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On a Mad Monday

For the record, I’m not mad that it’s Monday … nor am I mad that the weekend is over … nope, the hectic nature of the holiday season doesn’t make me mad. Therefore, I’ll explain later.

The holiday season is in full swing, and the weekend before Christmas is always hectic. How was your weekend? Ours involved an evening of ballroom and a whirlwind cross-state trip (3+ hours each way). After returning home, tango formation practice and a Christmas party concluded our weekend.

My wife knows many Christmas carols, but I was surprised to discover that she didn’t know this one. Do you know it?

An important reminder to everyone. The Kennedy Center Honors is one of the shows that we love at this time of year. It’s simply several hours of outstanding entertainment and tributes. This year’s honorees are Al Green, Tom Hanks, Sting, Lily Tomlin, and Patricia McBride, so there will be a plethora of outstanding performers participating in the tributes. The event occurred earlier this month, but CBS will air it on December 30 9-11 pm (Eastern US) … and it’s worth the watch!

Celebrations for your week and ahead

  • (Week) Bird Count Week continues
  • (Mon – 22) Haiku Poetry Day, Date Nut Bread Day
  • (Tues- 23) Festivus, Human Light Day, Roots Day, Pfeffernuesse Day
  • (Wed – 24) Egg Nog Day, Last-Minute Shopping Day
  • (Thurs -25) No ‘L’ Day, Pumpkin Pie Day, Merry Christmas
  • (Fri – 26) Whiner’s Day, Boxing Day, Coffee Percolator Day, Candy Cane Day, Thank-You Note Day, Day of Goodwill
  • (Sat – 27) Howdy Doody Day, Visit the Zoo Day, Fruit Cake Day, Holocaust Remembrance Day
  • (Sun -28) Chocolate Day, Endangered Species Day, Card Playing Day, Call a Friend Day, Chocolate Candy Day
  • (Mon – 29) Tick Tock Day, Pepper Pot Day
  • (Tues – 30) Bacon Day, Falling Needles Family Fest Day, Day of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute Day, Relaxation Day, Bicarbonate of Soda Day
  • (Wed – 31) Leap Second Time Adjustment Day, Make Up Your Mind Day, No Interruptions day, One Voice Day, Champagne Day, Universal Hour of Peace Day, Dice Day, Look on the Bright Side Day, World Peace Meditation Day, New Years Eve

To send you into the week, nope – not a holiday song – but a leftover from Life: The Musical – Act 14: Negative Emotions … thus the reason I’m mad … very mad.

54 thoughts on “On a Mad Monday”

  1. I’ve not heard the donkey song before Frank, but have heard the Muppets ‘I’m Mad’ on several occasions – strangely, it always leaves me smiling……… Enjoy your TV show, it sounds like it might be fun – this is another US show I’ve never seen. [I’m Mad!]

    Have a most wonderful Christmas time Frank, both you and Mrs Right Angle and all your fellow corners and niches.

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    • Pauline,
      Hooray for starting your week with a smile – hence the main purpose of this series. The Kennedy Center Honors is an outstanding tribute show … so check around with hopes of find it. Then again, there’s always online. Many thanks for the Christmas wishes, and cheers to you and all that is yours. BTW … I will have a Christmas Eve post.

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  2. This weekend was a blur, Frank. You’re right, the holiday season is indeed in full swing. For the record, yes, I’m familiar with that Dominic the Donkey song. It’s one of those painful songs of the holiday season, right down there with the dogs barking “Jingle Bells” and the Chipmunks singing “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” That’s admirable that Mrs. AFA was unaware of it for so long. Then, you had to expose her to this contagion. I hate having that song in my head. Donkeys should sue for defamation of character.

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  4. I too, have never heard Dominick the Donkey, which is quite fine. The weekend involved many loads of laundry and Christmas shopping. DH is currently on his eighth day of working, the last three being night shifts, so he hasn’t been able to help with shopping. He will be in the stores at the last minute for presents I have said he doesn’t need to buy me. Ah, such is life.

