On Christmas Traditions

My friend Todd has recently been on a Christmas Carol watch-a-thon. He wanted suggestions, and last night I said, “Surely you’re watching Blackadder’s Christmas Carol; I watch it every year on Christmas Day.” It hadn’t occurred to him, to watch, not the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge, but the corruption of Ebenezer Blackadder. Hopefully, it’s inContinue reading “On Christmas Traditions”

On Customers and Kindness

I was, last night, sitting on a bench at the local mall. Christmas music played on the PA system. There were decorations strung here and there. It didn’t feel Christmassy. The reason was simple. This mall was deserted. No customers. It’s hard to feel the Christmas spirit without the throngs of customers, the blaring ofContinue reading “On Customers and Kindness”

On Wrapping Christmas Presents

It’s only December 7th. I’ve already wrapped most of the Christmas presents I’m giving. Indeed, ones I need to ship? Already in the shipping boxes. I have some new and interesting wrapping paper this year. Nothing that doesn’t fit my personality. 🙂 I’m absolutely terrible at trying to cut paper off in a straight line.Continue reading “On Wrapping Christmas Presents”

On the Week In Review

My grandmother is down for her second nap of the day. It’s not even 1:30 in the afternoon. She’s been sleeping more of late. She’s also been keeping odd hours, and her perception of light and dark seems to be non-existent. The new television remotes confuse her. There’s one for the television, and one forContinue reading “On the Week In Review”

On Getting in that Christmas Mood

I realized yesterday, with some surprise, that Christmas is merely five weeks away. I’d say it snuck up on me, but it didn’t. Not really. Four months ago I was writing about Christmas products — ornaments, nutcrackers, even calendars. Last month, I wrote about Valentine’s Day stuff. Pretty soon, I’ll be thinking about the summerContinue reading “On Getting in that Christmas Mood”

On a Winter Wonderland

It’s December 23rd. It’s foggy, and it’s rainy. It should be a winter wonderland, shouldn’t it? Snow and trees and snow, right? Well, it can be. On my blog, anyway. Brian Gardner, who designed the Vertigo Blue theme I’ve been using for a while now, released last year a Christmas theme for WordPress called “Wonderland.”Continue reading “On a Winter Wonderland”

On Christmas Traditions

Many people have Christmas traditions. I don’t. It comes, I think, from having worked retail for so many years. The “holiday season” was anything but a holiday. And while I enjoyed certain things about the season, one thing I really wanted was for it to be over. A few years ago I started a traditionContinue reading “On Christmas Traditions”