being born and raised in the southern hemisphere, where christmas means summer, beach, sun and caipirinhas, i have a hard time adjusting to christmas in detroit...last year, I went back to Brazil..this year, here comes darkness, slow sad music, snow, cold, and egg nog??? it just ain't right...
I agree... the holidays blow... family kind of sucks, but leaving the city and going to spend a week in po dunk middle America is probably the hardest part for me, oh yea and NO COFFEE my family doesn’t drink it
.. forget spiffs were going to need something stronger!
i've worked on christmas day twice when i was a cashier for a chain restaurant that sells pies...we'd receive hundreds of reservations weeks before christmas. mince pie was the least popular. fresh strawberry pie, chocolate mousse, apple pie, and boysenberry pie were about equal in popularity. the restaurant would order more than what was actually reserved and after one of those shifts, i took home about 15 surplus pies...i drove a small car then so i called a friend who had a pick up truck. i gave most away and kept about 5 pies (banana cream pie, chocolate, etc)...
i usually tip the homeless a bit more on the holidays.... i hate the holidays....... it's cool to see family...but with the current situation with my stupid sister it's gonna be an interesting one this year
I'll sound like a pollyanna old woman saying this but: when I hear people say they hate being with their families at the holidays it just makes me sad. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person - well, OK, one of a small minority - in the US who loves her family, loves to spend time with them, could hang out with them every day, and constantly wonder how I ended up living the alst 23 years so far away from them.
(Yes we do drink together - not excessively, but just enough to put extra sparkle on the fun we have anyway.)
I love the holidays. I get excited about giving people gifts as its something I enjoy, and I get to see my family (and drink with them). We actually have a great holiday tradition: everyone when they turn 21 gets a shot glass with their initials engraved in it. From that point forward its your responsibility to bring that shot glass to all family gatherings. Our drink of choice is usually Polish wisniowka.
Move on out here LB! I need some work---would you hire me if you did? At the very least Angus would have a playmate once in awhile.
The consumerist part of the holiday is the part that bugs me the most...wish stores couldn't throw out all the xmas stuff until AFTER Thanksgiving. Comes earlier and earlier every year!
I agree with you LB. I love spending time with the fam during the hoildays and now that we only give presents to my niece and two nephews, it's kind to the wallet as well. Being in the vicinity of a retail store totally sucks though. Everyone is mean, rude and selfish, which I find rather ironic b/c tis the season for peace and generosity.
my favorite x-mas memories are those spent in mexico city with my huge extended family. last time i was there was 2 x-mases ago and had a blast (i'm pretty sure we'd be able to outdrink an irish family any day of the week! =P).
lb- you're not alone. i, too, love my family and can't wait to go home this christmas. relaxing, eating home cooked meals, playing with my nephew.. now lets just hope that my leave gets approved. jst wondering, is anyone having a hard time getting your leaves approved during holiday season? or do you think leaves are by right our rights and a given/ sure thing/ having no prob getting holiday leave?
beta, if you wanna drop f-bombs at the dinner table, you should come to my place. Nothing is off limits at my parents place or at my inlaws place. And the best part is, we're down in Texas. Have you ever heard a real cowboy (rancher) say m-f? It's pretty damn funny. It's real long and drawn out.
Typically on holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) Either my mom or my mother in law will inevitably say "What is wrong with this family?! Can't we have a single meal without swearing?" Typically the rest of the meal consists of me and my brother in law saying things like, "Jeff, you stupid f-in' b-tch, could you pass the g-mned turkey"
"No problem you c-m guzzling whore!"
I love my family. I love the holidays. I love shopping for gifts for people I love. I love stuffing my face with food. I love egg nog. I love waking up on Christmas morning to the bell chimes that my dad plays. I love that my parents still make us leave cookies and milk out for Santa. I love Christmas carols. I love the smell of our Christmas tree throughout the house. God, I love the holidays.
i love my family too, the commercialism of the holidays not so much. For the last 4 years I've spent the holidays in Montserrat at a friends' restaurant. I enjoy it because its a bunch of other homeless folk having dinner and what not. Granted this year I am stumped because I don't eat (or try not to) meat!!
I live in town, so I typically stay around and work so others can go see their families. The last job at which I worked though did not close the office the Friday after Thanksgiving so a lot of people ended up not going home :-( They were really strict too on how many people could be out during that time. Although the place I work now is open between Christmas and New Year's, it becomes virtually a ghost town that week.
n_ I love the scent of the Christmas tree as well. Too bad I'm allergic to them, we've switched to artificial trees in recent years b/c of this issue
Shut down the office, go buy all my own xmas gifts, write bonus checks to staff, go skiing with my kids and wife, sleep in, go to way too many open houses/parties, make new year resolution then get back to work.
