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11/16/2005: Christmas candies & the dolphin dream.

Dream Diary: I have no idea where this one came from, but it feels like it had to have some special meaning that some dream dictionary will be able to explain to me. Apparently, I had purchased, or inherited, or otherwise obtained…a live dolphin. A huge motherfucking dolphin, more gregarious than Flipper, shinier than silver, who swam to and fro in this big manmade ditch in front of my old house. I loved this dolphin. Because of the nature of dreams and how the relativity of positions and whatnot didn’t apply, whatever that means, I was able to chill out with my dolphin as he swam around, but never actually get wet myself. Then someone — I don’t know who, but someone official — told me that the watery ditch wasn’t proper for the dolphin, and that I’d either have to give him up or spend the cash needed for an adequate tank. Realizing that I didn’t have that kind of money, I looked at the dolphin and realized that he had to go. Then I woke up. Whenever the fun gets spoiled in my dreams, I wake up. I guess that’s okay.

I’m digging this. Christmas Christmas, everywhere, and I’ve managed to keep myself in check. I’m not blowing my wad with overexcitement before December, and for me, this is a major triumph. Phase 2 of the plan entails me making sure I spread out my remaining vacation days from work adequately enough to not lose the season in a sea of God damned Dora commercials. That said, it’s been nice. The Christmas music’s been nice. Going to Best Buy and seeing the little special area for holiday-related DVDs has been nice. Thinking about how the apartment we’re moving into soon will enable us to have a real dining room for next Christmas is nice. As I write this, Nat’s Chestnuts came on the Jukebox. That’s nice, too.

I’m also digging all of the new candy, which in some cases isn’t so much “new” as it is “back for another shot,” but whatever, it’s candy with snowflake-drenched packaging, and I’ll never fall out of love with that. Shown above are just four of the many things I’ve picked up recently, including medallion-shaped Nestle Crunch and Butterfinger bars, marked with Santa Claus Is Coming To Town graphics, not just on the packaging, but also on the chocolate discs. York’s Peppermint Snowflake just feels right, as nobody has ever eaten a Peppermint Patty in the history of Peppermint Patties and not thought of snow. Finally, Russell Stover’s White Chocolate Peanut Butter Jingle Bell is good, but not good enough to warrant a name that takes 45 seconds to type. Click here to see the candies opened and mutilated.

Survey: What are some of your more personal holiday traditions? I know you eat dinner with your family, I know you get presents, I know you try to watch Charlie Brown and your local tree lighting ceremony. But what’s some of the more personal ones? One of mine is the Christmas season Sunday newspaper scouring, a ritual that begins the first weekend of November. I just scour the circulars that come with the Sunday papers for anything Christmassy, from Target catalogues with a bunch of red ribbon graphics to one-page offers for ceramic angels with “HOLIDAY” etched over their asses. Your turn.

For more information about dung beetles, click here.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 232 comments

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1st. Sweet!!!!!

Ghosted by T.J> @ 11/16/2005 8:20 PM EST


My husband daughter and I load up in the car, buy hot chocolate and popcorn and drive around for about 4 hours looking at decorated homes. We listen to christmas music while we do this, then we stop at an all night diner and have a bite to eat. My husband and I have done this since we married 8 years ago… its my favoriite part of christmas!

Ghosted by bloodybrilliantme @ 11/16/2005 8:26 PM EST


If you ask me, I like to walk around my neighborhood and beyond on Christmas Eve just looking at Christmas lights. It’s lonely albiet, but then again…I’m a very lonely person…pity…

Ghosted by Laughingboy69 @ 11/16/2005 8:27 PM EST


I still play with my toys as if I was still 6, except I have better plotlines now. Well every christmas eve I get to open one gift. Then I turn on A Christmas Story on tbs or whatever channel that it’s on. I play with my toys and watch the best Christmas movie ever! Yeah!

Ghosted by Darth Poop @ 11/16/2005 8:29 PM EST


The day after thanksgiving, I eat all remaining halloween candy, look at christmas ads, and watch some of those Rankin-Bass animated specials that I have taped.
I try to jump start myself into the season.

