For us Christmas is all about the kids and gifts in the morning, and otherwise it's pretty much indistinguishable from Thanksgiving.

I come from a mixed-religion household....

MOM was Jewish
DAD was Catholic.

They both gave up their religions and raised my brother and me without any religion at all. We celebrated both Christmas and Hannukah.

It was nice!

Homemade fried chicken for Christmas breakfast, now in it's third generation. Eat first, then open presents. It's wonderful.

Christmas Eve was open all the presents for my wife then a huge family Christmas day meal (50 people) all these years later people are too old or too dead to do it so it's Christmas Eve with the in-laws (but not this year cause PaPa just had a quad bypass open heart sugery) Christmas Day the kids get the presents and dinner at someones house. This year it will be just us and the in-laws. My mom died at christmas last year. The sister in law is in Georgia because brother in law is in the Army. He's training to be a Ranger then it's off to Iraq. Pray for him or think happy thoughts, Thanks.

The one easiest to continue family Christmas tradition when I'm single and living alone is steak and eggs for Christmas morning breakfast. Which I will fix around 9AM local time tomorrow. With biscuits and either grits or hash browns (still thinking on that one).

Put up the tree Christmas Eve. Open presents in the morning. Recall how my mother used and re-used wrapping paper. Never NEVER tear it! Always open everything carefully so we could refold the paper and re-use it. Now, children just tear things off with no sense of re-use. Oh well. Times change. There is always a first ornament on the tree, a very old rocking horse made of sparkly paper. It's also the official lst ornament off, but of course there are always unofficial laggards found as the tree is brought out.

bilhelm-X @ 9:

Comida Cubano, my partner was born in Havana, with his family and their spoiled offspring. Also, I make about 60 lbs of fruitcake every year: one is the "red" kind (dried currants, organic cherries, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries soaked in brandy for 2+ weeks, pecans, a pound of butter, a pound of brown sugar, 15 eggs, then baked and "soaked" again), "Hawaiian" kind (dried pineapple, mango, papaya, currants, soaked in Capt. Morgan and 151, macadamias, coconut) which is to die for and of course one batch of that horrid glazed fruit for the traditionalists. It's not that bad because it's also soaked in brandy for two plus weeks.. The people at BevMore think I'm a complete booze hound around the end of November. Anyway, that's most everybody's gift and I've yet to receive any complaints! Christmas day is mimosas, piggy breakfast, presents and decompression.

You purposely make fruit cake?!?

*holds up cross, gives bilhelm-X the fisheye*
*sprinkles salt around self to be safe*

After we sacrifice the goat and smear blood all over each other,we burn a santa in effigy in the front yard, naked and covered in goat blood,we move on to the chickens...
Just kidding!
We go to my in laws on christmas eve,have dinner and exchange gifts.It's kind of weird,my wifes brother is divorced,but his ex and their family still come for the holiday.Testament to connections I guess.
This year we have to do it on christmas day because of work schedules.My mother in law was all bent out of shape about this until she heard that my son and his wife and her 2 grand children were coming,then she was cool with it.The circle continues to grow.And that's what it means to me,family gathering together,chow down,hang out and show off your kids and grandkids.
The continuation of the line.The circle game.It's all about family for us.

I'm Jewish...but my best friend does XMAS for my now 17 yr old daughter...We had it last night and its the first XMAS celebration with out my husband. He was bi polar and took his own life in July. But last night we continued our tradition and it was lovely...

To Godfry Daniel peace back to you

My Christmases are in my memory. Great exciting times,me as a kid all excited,later my daughter knocking on her bedroom door saying: "Can I come out now dad?"
Now it's all quiet,so I can lean back and start the video in my head....yeahhh.

i enjoy inflicting psychological damage on america's preeminent fascist neocons every christmas eve.

because, at the core, they're sexually-dysfunctional neurotic little douche bags who know, deep down inside, the chickens are about to come home to roost.

sayonara... beotches.

