Here's a review from Friday's Wall Street Journal of Sarah's mom's book about her dad Hecky Krasnow... PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED LATER OF OUR PARTY!

By Ken Emerson from this link:
Most grown-ups no longer believe in Santa Claus, but who in his most skeptical, Scrooge-like moment ever suspected that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was Jewish and tugged Saint Nick's sleigh left-of-center? Hecky Krasnow -- the record producer who persuaded a drunken Gene Autry to sing the song that became Columbia Records' first million-selling disc -- was a stalwart liberal. Figuring that Rudolph, with a prominent proboscis that was not only stereotypically Semitic but commie-colored, was a victim of discrimination, Mr. Krasnow cheered the underdeer on to victory.
The first head of Columbia Records' children's music department, Mr. Krasnow followed up "Rudolph" with other holiday perennials such as "Peter Cotton Tail," "Frosty the Snowman" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." In her fond and frequently fascinating memoir, "Rudolph, Frosty, and Captain Kangaroo," Mr. Krasnow's daughter, Judith Gail Krasnow, chronicles the creation of what might be more accurately characterized as holiday novelty songs rather than children's music. Although few such novelties endure -- when was the last time you heard "Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin' "? -- Mr. Krasnow's productions reappear year after year.
Hecky (born Hermann) Krasnow took Irving Berlin one step further (or backward). While the composer of "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade" secularized Christian holidays and made them available to all Americans, Mr. Krasnow (1910-84) made records that commercialized the holidays and emphasized the gifts and goodies they entail. He even persuaded Columbia Records to create a stuffed Rudolph and enlisted his daughters to promote the plush toy in a New York department store.
SPONTANEOUS SINGINGMr. Krasnow was a failed violin virtuoso whose guts were racked throughout his life by Crohn's disease. His first daughter's spontaneous singing inspired him to investigate children's music, to co-author a book about it and, eventually, to collect, compose, publish and primarily produce it for the first wave of the postwar baby boom.Mr. Krasnow believed in equal opportunity, recording everyone and everything from batting tips by Jackie Robinson to prayers by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Among his favorite singers were Dinah Shore and Rosemary Clooney, whom he tried unsuccessfully over lunch at the Russian Tea Room to talk out of marrying the philandering José Ferrer.Judith Krasnow's editor should have warned her that reconstructing within quotation marks conversations she did not hear (such as her father's with Clooney) or could not possibly remember verbatim a half-century later defies credibility. She slips up when her father explains to her the meaning of "beatnik" years before the word was coined in 1958. She confuses Tommy Johnston, the composer of "Sonny the Bunny," with Tommy Johnson, the Mississippi Delta bluesman who allegedly sold his soul to the devil. And an on-the-ball copy editor would have corrected howlers such as "coupe" for "coup" and "tambour" for "timbre."
BURL IVES, G-MENYet many of Ms. Krasnow's childhood memories -- the mingled scents of cowhide and cologne in Gene Autry's dressing room, her first encounter with racially segregated toilets in that cradle of U.S. history, Williamsburg, Va., the thuggish disruption of a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, N.Y. -- ring vividly true.Arthur Godfrey showed Judith Krasnow how to play the ukulele, and Burl Ives introduced her to the guitar. Her father broke off with Ives, a close friend and one of his most successful artists, when the portly folksinger and actor named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee. In a scene at once haunting and hilarious, Hecky Krasnow and his brother-in-law cram four garbage cans with books and burn the possibly incriminating volumes before the FBI comes calling. A confused Judy and playmates pluck earthworms from their vegetable garden and toss the wrigglers into the flames, giving new meaning to the word "bookworm." (Although Lillian Krasnow, Hecky's wife, thought Joe McCarthy was a "damned stinker," she would beguile the G-men into giving the family a clean bill of health.)
It wasn't Sen. McCarthy but rock 'n' roll that proved Hecky Krasnow's undoing. When toddlers turned teenagers and forsook Tubby the Tuba for Elvis the Pelvis (whose records were banned from the Krasnows' Yonkers, N.Y., home), he threw in the towel and quit Columbia Records. "Rock 'n' roll," Mr. Krasnow protested, "is robbing children of their childhood." He composed songs for Captain Kangaroo, produced early albums by Nina Simone and the Chad Mitchell Trio, and eventually returned to his first love, classical music, playing in the Orlando, Fla., and then Miami symphony orchestras.
Had Hecky Krasnow composed his greatest hits rather than producing them as a staff employee of Columbia Records, he would have died a wealthy man when complications following heart surgery claimed his life in 1984. His records, not their royalties, were his legacy. Now, thanks to a devoted daughter's memoir, his name lives on, too.
Mr. Emerson is the author of "Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture" and "Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era."