Ghosted by Chris @ 11/16/2005 8:33 PM EST


Every year, my family busts out a terribly embarassing video of all of us dressed in tie-dyed red longjohns dancing and singing to a cassette we had just gotten: The Simpsons Sing the Blues. I was 7 or so, so my little sister and I can be forgiven, but my brother playing guitar on a dog bone, and my dad’s ass coming into the shot every so often cannot. However, I did the lamest white boy dance ever (somewhere between the running man, and the accidentally-stumbled-into-Soul-Train shimmy). Not many people have seen that video, but it’s always been a tradition in my house.

This year, I’m going to make the drinking of the Jones sodas a tradition. Wish me luck!

Ghosted by Quartalchondriac @ 11/16/2005 8:34 PM EST


Don’t worry Matt, I’ve got some FUBAR’d dreams m’self.

Being in Radio and loving Christmas, I started a tradition a couple years ago of reading "’Twas The Night Before Christmas" on, you guessed it, Christmas Eve. Since I do the night show, I usually run it about 9pm. I always pre-record it so I don’t screw up, then I’ll just turn up the studio monitors real, real loud and stand at the big picture windows and look out over northwest Oklahoma City whilst drinking hot cocoa. We usually play a couple Christmas songs afterwards, one of which is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas since it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs. It’s actually really nice and I’m lucky to have a boss that allowed me to start that tradition.

The only other thing would be that my fiance and I always make a much bigger deal out of our stockings than other presents. We stuff those things so full they usually have to sit on the ground because the nails in the apartment walls won’t sustain any longer.

Ghosted by Frito @ 11/16/2005 8:38 PM EST


Putting the ceramic ornament featuring Snoopy’s pal Woodstock driving a firetruck while donning a Santa cap on the Christmas tree…I used to get so pissed when my brothers or my parents would try to put it on the tree…

Ghosted by phunqsauce @ 11/16/2005 8:40 PM EST


Usually a week before Halloween I start scouring the Home Shopping Network to see if they’ve started to sell their cheap mini-light encrusted wreaths and topiaries. I also keep a lookout for those Time Life Christmas album commercials that seem to have become increasingly scarce in the last couple of years. Every night up until Christmas Eve I watch every one the Christmas specials I’ve accumulated over the years…A Very Brady Christmas, the Saved by the Bell Christmas special, Flintstones Christmas(the one from the origianl series), Christmas Eve on Sesame St., an X-men Christmas, the Grinch and Charlie Brown, and my personal all time favorite A Muppet Family Christmas. Oh… I also absolutly cannot miss the yearly broadcast of Toronto’s Santa Claus Parade (Canada’s equivalent to Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade). Something about that constant barage of marching bads playing Frosty the Snowman while people dressed up as upside-down clowns dancing around the Mother Goose float always makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s on this weekend!

Ghosted by dysalizar @ 11/16/2005 8:51 PM EST


When the Christmas season begins…the real Christmas season, when it’s actually cold and people put up their lights, not the "season" that begins on June 15th with everybody in the world trying to sell you Christmas crap…
Yeah, screw it, that set of ellipses just got completely out of hand. Start over.
When the Christmas season begins, I like to go to the park over by the mall. There, they have a massive set of Christmas decorations, huge sculptures made of wire and tiny flashing lights. It’s beautiful, and where else are you going to find a four-block-square Christmas display called "Festival of Lights" without even a hint of irony or shame? Anyhow, I’ve done it every year since I came to college here. The day before I go home for the holidays, I go to the Festival of Lights *snicker* without any of my friends, about an hour before it closes, when hardly anyone is there. Then I just walk around and look at the lights. It sounds trite, but at this point it is quite possibly my favorite part of Christmas, above and beyond all the family and fellowship and crap.
That probably says something rather unattractive about me as a person.
Anyway, I think this year I’m gonna go quite a bit earlier, when the place is still full of families and people. Then I’m gonna whip snowballs at all the kids till the cops drag me away. "You little peckers! I’m still eating three packets of candy corn a day because none of you bothered to knock on my door for Halloween! Eat slush and die!"
Ahh. Christmas.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 11/16/2005 8:51 PM EST


Well, last Christmas I had the flu so there was a lot of "not leaving my bed" and "carrying a bucket" around. I think those’re some good traditions to keep.

Ghosted by Gozer @ 11/16/2005 8:53 PM EST


Since my parents are English (though I was raised here in the U.S.)we always have Christmas crackers with dinner on Christmas Eve. Our personal tradition is that everyone wears their Christmas cracker paper hat all evening, and if someone gets sick of wearing it and takes their hat off, you can punch them in the arm.

