Something about Christmas preparations sets my nerves on edge.
Trees ripped from the forest.
Forced jollity.
Pretence.
Poverty amid abundance.
So, with apologies for the downbeat tone.
An edgy angle on Christmas preparations in Grote Markt, Brussel.
photography101: (another) edge
belgianstreets 
More downbeat tone, please, upbeat people annoy me with their zen. Sorry, upbeat people. Really. I can’t help myself. I love the photos and the people in them.
Thank you …I get mad at this time of the year…behind the facade of Christmas spirit…(sorry upbeat people from me also)
What?! Don’t tell me that you don’t like Christmas either!
I do not like all the enforced, superficial and hypocritical stuff that goes with it…..see, now I’m getting all grumpy…. 😉
Awe, I love you! You took the words from my mouth. I’m suffering immensely at this time of the year because my family is very conventional in these matters and insist on celebrating the birth of Christ, even though we are decisively not Christians. What the heck? *steps down from soapbox* *ducks from shoes thrown at my head by normal Christmas loving people*
At this point we may be burned together at the stake … X
What a way to die! I think I’d be declared a saint post-mortem, like Joan of Arc or John Huss, our very own Czech martyr burnt at stake for his beliefs.
Sure beats dying of old age in bed…go out in a blaze of glory and meaning….
And I love Snow Patrol too…, 😉
The other day I was even playing Snow Patrol to my students in class, I picked the song with the refrain “If I lay here, would you lie with me and forget the world” (my favourite song of theirs, by the way) and pretended that we’re listening to it to practise the forms of “lie” and “lay” 😉 The students didn’t appear to hate it 🙂
Now there are some lyrics to (p)lay with…
Wait, you think it was somehow explicit or something? I thought it’s quite an innocent piece of lyrics and now I got a bug in my head!
Well, I think they may have been playing with the words…..?
I was hoping the students were mature enough not to play with words in this unproductive manner. Well, I’m lying, actually I never noticed that the lyrics could be interpreted as anything else but totally innocent and beautifully depressive. Also, the guy in the video clip for the song lies on the floor and on the ground in the street, so no innuendos for me. Apparently I have no fantasy! 😉
Maybe I am the one who needs to lie down, have a whisky….
If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to rewatch the music video and listen more carefully to the lyrics. Then I’ll grab a dram and repeat. Also, I should be working right now. *sigh*
See last message. Take dram in hand.
😉
Shall we drink simultaneously? 😉 What are you having? I poured myself just a wee glass of local product, Jelinek’s whisky, because I don’t drink the good Scotch when alone. This one might not be Scotch but it’s surprisingly good. Also, kill me now — speaking about innuendoes, what I’m drinking now is called Gold Cock: http://en.rjelinek.cz/products/detail~66-whisky-gold-cock-3yr~.html. Not my fault.
What would your students think Mara!!!! Actually I have a glass of red but…
“Slàinte mhor a h-uile là a chi ‘s nach fhaic”…
*grumbles* Not my fault, I didn’t name the beverage, I just indulge it. Cheers to you too! Sorry, I know no fancier way of saying this…
I raised that toast many a time in the past, with no idea of what I was saying, so have to confess I googled it just now…but yes, cheers to you….
OMG…all the time we have been discussing these lyrics the song was in my head…then I remembered this… ❤️
https://belgianstreets.com/2013/11/20/chasing-cars/
Ooohh!! ❤
Oooh indeed….x
You know I was going to say something productive and flattering but then I got sidetracked by reading all the comments back and forth between you and my kitty and now I totally forgot what I was going to say and I didn’t even have a dram….
And it is a bit early for a dram now….good morning!
Well, at least it’s 19 : 24 PM now and I can have a drink before dinner; as I need one after reading all the comments. Like ecclecticoddsnsods I totally forgot what I wanted to say about your photos. But enjoyed your chat with Mara. I’m thinking about inviting her to join the photo101 rehab – she belongs there with her recurring railways photos, which everyone loves but her. Mara?
Just poured a drink…
One of the most wonderful things about #photo101 for me has been meeting some lovely new friends….so, yes I hope that Mara does come into rehab too….
I share the same feeling – I’m happy for having stumbled upon your Belgian streets! Cheers!
Thank you!
Thank you – now I can avoid getting to la Grande Place this year…. and to know that this particular tree was ripped from the forest in my darling Latvia… to promote what?! that LV will be presiding the EU council – with the hope that this will make people visiting Brussels know where Riga is….!! I am in the same kind of spirit… I love kind, calm, reflective Christmas, but that feeling is so rare to find with all the empty noise from stores, radios, TV… Well, I wish you and all your lovely readers to find the way around this all – to cherish what we still love about this special time of the year, S.
Thank you for dropping by and for sharing the spirit…have a good day..