Christmas Thoughts
Added 2021-12-25 10:17:58 +0000 UTC- Christmas was never a huge thing in my family for obvious reasons, but I’m sad for the people missing out on their traditions this year. My brother’s wife LOVES Christmas, to the point of wearing flashing Christmas tree earrings and singing carols to her children all year round and I can see how it would be a vector for immense joy. And any excuse to sing together makes me happy.
- Carols are more or less the only remaining functional folk music. In the most classic sense of the term, rather than the modern genre definition. Mostly oral tradition, passed from person to person, regional variations…
- Use this chance to unsubscribe from all the companies sending you Christmas messages. They don’t really hope you have a great day, they’re just reminding you they exist. Treat yourself to an unsubscription frenzy.
- This time of year highlights for me the irony of the War On Christmas debate about Americans wishing each other Happy Holidays when their whole culture is pathologically opposed to taking more than like three days off.
- I had an alone Christmas day with my infant due to various family members having brushes with omicron (all negative so far but playing it safe), and am practicing gratitude at the exceptional privilege of being in a place where so far the progress of an apocalyptic mass global death event is mostly marked in my day to day life being increasingly boring. What an incredibly fortunate position to be in.
Lots of love to you all
Xx
A
Comments
I think preserving the folk tradition may be the real reason for Google giving customized search results. With so many people searching for lyrics to carols online these days, it's important that everybody gets slightly different ones, depending on accidents of (search) history.
2021-12-25 20:57:46 +0000 UTCAs a Jew, the “war” on Christmas always makes me laugh. I wonder how Christians would’ve responded after a lifetime of hearing only Happy Hanukkah? I’m not religious (the good ol’ Jewish American atheist), so hearing Merry Xmas was never a big deal, but the majority can’t even handle when the Starbucks’ cup isn’t the “right” design. Anyway, that’s a gorgeous picture. Happy Boxing Day to you and your little one. 🎁
2021-12-25 20:45:15 +0000 UTC[My original comment seems to have fallen foul of Patreon's spam filter. At least, it seems to be gone. Sorry if it turns up twice, after all.] The Christmas cheer all year round reminds me of an investigation by Jon Ronson about “Santa's little conspirators” in North Pole, Alaska. Begin quote: Everything in North Pole is Christmas-themed. It is Christmas Day 365 days a year. The decorations are always up. It never stops being Christmas here. Never. Wherever you are in the world, if you write a letter to Santa, and address it simply "Santa, North Pole", your letter will most likely end up in this tiny Alaskan town. […] Each week in November and December, a box of Santa letters is sent over to the nearby Middle School where the town's 11- and 12-year-olds - the sixth graders - write back in the guise of elves. It is part of the curriculum. But there's something else - something bad. Six of last year's Middle School elves, now aged 13, were arrested back in April for being in the final stages of plotting a mass murder, a Columbine-style school shooting. […] End quote; published in his book “What I do” and before that as “Bad tidings” in the Guardian, 2006-12-23; cf → www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/23/usgunviolence.usa
RT Happe
2021-12-25 20:10:31 +0000 UTCHappy days! And enjoy your boredom as well as you can!
Ben Ward
2021-12-25 20:05:30 +0000 UTCSo sorry that you're alone with a baby, that can be very tough. I hope your bub at least lets you sleep enough, and your nearest & dearest get clearance to see you very soon.
2021-12-25 15:38:42 +0000 UTCNo matter who or what happens to be the imaginary friend of choice, may peace be with you, your family and friends. You have given many the gift of joy through your humor. Take care out there! Aloha.
Ian Stark
2021-12-25 11:40:01 +0000 UTCStay safe Alice and I hope that you are able to spend time with your wider family as the holiday season progresses. I also hope that December 2021 will always hold special memories for you because it is your first with your little baby. My sons are both in their 20s now but they still chose to spend Christmas with my wife and I, which is as lovely a gift as we could ever wish for. Martin
2021-12-25 10:38:20 +0000 UTCI wish I could share with you my joy of Christmas, for me it really is magical, a time to show appreciation for the good people in our lives and to get back in touch with those that our busy lives have left by the wayside. However you celebrate it, do celebrate it, stuff all the commercial crap, give to those you want to give to and enjoy the process, whether or not they choose to give to you. Take care, be healthy, be happy x
2021-12-25 10:26:14 +0000 UTCHappy Christmas, Alice 🙂
Tim Parsons
2021-12-25 10:23:11 +0000 UTC