Thursday 20 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah light up their lives, they give themselves hope to carry on, they light up their days...

Sarah says:
Lights, camera, action! Getting ready for some fun we are! Doesn't Heidi look really, really skinny in this photo? Let's hope our gal Heidi feels better soon and by tomorrow night! She's got the dreadful the lurgy! And I'll have it next no doubt! We all will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday 19 December 2007: Sarah watches Marv play on his new playground like a kid in a candy store!

Sarah says:
Marv is the kid in the candy store! He's playing with his Ableton music software, his Midi keyboard and sound card and he can't get enough of it! I might never see him again now that's he's in his midlife-crisis! He hides downstairs in his little cave making music...More power to him if it makes him happy!

Later that night...

I just read something beautiful my sister-in law, who survived breast cancer, wrote on her blog about her aunt who passed away today after a very long battle with cancer. It's a moving text and made me think of Peter of course by the end of it. Cancer is such a monster! I am so sorry about all these sad passings of people full of life. Just another reminder to live each day and love with all your heart and let the people you love know it!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sylvia Easley, 9 Nov 1943 - 19 Dec 2007

My aunt Sylvia died this morning. She told her (grown) kids to go to school, asked for a drink of water, and took her last breath. She had end-stage pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma, and she was at home, in a hospital bed in her living room.

We lived our lives at a great distance. Sylvia lived in Texas (San Antonio, Houston, Kerrville), ran a balloon delivery business, married a few men (not at the same time), and loved fiercely. She was the strongest and most indomitable person I ever knew. The way she lived with cancer taught me how to do it: You live. Just keep living. Keep doing things you want to do. If your bones are brittle, go to a water park and ride all the slides, and then take meds and sleep all the next day. If people you love are there, spend every ounce of your energy laughing with them, and then take meds and sleep all the next day. Don't be "sick" with cancer. It's an annoyance. It thinks it's in charge, so let it think so, but quietly go about your own business and don't let it stop you.

Until it's too strong. And then, recognize that you're tired, and lie back and marvel at the fresh, clean taste of cold water, and listen to songs that have always moved you, and wake up a few times a day to smile at the faces of the loving ones who surround you. Go home, and have your dog lie on the bed with you, and open the blinds each day to watch your own neighborhood and your own yard. Sleep, while your heart keeps beating and beating, while your nails turn dark and then pink again, while your breathing gets ragged and then smooth again.

And then, one morning, speak softly to your children, and just...Stop.

Heidi says: I am exhausted and feel sick and am ready to sleep. My cold isn't going away and my head feels like it's filled with slime, which probably is the case... I want rest and peace and a warm bed and TV...

I WROTE THIS BEFORE I READ THE TEXT ABOUT AUNT SYLVIA. I TAKE MINE BACK...

Tuesday 18 December 2007: Sarah has a big head...

Sarah says:
Only have time for a quicky tonight! Gotta go. Too bad Heidi and I forgot to take a photo today so you only get to see my big old dumb head. Our Heidi is very under the weather! She's cut a cough like a sharp tin can and a stuffed head. I hope she gets some rest tonight and feels better tomorrow the poor dear. As for me, so far so good! I gave in and actually purchased some not-too-cheap foundation tonight so maybe you'll start seeing a new me! I have basically avoided the stuff until now except for here and there but now I'm going to try to slowly incorporate it into my daily face regime to see what happens. We all want a smoother, more even, less big-poured, pocked and pimpled-face, don't we! So I'll try it out. Let's see if it's noticeable starting tomorrow. Some days I'll wear it and some days I won't and I'll see if I can tell the difference on this here photo blog! I hate the hair-cycle I am on now. Eight days after the zaps the hairs start to want to fall out - they get ready to jump ship! You would think that's a good thing as it means they go away for a while. But of course being my lovely hairs that have a whole battlefield of minds of their own - well they stick around stuck under the skin and infect... One day, I am told, they will be gone for good. Today is not that day! Sleep well!