I like the opportunity for seeing all of my family and friends that the holidays provide. I like buying people gifts and spending too much money, which I usually do. But I don't like the decorum of it all.....the obligatory music and cheesy decorations that always go up. I'm starting a new tradition of putting up my tiny silver tree and just going about my business.
Actually, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at home but when someone tells me they aren't going home for Christmas, I get a bit jealous. Plus the thought of leaving my cat makes me sad....she's going to think I left her!
I am purging the yule tide season of its layers cosumerist perversion. This year I am infusing more meaning into the season, by reading Thus Spoke Zarathrustra, and making a "God is Dead" ornament for the tree.
This completely blasphemous, but Christmas is by far, my favorite pagan holiday. I love celebrating the winter solstice while spending the time with the family. And yes... I am aware I am going to hell for admitting such a thing.
Funny thing is I felt this way, even when I was little; before I actually knew WHY Christmas is celebrated when it is. You should see the baffled/disgusted looks I get from some people when I tell them. Stirring up the pot is so much fun to do sometimes. Tee hee!
My brother's ex-wife and her family literally thought Christmas was on Jesus' birthday. Baked a cake for him and everything. She was floored when I told her it is just represented his birthday, that know really knows the EXACT day he was born.
DEC25th was chosen, being traditionally 3 days after the solstice, because in ancient times the sun quit moving south and appeared to stand still for three days. The 25th is when the sun appears to start moving Northerly again.
..Its only fitting a Mesianic metaphor , liek Jesus be associated with the moment in the year when the Sun begins moving upward again,.so, if you going to use a birthday cake , I reckon it should explain all that.
Also, the early Christians were trying to win the hearts and minds of the Greek and Roman pagans of the day, who traditionally had a big holiday bash around winter solstice. I guess the early Christians thought they'd win more converts if they co-opted some existing pagan traditions and symbols, sort of like how rabbits and eggs -- pagan fertility symbols -- became associated with Easter.
Of course, the proper Christian liturgical tradition is for the Feast of the Nativity (i.e., "Christ Mass" or Christmas) to begin on December 25th, and continue for the next twelve days. The four-odd weeks before December 25th is the liturgical season of Advent, which is supposed to be somewhat somber, penitential, and quiet.... Not the consumerist orgy that begins in fucking October.
i love christmas. we don't have it in japan. it isn't a holiday at all. everyone works on christmas day...
well, that ain't really true. we kinda have it but it has morphed into valentine's day, and all the couples spend the evenings at KFC then off to the nearest love hotel. KFC and sex support industry LOVE christmas in japan.
none of the above is an exageration.
in my home though, we do celebrate christmas. my daughters love it, and we envite friends and family for chicken (no turkeys in site) dinner and apple pie...is always brilliant.
i'm stretching my memory as i try to recall my classical civilization class, but i believe it was the roman's saturnalia holiday that the christians piggybacked on to create the spectacle of christmas. it's somewhat amusing to me that many christians will point to jesus as the founder of the church (which is basically true) but the critical moment for the success of christianity was its ability to take advantage of the roman empire's widespread infrastructure. if it wasn't for rome, christianity would have amounted to very little and certainly would not have the influence that it has had in western culture.
christmas sucks
Crying babies, everyone running around, no privacy... let's face it, the holidays suck. Add in expensive airfare, long lines, etc.
My idea of an ideal Xmas is Trinidad and a big spliff.
No privacy? How does that relate to the holidays?
+2 for that.
20 relatives + 4 bedroom +2.5 bathrooms = no privacy!
xmas in the states annoys me. i miss the simplicity and classiness of xmas in europe.
X-mas is a great time to get drunk.
being born and raised in the southern hemisphere, where christmas means summer, beach, sun and caipirinhas, i have a hard time adjusting to christmas in detroit...last year, I went back to Brazil..this year, here comes darkness, slow sad music, snow, cold, and egg nog??? it just ain't right...
this year, here comes darkness, slow sad music, snow, cold, egg nog, and...the somerset collection.
I agree... the holidays blow... family kind of sucks, but leaving the city and going to spend a week in po dunk middle America is probably the hardest part for me, oh yea and NO COFFEE my family doesn’t drink it
.. forget spiffs were going to need something stronger!
I got a cognac blunt wrap!
