Thoughts on Christmas

(Picture from here.)

It's going to be Christmas in a couple of days.

Atheist that I am, I truly like Christmas. It has a number of interacting mythologies (Santa, angels, Jesus). It has winter. It has gift giving. What's not to like?

What I find most interesting about Christmas is the complete collision of things. We have the mythologies which can range from Tim Allen's Santa, to the nearly non-theistic angels of It's a Wonderful Life, to all of the different stories of Jesus. We have the economic aspect where somewhere between one third to one half of the revenues generated by many stores centers on Christmas. Economists watch Christmas as much as they watch oil in the Middle East.

Then, there's the family aspect. How many stories (anecdotal or in the media) that center around how terrible it is to be away from one's family at Christmas. I'm not being cynical here. I've seen grown men that fight tooth and toenail to avoid visiting their family during the year openly weep when their flights are canceled because of Christmas weather. Women who hate their ex-husbands and husbands who hate their ex-wives will (for the moment at least) remain cordial to get through a Christmas holiday. The symbolic attachment of family to Christmas is enormous.

Coupled with this is gift giving (and sometimes associated bankruptcy) that rivals a Northwest tribal potlatch.

All ground up together like hamburger and, like hamburger, it's difficult to separate the pieces.

I love it.

So: I'll call my sister (pretty much the other Last Relative Standing for my generation.) and some friends. This year Wendy's family will come to our place. We'll crack open another of the slowly dwindling cellar of Marvinwine. Toast each other. Eat vast quantities of food. Enjoy an inebriated excess of gifting. Sing some songs. And sit back in a pleasant stupor watching the tree blink on. Blink off. Blink on. Blink off.

I won't obsess about work. Or money. Or the weather. Or anything.

Blink on. Blink off. Blink on. Blink off.

Merry Christmas.
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I don't know where to put this: here.

Wall of Idiots
Monsanto and here
Alien giant snakes
Climategate. Again. And here.

Links of Interest
Galileo: The Beginning of Science
National Geographic Adventures
Gardens of the world
Bicycle routes of the world
Elevators of the world
Train rides of the world
Scotland's Hebrides
Very demotivational posters
Printable electronics
Genomic dark matter
Mysteries of Saturn
Made with Molecules

DIY
Fingerloop braids and here
Tile pictures
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Christmas crafts
What to do with all that milk?
Chickens