We have a light dinner at the folks-in-laws. In the morning, the other in-laws come over with their kids. We do the gift thing. I get drunk and pretend I'm not in the middle of Jesus land.

I don't really "do" Xmas. I went to a book store and bought a bunch of books. That was depressing.In this hellish exurb in Indiana, the giamungus Barns and Noble has a 7 ft T x 20 ft L book rack dedicated to "Christianity and Bibles". Then another one, same size, for "Christian Inspired Literature". Then ANOTHER one dedicated to "New Age". Then another for World War 2 and Military history. And another for Sports. But SCIENCE? It's 20 feet long, BUT: it's only 4 ft tall, and 1/4 of it is PET CARE. And the Science books? a third of them are stuff like "Calculus for Dummies".

Basically These people are IDIOTS. It's VERY disturbing. Bunch of boneheads.

My mother was a 16 year old nympho Catholic school girl who abused me from infancy. My father was a 25 year old statutory rapist car thief. Both second gen Italians who never learned the language & pissed away most of the language, faith & tradition.

I cook, so I keep that Catholic trad of Christmas Eve dinners with no meat: we just cook EVERY single other pasta & seafood dish imaginable until the tables bow. I eat the Italian trad deserts, like strufoli, & torrone,... I design my cards every year, & always give gifts that I would want. Like the year I gave $120 bottles of absinthe.

Thanksgiving I always spend alone: it happened by accident one year, & was so great, like a mini vacation. Now I cook for myself & take a mini-vacation in what is usually a really busy time.

Easter eve, I load up my vehicle with sandwiches & cruise the beach for homeless people, & hand out food until sunrise. Then I catch some non-denominational service as the sun rises, & go home to crash.

Hallowe'en is my favorite holiday: this year I officiated over a zombie wedding held at my shop. Next year, New Orleans for the Tattoo Voodoo Convention.

I can't believe this site hasn't jumped on the J. Edgar Hoover revelations. This guy actually had a list of about 12,000 American "trouble-makers" whom he considered "subversive" enough to be denied habeas corpus once the nation was put under martial law. He passed this plan on to then-President Harry S. Truman. The accounts do not report what "Give-'em-Hell" Harry did with the advice other than, probably, think to himself, "You goddamned crossdressing bitch! Put it where the sun don't shine."

Speaking of cross-dressers, you don't suppose a similar plan is keenly kept much in mind by Ru-liani? I mean, he does have than one trait in common with J. Edgar. Gee, maybe he also has a Clyde Tolson lurking in the background, using Judy as a front.

Holiday Rituals and Addictions, I mean Traditions lets see.

1. Avoiding the republican relatives when forced to attend the holiday stuff.
2. Pretending I enjoy the holidays.
3. Trying to do the opposite of what everyone else during the holidays.
4. Secretly waiting for the holidays to end as quickly as possible.

Johnny2Bad @ 29:

Oyster stew (Cream base, of course) for tonight...Huge from-scratch cinnamon rolls tomorrow morning.

Happy Holidaze Everyone!

Sounds good. Personally, I'd like to go with Ramen noodles tonight. But the sis in law is here so we have to go through this big deal. So I'll be in a self inflicted coma from sweets most likely. Then of course we'll have the obligatory two tons of food left over.

It's astounding how much people in this country eat. I mean, over eat.

Could I have cash instead of that?

http://tinyurl.com/2byltt

L.A. Confidential @ 34:

Could I have cash instead of that?

http://tinyurl.com/2byltt

Is a noble gesture but the worst thing one can do is give a starving person a HUGE meal then send them back out into the streets.

Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. It refers both to the day celebrating the birth; as well as to the season which that day inaugurates, and which concludes with the Feast of the Epiphany.

LOL right.