Another tradition we started is that on Christmas morning the youngest family member puts on a santa hat and picks a present from under the tree, eyes closed. If it’s for them, they have to put it back; if not, they give it to the recipient, who opens it and everyone gets to see what they got. Then that person puts on the hat and goes to get another present, and so on. It’s a great way to make gift time last longer.

Ghosted by HerronBird @ 11/16/2005 8:53 PM EST


I son’t do anything out of the ordinary, but I have to watch every christmas special… EVER. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is reserved for Christmas Eve, along with anything else muppet related. Cartoon Network always has a crazy marathon, and I even dig into the untraditional christmas films like Edward Scissorhands and Gremlins. If it happened around Christmas time, it must be watched…

Ghosted by Mattman @ 11/16/2005 8:53 PM EST


One thing that I can always, always remember doing as a kid was getting up at like, oh, 3 a.m. and sneaking out to the living room with my trusty flashlight to check out the haul. If the Christmas tree wasn’t on, I’d plug it in, because nothing is better than that moment where it’s still dark out and the only light is the multicolored tree lights and all the glorious, glorious wonders are wrapped up under the tree.

I’d usually check out who, between me and my little brother, got the most presents, and who got the biggest present. I’d see how many presents I got from Santa vs. my parents. Plus, I’d take every everliving thing out of my stocking and try to figure out what they were. And then check on my parents every ten minutes until they FINALLY woke up (at like, 6-7 am) so we could open stuff.

My little brother is five years younger than me, so once he got to be old enough to not cry like a bitch if I woke him up, he’d join me and we’d whisper away, trying to figure out what we got and fake-fighting over who got the most/biggest presents.

Now that we’re older (he’s almost 18, I’m 23), he and I usually do the once-over real quick at some early hour and then go back to sleep till it’s a more reasonable time to wake the parents up. It’s not the same, but it’s keeping up the tradition in some form.

Another thing we do that isn’t exactly a tradition but happens every year just the same is the grand family fight that occurs whenever we put up the Christmas tree. Dad’s already pissed off from having to untagle 900 million feet of lights, my brother’s smart mouth is getting him into trouble, Mom’s running around screaming that we CAN’T have two RED bulbs next to each other, and do we really need to put EVERY single ornament back on the tree, and I’m trying to stay out of it but getting dragged in anyway. It usually ends up with Dad getting royally pissed off and someone’s feeling’s getting hurt. Ah, good times. Good thing my family’s dysfunctional like that and we don’t stay mad at each other long.

I love Christmas and I love you, Matt, for reminding me time and again of that fact. I’m really, really looking forward to X-E’s festivities this year.

Ghosted by Nicole @ 11/16/2005 8:56 PM EST


Herronbird – I like that way of giving out gifts on Christmas morning. Every year my brother and I always manage to bitch about who has to pass out presents (mostly because we’re lazy and don’t like to keep bending over and picking up packages). We might have to try that this year.

Ghosted by Frito @ 11/16/2005 8:58 PM EST


My parents still humor my little brothers and I by continuing the Santa business of filling stockings and leaving out unwrapped presents mysteriously in the night. I am now 24! My brothers and I religiously wake up at 4am and rendezvous in the back room for a "mission briefing". We wait for the right moment, then sneak into the living room using command tactics and liberate presents one by one, as though they were our buddies trapped behind enemy lines. The stockings are always first. The challenge is not waking the parents, as their room is adjacent to the living room. Also, working in pitch-blackness adds a great deal of excitement. Just what is this book-shaped thing I am holding anyhow!?

Ghosted by Snogurt @ 11/16/2005 8:58 PM EST


Hey Snogurt, how come we do just about the same thing but yours sounded more fun? :)

Oh, and Matt…I’m getting you something for Christmas this year. Don’t worry, it can be sent through e-mail. You’ll just have to wait till Dec. 25th to find out what it is. :D

(And apparently I can’t spell untangle, if anyone’s keeping score.)