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    • Catherine,
      Cheers to you becoming acquainted with Dominic. Knowing that you love driving the kids crazy, why not a family sing-a-long with Dominick! Hopefully DH will get some time off for the holidays!

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  5. I knew the mad song, but I didn’t know the donkey song – I love Christmas songs, but I already think this one must qualify as the most annoying Christmas song ever, and I’ve only heard it the once now! I’m going to post it on Facebook 🙂

    I didn’t make it to your shindig last Saturday, sorry, December has been far more hectic than I thought it would be. Yesterday was Christmas shopping, today more Christmas shopping (MUST finish today, don’t want to venture out again for it!) and lunch with a friend, tomorrow my Dad comes for lunch, and then hopefully Christmas Eve is a nice relaxing day, bit of tidying, bit of watching Christmas films. Lovely.

    Have a good Christmas Frank!

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  8. Thanks for reminding that tomorrow is Pfeffernüsse Cookies Day, a tasty Swiss Mennonite treat that I’ll be eating Christmas Day in Bluffton, OH. Also thanks for The Kennedy Center Honors remind, which I’ll divide time watching Dec. 30 with the Fosters Farm Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., Stanford (7-5) vs. U. of Maryland (7-5) (my wife’s alma mater).

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    • Tim,
      Thanks for the report on Pfeffernüsse cookies that I didn’t know … along with the factoid that your special lady is a Terrapin! If your sister has DVR capabilites, record Kennedy Center Honors so you can watch it the next day.

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  11. Now that’s a great reason to be mad. (muppets rock!)
    They are busy counting birds at all the sighting spots around here, too.
    So many reasons to celebrate this week. Hang on to your hat during the whirlwind before Christmas. Joy and Peace to you and yours!
    (and I’m not sure but I doubt the feast video I just posted has them eating Date Nut Bread – if only I’d known – could have been a funny caption)
    Cheers and merrily on!

