Today is December 1, the first day you’d open a door on an Advent calendar. For several years, I took part in a Virtual Advent Tour, where bloggers, predominantly of the bookish variety, composed posts about their holiday season and, throughout December, we’d go to their blogs to read about favorite holiday customs, foods, songs, celebrations, movies, books, memories, and traditions (from the past, as well as current ones).
I’ve decided to attempt to run a version of the Virtual Advent Tour this year myself. I’d hoped to be together enough to create a standalone site for it, but it just didn’t happen. Obviously, I also wasn’t together enough to share this information with anyone else prior to now. But I miss this blogging tradition too much to throw in the towel on the idea, even if it is a little late.
My hope is that other bloggers (bookish, knitterly, personal, etc.) would like to take part and that you will be willing to share your own winter holiday post sometime this month. It can be as simple or as complex as you’d like, and there’s no need to tell me ahead of time what you’re going to write about. (In the five previous years I took part, I wrote about an annual tuba concert, a Christmassy book, a weird Canadian cartoon from the ’70s, a cookie recipe, making a Christmas mix, and D.C.’s Christmas scene.) Also, if you celebrate some other winter holiday or have some other December festivity you’d like to share, please feel free to write about that. I love reading about others’ celebrations. If you’d like to take part, please leave me a comment below letting me know where and on what date(s) you’d like me to send folks your way. If no one else wants to play along, then I guess I’ll just share my own 24 random holiday posts.
Today, we’ll start with one of my favorite holiday tv specials (and cast albums) ever, the 1979 John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. In this very meta show, the cast of The Muppet Show and singer-songwriter John Denver develop their holiday tv special.
Here is Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rowlf, Fozzie, Lew, Beaker, and various members of the Electric Mayhem performing “Christmas Is Coming”:
If you’ve never seen this special, or if you’d like to watch it again, here’s the hour-long special in its entirety:
Links to other holiday happenings on the web:
- Home for the Holidays at What Sarah Read
- Goodreads contest to win a copy of My True Love Gave to Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins
- DROPS Christmas Calendar with free knitting patterns
- 12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaways from the “Back Cover” columnist at the Roanoke Times (a Facebook account is needed to participate)
Please stop back tomorrow!
I’ll come out of blogger retirement for you! How about on 12/13 near the end of Chanuka?
Comment by Mikaiya 12.01.15 @ 10:54 amI am interested in participating in the tour.
Comment by Melissa Wiebe 12.01.15 @ 8:42 pmWonderful of you to organize. I’ll get back to you with a date, but I’ll plan something for later in the month.
Comment by raidergirl3 12.01.15 @ 9:25 pmI’d love to join you. Want to get my blog out of retirement also! Could I have Christmas Eve? Dec 24.
Comment by Teri 12.01.15 @ 11:11 pmWell, my blog has been more or less hibernating, mostly because I don’t know what to post. But virtual advent tour was such a lovely tradition and I’d love to participate and keep it up.
Could I have the 6th or the 8th?
Comment by Jo Kay 12.02.15 @ 5:28 amI would love to join in! (I actually did a search for our Advent tour a few weeks ago and came up, sadly, with nothing, so I am very happy you have revived this tradition).
Could you put me down for Wednesday, December 23?
Idea/thought: You could run links to some old Advent posts on days that you need content. It’s crazy, but one of my post popular posts was an Advent post I did on my husband’s family’s Norwegian Christmas tradition, making Fattigmands, found here.
Comment by Deb Nance at Readerbuzz 12.02.15 @ 6:01 amI fondly remember participating in the Virtual Advent Calendar and would love to be a part of this year’s tour.
I am currently running a Totoro Family Recipe series each Friday and will be focusing on Christmas food traditions the entire month of December. If you’d like to pencil me for any of those dates, that would be fine 🙂
Comment by Molly 12.02.15 @ 8:33 amI’d love to participate. Is there space on the 20th? I’m sure I could come up with something….
Comment by Melissa @ Book Nut 12.02.15 @ 9:38 amI enjoyed doing the blog tour the year before last. Happy to do it again this year. Count me in for December 8. I already know what I’m going to write about–I think. if I recall, we just write the post, then let you know when it’s posted, correct?
Comment by Aine Greaney 12.02.15 @ 10:12 amI would love to take part. I am just waiting to resolve some blog issues I am having with the server and then I can get back to you with some dates if that is okay
Comment by Cindy's Love of Books 12.02.15 @ 10:54 am@Melissa, @raidergirl3, and @Cindy’s Love of Books: I’d be delighted to have you take part. Just let me know when you decide what day will work best for you.
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:29 pm@Mikaiya: You rock. The 13th is all yours.
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:30 pm@Jane and @Melissa@BookNut: The two of you are welcome to share the 20th. I’m looking forward to reading your posts!
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:30 pm@Teri: Awesome! I look forward to reading your post!
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:30 pm@Jo: Would you be willing to do the 6th? That would be terrific!
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:33 pm@Deb Nance: The 23rd is yours. I love your idea, particularly for days where I’m on the busy end of things. Thank you for the recommendation!
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:34 pm@Aine: The 8th is all yours. And, yes, if you want to let me know when the post is live, that would be great.
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:36 pm@Molly: Ooh! My stomach is rumbling already. Would it be okay if I pencil you in for this Friday, the 4th?
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 1:39 pmThanks for organizing this year! I’d love to post on the 9th if it’s available.
Comment by Tasha B (aka heidenkind) 12.02.15 @ 2:29 pm@Tasha B: The 9th is yours!
Comment by soe 12.02.15 @ 6:13 pmYes… this Friday is fine. I will either post Gingerbread Houses or Angel Bites… I need to see how tomorrow goes 🙂
Should I email you when the post is live?
Comment by Molly 12.02.15 @ 6:30 pm[…] I’m still looking for bloggers who are interested in participating in the Virtual Advent Tour. You can sign up and request a date in the comments on the Dec. 1 post. […]
Pingback by sprite writes 12.03.15 @ 5:38 amI am happy to do Monday 13th or Monday 21st
Let me know.
@Jane: How about the 13th? That would be great!
Comment by soe 12.03.15 @ 5:28 pm@dod: Thank you!
Comment by soe 12.04.15 @ 12:59 am@Jo: Thank you!
Comment by soe 12.05.15 @ 2:08 amDo you have any dates you need filled? That would be easier then the back and forth in case the day I want is already chosen..
Comment by Cindy's Love of Books 12.06.15 @ 9:37 pm@Cindy: If you want something this week, the 10-12 are still empty. Next week, I’ve got the 14-19 free. Would any of those dates work for you?
Comment by soe 12.07.15 @ 4:17 pmMy Advent post is up there on my blog for today, December 8.
http://www.ainegreaney.com/blog/2015/12/7/advent-1970-the-year-of-the-book
Enjoy.
Comment by Aine Greaney 12.08.15 @ 8:05 am@Aine: Thank you!
Comment by soe 12.09.15 @ 3:11 pm[…] a quick reminder that it’s not too late to sign up for a spot in the tour to share your own holiday traditions and thoughts. Dec. 14-19 are all […]
Pingback by sprite writes 12.11.15 @ 6:45 am@raidergirl3: You rock!
Comment by soe 12.12.15 @ 11:57 pm