About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

'Twas the Night Before Christmas for Bloggers Repeat

Put this version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas up in 2013 and thought I would repeat on a wintery Saskatchewan Christmas Eve. It was -27C with a wind chill of -37C this morning. Will bundle up for Mass this evening. Merry Christmas to all!
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'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house
Not a computer was stirring, not even a mouse
Mystery bloggers everywhere had inserted their flash drives with care;
In hopes St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The bloggers were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of new books danc’d in their heads.

And Sharon in the kitchen, and I in the den,
Had just settled from our computers for a long winter's nap -
When on my computer there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the monitor I flew like a flash,
Tore open Google, and avoided a crash,
The moon on the screen of new fallen snow,
Gave the luster of mid-day to the icons below;
When, what on the screen to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny bloggers,
With my little old computer driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his bloggers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name;
"Now! Margot, now! Moira, now! John, now! Kerrie and Bernadette,
"On! Tracy, on! Prashant, on! Norman and Jose Ignacio;
To the top of the screen! To the top of the fire wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
As letters before a computer storm fly,
And when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the cloud;
So up the computer screen they flew,
With the sleigh full of e-books - and St. Nicholas too;
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the speaker
The prancing and pawing of each little blogger.
As I drew back my head, and was spinning around,
Down St. Nicholas came with a bound:
He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with glitches and errors;
A bundle of e-books flung on his back,
And he look'd like a reader just opening his hard drive;
His eyes - how the pixels twinkled! His dimple; how merry,
His cheeks were like Apples, his nose like a cherry
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it floated over the screen like a wreath
He had a broad face, and a round little belly
That shook when he laugh'd like a bowl of jelly;
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his pixels and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the flash drives; then turn'd with a jerk
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a shake, up the screen he rose.
He sprung to his sleigh, to his bloggers gave a nod
And away they all flew right into the screen,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight -
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

- With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore

Merry Christmas to bloggers and readers around the world!!!!



8 comments:

  1. How delightful to be included in such a fun poem. Thanks.

    Merry Christmas to you too Bill. We are having the opposite of you in terms of weather...top temperature today is predicted to be 41 and there is a total fire ban which means no barbeques...creativity is required for how to cook the Christmas dinner :)

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  2. Bernadette: Thanks for the comment. I do not find our cold easy. I would find your heat difficult. I will be interested to read how Christmas dinner was cooked! Merry Christmas!

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  3. Thank you, Bill, for posting this again. I was honoured then and honoured now to be included. Hope you stay warm, and that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

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    1. Margot: Thanks for the comment. I was partially inspired by your fun posts. Hope your Christmas went well.

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  4. How lovely, Bill. I am glad you repeated this and I too am honored to be included. It has been colder here than usual but nothing to compare with your cold weather. I know you and your family will have a good Christmas and New Year's Day.

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    1. TracyK: Thanks for the kind words. The poem would not have been complete without you. I equally extend best wishes to you and your family.

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  5. So delighted to be included, and very much enjoyed the poem! A bappy Christmas to you and yours...

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    1. Moira: Thanks for the comment. I was glad to have you in the poem. I hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas.

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