Ghosted by Nicole @ 11/16/2005 9:02 PM EST


Pittsburgh has an event in late November called Light-Up Night. Everyone within a fifty-mile radius goes downtown and to walk around and listen to bands play Christmas songs, hear choirs singing, look at the department store windows, see a nativity, and see the entries in the gingerbread house contest, among other things. The best part is they set up an ice-skating rink in the middle of PPG Place (a courtyard area) with a huge Christmas tree in the middle sponsored by the local electric company, and some kid gets to plug it in. I. love. it.

I also invite my friends over to my house to watch the old Christmas specials with commercials – there’s nothing quite like nostalgia to add to the warm, comforting feeling of Christmas.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 11/16/2005 9:05 PM EST


Oh, and P.S. – we just moved into our first apartment with a dining room and it’s awesome. Have fun with that, Matt.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 11/16/2005 9:09 PM EST


Right. So I just spent some time wading through some truly atrocious web design, and I think I have your dream more or less pinned down. For the main part of your dream, I found this:

"These amusing, intelligent mammals are a sign of advancement through your own mental vigor, but other details of your dream should also be considered, such as the condition of the water, the location and/or action of the dolphin, etc."

Alternatively:

"To dream of a dolphin, indicates your liability to come under a new government. It is not a very good dream."

Also, dreaming of somebody diving into water apparently denotes the consumation of happy dreams and passionate love. A ditch indicates degradation and wrong-doing. Unless you jumped over the ditch, in which case you will live down any suspicion of wrong-doing. Seeing official figures in your mind (the ones who wanted to take flipper) is a sure and certain sign that the government is trying to hack into your brain. Don’t bother with the tinfoil hat, they’re bullcrap.
So obviously, based on the elements of your dream, you want to have sex with a dolphin. And yet you know it’s terribly, terribly wrong. Unless you jumped over the ditch, in which case you’re golden. And the government wants you to stop, I guess. But wait! Since the secondary super bonus meaning of the dolphin is "liability to come under a new government," it’s not your current government who is trying to hack into your brain. Obviously, you’re well within range of the CN Tower, so it’s the Canadians who are trying to break in. And, as we all know, all Canadians are 100% bang alongside bestiality. So they were there to convince you to move to Canada and pursue your deviant lifestyle, free of legal entanglements.
See? Dreams are perfectly simple and straghtforward, if you have the right tools. Along those lines, it’s really amazing how often the right tools are found on free webhosting.
Incidentally, I didn’t make any of those interpretations up. They’re all from various "dream dictionaries" scattered around the net. Well, except the part about the government trying to hack into your mind. That’s just common sense.

Now, if I got the gist of most of those sites, I’m pretty sure you owe me ten bucks now. Mon.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 11/16/2005 9:10 PM EST


I hate threadjacking my own thread because this is a great one so far, but Jedoc, to continue with your detective skills, I’ve narrowed down my dream to three buzzwords: dolphin, money and loss.

Dolphin: "To see a dolphin in your dream, symbolizes spiritual guidance, your intellect, mental attributes and emotional trust. Utilize your mind to its capacity and you will move upward in life. Alternatively, it suggests that a line of communication has been established between the conscious and unconscious aspects of yourself. Dolphins represent your willingness and ability to explore and navigate through your emotions."

Money: "To dream that you lose money, signifies temporary unhappiness in the home and a few setbacks in your affairs. You may be feeling weak, vulnerable, and out of control in your waking life. Additionally, you may be lacking ambition, power and self-esteem. "

Loss: "To dream that you lose something may mean that you really have misplaced something that you had not realized yet. It may also be a signal for you to clean out and reorganize your life. You have become overwhelmed and distracted with the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life."

Holy friggin’ accurate. Especially for a dream that happened after the day I had yesterday. :)

Ghosted by Matt @ 11/16/2005 9:22 PM EST


I love coming up with fun holiday traditions. I like to watch "It’s a Wonderful Life" every Christmas Eve. I wasn’t able to secure a room in my parents’ house to do that last year, but I might see if I can try again this year.

I go shopping with a girlfriend from college around the middle of the month. We meet at one of the local malls, exchange gifts, and get our presents for our families together. We were roommates in college, but we live in different parts of the state now and don’t see each other nearly as much as we’d like.

