12/05/25 IT'S FRIDAY - CHRISTMAS PARTIES ARE EVERYWHERE - THAT'S GOOD & SOMETIMES BAD OR WORSE THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE - NO. 21 ON THE 2025 TOP 25 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

Today is all about the parties that bring us all together to celebrate the soon coming day. We all know how this goes - partying at 18 is always fun. At thirty, it slows down. At forty it gets slower and then one day you say to your dearly beloved - let's skip this one and watch a few NCIS episodes and call it a night.

However, there is hope we older folk will find ways to have a party that keeps our minds and hearts loving our fellow partiers! LOL!!!

First up for this first Friday of December - A great quick memory of funny TV - FESTIVUS - a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the perceived pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season. Festivus entered popular culture after it was made the focus of the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike",

Party on DUDE!!!

The next song has been published every year in The Top 25 Christmas Countdown since 2011. One of the great Poets from Texas delivers a somewhat sardonic Merry Christmas tune from The Family - Robert Earl Keen performs what has become, IMHO, an alternative country classic - MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE FAMILY!

No matter what - Say Merry Christmas to you family!

DLStafford

thenomadARCHITECT

12/4/25 CHRISTMAS & KIDS - MEMORIES THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME! NO. 22 ON THE NOMAD ARCHITECT TOP 25 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

 

People my age don't jump around and go crazy when we open a box with something that we really, really wanted for Christmas. We smile big, laugh maybe and thank everybody in the room gathered around the tree. However, if you are my age or older, you have memories of special things that made your Christmas Day special. For me - I was 8-9 and Santa had placed one of my presents under the tree. I got up about 5 AM, found this amazing gift from the Big Man & started playing my brand-new pinball machine. 

The playing was quite loud. Dad walked into the Living Room smiling and shaking his head. He said son, you need to go back to bed. And of course, me being a mindful son did exactly that - but I did not go back to sleep! Later that morning when everybody was up, I played pinball all day! We all have memories from our youth on the most special day of the year of presents, family and friends we enjoy.

Here is a very touching and powerful arrangement of Born on Christmas Day written by Kristin Chenoweth as performed by One Voice Children's Choir.

And from one of the most popular funny people around - Jim Gaffigan gives his impressions of the Big Day - A Christmas tree seems like a drunk people activity!

Gotta Love dem KIDS - Merry Christmas!!

    DLStafford

    thenomadARCHITECT

12/03/25 It's HUMP DAY all day - Hope all you NOMADS have your tree up - The 25th will be here before you know it - NO. 23 ON THE 2025 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

CHRISTMAS GIFTS - According to published statistics, roughly 25% of men buy Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve! I can relate! Back in the pre–AMAZON online shopping world I was always getting ALL my gifts a few days before the big day. About 51% wait until the last few days before Christmas to purchase gifts, Of course, as you would expect, 58% of women purchase Christmas gifts in late November and early December.

To get Hump Day started on a humorous note here is a funny Southern Lady from Adams, Tennessee who has become a must-see comic on NETFLIX - Leanne Morgan - Enjoy this quick take - IT'S CHRISTMAS WITH FAMILY

Today's tune features a truly incredible pianist and singer you will ever hear. Blind since birth, he has toured for years with the Gaither Vocal Band Homecoming. He rocks this classic Christmas Spiritual first printed in the early 1900's - GORDON MOTE plays and sings this classic with power & emotion - GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN.

Tell It - Merry Christmas

DLStafford
thenomadARCHITECT

12/02/25 NO. 24 ON THE 2025 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - A BLUE TREE FOR FAMILY & FRIENDS

HERE WE ARE - THE FIRST TUESDAY OF DECEMBER. We already have our Christmas Tree up - still needs more decorating. For the first time in our lives, we have decided to put up a "fake" tree. Gotta love AMAZON! However, IMHO, it is very cool - it's Baby Blue!!! And best of all, it comes with all the lights already attached. If you have ever decorated a Christmas Tree, you will understand that's kind of a big deal! LOL! 

It took some discussion, but we all voted and approved the Blue Christmas Tree.

Today, I found this great tune celebrating all the things we love about CHRISTMAS - the tree - the family - the friends - the food - the smiles - the jingle bells - the dancing - and, of course, the one and only SANTA! This heartfelt tune with a very cool video is offered from multi-award-winning Australian singer - SIA - SANTA'S COMING FOR US!

For tune number two, there is nothing like a poet from Texas. This song, quietly performed with feeling and emotion about families gathering to celebrate this special holiday, shines a soft light on the joys of family at Christmas time. The multi award winning Texas Troubadour presents a song as only he can - HAYES CARLL - GRATEFUL FOR CHRISTMAS.