Heidi says: damn, did we forget to take a picture again? Stupid us! :) My cold is amazing. I can't remember having had such a cold ever. All that coughing and slime... Luckily there is Beirut to make me feel better! The album of the year: The flying club cup. Fantastic! I was listening to it in my bath this morning (yes I am writing this on the 19th of December, so I am cheating) , and I felt like I could do anything! I wish this was a movie and I could hear this music all the time, like a soundtrack. I would be so brave and so strong...

Monday 17 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah get a new plant from Heidi's in-laws!

Sarah says:
Heidi's parent-in-laws brought us a new, beautiful plant for our office! A present for our reception this week from them and Heidi's sister-in-law! Lovely! Our in-laws treat us and this place so well! Everyone takes good care! It's great!
You can really feel that Christmas is coming. It's cold and dark but also warm and bright! Strange time of year with curious mix of emotions and numbness! For me anyway!

Heidi says: Big hugs to my mother and father-in-law and my sister-in-law for the new plant! It is very happy in its new house! Won't hug them too much though! I have a big cold, that has been harassing me already for a month and it gets worse now, with coughing and feeling like I have a fever. Can't breath, feel all stuffed and drugged (although I am not drugged at all. I should! Would maybe feel better) and totally numb. Not enjoyable and so I am not enjoyable either... Un happy and not satisfied and very tired and worn-out...

Sarah adds: I still associate this time of year with back pain because of my back operation this time last year! I can't believe how good I feel now! I can't believe I ran through London and I have not one bit of back pain! I can't believe I wake up everyday with no back pain and that I can bend and move. I can never jump again or bend backwards but I can do everything else! Carefully but still! And that is freaking great! Hence my Post Secret pick of the week below about being afraid my back will snap in half. I do harbour such fears - that's for sure. I fear the next operation already even though if all goes well it won't be for the next 20 years! I still worry. On the one hand I feel bionic and stronger than ever. On the other hand I feel fragile and breakable! But today I feel great in my back and I thank my lucky stars for that! Jesus freaking Christmas how life can change in one year - for the better and the worse! For my back - it's surely for the better!

Sunday 16 December 2007: Beirut: The flying club cup and Sarah lights her house up and gets into Christmas!

Heidi says:

Ode to Beirut/ The flying club cup

This is a record
This is a record I can cry to
This is a record I can die to
This is a record I can waltz to
This is a record I will live to

This is a record I shall write on

This is a record I will drive home to

This is a record I 'll be brave to

This is a record I will want with

This is a record I will love to

This is a record I am happy with

This is a record I love

This is my new Calexico, Yann Tiersen and Sufjan Stevens, all in one!

Thank you Beirut!!!!!!

It's been a long time I have heard something so good!

Sarah says:
We finally put some Christmas decorations up at home as the kid said we had to and it was about time! I must admit it's made things rather cozy from outside and in. Shining lights and all that do brighten a home up! We got these fun red stars from Ikea a while back that we realized fit perfectly in our front corner window. Our living room is like Christmas vomited up - in a good way and a bad way. I could sort of skip Christmas all together if I didn't have a kid it was important too. On the other hand, it can be cozy and tonight it was. Home sweet home!

Saturday 15 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah RUN through London, meet up with 1000 Santas, get a haircut and make their train back by 1 minute!

Sarah says:
Look how awake and fresh we look after such a late night! You can see me pre-haircut. That's my before above and that's my after haircut pic below - you can hardly see a difference - but in person and with movement it looks much better now! I went to my favorite hair cutter at Hair By Fairy in Neil's Yard in Covent Garden. It's this long-haired Italian guy who knows how to do a nice cut!

Heidi says:
We ran and ran and walked and ran and ran and walked through the streets of London and this is what I did it for:
Who cares what the question is - The Bees (7")
Let me know - Roisin Murphy (7") = present for someone!
Our Velocity - Maximo Park (red 7"!!)
Broken boy soldier - The raconteurs (7")
You talk - Babyshambles (white 7")
Steady as she goes (accoustic version) - The raconteurs (7")
I want more - Can (numbered ltd edition 30th anniversary picture disc 7"!!)
The wrath of Marcie - The go team! (picture disc 7")
Books from boxes - Maximo Park (white 7"!!)
Girls who play guitars - Maximo Park (white 7")
Karaoke plays - Maximo Park (white 7")
Steady as she goes - The raconteurs (7")
Open your window - Reverend and the makers (7")
We'l live and die in these towns - The enemy (square very thick 7"!!!)
Icky thumb - white stripes (double 12")
Chocolate and ice - My Morning Jacket (special picture disc 12"!!)
Proof of youth - The Go! team (Their latest 12" album!! - finaly!!!!!!!)
The flying club cup - Beirut (CD - SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! SO SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! it's fantastic and wonderful and so so beautiful!)