The cognac blunt wrap sounds like a strong move. I'll have mine shaken, not stirred.
i've worked on christmas day twice when i was a cashier for a chain restaurant that sells pies...we'd receive hundreds of reservations weeks before christmas. mince pie was the least popular. fresh strawberry pie, chocolate mousse, apple pie, and boysenberry pie were about equal in popularity. the restaurant would order more than what was actually reserved and after one of those shifts, i took home about 15 surplus pies...i drove a small car then so i called a friend who had a pick up truck. i gave most away and kept about 5 pies (banana cream pie, chocolate, etc)...
i usually tip the homeless a bit more on the holidays.... i hate the holidays....... it's cool to see family...but with the current situation with my stupid sister it's gonna be an interesting one this year
b
what about that damn music!
Not for Fuckin' Catholics it doesn't....
I'll sound like a pollyanna old woman saying this but: when I hear people say they hate being with their families at the holidays it just makes me sad. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person - well, OK, one of a small minority - in the US who loves her family, loves to spend time with them, could hang out with them every day, and constantly wonder how I ended up living the alst 23 years so far away from them.
(Yes we do drink together - not excessively, but just enough to put extra sparkle on the fun we have anyway.)
It's getting time for me to move.
I love the holidays. I get excited about giving people gifts as its something I enjoy, and I get to see my family (and drink with them). We actually have a great holiday tradition: everyone when they turn 21 gets a shot glass with their initials engraved in it. From that point forward its your responsibility to bring that shot glass to all family gatherings. Our drink of choice is usually Polish wisniowka.
Move on out here LB! I need some work---would you hire me if you did? At the very least Angus would have a playmate once in awhile.
The consumerist part of the holiday is the part that bugs me the most...wish stores couldn't throw out all the xmas stuff until AFTER Thanksgiving. Comes earlier and earlier every year!
I agree with you LB. I love spending time with the fam during the hoildays and now that we only give presents to my niece and two nephews, it's kind to the wallet as well. Being in the vicinity of a retail store totally sucks though. Everyone is mean, rude and selfish, which I find rather ironic b/c tis the season for peace and generosity.
I agree with you too LB. I love Xmas and visiting with family.
We drink excessively ;-)
yeah, i'm with lb as well.
my favorite x-mas memories are those spent in mexico city with my huge extended family. last time i was there was 2 x-mases ago and had a blast (i'm pretty sure we'd be able to outdrink an irish family any day of the week! =P).
I'm working on filling my house with people this Thanksgiving, because the last three years here in Indy I've been sad at having only 3 at dinner.
Any archinecters in Indy need a place to eat Turkey next Thursday? Email me. Warning: there will be at least 3 four year olds.
I would love to hang out at someone's house for the holidays where I can occasionally let loose an f-bomb, and let a little of my Jersey out...
oh, and what is this ---------------------------------------\
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(humor me here, but what is this facebook, and why do we want to post threads on it?)
It's a long drive to Indy, beta, but you and your SO are more than welcome!
lb- you're not alone. i, too, love my family and can't wait to go home this christmas. relaxing, eating home cooked meals, playing with my nephew.. now lets just hope that my leave gets approved. jst wondering, is anyone having a hard time getting your leaves approved during holiday season? or do you think leaves are by right our rights and a given/ sure thing/ having no prob getting holiday leave?
beta, if you wanna drop f-bombs at the dinner table, you should come to my place. Nothing is off limits at my parents place or at my inlaws place. And the best part is, we're down in Texas. Have you ever heard a real cowboy (rancher) say m-f? It's pretty damn funny. It's real long and drawn out.
Typically on holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) Either my mom or my mother in law will inevitably say "What is wrong with this family?! Can't we have a single meal without swearing?" Typically the rest of the meal consists of me and my brother in law saying things like, "Jeff, you stupid f-in' b-tch, could you pass the g-mned turkey"
"No problem you c-m guzzling whore!"
It's a great time. I think you'd like it.
I love my family. I love the holidays. I love shopping for gifts for people I love. I love stuffing my face with food. I love egg nog. I love waking up on Christmas morning to the bell chimes that my dad plays. I love that my parents still make us leave cookies and milk out for Santa. I love Christmas carols. I love the smell of our Christmas tree throughout the house. God, I love the holidays.
i love my family too, the commercialism of the holidays not so much. For the last 4 years I've spent the holidays in Montserrat at a friends' restaurant. I enjoy it because its a bunch of other homeless folk having dinner and what not. Granted this year I am stumped because I don't eat (or try not to) meat!!
and staghorn the spliff is for the new year, not Christmas
maaaan.... christmas in brazil/trinidad/jamaica/montserrat sounds niiiiiiiiiice....
quick survey, how much time do people get off?
i work for a school, so luckily, i get from dec 20th through jan 1st off.
