The top fifteen reasons people checked out allyngibson.com in the month of December. 15. “John Lennon atheist.” I wouldn’t call Lennon an atheist, per se, but he certainly had his issues with organized religion. Witness this quote–“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I am right, and have been proven right. We’re bigger thanContinue reading “December’s Greatest Hits”
Tag Archives: Christmas
Christmas Eve
Business was quiet, but a busy quiet. No mobs swarmed upon the store. Instead, customers were patient, orderly. Traffic was never overwhelming, but in the final analysis sales were solid, better than I anticipated. As with every Christmas Eve traffic fell off in the afternoon as people left to travel, to wrap, to cook–the pauseContinue reading “Christmas Eve”
They Say It's Christmas….
It doesn’t feel like Christmas. The weather is too nice. This week Raleigh has seen temperatures in the seventies, except for yesterday which was rainy, foggy, and blue. How can one think of Christmas in conditions like that? The muzak at the store still isn’t playing Christmas music. How can shoppers be in the ChristmasContinue reading “They Say It's Christmas….”
And it’s Friday, so…?
Looking through the archives I remembered every Christmas is like this. Too much to do, too little time and too little staff to accomplish it. The body forgets. It’s the triumphs of the season–the happy kids, the satisfied parents–that stick in memory, not the bleak moments. And sometimes I wonder how I made it throughContinue reading “And it’s Friday, so…?”
Tonight, at Target
I bought the Beatles 1964 box-set today. I hadn’t gotten around to it for a variety of reasons, saw it when I was at Target this evening, and knew that if I passed it up again I might not have another chance for a while. Ah, the Beatles. I tried about a year ago toContinue reading “Tonight, at Target”
Christmas Cards
Last night I went by World Market and bought Christmas cards. I’m not religious, I wouldn’t say I have the holiday spirit, but for the past few years I’ve mailed out cards to friends and close acquaintances. Except for last year, when I couldn’t find a card style that I really liked, and when IContinue reading “Christmas Cards”
It's Only a Game
I’ve been thinking about Christmas recently. Just last week I wrapped my first present of the year, and we’re not even to September yet. But when one works retail, as I do, and one works retail management, as I do, then come November 1st my life vanishes as my work load increases, my work weekContinue reading “It's Only a Game”
Christmas shopping
Ten days left, and I’m essentially done. Two years ago I started my Christmas shopping on December 23rd. It wasn’t intentional; I simply hadn’t had the time to do my shopping until I was up against that wall. My store had a staff of five that holiday season, and it seemed like all my timeContinue reading “Christmas shopping”
Stalking the wild Harry Potter book
Yesterday brought two surprises. The first, and potentially the most important, was that I got my power back after five days. Raleigh, North Carolina was hit by a massive ice storm on last Wednesday, leaving upwards of 70 percent of the Raleigh/Durham area without electricity, and without electricity I had neither heat nor water. AfterContinue reading “Stalking the wild Harry Potter book”
Trewsday, 25 Winterfilth
The idea of Lord of the Rings Christmas cards still fills me with a sense of dread, but as Geoff Trowbridge pointed out in his comment to my entry of a few days ago, “[o]ne musn’t forget that Christmas is a profoundly pagan tradition dating all the way back to ancient Babylon, when the ‘FeastContinue reading “Trewsday, 25 Winterfilth”