That is all I bought! All the running and backpain and hunger was worth it! :)

This morning we were having breakfast (very good breakfast!) and all of a sudden I heard 'we all stand together' from Paul McCartney through the speakers and my eyes went all wet as I was taking more beans in tomato sauce. That song is one of most nostalgic songs for me. It's Christmasfeelings time 1.000.000.000... Wout, my good friend, is sharing that feeling with me. When Yma was still a very little baby, and when Wout and Alexander were still living in the secreie, outside K-town, Wout and me listened to that song one evening, sitting in the dark. It was quite overwhelming. When I heard the song this morning, I was thinking of that time, and I sent Wout a text message. :) And I sent the same to Nico of course, 'cause he knows how much that song means to me. :) Long live nostalgia! Long live Beirut for making such emotional sweet music! long live Paul McCartney for having been a part of the best band ever and for making 'We all stand together'. Love live Wout for sharing my nostalgia feelings and understanding me (thank you Wout!)! Long live Bout for knowing me so well! Bow bow bow, bow bow... (do you see the frogs?


Sarah adds:
Weird vision of hanging tigers - they looked real. It was spooky! Had to get a shot.

Weirder vision of so many Santa Clauses behind us in Leicester Square! Viva Christmas! Later in the day when we realized how late we were and had to run, run, run, we ran into all the Santas again and were with them for much of the time. It was surreal to be so stressed for time and to have Santa's - drunk and loud Santas all around us!
Sarah ends: There we are HAPPY because we made our train back by a minute! We were at our hotel picking up our bags 10 minutes after we were already supposed to have checked in at St Pancras to get our train! We boogied man- ran like a fast train and when we got to the tube station we were on a long line with a problematic ticket machine and we lost 8 pounds to another machine and had no time to worry about it and try to get it back! We finally got a tube and got to St Pancras and oh my oh my we ran with our bags. We got to the Eurostar at 16:53 or something. Our train was at 16.55! We begged the guy and he lest us through but Heidi and I went through different check ins. Then Heidi ran through the customs! The guy yelled at her to come back! But we made it! We made it! And we hadn't eaten or peed all day and had been on our feet from 10 am til 5 pm! We are dumb! We laughed in relief when we sat on the train and we ate, ate, ate!!

Friday 14 December continued in London at and after Heidi and Sarah's work Christmas party with a few special guests!

Sarah says:
After our workday, Heidi and I drove to Lille, parked the car and hopped on the Eurostar to London. For the first time, we arrived at the new Eurostar station at King's Cross - St Pancras - we were there so fast - it's quite amazing how easy it all is! We made our way to our hotel behind Trafalgar Square, got ourselves ready and walked up to the Christmas party location on Leicester Square. We began the night with some tasty champagne and English New Year's crackers. Of course we had to put on the cracker crowns!

Sarah adds: That's our first special guest of the night, a colleague from our Paris office!

Sarah goes on: Why does Heidi look like that above and below? Well, that moustache was one of the cracker prizes so it's natural she put it on. She wouldn't take it off though so I had to rip it off at one point. I know! I know! She knows who she looks like but it's not who she's meaning to look like! You're thinking horrid dictator. She's thinking cool detective from Belgium. But that's why I had to rip it off her - it was giving me the creeps and despite her bra purse and her T&A, I was starting to really believe she was a man...
Sarah continues: Above you can see our extra-special Face The Day Guest STAR!!!!! That's CV, a Face The Day fan who just had to get his photo on our blog! We don't even know this guy!!! He just came up to us on the streets of London and said "Oh my God!!! You two are Heidi and Sarah of Face The Day! I can't believe my eyes! You are more beautiful in person than on your blog! Can I have your autographs please!!!!! Meeting Heidi and Sarah of Face The Day with Heidi and Sarah is more exciting than meeting the whole cast of Coronation Street combined!"
Sarah can't stop: So there we are above all washed out on the balcony of the dinner venue with Leicester Square right behind us! It was pretty cool for these two Belgian farm girls to be at a party in the middle of London, literally right in the center - or shall I say centre! We drank some very good champagne, but I guess because it was good stuff or something we didn't really feel drunk - just in very good cheer and very happy with what we are good busy with these days and very thankful for all these opportunities and to be surrounded by good stuff and people!