I live in town, so I typically stay around and work so others can go see their families. The last job at which I worked though did not close the office the Friday after Thanksgiving so a lot of people ended up not going home :-( They were really strict too on how many people could be out during that time. Although the place I work now is open between Christmas and New Year's, it becomes virtually a ghost town that week.
n_ I love the scent of the Christmas tree as well. Too bad I'm allergic to them, we've switched to artificial trees in recent years b/c of this issue
Shut down the office, go buy all my own xmas gifts, write bonus checks to staff, go skiing with my kids and wife, sleep in, go to way too many open houses/parties, make new year resolution then get back to work.
I like the opportunity for seeing all of my family and friends that the holidays provide. I like buying people gifts and spending too much money, which I usually do. But I don't like the decorum of it all.....the obligatory music and cheesy decorations that always go up. I'm starting a new tradition of putting up my tiny silver tree and just going about my business.
Actually, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at home but when someone tells me they aren't going home for Christmas, I get a bit jealous. Plus the thought of leaving my cat makes me sad....she's going to think I left her!
the pc police continue sucking the fun out of the holidays...
Ho Ho Ho Must Go Go Go
I am purging the yule tide season of its layers cosumerist perversion. This year I am infusing more meaning into the season, by reading Thus Spoke Zarathrustra, and making a "God is Dead" ornament for the tree.
Nietzsche is my Santa!
Have a Happy Xistentialist Xmas!
...er , thats "Spake"
This completely blasphemous, but Christmas is by far, my favorite pagan holiday. I love celebrating the winter solstice while spending the time with the family. And yes... I am aware I am going to hell for admitting such a thing.
tuna, i like the idea of celebrating the winter solstice rather than x-mas.
also, i'm considering coming out of the atheist closet @ x-mas dinner! =P (half joking)
Funny thing is I felt this way, even when I was little; before I actually knew WHY Christmas is celebrated when it is. You should see the baffled/disgusted looks I get from some people when I tell them. Stirring up the pot is so much fun to do sometimes. Tee hee!
and no matter how much history you pull out to show them, they still go, "that's bullshit! it's jesus's birthday!"
JEEBUS!
My brother's ex-wife and her family literally thought Christmas was on Jesus' birthday. Baked a cake for him and everything. She was floored when I told her it is just represented his birthday, that know really knows the EXACT day he was born.
DEC25th was chosen, being traditionally 3 days after the solstice, because in ancient times the sun quit moving south and appeared to stand still for three days. The 25th is when the sun appears to start moving Northerly again.
..Its only fitting a Mesianic metaphor , liek Jesus be associated with the moment in the year when the Sun begins moving upward again,.so, if you going to use a birthday cake , I reckon it should explain all that.
Also, the early Christians were trying to win the hearts and minds of the Greek and Roman pagans of the day, who traditionally had a big holiday bash around winter solstice. I guess the early Christians thought they'd win more converts if they co-opted some existing pagan traditions and symbols, sort of like how rabbits and eggs -- pagan fertility symbols -- became associated with Easter.
Of course, the proper Christian liturgical tradition is for the Feast of the Nativity (i.e., "Christ Mass" or Christmas) to begin on December 25th, and continue for the next twelve days. The four-odd weeks before December 25th is the liturgical season of Advent, which is supposed to be somewhat somber, penitential, and quiet.... Not the consumerist orgy that begins in fucking October.
(And my above post assumes you follow the western Gregorian calendar, not the Julian calendar still observed by many Orthodox Christians.)
i love christmas. we don't have it in japan. it isn't a holiday at all. everyone works on christmas day...
well, that ain't really true. we kinda have it but it has morphed into valentine's day, and all the couples spend the evenings at KFC then off to the nearest love hotel. KFC and sex support industry LOVE christmas in japan.
none of the above is an exageration.
in my home though, we do celebrate christmas. my daughters love it, and we envite friends and family for chicken (no turkeys in site) dinner and apple pie...is always brilliant.
i'm stretching my memory as i try to recall my classical civilization class, but i believe it was the roman's saturnalia holiday that the christians piggybacked on to create the spectacle of christmas. it's somewhat amusing to me that many christians will point to jesus as the founder of the church (which is basically true) but the critical moment for the success of christianity was its ability to take advantage of the roman empire's widespread infrastructure. if it wasn't for rome, christianity would have amounted to very little and certainly would not have the influence that it has had in western culture.
i'm betting puddles will hear a lot of jimmy buffett's christmas album over the next few months. 'christmas island' anyone?
ho ho ho and a bottle of rhum!!!
i love that album. too bad my parents stole my copy, i'll have to get another one i guess.
and an interesting fact is that jimmy buffet was born on december 25th.
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