nelson sings a gospel-flavored arrangement that you can actually listen to more than once. Two other awesome Chanukah albums (is it still kosher to say album?) I discovered were Erran Baron Cohen's Songs in the Key of Hanukkah and the LeeVees' Hanukkah Rocks!

And what is Chanukah without the lights? I love wrapping paper and this was a great place to use some scraps. It's hard to find attractive Chanukah paper. I have no idea why. I know tons of gifted Jewish designers and illustrators. 

None of these feel finished to me, but I wanted to share them now before they became unbearably unseasonable. Next time, some non-holiday unfinished pages.