Sarah blah blah blahs: There above is another colleague of ours from our London office who speaks a lot of hurdy gurdy and a little Danish. He kept us company a lot during the evening and was very friendly and funny.

Sarah ends: And last but not least, there's Heidi at around 2 am London time, 3 am our time. I was wired and couldn't sleep at all so read the newspaper until about 4am the idiot that I am. A good night was had by us!

Friday 14 December 2007. Heidi and Sarah are off to London for their Christmas Party! Woo Hoo! Fun! And Sarah's back protheses is 1 year old today!!!!

Sarah says:
We're off to London for our Christmas party! It's going to be a fun! fun! fun! night! And tomorrow we'll have a little time n London to shop and hop! hop! hop!

MY BACK PROSTHESES IS ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!!! CAN YOU IMAGINE!!! THAT'S ME BELOW JUST OUR OF SURGERY A YEAR AGO TODAY AND LOOK AT ME NOW!!! I'M STILL STANDING! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

Thursday 13 December 2007: Sarah is getting less and less hair everyday and will lose even more Saturday in London.. .YODEL-HEIDI-WHO!! WHERE ARE YOU?

Sarah says:
So Tuesday was moustache, facial and bikini hair - gone daddy gone! Today was eyebrows and beastly-leg hair! Weg! Weg! Weg!
Saturday in London, where I'll be with Heidi, I'll get my haircut at my favorite Covent Garden place! This is my way of losing kilos without dieting! Getting rid of all my hair! I am a Sasquatch girl shedding her fur!
London will be fun! We leave tomorrow late afternoon and get back Saturday early evening! Time to shop! Well - maybe window-shop. But I will surely hit a bookshop or two and some shoe shops. That's what I'm after! I look forward to the next two days for various reasons! It's always good to get a quick trip away to go to new places, to spend time with new and old people and with Heidi! It'll be great to be in London again together! A treat! And my mop of hair will get tamed! These are good days...

Heidi says: sorry to intervene, but I am after record shops and that is what I will do! Oh, and Monsoon and Urban Outfitters and The Gap and and and... :)

Wednesday 12 December 2007: What the hell is Sarah doing and why? Do not try this at home!

Sarah says:
Didn't my mother ever teach me not to surround my head with plastic?! What the heck am I doing? Your guess is as good as mine! I have no idea! I just wanted a different photo for once! So there you have it. I think a bag over my head suits me, don't you? Just kidding! I'm feeling just fine about myself these days despite skin and hair troubles and feeling fat! Everything is A-OK! And don't worry, I didn't suffocate under that plastic! It's a trick picture. No Heidi today! We forgot again, silly us!

Tuesday 11 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah are getting ready for the holiday season and decorate their first tree together!

Sarah says:
Heidi and I are like a weird little family by day! Our kids are our three little Christmas trees. We dressed them all up today in their best disco balls, shiny birds and white leaves! Now it's time to put the kids to sleep and go into our evening worlds...

Heidi says: I am a nostalgic animal! I exist out of nostalgia sometimes. Last week it was Sinterklaas and it made me think of my childhood, and how cosy it was to wait in front of the door on the morning of the 6th of December, until everyone was ready to go inside and be overwhelmed by all the candy and toys on the table, brought by Sinterklaas, the holy man!! I pass the playground of a school every morning, by bike, and last week, on the 6th of December, I heard Sinterklaas music through the speakers, and it made me all happy and have a longing to go back to my childhood. Now that Sinterklaas has passed, it's time for Christmas. That time is even making me more soft... I start to dream about the perfect Christmas party, with all the people you care about at one table, eating nice food, being sweet for each other, singing together... There have been years that my longing for the past (when I was still home with my parents and sister and brother) was almost unbearable. It hurt just to think about it, because I had the feeling that it was so so cosy back then! I am sure that, in a couple of years, I will think of this period as being so cosy, and I will wanna go back to today. That's me, an nostalgic animal...