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  13. To be fair to your wife Mr Frank, I don’t think ANYONE knows “Dominick the Donkey!” I have been honouring the celebrations most religiously with the following conclusions…
    1. Bird count week. I have realised that the same fat lady blackbird is returning again and again and again for the cheese cubes that we put on our kitchen window so counting her over and over again might make “bird count week” a bit of a skewed affair
    2. Haiku poetry? How I love your odd syntax. 5, 7, 5, YES!
    3. I am fully embracing date nut bread day. This is a true day to celebrate. Not just one of those fancy pants days with airy fairy aspirations. Date nut day is solid, goes well with a cup of tea and will fortify you for the rest of the day. I think this might be a yearly tradition from now on in the kitchen of Serendipity Farm
    4. Festivus sounds suspiciously like some kind of dark art woo-woo thing to me, taking a wide berth with “Festivus”
    5. Human light day? Is this a day where you insert light bulbs into various orifices Mr Fran? If so you can count me out. I wouldn’t want to be treading on any Geeks feet and wake up with a large halogen street lamp in my bed!
    6. Roots day. Very vague this one. All KINDS of meanings can be read into this one but as a horticulturalist I am going to read “plant roots” here including edible plant roots…tasty tubers and delicious corms all of which go together to make an excellent combination of well-cooked Christmas gustatory sides
    7. I almost picked up a packet of pfeffernuesse the other day, and then I put them back down. They were only $1 but that’s $1 worth of sugary, gingery, peppery happiness that I really don’t need to plaster on my derriere at the moment with so many sugar plums of Christmas promise guzzling dancing in narf7’s head. I made them once. They are easy to bake.
    8. We have 8 dozen eggs (we have 15 hens) in our fridge and I am vegan. Nuff said about egg nog 😉
    9. Stevie-boy is off to ostensibly create a gate at my son’s house today but as a side line he is veering off into the mad world of last minute shopping to pick up salad and avocados. By now, the only people still shopping for gifts are single men and they fall prey to the attractive girls at the perfume counters and are doomed to wander the halls of K-Mart picking things up and putting them back down again till Christmas time when they end up picking something up at the only petrol station that remains open. They had best hope that Santa brings them a partner for the next year so that they never have to shop again!
    10. I like No ‘L’ Day, every letter needs a day off. We Aussies just don’t get your fixation with pumpkin pie. Pumpkin is a savoury thing here. Merry Christmas to you and yours Mr Frank for Thursday. We will be sitting on our deck, surrounded by dogs (begging shamelessly), good food, sunshine, we will be well lubricated with Christmas punch and you might even hear the “Fa-la-la-la-la’s” from all the way over there. Here’s to Christmas in the sunshine, a most novel idea for anyone in the north
    11. Whiner’s day? We only get 1?
    12. Boxing day is the day that Stevie-boy gets into the Mumbly cumumbus for the very first time of the season. He manhandles it down the boat ramp (just around the corner from our place) and pootles around in the river dangling a fishing rod over the edge just like Huck Finn and much like Huck Finn he very rarely catches anything. Apparently “pootling” is the new black for Christmas recovery
    13. Only instant coffee here
    14. Candy canes hurt our teeth
    15. Thank-you note day has now turned into “Thank-you text Day” you are welcome!
    16. Again, we only get 1 day of goodwill? Is this because by the time the 26th rocks around we are SO glad to be over Christmas that we give thanks that there are only 364 more days till the next one?
    17. I am afraid from Howdy Doody. We Aussies are allergic to it
    18. We haven’t got an actual zoo here in Sidmouth but I am thinking that I could set up a deck chair in Sanctuary (my fully enclosed veggie garden) at dusk and could sit back with a glass of wine looking up and watching the possums get infuriated trying to find a way in to my vegetables…
    19. I am wondering why fruit cake day isn’t on the 25th? I guess it’s because the fruit cake got forgotten under all of the other Christmas “cheer” and has only just been rediscovered upon cleaning up the kitchen table detritus?
    20. I am in solidarity with you on Holocaust remembrance day. Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.
    21. I am sure we had chocolate day not so long back Mr Frank? I will hand it over to Stevie-boy again as he throws himself into it with such abandon.
    22. Endangered species day is a bit of a sore point with me at the moment. I will observe it albeit grumbling and a bit twitchy thanks to the “endangered” quoll that is rendering my chicken population extinct all on its own…mutter…mutter…
    23. I gave all my cards to my daughter who collects them.
    24. I called all my friends on the 25th. I don’t have to do it again do I?
    25. Chocolate candy day is just an excuse to hoover down more chocolate or the chocolate that you couldn’t get through on “chocolate day”!
    26. Tick tock day? Is that clock day or bomb day as it seriously depends on which one it is as to whether I observe it or not!
    27. Pepper pot day…hmmm…again, multi meaning. A pepper pot can be a pot that you put pepper in but if you are well versed in the Monty Python vernacular (such as I am) you instantly think of a woman of a certain age who has taken to wearing full body covering
    28. Thanks to the vegan confraternity I CAN observe “bacon” day, albeit from a slightly different source. Mine doesn’t oink
    29. Falling needles?! I take it that is something to do with the conifer family rather than some kind of crazy adrenalin junkie’s idea of a fun game?
    30. I like the sound of “Day of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute”. It sounds like every day around here
    31. Relaxation day…the calm before the New Year’s storm methinks
    32. HAHAHA! Bicarbonate of soda day! Love it. I shall be marking it on my calendar forthwith!
    33. I am confused about leap second time adjustment day. It smacks of mathematics and thus my brain just turned itself off
    34. Make up your mind day…”OK I will! Err…maybe tomorrow…”
    35. No interruptions day. Impossible as otherwise how would I remember anything at all…ever..?
    36. One voice day. I tend to use one voice most of the time but will make sure to confine my usage of falsetto to days other than this one
    37. Universal hour of peace day…er…the hour of peace lasts a day?
    38. Dice day…time to play uno!
    39. Again, Monty Python comes back from my university days to haunt me. “Always look on the bright side of life”. Thankyou Mr Frank. You just gave me an ear-worm that will last for a week…
    40. World peace meditation day is very similar to hour of peace however this time they realised that they needed a full day for it to make sense
    41. New Year’s Eve…I get up at 3am. I will be in bed by 8.30pm. Sad but true so no champagne hangover for moi 😉