An economists analysis calculates that Christmas is a deadweight loss under orthodox microeconomic theory, due to the surge in gift-giving. This loss is calculated as the difference between what the gift giver spent on the item and what the gift receiver would have paid for the item. It is estimated that in 2001 Christmas resulted in a $4 billion deadweight loss in the U.S. alone.[43][44] Because of complicating factors, this analysis is sometimes used to discuss possible flaws in current microeconomic theory. Other deadweight losses include the effects of Christmas on the environment and the fact that material gifts are often perceived as white elephants, imposing cost for upkeep and storage and contributing to clutter.[45]

Fucking cool
I was watching something different
The effects of generations of Vietnamese
exposed to AGENT ORANGE

Hows your Christmas

Only in the USA
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/12/23/business/23house.xlarge1.jpg

My new Holiday tradition is reminding every Republican I know that there are 8000 American parents mourning the loss of a child this Christmas because of them.

My new Holiday tradition is reminding every Republican I know that there are 8000 American parents mourning the loss of a child this Christmas because of them.

well, I'm from the south, livin on the west coast
second year celebratin' w/ my lady friend's family
italian, guatemalan, mexican, and she's also peruvian japanese
but it's all traditional...
american style
save for the course of ravioli
then the brothy soup at the end
and the tequila!
me i invented a new family tradition
horchata (a rice milk cinnamon mexican drink)
with rum
I call it a Dickie Gomez
move over egg nog and rum!
no big religious factors here
both of us were
casually brought up catholic
but are more atheist in belief if ya need to put a word to it
the family as well for the most part
Happy Holidays to All!
Hope We Get It Straight in 2008!

i pray non-stop (to no particular god) for peace and count the seconds till satan-mas is over

I lived in S. Korea, working as an English teacher. One Christmas Eve we all met a fellow foreign teacher's apartment for dinner; he's an English bloke and loves Christmas...he loves it as tacky and tinseled as it gets. So the apartment he shared with his Korean wife was fully decorated, carols, egg nog...the whole nine yards. We had invited some of the Korean teachers who were thrilled to be included in a 'real' Christmas celebration.

One of those teachers brought a cake with her. All cakes purchased from a bakery in S. Korea come with candles; my guess is that Koreans associate cakes with birthdays. As the teacher brought out the cake, she also placed the candles into it and asked us what song we sing when we eat our Christmas cake.

There was a moment of silence, only broken by Alan or i (slightly fuzzy memory) saying, "We sing happy birthday to Jesus." It took a moment of looks from the two of us to quiet the other foreign teachers and another few moments to rationalize the song to the Koreans. "Christmas is, after all, the celebration of the birth of Christ," we told them. It worked. We lit the candles and then the 10 or so of us sang a rousing version of happy birthday...we could hardly contain ourselves. And it was doubly hard to not add the monkey verse, but that would have given the game away.

It may be that several Koreans are still insistent that Americans/Brits light candles and sing Happy Birthday on Christmas. I hope so, in any case. And while i don't bother to get a cake and candles, i still sing Happy Birthday to our Lord and Saviour. (There's a running battle about whether i'll be allowed to teach possible children this tradition.)

The Grinch stole the remark I posted!

Never mind, it was bitter and cynical at its core, but touched with sweetness and light on the surface. Or was it the other way around? :)

I quit "doing Christmas" when I was 10-11 yr old.

On the one hand, it's a totally sacreligious way to "celebrate" the birth of a spiritual leader.

And on the other, it conditions children to wanting "stuff" .. and relating to parents as givers of "stuff' instead of teachers & informants in the trials of life.

And .. it creates a society addicted to consumption.

I enjoy the Winter Solstice.

On the other hand .. this is just too trippy ..