NEWSFLASH BY SARAH:!!!!!! I did it tonight! It was hair-removal evening - every six weeks on Tuesday evening! Tonight I let her zap my bikini line for the first time as the base price stays about the same and you just pay for the extra zaps! It's freaking expensive to tell you the truth - but if it means never messing with my bikini line again eventually, it will be worth it -- I hope! I also, and this is bigger news, allowed my moustache area to be zapped! I have avoided that for years and years. Every beautician I have ever gone to has tried to get me to let them wax my moustache area because I have dark hair and you see it there. I have always said no way! I could live with it and I was more afraid of the absence of it being there and all pale and obvious than the hair being there -- but this lady persuaded me - just 4 more zaps, which means 4 more Euros each time and all those little moustache hairs will be gone within a year! I couldn't say no! She convinced me! I was shaking inside! Afraid I'd have burn marks or spots or black little hairs rather than long ones. I'm still afraid! I mean those little hairs will grow back in cycles for a year! I wonder if you'll all notice them - the little stubble, more than you notice my moustache!

As for my bikini - we'll see how that goes! I will tell you that part hurt a lot - well as much as waxing and sugaring does but cleaner and less actually. Faster. Just weird! Zap, burn! Zap, burn! Ten times each side every 12 weeks. For the facial hair part - that's every 6 weeks. I hope this all pays off. What we do to look and feel good! Amazing!

Monday 10 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah HATE square cards and apologise to anyone who had to pay 52 cents for their letter! We owe you!

Sarah says:
Whoops! We're sorry! We owe those of you who are our victims Euro 0.52 each! BAHUMBUG!

Next to that, it was a right good day! Tonight I am home alone with the kid asleep and I have the TV blasting some fashion show and I'm going to head to bed and read magazines or make some phonecalls and I'm not going to the dishes. And I'm not going to do the laundry! And I'm not going to put away clothes. And I'm not going to tidy things up! I'm going to be a lazy fool and do nothing other than relax and do my own thing!

Sunday 9 December 2007: Heidi's Sunday

Heidi says: Christmasfeeling-time!

Sunday 09 December 2007: Sarah is a little grey today but also a lot bright pink!

Sarah says:
It's a kind of grey day. Yesterday too. But there's also something bright pink about it. Very mixed emotions. So glad to see a good friend this weekend. So tough to see her struggling and not have the magic cure, because there just isn't any.

So nice to walk in the rain today with my husband. So dark though. So very dark. It really feels like Sunday. A bit empty. A bit lonely. A bit cold. Yet still, I have some smiles in me and I put on my bright pink hat to give myself some color and cheer. Got some clothes today too and that always feels good.

As for Post Secret this weekend, I chose the below one about marriage. Honestly, the below post card doesn't make any sense to me. I have hardly witnessed a good marriage in my life, though I know they exist and there are a few people who I know genuinely have a good one. And I have a good one. I am pretty sure I do. It feels right. It feels good. But marriage, every single marriage or relationship, well, it can be damn hard. To have a really good, lasting one, well that's a huge challenge! I'm not complaining. I just know that when something is good, there always comes something to make it bad for a while and when it's bad, there's always something good that comes along to make it better and so forth and so on. That's life. And that's why it's possible to have a day like today where I feel deeply sad and troubled and totally happy and content. Life is a mixed-bag of trouble and joy I'd say... Today I've got both in mind!


Here's Ani Difranco's song Grey, which is at least half of the soundtrack of my day...


Ani Difranco - Grey
The sky is grey
The sand is grey
And the ocean is grey

And I feel right at home
In this stunning monochrome
Alone in my way

I smoke and I drink
And every time I blink
I have a tiny dream

But as bad as I am
I’m proud of the fact
That I’m worse than I seem

What kind of paradise am I looking for?
I’ve got everything I want and still I want more
Maybe some tiny shiny key
Will wash up on the shore

You walk through my walls
Like a ghost on tv
You penetrate me

And my little pink heart
Is on it’s little brown raft
Floating out to sea

And what can I say
But I’m wired this way
And you’re wired to me

And what can I do
But wallow in you
Unintentionally
What kind of paradise am I looking for?
I’ve got everything I want and still I want more
Maybe some tiny shiny key
Will wash up on the shore

Regretfully
I guess I’ve only got three
Simple things to say:
Why me?
Why this now?
Why this way?
With overtones ringing
And undertows pulling away
Under a sky that is grey
On sand that is grey
By an ocean that’s grey

What kind of paradise am I looking for?
I’ve got everything I want
And still I want more
Maybe some tiny shiny key
Will wash up on the shore

Saturday 08 December 2007: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH'S MOM AND SARAH'S FRIEND RACHEL!!! VIVA LAS VEGAS

Sarah says:
That's the Vlas Vegas Amenra-Hitch 7" that I bought tonight at the Vlas Vegas Label Night at De Kreun. Now it's late and time to watch some comedy. More tomorrow!

