The Archives

• christmas

  The mom who killed Christmas (almost)

  12.16.08 | Permalink | 8 Comments

  I heard on NPR today that Charles Dickens was the man who invented Christmas after A Christmas Carol encouraged people to celebrate with family and goodwill and Rizzo the Rat. Apparently the Puritans and Protestant Reformerators had banned Christmas celebrations in both England and the U.S. at various times because it was too commercial. (and [...]

• commentary

  Maybe it’s just all advertising

  12.07.08 | Permalink | 8 Comments

  Thanks to the great cultural advancement that is the DVR, I can watch plenty of mind-numbing TV without commercial interruption. But sometimes, as I’m fast-forwarding to the next diagnosis on House, I catch a spot that looks intriguing. Lexus has their annual December to Remember campaign going on. The ads start with a little boy [...]

• christmas

  Last Christmas I wa-a-sn’t strong

  11.08.08 | Permalink | 21 Comments

  Christmas is always more stressful than it should be, and now that we live in a fancy neighborhood, with Trick-r-Treating and streetlamps and such, I fear the neighbors will be distributing competitive baked goods and hand-stenciled holiday cards beginning next week. I’ve been experimenting with simple-but-stunning hand-dipped candies, and nothing is as easy or cheap [...]