Seasoned Greetings!

[onslaught86]

So, in all its PC glory, merry freakin' christmas. What makes christmas christmassy for you? If christmas just isn't your thing, what is, and what makes it special? I'm having a bit of trouble getting into it this year, and could use some inspiration, heh.

[Onslaught Six]

The things that make Christmas Christmassy for me are generally simple. Candy canes, decorated trees, lots of snow, and feel-good Christmassy movies on the TeeBee. 'Decent' ones, too, that never get old, like Home Alone 2.

Of course, toys also do that.

[andersonh1]

We're having a 60 degree week here in upstate SC. It doesn't feel like Christmas at the moment... it's too warm!

My daughter's school had their "winter program" last night. Note that they don't even call it the Christmas program, because I guess anything with the word "Christ" in it is just too offensive... can't have people thinking about baby Jesus!! I found very little meaning in a bunch of "songs" about Santa, Christmas Trees and snow. Those are just trappings of the holiday. Sideshows. There's nothing inherently special about any of them, in my view.

So what makes Christmas for me, apart from the family reunion that Christmas always seems to be? The good old traditional Christmas carols do it for me. Silent Night, Little Town of Bethlehem, O Come all Ye Faithful, and so on. They distance me from the commercialized, secular shopping frenzy that is the modern American Christmas.

[onslaught86]

feel-good Christmassy movies on the TeeBee. 'Decent' ones, too, that never get old, like Home Alone 2.

Home Alone '2' is not a feel-good christmassy movie, it was just sadistic. The bricks, man, the bricks! First one was much cooler.

So what makes Christmas for me, apart from the family reunion that Christmas always seems to be? The good old traditional Christmas carols do it for me. Silent Night, Little Town of Bethlehem, O Come all Ye Faithful, and so on. They distance me from the commercialized, secular shopping frenzy that is the modern American Christmas.

It's a combination of stuff for me. The same crappy christmas carol cassettes my family has had for twenty years, for one. Going up a hill and sawing off a branch from a pine tree, then dragging it home, that's another. The tree falling over and spilling water everywhere, a cat inevitably savaging the already-savaged collection of christmas decorations we've had forever, the warm fire, and long drowsy conversations.

Also, the X-Entertainment Advent Calendar..

[Dominic]

"Christmas Story" is the only Christmas movie worth watching.

Christmas is an odd time for me. I do not hate it or anything. But, I make of pont of avoiding the festive atmosphere But, the older I got, the less I enjoyed it. It was not figuring out the truth about Santa. (I figured it out at age 5.) I enjoyed the holiday up through middle school. But, for whatever reason, likely aging out, it just lost its luster.

A few years ago, for health and economic reasons, I "skipped" the holiday, and did not miss much. (I actually prefer it, as it lowers the ol' stress levels. And, there is nothing more fun than going to a mall on Christmas Eve, just to watch people scrambline like loons.)

A friend and I have an annual "swap", where we essentially trade or relieve each-other of debt.

But, the big thing for me is the fact that Christmas has generally meant "vacation" at the time of year I most want it. given that I have worked at a school for the last couple of years, I get a week or so off. Granted, the lost pay hurts, but there is something comforting about having that time off during the colder months.

Christmas is a nice day off. Seeing student scrambling with finals brings back all kinds of memories from my undergraduate days. And, (as I work in education), there is the simple pleasure of waking up on a cold morning, with my cat curled up next to me, and not having to go anywhere in particular. (This is the first year in a while I have had even tentative plans to visit family and friends. And to be honest, I may just stay home out of habit.)

Leading up to Christmas, there is the sophmoric glee I get from coming up with bawdly lyrics, or simply imagey, to Christmas songs. (Whenever I hear Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas", I picture a friend of mine naked, tied up with ribbons, huddled in the corner of a dark and cold room, sobbing. Try it, picturing one of your friends. it is great fun.)

So, I guess I still enjoy the holiday, albeit not in the ways most others do.

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

(Whenever I hear Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas", I picture a friend of mine naked, tied up with ribbons, huddled in the corner of a dark and cold room, sobbing. Try it, picturing one of your friends. it is great fun.)

Most of my friends are girls, incidentally, so, uh...That makes for some interesting imagery.

[Dominic]

It is only funny if they are male.


Dom

[Misanthrope Prime]