Heidi says: What lovely night we had yesterday! We saw some lovely bands playing and we did some lovely dancing and shaking the asses! One word: it was lovely! And now I am going to my lovely bed 'cause it is late! Have a lovely night everyone! Lovely dreams!

Friday 07 December 2007: It's just Sarah tonight as she and Heidi can hardly remember to take a photo together anymore....HEIDI HAS MULLEPLOAGE!!!!!!!

Sarah says: Weird! Heidi and I are together all day long these days yet we totally forget to take a photo most of the time... Have a great weekend everyone!

HAHA - glad Heidi made it below so that she could share her lovely news with you all! This is great material for jokes at Heidi's expense you know! I'm gonna have as much fun with this as I can! Chances are, I'll get "face plague" too as it is contagious!!! Then I'll be the butt of jokes or will my face be the butt of jokes or my mouth be the butt... Stay tuned and laugh with Heidi, not at her! And indeed as Heidi says below, go to the VLAS VEGAS LABEL NIGHT AT DE KREUN SATURDAY FROM 16:30 ON!!! GREAT BANDS ARE PLAYING!!!

Heidi says: no no no no, it's also Heidi on this blog! I am here to tell you all I have the mulleploage! I went to the doctor today, and he said: "kgoa ne ké iets lelijk zeggen: g'èt de mulleploage". Yep, Heidi with de mulleploage, that is my new name! :)

By the way: all you Kortrijk people go to De Kreun tomorrow night, for the Vlas Vegas Labelnight! It will rock!

Thursday 06 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah welcome Party Girls Hilde and Hilde to Face the Day

Sarah says:
Welcome party gals Hilde and Hilde! We ate sandwiches with them today and discussed party tables. They have a table and a trick or two up their sleeves and seem to know a lot about wine! Smiles abound! Smiles all around!

Wednesday 05 December 2007: Happy Birthday Trees!

Sarah says:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREES!!!! THE BEST MOTHER-IN-LAW EVER AND ONE OF THE LOVLIEST PEOPLE I KNOW!!!!

Y'all must know that Marv's mom Trees turned 60 on the 5th of December! When Trees was a kid her birthday was switched to the 6th of December, which is Sinterklaas Day here in Belgium. It was easier to celebrate the two big days together. The way I see it though is that Trees got ripped off! Her birthday was swiped from her! That's why it's important to wish her a happy birthday on the 5th and the 6th so she gets double the love now! WE LOVE YOU TREES!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWO TIMES!!!!

Tuesday 04 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah buy a small forest of gold, silver and fake pine Christmas trees!

Sarah says:

We found crazy looking beast-like GOLD and SILVER and PINE GREEN fake Christmas trees to decorate the place with! This, of course, plus a few other things, put Heidi and me in a great mood all afternoon. It doesn't take much! Colors! Colors! And more colors! Yippy!

Monday 03 December 2007: Heidi and Sarah forget to take a photo together yet another time! Sarah has a new ring and necklace!

Sarah says:
Good way to hide my zits, that is! Like my new ring? There's a new necklace under there too! Lucky me! All from the Oxfam Christmas market! I'm getting ill again!!!! Dang winter! Time to sleep this off!

Sunday 2 December 2007: Heidi almost gets shot by Lucky Luke! And Sarah's dad almost gets eaten by a snake that thinks he's a bookworm!

Heidi says: Meet Lucky Luke, the most famous citizen of Kortrijk! He's one dangerous motherfucker!!!!


Sarah says:
Getting my dad to look up from his book is not easy! He's been here for two days and leaves tomorrow and he's finished two books already. He just reads and reads. It's the first time we pretty much had no plans at all. We lounged around and did a whole lot of nothing! Lazy days! Not bad but I'm sure he could have done the same in New York! With that said, it's always good to have him here and my daughter and I enjoyed his company and so did our pet snake from the Oxfam Christmas market!