We used to open one present each on Christmas Eve when we were younger. I wouldn’t be surprised if we revived that tradition when my nephew gets old enough to be really excited about the holidays. Dad always makes this huge, artery-blocking breakfast after all seven of us open gifts. Later, after everyone’s rested and played with their new stuff (including the adults), Mom and Dad take us all out to one of the fancier places in Cape May for Christmas Dinner.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 11/16/2005 9:23 PM EST


My family has a tendency to end up eating McD’s for breakfast.

Also, I got a regional Jones Soda Holiday Pack. woot!

Ghosted by marioshoku @ 11/16/2005 9:32 PM EST


Before I participate with the survey, I have 2 things to say. 1st-Thanks for another jukebox.
2nd-On one of the other blogs people were discussing Matt being apart of the I LOVE THE 80’s shows. Fair enough but NOW VH1 HAS GONE TOO FAR AND ARE RIPPING OFF X-E DIRECTLY WITH:I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS. I know Matt doesn’t have the market cornered on the holidays (yet…) but c’mon!! Anyone else feel my rage?

Christmas traditions: Used to go to Hardee’s before we got our tree when I was a kid. Lately though, Mrs. Manimal are trying to get our own feel. E.Claire will probably help out a lot. VERY EXCITIED!!

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 11/16/2005 9:39 PM EST


Oh, I see. So given two equally viable interpretations of the same dream, you just automatically gravitate towards the one that suggests that you’re not sexually attracted to aquatic mammals? Awfully convenient, if you ask me.

Getting back on topic, reading some of these entries reminded me that some people actually open all their presents on Christmas day. In my family, starting when I was about eight years old, we always open one present apiece every Sunday of Advent. Then on Christmas, we open our "Santa" presents, as well as whatever’s left in our stockings. Like chocolate oranges. Because, you know, our parents are brats who can’t wait for Christmas any more than we can. Heh.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 11/16/2005 9:41 PM EST


I always watch the He-Man She-Ra Christmas special.I recorded it off of USA in 1989 and I’ve been watching it since I was 3.That special is terrible,yet hilarious at the same time.How can Skeletor being filled with Christmas spirit get any less funny? I liked the review you did too.I seriously thought I was the only one on Earth who remembered it other than maybe the animators and voice actors(doubt it).It’s got a lot of commercials you’ve reviewed too,like the Santa’s helper hotline.It also has a commercial for The Wizard,an annoying Fruity Pebbles commercial where Barney raps,Bouncy Babies,My First Sony,and an old school Honey Combs commercial.But yeah,the He-Man She-Ra Christmas Special is beyond horrible,but that’s what makes it so great.I wonder,was Hord-Prime ever in the He-Man or She-Ra series?Luckily those annoying kids weren’t!

Ghosted by Suren @ 11/16/2005 9:46 PM EST


Manimal – We used to have the Hardee’s tradition…until the evil Carl’s Jr. took over. I remember eating fried chicken from Hardee’s every Christmas Eve.

No more, though. Boo.

Ghosted by Frito @ 11/16/2005 9:50 PM EST


My mother puts the tree up within 1 week after Thanksgiving and starts putting presents underneath for WEEKS just to torture me until Xmas morning. When I was younger I’d grab a scissors, gently undo the scotch tape on my presents, peek in to see what it was, then tape them back up.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 11/16/2005 9:52 PM EST


Not complaining for one second for your tireless efforts but no CHRISTMAS IN THE STARS or JOHN DENVER AND THE MUPPETS? :) Seems like they would be right up their on your list.

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 11/16/2005 9:52 PM EST


My brother and I wake up early on Christmas morning, but the "rule" in our house was that we could not wake up my parents before 5:00am. So we would stay in my room and watch the clock, counting down the minutes (sometimes one of us would sleep while the other kept watch…only 1 hour and 22 minutes left…) etc. Then at 4:59am, one of us would stand at the door ready to run, and the other would sit on the bed and watch the clock, and yell when it turned 5:00am "go!" and then we would both run across the house yelling "Merry Christmas" After waking my parents up, we open our stockings, eat hominy and sausage for breakfast, and then open the presents under the tree. We still do this pretty much every year (sometimes we wake up a bit later now, but we still do the running across the house thing), I am almost 23, and my brother is 21.

Ghosted by LuLu @ 11/16/2005 9:52 PM EST


These post are long and scary. I don’t have any unique personal traditions because everyone in my family hates each other so we just meet up, eat and then leave before someone shoots someone else. That’s kind of a personal tradition right? The tradition of not shooting each other despite all temptation?

