test blog #10

For the second year in a row, I didn't even bother with the wmtc i hate christmas tradition. I didn't see any shopping fervor, didn't hear or see an onslaught of ads. (Hooray for streaming!) We put up holiday lights, enjoyed two days off (hooray for vestiges of colonialism!), and "the season" passed quietly. I can't bring myself to say Merry Christmas,  but if anybody minds my "happy holidays," they don't show it. New Year's Eve was even quieter. I did the whole look-back thing in late November and early December, as we passed all the one-year marks of our move west and huge lifestyle change.  One bit of small-town and remote North Island life did bother me during the holiday season: all the restaurants are closed, and there's no prepared food to buy. If you want to spend a few days holed up at home, you have to plan ahead and cook. I did... but I would have liked a break. This is the price we pay for living in Port Hardy. It's a gr...

Last year, I took a break from my annual "i hate christmas" post. I don't remember the circumstances, but it was probably related to getting ready for our trip to Egypt. We lost Tala a few days later, but for better or worse, we were ignorant of that until the day before. This year I revive the fine wmtc tradition and then some. I did a stupid thing and it caused me to remember just how much I hate Christmas, like a sharp slap in the face: I went to the mall. Yes, after all my years of not stepping foot in any store for any nonessential shopping during the holiday madness, I found myself in a gigantic mall, three days before Christmas, in the afternoon. My hair salon happens to be in the mall. I normally go there first thing in the morning and am well clear by the time it is the slightest bit busy. But I waited too long to make an appointment, and I can't wait until January... and thus I ended up in a mall, the Friday before a Monday Christmas, at 4:00 in the afterno...

Right now I'm so busy, between work and union, that I barely have time to hate Christmas. As I've found in recent years , a combination of circumstances - getting out of the office worker environment, streaming-only TV and movies (ad-free!), discovering the authentic meaning many of my colleagues find in the holiday - has taken the edge off my irritation. I still hate that Christmas is a national holiday in countries that supposedly separate Church and State. As our world becomes increasingly multicultural, the Christmas and Easter holidays make less sense all the time. I still hate the hyper-consumerism. The music. The assumptions about our choices. The ads. The crowds. The Santas. Now that I think about it... I still hate  all of it . I just think about it a lot less. Our library, both customers and staff, is incredibly multicultural and inclusive. Yet, out come the Christmas decorations, the cards, the chocolates, the shopping lists, the Christmas storytimes. I find it incre...

Two years ago, wmtc's annual "i hate christmas" post declared: " i hate christmas is slightly less hateful this year ". Working in the library, as opposed to an office environment, I found getting through the holiday season much less trying. No more co-workers - at their computers, able to talk while they work - going on (and on and on and on...) about what they are buying for whom, reciting their shopping lists, a mind-numbing litany of consumption. My co-workers now are too busy, and several magnitudes less self-absorbed, to inflict that on anyone. And it wasn't just the absence of a negative. Colleagues described holiday celebrations that had nothing to do with shopping. Traditions that are meaningful and truly joyous: what a concept! This year several of my library colleagues, unbeknownst to them, gave me another reason to hate Christmas less: they wished me a Happy Hanukkah. And something strange happened: I felt my Jewishness a bit more. When one co-wo...

My annual I Hate Christmas post is a mixed bag this year. Last year, I found Christmas less awful than usual, thanks to the absence of both commercial TV and my law-firm job. Those changes are permanent (at least I hope they are!), so I may never need to hide from Christmas quite as much, ever again. On the other hand, Christmas at the public library is a grand opportunity for alienation. The decorations, the displays of children's Christmas books, the Christmas-themed storytimes... and everyone thinks it's all hunky-dory, as long as we stick to Santa and ignore Jesus. No crosses and no creche, but Santa's sleigh and Christmas music are everywhere. How do our many Muslim and Hindi customers feel? Do they know they're not the only ones on the outside, looking in? A colleague recently related how a customer asked if the library could do a Ramadan-themed storytime. My colleague was all in a huff. How inappropriate! Don't they know religion belongs at home? We are a pu...

I've noticed a distinct reduction in my annual irritation and disgust at the holiday madness this year.* An unexpected convergence of events has brought on a pleasant state of near-apathy. First, no TV. Watching shows on Netflix or by download is blissfully free of advertising. No salespeople dressed up as Santa Claus, no "gift ideas" for useless crap future landfill. Next, I haven't stepped foot in a mall. Not that I ever do much mall shopping, but my hair salon is in a mall, and sometimes some obligatory gift or errand forces me into the insanity. Not this year. Most importantly, I'm not working as legal support staff anymore. This means no more listening to co-workers recite lists of what they are buying for whom. I don't know why people do this (they can't possibly think anyone else cares?), but for me it was the low-point of the office work environment. And it's gone! Something also happened on the positive side of the equation. At our staf...

It's a wmtc tradition: my annual I Hate Christmas post. This year, it's a continuation of what we started here . Feel free to post your list, too, of any length. Hate only, please. If you love Christmas, go off and enjoy it. 10. "Merry Christmas" 9. "It's A Wonderful Life" 8. Ads where people are dressed up as Santa Claus 7. Inane advertising for inane "gift ideas", i.e. products that no one needs and will likely never use 6. Ignorant people bemoaning the loss of traditional Christmas, not realizing that most of these traditions are pagan 5. All talk about whether there will or won't be "a white Christmas" 4. Being forced to listen to my co-workers recite what they are buying for each person on their list 3. People asking me, "Are you ready for Christmas?" 2. Christmas muzak - everyfuckingwhere. 1. The fact that a religious holiday has become a universal holiday that we're all supposed to care about.