Frisco Christmas Lights - Wizards in Winter

A CHRISTMAS TALE
by Charlie Wagner

When I was a young boy growing up in Levittown, my family did not have a lot of money. Usually we waited until Christmas eve to buy our tree, assuming that since they would be worthless in a few hours, it would be possible to negotiate a good price.
Old George had the christmas tree lot on Hempstead Turnpike, across from Times Square Stores. He always had the best looking trees in town, although they were a bit expensive. My brother and I went there at about 6 o'clock this one Christmas eve with about twenty dollars between us, bound and determined to procure the best tree ever.
There wasn't much left, but we found a fine douglas fir, just the right size and shaped as nearly perfect as one could expect. Old George was sitting in his usual spot in the office, right next to an old wood-burning stove. I prepared for combat.
"How much for this scraggly old twig", I asked? "We'll take it away for no charge!"
George looked up at us two insolent pups and replied "That's one nice looking tree boys, it'll cost you thirty-five dollars".
"Thirty-five dollars?" I pleaded, "Why I can buy a better tree down the block for half that price."
I should have seen what was coming. "Then go right down the block and buy that tree, because you're not getting this one for a penny less than thirty-five dollars."
"But George", I went on, "You're only gonna burn this tree tomorrow morning, because you ain't gonna sell all these trees tonight." Old George leaned back in his chair and glared at us for a moment.
"Well boys, you can just come back here tomorrow morning and watch me burn that tree, cause you ain't gonna get it for one cent less than thirty-five dollars!"
By fate's decree, I now found myself back in the old neighborhood on Christmas eve. I was on my way to my mother's house and thought it might be nice to bring a fresh tree. She lived alone and didn't decorate a tree anymore but I knew the old ornaments were still in her closet. I stopped at the christmas tree lot across from K-Mart, which used to be Times Square Stores. I found a beautiful tree, not too big and nicely shaped. "How much for this tree?' I inquired. The kid who was working in the lot told me to ask the boss, in the office. I walked in, and to my surprise, there was old George. And even older still than I had remembered him.
"George" I said "I can't believe that you're still here, after all these years. Do you remember me? I used to live right around here when I was a kid."
He did not remember. But I remembered. And we sat for the better part of the next hour discussing old times.
He told me about his wife, who had passed on some 5 years ago and about how he was laid off when he was just 52 when Grumman cut back the work force and how the only income he had now was his pension and the yearly proceeds from the christmas trees.
But this would be the last year for him. The land he had leased for over 30 years was being sold to a developer and he could not find another spot. He had no idea what would happen to him.
We sat silently for a few minutes, contemplating our collective angst and pondering over the mysteries of living. Finally, I spoke again to him.
"Well George, I'm sure everything will work out for you. How much for the tree?"
He looked up at me with a look of defeat and resignation.
"Well, that's normally a thirty-five dollar tree, but I'm only gonna burn it tomorrow morning, so twenty dollars will be just fine."
I guess that sometimes it's necessary to go a long way out of our way, to come back a few steps correctly.

"citronfromage"? "lemon cheese"?

Sounds like a fancy-schmancy word for "cheesecake filling" to me.

i have a big family and we live all over the place. my mom always has a great meal that is lots like t-giving but sometimes these's ham instead of turkey. sadly we have several reclusive peoples so we almost never see them. some years only a few make it and sometimes people drop in on different days around christmas. we have an all star cast of extra funny extra smart relatives that really liven things up if 3 or more are there. thanksgiving and christmas MUST have chicken dumplings-my favorite. blackeyed peas are good luck for the new year and since we don't have a big meal then she usually cooks them for christmas.
presents? mostly for kids. sometime some of us get mama something but she usually gets what she wants when she wants it. we mostly like to get together and tell stories and jokes, kid around a lot and maybe talk a little politics but lately that topic poops on any party.

We are Unitarian-Universalist, so we attend a service that includes readings from several religions and compares them to the Christmas story.

We usually overeat and have tons of food left. Not doing that this year.

sorry for the dbl post--i really really meant it.

I am always confused about the "War on Christmas" because as an atheist it is my favorite holiday. It is nice they made a holiday in the winter, which is usually the time if the year people are depressed. I usually use Christmas to buy books that I normally would be too cheap to get. I just finished "What We Say Goes" which is a series of interviews with Noam Chomsky so I am excited what my family has gotten me.

