Here are my recommendations for what to listen to and/or watch, or not, while making sure you don't seal a blank card in an envelope -
Blue Man Group: Inside the Tube - while a highly entertaining and fascinating documentary, it's rather distracting, because you want to pay more attention to the documentary than what you're writing in the cards, so much so that when you look at what you wrote in the cards, you're not sure what the hell you were thinking
The Snow Queen - an artsy version of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, with great music. I'm familiar enough with the story that I can have it on as background noise and not be too distracted.
Loreena McKennitt - To Drive the Cold Winter Away - highly appropriate for the season, and there's only one song on it that I don't care for. I can do pretty much anything with her music in the background. She has a new album out too.
Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack - my sister and I grew up hearing this every year, and we never got sick of it. Again, if you're familiar enough with it, it easily attaches itself to your subconscious and you can get on with whatever. Which of course leads to...
Charlie Brown Christmas special - I can pretty much recite this one word for word, so no distractions there. And since we're talking cartoons of the season, there's always...
How the Grinch Stole Christmas - I do believe I read this before I saw the cartoon version, though it's far funnier to hear Boris Karloff read it. Again, by-heart recitation renders this distraction-free, though not nostalgia-free.
Andrea Bocelli - Sacred Arias - honestly, I prefer to hear him sing classical rather than pop. This is also a good one for the season. There are four versions of Ave Maria on this CD. My favorite is the Schubert version. Not too distracting, but interesting enough so you notice that it's there.
Rasputina - Thanks for the Ether - my favorite gothic-playing, corset-wearing lady cellists. You have to know when to turn it up and when to turn it down, otherwise, you'll never get anything done.
A Christmas Carol - if you've never heard Patrick Stewart's one-man reading of this story, it's pretty amazing, right up there with Jim Dale's version, and it occurs to me that this was how Dickens performed the story to audiences originally. This is my favorite movie version, and I've read the story so many times, I can just follow along subconsciously.
Desk Set - one of my favorite Tracy/Hepburn movies - extremely dated (the computer takes up half the room and makes a lot of noise and has a lot of flashing lights, and the story deals with that long-debated question: will computers make people obsolete), but the dialogue more than makes up for that. It's something you can hear out of the side of your ear that makes for a good giggle while doing other things. I must admit to stopping to watch the interview on the roof scene, the dinner in Hepburn's apartment scene, and the Hepburn and Blondell drunk at the Christmas party scene. This movie makes me want to be a reference librarian. Is that weird?
To the Manor Born - one of my favorite Britcoms; funny banter that you also can hear out of the corner of your ear and giggle at while doing other things, and they even have a Christmas episode.
Good Neighbors - where Penelope Keith honed her comedy skills, which is funny considering that her character "hasn't got a sense of humor." Also good banter, and makes you wish you had neighbors like the Goods and the Ledbetters. I've watched this so many times that it's just comforting background noise, and the pets seem to like it too. They also have a Christmas episode.
So there you have it. No need to be bored while writing out holiday cards. Enjoy.
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