Wednesday, December 05, 2007

two entirely useless conversations

At dinner:

Jim: "So, who are the "merry gentlemen' in the carol?"

Me: "Um, the...people. You know. That you sing to when you go a-wassailing."

Jim: "Just like the guys in the street, then."

Me: "Yeah." {Beat} "Or, you know, penguins."

Jim: " ... "

Me: "I just have this visual of A Muppet Christmas Carol."

Jim: "Oh, right. Penguins."

Later, watching the taped news:

Me: "Yay! It's David Gregory."

Jim: "Yeah."

Me: "Holy shit--it is still snowing here!"

Jim: "You just realized we live where he's filmed, didn't you."

Me: "Shut up."

1 comment:

George Rosen said...

Leigh:

First, to introduce myself, I'm Sam G.R.'s father. Second, to explain myself, I googled my guess at your first name's spelling , because I was writing a note to Tom Odell's parents (very longtime friends) and wanted to mention how Sam and and Tom had run into each other last fall.

Third, to make an actual comment on your Xmas blog entry: the carol is not addressed to "merry gentlemen," but rather it is sending a kind wish to--generic--'gentlemen', to wit, "god rest ye merry,..let nothing you dismay." The comma--if you can sing a comma--comes after 'merry.'
"God rest ye, merry gentlemen," on the other hand, would seem to be an early Victorian way of telling overly boisterous neighbors to shut up.