It's the liberal democrats verses the neocons at my son's house tomorrow morning. We're the liberals and my son's in-laws are the other side.

We agree to focus on the grandkids and NOT get into politics. But it's always there beneath the surface.

My daughter-in-law is on our side. Her parents are convinced that our family corrupted her. I hope so.

A Brief History of Christmas

The question of a crack/cocaine apartheid continues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX_C_Na8zuo

volunteering is a good thing to do, for all us cynics. I do it every year now, and it's a GOOD THING!!

oops!

Growing up with a single lonely mom Christmas was full of expectations that were never fulfilled that inevitable led to anger and recrimination and pain. I was too young to know other people had similar problems or worse. My mother was too alone to know it.

Years later after spending several Christmas Eves wrapping presents for people on the streets and understanding that loneliness is a state of mind my mother called me up and informed me she was dying and wanted to stay with me until the end.

That particular Christmas was the best we ever had and one of the best i ever had. There were no expectations, we just spent that day and the days before and after talking. It was a great way to see her off.

She died February 20, 1994. She left behind a wonderful Christmas i will never forget.

What?

But I thought leftists were anti-Christmas! Only neocons can be Christians. And certainly no atheists, agnostics, non-Christians can enjoy celebrating Christmas!

You mean Fox News and Bill O'Reilly was lying to us? That bastard!

Well, I'm just glad that neoconservatives like O'Reilly and Larry Craig aren't adulterers and sex freaks like Clinton was. Oh, wait...

I'm doing my best to spend all of my hard earn money to help American corporations have a great Christmas , as requested by the news . Following the lead or suggestion by NBC news that " businesses hope shoppers make it christmas for them " and even though they remind us daily for weeks and weeks and weeks in their lead story , I'm afraid there are a sufficient number of slackers , atheist and communist , that don't have any sympathy for the plight of Macys , during the holiday Season . Have they no shame ?
Are we consumers so self-fish , or so lazy to open our wallets and pull out the oil based plastic card , with all of it's magical potential , to purchase gifts for everybody and gifts that are trendy and wanted by many .

I mean how in the world would doctors survive if we didn't get sick , how would the auto repairman exist if our cars ran perfectly . Ever think about that ?Commie .

Do not CEOs , advertisers on news channels have families also ? They are dependent on us to do our part and support corporate america and with the gift of credit , giving us the ability to buy anything , anytime , any place , how can you turn your back on corporation s , during the holidays .

Yes , sometimes patriotism requires us to take on additional debt , but remember if those nasty Huns would have won WWII , we'd be stocking up on Sauerkraut , Schnitzel , and David Hasselhoff records . You tell me what's worst .

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone.

I just came back from a great time with my family - a rarity with my relatives.

Unfortunately... I am finding myself ill at ease now. This 'War on Christmas' crap has officially gone too far.

Why do I say that? Because when I got back, I went around wishing my friends, including some people I only vaguely know from message boards "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" pretty much at random. I got some surprisingly rude comments in return from a few people on the Happy Holidays bit.

Why can't there be just ONE day a year we can all put the hatchets away and just, ya know... be humans?

Can we ever get America back to a place where just trying to wish everyone a good time won't cause a big fuss?

Per QT

Why did Frosty the Snowman go live in the middle of the ocean?
Because snowman is an island.

Two Santas from rival department stores walk into a bar and get into a fight. Fortunately, a comma and a period are in the same bar. They get together and separate the two Clauses.

"Joy to the World" can be sung to the tune of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," for those interested in a change of pace.

Of course we already know that the words and music for Amazing Grace and Gilligan's Island are interchangeable.

Godfry Daniel @ 3:

My immediate family members are all dead and the others are too far away for me to visit for medical reasons. I will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas recording a song I wrote about being surrounded by Infinity. If you still have family, cherish these days. Peace.