I had a dream last night about Crystal Pepsi. It was about me finding the last of the Crystal Pepsi in the world. I had a can, 1-liter, 2-liter and one of those long thin cans that they don’t even sell Pepsi in. The dream was about me getting angry because I couldn’t take a single picture and get all of the items in it at once while focused. After about 5 hours of me moving the can behind the other can then back around a monkey bit my cousin in the front room and started throwing antiques around. Finally the monkey killed me.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 11/16/2005 9:56 PM EST


Oooh, let me, I’m good at this now! dohopoki, you had that dream because you are obviously a crazy person. Like, holy crap, look at that dream. Go take some pills so that you’re not so crazy anymore.
Okay, fine, there’s a slim chance that my interpretation may be a little off. But probably not.
Oh, and, uh…it also signifies that you should give me ten dollars.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 11/16/2005 10:04 PM EST


I’ll be back with my debit card!

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 11/16/2005 10:07 PM EST


Talking about the circulars and looking at all the holiday sales made me think about the Sears Christmas Wish book. The thing was bigger than the telephone book and all the toys inside were set up in elaborate displays GI Joes driving around in jungle terrain shooting up Cobra, Optimus Prime looking too cool for words and ready to blast Starscream to ash, Star Wars, glorious Star Wars at least 3 to 4 pages worth of Star Wars toys and pictures. I remember getting the wish book in the mail and sitting on the couch all afternoon with a pen or magic marker and circling everything I wanted for Christmas… the whole book was circled by the time I was done (except the dolls section of course, that was ripped out and given to my sisters. They couldn’t have the book, but they could have the 9 pages of pink) and then after I finished going through it cover to cover, I’d start all over again. It was one of the best things to do around Christmas. Now I look at the Target "Toy Book" and it’s 20 pages of bland small pictures and a few coupons. Toy’s R Us’ is worse…. I miss the Sears Wish Book.

Ghosted by Double G @ 11/16/2005 10:08 PM EST


Here’s another. Every year me and my mom put up the christmas tree together. The Star Wars ornaments go up first and then all of the others are put on. Now here’s where I’m breaking tradition. Before this year the ornaments were all in their own areas. Star Wars, Star Trek (they’re my moms ornaments I swear!), national monuments and so forth. But this year I’ve decided to spread the ornaments around. Equality for all ornaments! Me and my mom finished decorating the tree sunday! :)

Ghosted by Darth Poop @ 11/16/2005 10:10 PM EST


Am I going nuts, or is Manimal confused? I don’t see any differences between this jukebox and the one from last year, yet I get the impression from Manimal that it is different? I thought Matt was just linking again to the old one…*scratches head*

(Hahaha, South Park is totally busting on Scientology right now…sweet.)

Ghosted by Nicole @ 11/16/2005 10:10 PM EST


Nicole- Look closer at the juke box. There are a few more songs this year.

Ghosted by Darth Poop @ 11/16/2005 10:13 PM EST


The jukebox has not been edited yet! :)

Ghosted by Matt @ 11/16/2005 10:14 PM EST


Didn’t mean to start anything with the jukebox.
I thought the I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS debacle would be more provocative than arguing about the jukebox…

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 11/16/2005 10:25 PM EST


We have "Beary Merry Christmas" which is an advent calendar made of soft fabric. The thing itself depicts a huge house with things going in each room. Every day until Christmas there’s instructions, such as "Today Bear looked for Christmas under the kitchen table…" I love that thing so much that it’s well worth drawing blood from its bent pin every day.

Ghosted by Jeff Mack @ 11/16/2005 10:40 PM EST


Suren et. al., did you know that the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special is coming out on DVD? Not till Dec. 6th, though. And I’m sure it wouldn’t be the same without the classic commercials, but then, nothing is.

Ghosted by Nicole @ 11/16/2005 10:45 PM EST


I wish it was the classic commercials that were coming out on DVD. :P

Ghosted by Double G @ 11/16/2005 10:51 PM EST


My family always gets a REAL tree; we go to the farms and cut one ourselves. It helps to live in Oregon, where all the christmas trees are grown and shipped. No middleman fee involved.

