"More Matter with Less Art"

In the words of Jack (or rather, Ernest), “I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance” (The Importance of Being Earnest, pg. 27). In the spirit of this assertion, I shall try to be perfectly un-clever in this post. I shall endeavor to follow Gertrude’s exhortation to include “more matter with less art” (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, Line 95).

Well then, now that we’ve got that out of the way, where shall I begin? Oh yes, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was absolutely marvelous. Here are a few pictures from the day—and please notice, absolutely no art and all matter in this paragraph.





And now, for an extremely entertaining moment...here's me with a little photoshop help.

I think that about takes care of Thanksgiving. Today, we moved on to Christmas. It is a long-standing tradition in the Kent family to put up our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Now some people are exceedingly critical of our method, and hold that the Christmas tree should not be put up until December 24th. We, however, feel that this is merely cheating oneself of four weeks of the Christmas spirit. Besides if we finished Thanksgiving and had nothing to look forward to in the immediate future, we would become very depressed. Thus, today has been a day full of winding garland, wrapping presents, tying ribbon, hanging ornaments, moving furniture, etc. It has been rather festive indeed. Forgive me, dear reader, if any cleverness crept its way into this paragraph. It happens to the best of us.

In any case, here are a few pictures of Christmas decorating and decorations. The first two are from years past, and the rest are from today.

Along with the Tree, we always used to get out the "Christmas Dishes" . . .


Here's a dippy picture of us putting up the tree a few years back . . .


Notice that Mom and I are the people in this picture. Some people lack the stamina necessary for putting up the tree . . .


Here's the finished product . . .


Our stockings fit perfectly at the top of the staircase. . .


The table centerpiece is quite pretty with a bit of a modern art touch . . .


Mom spent all of last Christmas talking about how the buffet didn't look very festive, so today we put together a lovely little garland for it . . .

If I do say so myself, everything is turning out rather spiffy, indeed. One can never expect too much in advance because there are always some years where the decorations just don't come together. Fortunately, we really haven't had any of those years in the past, and this year doesn't disappoint.

If sticking to “matter,” I think that about sums up the events. I could find something to ramble on about, but I suppose I shall heed Polonius’s words when he says, “brevity is the soul of wit, and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief” (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, Line 90-92). With that, let me end this un-clever post full of matter instead of art. For those of you who are falling asleep at your desks, do not worry needlessly. The “clever,” artful Elisabeth shall return tomorrow. Until then, consol yourselves as best you may.

A Kent Family Thanksgiving

Some families spend Thanksgiving fighting. Some families spend Thanksgiving trying to avoid each other. My family does not do either of these things~~actually, in all honesty, we suspect a bit of the second may often be attempted by Todd. However, on the whole, our Thanksgiving family reunion is in no way typical except in its atypical nature. Rather than describing the many exploits of our gatherings, I have chosen two very random activities that characterize our Thanksgiving adventures.

Aunt Tanya always, without fail, succeeds in coercing the family into what she calls the “'What I’m Thankful for' Sharing Time”. This tradition started on an afternoon long ago when Aunt Tanya couldn’t think of anything for her hyper (at least in Emily’s case) nieces. As she racked her brain for an activity, ANY ACTIVITY, a brilliant thought popped into her head like a cherry tomato pops in one’s mouth. Fiendishly pulling out her emergency supply of construction paper, Aunt Tanya giggled, “Girls, why don’t you make a list of all the things you’re thankful for and then we can have a sharing time.” Of course, she was secretly praying that this list compilation would keep us occupied for at least 30 minutes. Unfortunately, she was not in luck as far as time, yet this activity became a tradition. It may look like a simple tradition, but all is not as it seems. Behind Aunt Tanya’s sweet persuasion lies a desire to RULE THE WORLD! What I tell you is true. It may have started with an activity for her nieces, but realizing the power she might obtain, Aunt Tanya set out to convince no less than every family member to participate. In this way, she felt that her secret need for control might be fulfilled. Alas, her scheming succeeded beyond even her own wildest imaginations. Indeed, activities of this sort are contagious, and our family is now wrapped tightly within Aunt Tanya’s grip, powerless to defend ourselves against the “‘What I’m Thankful for’ Sharing Time.”

As if this wasn't enough, our adventures continue . . . it is widely thought that one is born with a personality, which accompanies that person to death (with, of course, minor evolutions). Amongst the Kent Family, however, this argument is not condoned. In fact, our personalities change at least once a year if not three or four times. You may ask, “How is this possible?” Allow me to explain. A multitude of “Personality Books” dot the coffee tables at the lakehouse. These are books with deceptively interesting names such as, “Please Understand Me.” Each family member has taken the personality tests inside these books many times, yet a certain fascination always arises—-if nothing else, these books are entertaining. Thus, as we sit in the living room visiting after eating our fill of stuffing and pumpkin pie, someone inadvertently picks up one of the books. She begins flipping nonchalantly through the pages. Then, all of the sudden, she stops, squints intently down at the book, looks up at the group, and says, “Elisabeth is an ENFJ???” Someone else responds, “No way. She’s not an E. She’s an I!” At this point, everyone scrambles to grab one of the “personality books.” This leads to a heated discussion in which every activity, glance, word, and movement I have made the entire weekend is scrutinized and re-thought with intense and deliberate accuracy. Once the group has come to a conclusion on my personality (which is, of course, never the same as it was last year) they continue on to the next person. In this way, much of the Thanksgiving holiday passes by. Once everyone has been re-assigned to their new personality for the year, it is definitely time for another round of pumpkin pie . . .

On that note, I am off to whisk my pumpkin pie out of the oven. Stay tuned for some crazy posts this Thanksgiving weekend. And if Cousin Bobby starts to get anxious over his regular meal schedule being re-arranged, pull out the “personality books.” Chances are he’s Choleric cooked medium-well with a touch of Melancholy on the side. ;-)