Families Who Think
Words to live by: The kid sound bite of the day
Lynn - 04:11 p.m. Pacific Time - Dec. 17, 2005 - #3592 of 3618
Arne's letter to Santa:
Dear Santa,
Please do not give me coal and switches. Maybe sometimes I couldn't hold it in, but I help people with science and I'm thoughtful. I help people when they're sick. I don't exclude. I don't swear and one time someone hurt me, but I did not get mad. I give poor people presents. I don't whine. I am honest. I don't brag and I am nice.
Besides that, I hope that you get to everyone's house. We have a little treat waiting for the reindeers. We have been nice all year.
I have a question for you. Have you seen Jesus? Is he real? I also have the same question about God.
What is it like in the North Pole? What does it look like? What kind of places are there in the North Pole? What do elves look like? How do they make toys? What kinds of machines do they have to make toys?
Thank you. I hope you have a good time flying. Maybe I'll see you tonight.
Arne
Private Life
What Is This OT of Which You Speak? II
bookseller - 05:21 p.m. Pacific Time - Dec. 18, 2005 - #7261 of 7912
For me, generosity really has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on a gift -- which is really what a dinner party is, or should be -- and everything to do with the amount of care and thought that went into it. One of the most wonderful gifts I ever got was from a friend who was totally broke. I had just lost an acting job that I had wanted very badly, and I was horribly depressed. The next night, my friend came into work and gave me this odd, ugly lump of gray plastic with a string hanging down. On the flat side of the lump, she had glued a piece of paper, on which she had drawn a cartoon of a teddy bear. When I pulled the string, this silly, tinny voice said, "You're on your way to the top!" Pull again, it said, "You're a winner, Teddy knows!" Pull again, "There is nothing you can't do!" And so on. The lump, it turned out, was the innards of a discarded talking teddy bear; my friend lived in the toy district. That weird lump cost her ... a penny for the paper and the ink, maybe? And I kept it for 20 years, until it got broken when I moved. It was, hands down, one of the most thoughtful gifts anyone has ever given me.
White House
W's Theocracy II: The Handbasket Stops Here
Anni Hunter - 09:42 p.m. Pacific Time - Dec. 18, 2005 - #7862 of 7971
Ya know what? I come from a military background, and our extended household looks like the fucking United Nations ... our habit of marrying abroad and outside our "race" and all.
I love Christmas. I love the food, the music, the booze, the rockin' good times we get to have with folks we don't see near often enough...
...and I love the cards. I can tell what relation is supporting what cause by checking the back ... so far, we have the World Wildlife Fund, the American Humane Society, the PAV, the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and ... Hallmark.
I love caring for the seniors in our mongrel clan in general, and particularly at this time of year.
Did I mention the booze?
I love writing the check to our local Community Chest, and to our local volunteer firefighters.
And I love service on the evening of the 24th. The kids have worked so hard, and their music takes me high, and always brings me home.
I love buying, making ... and wrapping the gifties. I love cutting the tree right off our own property, and particularly, I love this horticultural experiment we have going. The tree we cut in 2001 has provided the tree for 2004 and now 2005.
I love holiday cooking, though it is no longer my responsibility.
I love Christmas. And I really do think I have a handle on the true meaning of the season.
Maybe the Wal-Mart protesters should marry an agnostic, bring Gram home from the assisted-living facility, slide a Nat King Cole tape into the boombox, toss down some seriously doctored eggnog, find a wickedly witty card for that impossible atheist in the family, cook up some sinful desserts, wrap up a cool gag gift for family jester, and go listen to the kids sing...
Pardon me while I have me some Happy Holidays. And Merry Christmas to ya'll!
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