    I didn’t think that anyone in the whole wide world hadn’t watched Sesame Street but Stevie-boy, who was a punk and a Goth and uber cool back in his youth completely, missed out on it. I am going to have fun showing him the “Mad” video as everyone needs to see it at least once. As an Aussie child of the 70’s we had Sesame Street running pretty much 24/7 as we only had 2 television stations and this song is the story of our youth. We were very VERY “Mad” when the other television channel only covered the football and the cricket ;). Cheers for old memories and new ones for Stevie-boy Mr Frank and a most excellent ballroom tangoing tap dancing Christmas to you and your wonderful wife and any peripheral family who drop by. Here’s to a most interesting 2015 🙂
    Note: this might be the last time that I fully cover the days of celebration. I think paraphrasing might be the order of the day for the next one! I need to go and have a nap now…

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  14. Frank the Donkey song was a new one on me too 🙂 Now today the 22nd was Carrot Cake day here.. 🙂 as I was baking.. But I have saved one for Rudolph.. Enjoyed your Video clips Frank.. Wishing you and yours a Wonderful Christmas.. And a Very Happy New Year.
    Sue

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    • Sue,
      Isn’t carrot cake a Christmas holiday mainstay in the UK? Well … not that one needs reason to eat it. Meanwhile, I’m glad that you have been treated to Dominick the Donkey!

      Merry Christmas to you and yours … and my Christmas post will be up during your Christmas Eve!

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      • Thanks Frank.. I thought I had not heard back.. as I commented on some other posts… So I thought it about time I came by … for my block catch up again.

        As to Carrot Cake.. No .. not in the UK.. but its enjoyed in the Dreamwalker Household.. often as I cover in cream cheese.. 🙂 and if every your Wife wants the recipe….. its on my recipe page LOL.. I put walnuts on top this time..
        Have a Great Christmas Frank and I will try to keep up.. I have just about cleared my backlog of emails of posts.. Only a few hundred more to wade through 🙂
        Enjoy.. 🙂 and Blessings your way ❤

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    • Raye,
      LOL … it’s a fun thing to do. Not serious and not with the best dancers, but we have fun with it. Bestivus of Christmas to you! … and my holiday post will be up sometime Tuesday night … hope you get a chance to stop by.

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  16. All the best for a wonderful christmas Frank. Even though it is a busy time of year, it can be really enjoyable.
    Now the mention of a tango formation intrigues me Frank. Are you going to put on a show woth your group?

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    • Colline,
      The tango formation group is fun … not serious … and done with volunteers. We performed at a studio showcase in early November, but we going to do it again at a local competition. Again, I see it as fun.

      Many thanks for the holiday wishes and best to you and your family. … and my Christmas post will be up Tuesday evening.

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  18. Frankly, I’m glad you told me it’s Monday (I thought it was Tues already)–I must be getting feeble, the days all blur together. I’m thinking me and Mr Perfect Invisible should try a tango amidst the Christmas lights one night soon…. Wishing you and your Mrs a most lovely holiday time.

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    • Ponder,
      Now that’s funny … but understandable because it’s easy to lose track of the day of the week during this time of year! Thanks for the holiday wishes and right back at you! … and hey – my Christmas message will be up Tuesday night.

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  21. Nope….never heard of Dear old Dominick, and as I’ve lived without him up until now, I shall continue to do so. 🙂 I think I’ll go for Champagne Day on the 25th. Hope you get all your chores done and have an amazing Christmas and New Year. 🙂

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    • Sylvia,
      It seems that the majority of those commenting have gotten their first exposure to Dominick the Donkey right here … so I feel good about that! Meanwhile, all is ready at this end, then again, it’s also simple here. …. and I’m sure you are ready!

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