'Tis the Season HNT

It's Nutcracker time again! I'm in the midst of 12 to 14 to 16 hour days (and nights). Thank God I can autopost! Usually at this time of year I throw in some sort of picture from Nutcracker rehearsals or something. This year, I change it up with a picture during a break in our rehearsals at the Cathedral we play in (shown at the left). It's a wonderful building, but a pain in the ass to perform in. The acoustics suit smaller groups, as a rule, as does the physical space. But we make it work.

The worst part, however, is that it's a bugger to keep warm during the winter months, even when it's full of people. And in most of the recent years, it's been sub-zero temperatures during the first weekend of December. This year, it was relatively balmy (mid to upper 20s!) and I was almost a happy camper. Until I got word in the afternoon that a quick storm was blowing through that night, bringing the wind chill to a brisk -15°. The same night that I'd be having to load the equipment truck after the concert. This was my reaction shortly after hearing that lovely bit of news (for the record--it did get that cold, and I had to UNload the truck the next morning in similar weather. Don't you just love my life?).

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All I have is black and white
My shades of grey
Fading away

All I have is this here flesh
For you to touch
For me to display

Be sure to come back Thursday afternoon to find out who our sultry Mystery Guest is this week!
This week's MG is the always cheeky Cheeky Minx! Always a pleasure to have her! Can you guess who the last 3 Mystery Guests will be?

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Some lovely people to be found over at "...the Other HNT", as always! It won't go up until midnight, Mountain time though. Still worth a visit! As usual...it's NSFW!

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Ashly's Toys for Tots project only has about a week left for you to donate! Please check it out and help out, OK? And Evalee's project has done well too. She's got a raffle going on to entice you, as well! Get your Christmas spirit into gear and help out either or both of these!

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Can't miss out on the opportunity to say GO GRIZ!!! Check them out on ESPN Friday night and cheer them on! I believe it's at 8PM EST. (Then check out Gucci's Bobcats on Saturday morning on ESPN)

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Theme Alert! - Only three more HNTs left, all three with themes! A rundown is below. Be sure that you give the middle one some attention NOW! It's easily the most difficult theme of the year! Make mention of it on your own sites to (as well as HNT's retirement). It's amazing how many people say they didn't know about this stuff!

• Dec. 15th - Christmas Tree HNT - I want to see you half-nekkid with your Christmas tree. If you don't have a tree put up, then with any other Christmas decorations. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then you're off the hook. But the rest of you--I really want to see your Christmas trees!
  
• Dec. 22nd - Three Christmas Wishes HNT - Perhaps the hardest theme of the year. Pick three individuals to send special Christmas wishes to. The hard part? Pick three people who are not necessarily someone you'll be sending a Christmas card to, or an e-card, or specifically contact at Christmas.Those people might expect something from you. No, send out your Christmas wishes to someone you've only lurked at, or to a newbie, or to someone whose HNTs and/or general blog posts have made some sort of impression. And post a picture of it, too! It can be serious or humorous or heartfelt or fantasy. Then contact that individual to let them know that they got one of your wishes. (For example, I remember that my very first year of this I wished for two bags of fairy dust for one person, a wish for another HNTer's husband's swimmers to impregnate her (she had a baby exactly 9 months later--I did good on that one!), and a big stick with nails for a third one to beat me with as I had somewhat trampled on our friendship. You can see this post here, or check out the other mid-December posts from my archives.) Good luck with this one. It's tougher than it sounds, so start thinking about it now!
  
• Dec. 29th - Final HNT - This one is sort of self-explanatory. This will be your last official shot at doing HNT. Make it memorable. That doesn't imply stripping bare and letting it all hang out. Just make this one a good send-off.