Enjoy your loved ones this season - Merry Christmas!

DLStafford

theomadARCHITECT

12/01/25 THE FIRST DAY OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE MONTH OF THE YEAR - THE PRESENTS, THE KIDS, THE TREE & THE LOVE! - JUST TAKE IT ALL IN!! No. 25 on THE OFFICIAL TOP 25 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

Point well taken. Life can be indeed tough. However, IMHO, Christmas is the one time of year where you can just enjoy your family, your kids and the blessings God has shed upon your life and others in your life circle.

Some of my greatest memories are Christmas as a kid, Christmas with my kids and now Christmas with my grandkids. They always make me feel good. Well, not always - you know what I'm sayin'. 

So, on this first day of Christmas time I thought all you NOMADS might like to hear a couple of diverse tunes I have drummed up.

First up - A tune that will hopefully get you in the mood for all that time on AMAZON, Hobby Lobby, Nordstrom or any of the other online places to spend your hard-earned money for the ones on your Christmas List! Gwen Stefani & Blake Sheldon give us a lively arrangement of YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS!

And here is a classic, written by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane in 1943 and first introduced by the great Judy Garland in the film Meet Me In Saint Louis in 1944 - HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS by the multi-award-winning quartet Human Nature.

Enjoy the day, the week, and the month - Merry Christmas!

    DLStafford

    thenomadARCHITECT

11/28/25 ALL DAY & ALL NIGHT - BLACK FRIDAY FOR ALL YOU CRAZIES THAT JUST CAN'T HELP YOURSELVES!

MEMORIES OF THIS DAY IN MY LIFE

Unlike my father and my older brother, I was not born into the life of retail sales. My dad's store, Stafford Jewelers, was started right after WWII. My father loved to sell things to people. His talents, his buoyant personality and always ingratiating smile made it virtually impossible to say no to him. I grew up knowing that Christmas was a special time of year. However, I was not a born salesman. So, when I worked in the store in my teens, I was not in my best place.

But, back then, Black Friday was not the insane day of buying & selling like it is today. But it did kick off the season for retail buying and gift giving until about a week past the New Year.

So, here is a cool tune to kick off the TOP 25 CHRISTMAS CLASSIC SONGLIST FOR 2025.

Enjoy a little Retro Swing / Rock’n’Roll for the holiday season on the kick-off day for the Christmas Season from URSANTA - I SPEND ALL MY MONEY ON BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

DL Stafford 
the nomadARCHITECT

The first tune of The Top 25 Christmas Classic Songlist Countdown for 2025 will be featured December 1 

this coming Monday. The Top 25 Countdown was

started in December of 2011. 

I hope you enjoy some new & a few old/classic tunes.

11/27/25 GET DRESSED - HEAD ON OVER - SET YOUR SALAD & YOUR MAC & CHEESE ON THE COUNTER - SAY A PRAYER - SIT DOWN & EAT!!

46 MILLION TURKEYS ARE EATEN ON THE THIRD MOST IMPORTANT HOLIDAY IN AMERICA

We must honor this serious day and give thanks for the many blessings in our lives - I'm 76 and I'm still living - Thank You / I'm still married to the most amazing female on planet earth - Thank You - I have two amazing kids whom I love without hesitation and I have another amazing female in my family, my daughter in law - I also have two incredible grandsons that lovingly call me D, usually very loud, I have a family that loves me in spite of myself - Thank You - I still confess my many sins every day and I know that God forgives me - Thank You - Thank You - Thank You!!

Someone stated an obvious truth - I’m just here for the carbs and emotional support.

So, what about all that food we will eat on this Blessed Day? Thank goodness it only comes once a year! The joy of being with family and friends gives me pause to realize how blessed I am in a world that seems to always be in strife.

President Georg Washington officially established Thanksgiving Day on Sept 28, 1789. 

We have honored this day with family & friends since that founding day. We honor this time once a year to eat, drink and be merry - eat a lot, talk a lot & laugh a lot.

So, on this day I hope you will enjoy two very different takes on this great day of joy.

From Saturday Night Live when it was still pretty entertaining Adam Sandler with some help from Kevin Nelon gives a funny rendition of one of his most famous songs - Celebrating Thanksgiving!

 

From the greatest late night talk show in television history - the great Johnny Carson discusses Thanksgiving with bandleader Doc Severinson in one of the most hilarious six minutes ever recorded.

So, enjoy your day and say THANK YOU!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

     DLStafford

    thenomadARCHITECT

And for all of us who just can't help ourselves - This little ditty is for you!