Our house is stuffed with traditions, from the stick-on window decorations to the holiday-themed cassettes we’ve played every year since 1993 to the impossibly delicious sugar cookies with the giant Hershey Kiss in the middle. (You can’t buy those cookies, unless you want to buy them from my mom.)

Ghosted by Mars @ 11/16/2005 10:53 PM EST


At some point before the holiday, my family watches Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas and A Muppet Family Christmas. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street usually gets in there too, among others (we still have original tapes of The Smurfs Christmas, Glo-Worms Christmas, ALF Christmas…all kinds of goodness).

I started my own tradition of watching Gremlins every Christmas Eve.

My family goes to our church’s candlelight service on Christmas Eve evening. Then we go out driving and looking at Christmas lights. Then we come back and get first crack at the Christmas cookies my mom made. My dad makes cocoa. We hang our stockings. My dad dons a Santa hat and reads us The Night Before Christmas from the same book he used when we were little. Then, it’s bed.

We get up around 7 for presents. Usually we went to my grandma’s for Christmas, but she died a few days after Christmas last year. New traditions to be forged, I suppose.

I can’t wait.

Ghosted by mtrox @ 11/16/2005 10:53 PM EST


don’t trust those dream dictionaries. Different people have different dream language. At least according to Jung .

Anywayyy, my grandma always makes this strange egg bread concoction.. and I think we usually decorate the tree while "it’s a wonderful life" is on. I’ve never actually seen the majority of that movie, however.

Ghosted by lindsay @ 11/16/2005 11:17 PM EST


In the weeks leading up to Christmas, my sister and I always have to get together and watch a set of Christmas movies. Every year we find our tapes of Santa Claus: The Movie, The Christmas Toy, and The Ref.

The Christmas Toy is a bit special because our parents recorded it way back in the 80’s before they had cable. So the tape is full of snow and static, but we don’t care. As far as I know it was only shown on TV that one and only time. What I wouldn’t give to get a fresh copy of that movie.

My mom loves to go "Christmas lightlooking" with anyone she can fool into getting into the car.

On Christmas morning my family and I always make blueberry muffins for breakfast. I have no clue how this tradition was started but every year of my life we’ve done it. Come hell or high water we’ll have blueberry muffins in the house for that day.

After breakfast we would go to see my grandparents and get gifts from them. But sadly most of them have passed on and it’s been reduced to seeing my grandma on Christmas Eve.

Ghosted by Punisher Bass @ 11/16/2005 11:29 PM EST


Haven’t read this whole thread, but here are my personal traditions:

No decorations, etc until after Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving, out come the decorations and in goes the Christmas playlist. I listen to Mostly Mannheim Steamroller. Over and OVER. Until Jan. 6th.

I always make it a habit to play old school video games more around Christmas, especially as I grow older and have less time to play games.

But perhaps the greatest tradition has to be watching "Scrooge" (The musical) and "A Tuna Christmas"

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 11/16/2005 11:37 PM EST


Double G

I also miss the Sears wish book. I remember poring over that thing for HOURS. The TRU "Big Toy Books" used to be a lot better, too.

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 11/16/2005 11:52 PM EST


Well, I try to wait as long as possible till I can’t stand not doing insane amounts of Christmasy stuff. Then, halfway into November (because Halloween rocks and Thanksgiving is a fake/lame holiday), I bust out my Santa hat, crank up the Nutcracker and decorate the apartment with EVERY SINGLE christmasy item I own. After doing so tonight, had THE BEST evening for cool holiday stuff:

Went to Target, snagged a tree table and Playmobil Nativity Set! Last one, and on sale! Couldn’t get one for love or money within December last year.

Then, on to my local Hy-Vee (a grocery store). What did they have? OH YEAH! Christmas Crunch!! Two boxes go into my cart. Then, after giving up all hope, I hit the frozen dessert aisle.

JELLO PUDDING POPS!!!! Life is SOOO Good! This year, it’s back to the 80’s in style as I watch He-Man’s Christmas Special, eating Christmas Crunch and getting diabetes from finishing off all the "Swirl" pudding pops afterwards.

In the words of Kool-Aid Man, OH YEAH!

Ghosted by Terror Claws Cole @ 11/17/2005 12:17 PM EST


Just a response to Terror Claws Cole:

I forgot. I saw Christmas Crunch too. Could it be more widespread this year?

Ghosted by mtrox @ 11/17/2005 12:20 PM EST


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