Well then have yourself an existential Christmas.

I'm not religious, per se. Still, I find I enjoy the baby Jesus story as much as I enjoy Santa Claus. They're both traditions, and I see no problem in embracing them both. So why not throw in a pagan tree and some Madison Ave.? Whatever works for you. Include friends and family (and less shopping)!!!! (That's back in Canada.)

These days I'm in Korea, so Christmas is a non-event, pretty much all around. As I am a high school ESL teacher, I tend to focus on my winter off and flying down the SE Asia (for 7 weeks-- shut up, I know). I'm going to be "Living with the Elepahants", in Laos (and then heading to the beaches in Thailand). The elephants are my Christmas gift to me.

You can see the elephants I'm visiting on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2pJ1g4ZRo&eurl=http://tigertrail.travit...

Growing up in Canada, Christmas was always an excuse for my dad to get drunk and beat up on my Mum. Actually he didn't need a holiday to do that, but it's what I remember about all our holidays. I have my own family now, five kids, six grandkids, we do a little drinking on Christmas, but we're all "happy" drunks and Christmas is fun , no hitting, no fighting. Merry Christmas to all here. and here's to a Democrat in the WH next year! hic :-)

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Tonight.

Yum Yum

Thank the, uh, baby Jesus that the holidays are over, and wait for the suicidal thoughts to finally recede...

my post deleted???

afraid the wingnuts will declare the jihad of xmas on me??

hey lee...im jewish...wanna get married so i wont have to spend this xmas wacking off again?

My grandmother, (sicilian and a very good cook) would spend the previous two weeks cooking an obscene amount of food. Come Christmas Day she would hover over us, guilting us into eating more than one can comfortably hold. By around New Year's we would recover. We would then go to Grandma's for New Year's dinner and repeat the whole thing.
Now I go to my little sister's. She makes a much more modest repast. Then my nephews (3 and 5) try to find out how well I work as a trampoline

Every Christmas I polish my shotgun, pull out two grenades and prepare for the war on Christmas.

oh im sorry , you want storys of people finding holiday cheer and giveing preasents , food on the table turkey , gobblers angels on our shoulders moms apple pie, uncle fred finding the christ child on xmass day , santa crashing down the chimney , mass being held at st vith cathederal , a lepper being heald after a hearty meal of turkey and pumpkin pie, the lame being heald on a trip to our lady of conception, soldiers returning from the front lines after fighting the germans and shareing coffey tea and cigars in a xmass truce, reunions with moms who hate you and the father that spawned you , dogs that bite you because you never take a bath even on xmass, that kind of memmorys , ahh chestnuts roasting on an open fire ,all the faitfull comeing, ho ho ho and mistletoe have a holly jolly xmass, rudolph the red nose well you know, then you wake up on xmass morning and find the worlds still turned to shit, ahh christmass memmorys!!!!!!!!!!

Slavic/British type christmas for us. Many visitors, mini meals and cheers on Christmas Eve with presents opened the next moring first thing. Big giant meal Christmas day with homegrown chicken or turkey, homemade perogies and cabbage rolls plus all the usual and fresh breads. And great homemade preserves too like pickles, pickled beets n chows. Not much room for desserts.
We never went to church or anything so that made it way better. It was more like a feasting/family time from near solstice to the Orthodox Christmas in early January.

Best wishes and hope you all have well stuffed tummies and good laughs with friends and family.

52 jackpine savage Says:

You forgot to mention that all cakes are eaten with chopsticks in South Korea, which adds to the fun. Cakes seem to be the "western" soluton to every celebration!!

DennisQ @ 111:

Chinese don't have any problem with an "L" sound - that's Japanese.

As Chuck Jones (of "Looney Tunes" fame) once put it, ask someone to say "flying fortress". If they're Chinese, they'll say "flying foltless" and if they're Japanese, "frying fortress".

That should have read, "Instead of a 1500 calorie turkey dinner, eat a regular one..."