My favorite Post Secret of this week is about missing somebody who isn't alive anymore. In this case, the Cassie in the postcard is very much a part of the whole Post Secret thing. Her picture has been on the site for as long as I remember because as far as I remember she committed suicide and the helpline always mentioned on the site had her photo there for a while. It feels really deeply sad to truly miss someone. Just the idea you'll never, ever see them again. That they are truly gone forever - hard to get the head and heart around. I really miss Peter. That's for sure. It comes in waves. But the moments that the thoughts do come in, they are painful. I hate that I'll never see him again. I can't do anything about it though...


I GOT IT ALL WRONG ABOUT CASSIE FOLKS! THANKS TO ASG FOR POINTING THAT OUT! CHECK OUT TODAY'S COMMENTS TO KNOW MORE! CASSIE IS STILL ALIVE! SHE'S JUST NOT THE ONE YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST SECRET PAGES THESE DAYS. SORRY ABOUT THAT! SORRY CASSIE!

Saturday 01 December 2007: It's Flashback First of the Month at Heidi and Sarah Face The Day!

Sarah says:
It's Flashback First of the Month here at Face The Day! That's me today, December 1st 2007. I kind of look the same as last year but the light is different and my skin is worse for sure this year than last. Plus I was skinnier last year because it was 14 days before my surgery and I was basically eating about 800 calories a day in order to lose weight before my back surgery. I felt awful. Next to the pain was the hunger and headaches and bad taste in the mouth and the fear of the surgery. I wasn't good in the head. But it seems on that particular day last year I was hopeful because I had just read a study about how back surgery would improve over the years...

Sarah continues:
So there I am above one year ago today on the 1st of December 2006. If you want to know what was going on that day for me and Heidi, click on this link and go backwards in time...

Sarah adds:
There above is Heidi one year ago today on the 1st of Decmeber 2006. She doesn't look very happy. HEIDI! POST A PHOTO FROM TODAY THE 1ST OF DECEMBER 2007 FOR COMPARISON IF YOU HAVE TIME!

Sarah finishes:
And above you can see Heidi and me!!!! (not I!!! I'm sorry comment person! Me don't know what me was thinking!) together two years ago today on December 1st 2005. Want to know more about that day two years ago, then click this link!

Friday 30 November 2007: Heidi and Sarah welcome Sarah's dad to Face The Day as he sleeps his jetlag away...

Sarah says:
My dad arrived so I stopped by our office to show it to him and say hi to Heidi and my dad fell asleep on our couch! We snuck up behind him and took our Face The Day photo. He might not be too pleased when he sees it as it's not that flattering!
Jetlag is a mofo! He's fast asleep on the couch! What to do, what to do, what to do...
I want to go home and eat soup and we have to hit the center of Kortrijk to get chocolates and cheese and go to Delhaize to get some groceries. Tonight Zita Swoon and The Bony King of Nowhere, which is another one of Greyn's keyboard player's bands. I hope to see Jan tonight! It's always good to see him. I hope Zita Swoon are as good as usual in concert because as you know, I couldn't really get into their newest album. As devoted a fan as I am, it just didn't do it for me! I hope tonight's gig revitalizes my Zita Swoon love!

Thursday 29 November 2007: Heidi and Sarah have a whacky day and Sarah gets ready for her dad's visit!

Sarah says:
This was a useful day full of good stuff other than the odd ache and pain here and there for both me and Heidi. I have a day off tomorrow! My father is coming from New York. I have to get up at 5am and drive through dark and rainy traffic to pick him up! But that's okay! I can listen to music while I drive and curse at people a lot while I spill coffee all over myself! I look forward to seeing my dad. I think losing Peter reminded me how important it is to see those important in your life as often as you can or at least as often as feels good. I don't really see any of my family enough or have as much contact as I'd like. With that said, I did move far away for a good reason!!!! HAHAHAHA - just joking!

So I look forward to tomorrow. I have lots to do and I'm seeing Zita Swoon in concert tomorrow night while my dad stays home with the child!

Have a great day without me Heidi! Now you don't have to close the hallway door when you you-know-what! Nor do I at home! :-) Just so you know folks, it's such a joy to be working together like this! The days pass well! We are good busy! And we can close the aforementioned door when we need to!