It appears that the tone of this post may be more angry and emotional than I intended. I wish everyone who celebrates Christmas a joyous day. I'm not ranting or raving, merely expressing my thoughts on this holiday's unique place in our world. * * * * I hate seeing consumer capitalism on overdrive. I hate that a Christian holiday is a national holiday in nation where Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Sikhs, atheists, Shintos and pagans - and whoever else - are supposed to be equally welcome. I hate being told that Christmas is no longer a Christian holiday, that it's now a secular holiday. I don't know if that's wishful thinking or amnesia or maybe guilt, but as far as I'm concerned, it's bullshit. I hate the assumption I need to substitute some other holiday or tradition for this holiday that I don't celebrate. I know people mean well, but asking me what I celebrate instead of Christmas makes as much sense as asking my Christian neighbours what they do ...

"The Profit," by Mr. Fish , used with his kind permission. Friend of wmtc Joe Grav sent me the official Fuck Christmas rant , taunting me with the notion that my annual "i hate christmas" post cannot compete. He's right, of course, so I won't even try.* Instead, enjoy this excellent video, finally available online for Canadians. I'm actually expecting a brilliant December 25 and 26 this year, involving humour from The Larry Sanders Show, food from President's Choice, beverages from grapes, and company from my favourite person. Plus - an extreme rarity in our home - paid time off. And if that particular magic can only be conjured through an ahistorical mashup of ancient pagan rites and hollow Christianity and out-of-control capitalism, then so be it. * Although I still need the mall for one thank-you gift. I reserve the right to rant if necessary.

This is the third holiday season I've wanted to post the same great video, but can't because of Canadian copyright restrictions. "Christmastime for the Jews" was one of Robert Smigel 's brilliant cartoons for SNL, featuring a perfect Phil Spector-style Darlene Love singing over the animation. We have it on a Smigel DVD which we watched yesterday - completely coincidentally to Christmas. US readers and Canadians with fake IP addresses can watch it here . Canadians without a workaround have to settle for audio here ; there's a still from the video here . However... searching for the video, we learned that TV Funhouse - the Comedy Central show , not the SNL shorts - is finally out on DVD! Yay! This is a must-buy for us. The short-lived, little-seen, late-night comedy was our secret obsession in the winter of 2000. It's a totally irreverent, hilarious cartoon spoof, in the style of those low-budget Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1970s and 80s. You might be ab...

Here we are on December 24, and I haven't written the annual wmtc I Hate Christmas post! I haven't found the season too oppressive this year, mainly because I'm so happy to be on my winter break from school, and have had very little contact with the so-called holiday spirit. I did have to hear the dreaded seasonal muzak while doing some errands, but mostly I've been in my own lovely Christmas-free bubble. It helps that I don't turn on the TV. Back in the days before we could watch whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, my least favourite part of the Christmas season was the endless repetition of my least favourite movie in the world, "It's A Wonderful Life". My loathing for this movie is partly fed by my extreme dislike of Jimmy Stewart. I grew up watching old movies, and I've had a nearly visceral disgust for Stewart probably since age 8 or 9. He's been in some excellent films, but for me any movie is marred by his ridiculous voice and pitiful...

I was very interested in your comments to my post i hate christmas, part 2 . Some of them surprised me, but it was interesting to see the range of reaction. Even more surprising, I had an unsatisfactory answer from human resources, which I posted in comments on that post. Today I exchanged little holiday cards with a few co-workers. A woman I used to work with left a card for me. We were friendly when we worked together, then she had a schedule change, and we haven't seen each other in many months. The pre-printed part of her card reads: Celebrate the season... Worship the Reason... Experience the joy... She wrote "Dear Laura" and "Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2009" in red - and underlined the words "Worship the Reason", also in red. The R in Reason is upper-case. And the bottom of the card, in small type, is printed: "Rejoice in the Lord always." Philippians 4:4 . She also underlined the quote in red. She knows I'm Je...

Further to my earlier post , I came into work this weekend to find the office (where I work on weekends) has been decorated to the nines. Someone had the idea of using cubicle decorations as a way of raising money for a needy family, and who can complain about that. Surely not me. I don't like the wreaths, I don't like the ribbons, I don't like the snowflakes. Despite the wintery themes, this is still about Christmas. But I can't say anything - especially working part-time. But when my own cubicle - which I see a mere two days each week, and which I share with two or three other employees - is adorned with pictures of Baby Jesus, Mother Mary, angels and wise men, I have to speak up. I noticed there is a Hanukah motif in one cubicle, so I tried to pre-empt that weak argument. My email, below. [HR people]: I'm sorry to bother you with this, but I feel compelled to speak up. At this time of year when most people are celebrating Christmas, it's worth remembering tha...

My Christmas filters are not functioning properly. I think the energy I usually expend keeping Christmas out of my life is being diverted by anxiety over the war resisters and the political situation. I feel like an old Star Trek episode: too much power is diverted, the shields won't hold. I notice that last year, I didn't write "I hate Christmas" until December 20 . (If you go back and read that old post, be sure to check out the comments. There are some great links.) This year, I have so much hate for Christmas, my rant starts three weeks early. I hate the advertising. I hate the constant exhortations to buy useless things. I hate the music. I hate the assumption that I celebrate this Christian holiday. I hate the assumption, since I don't celebrate Christmas, that I must be celebrating Chanukah, as if Chanukah has fuck-all to do with Christmas. I hate that this Christian holiday is plastered all over our supposedly secular world. Ramadan isn't pushed in our...

Only five more days. Only five more days of "Have you finished all your shopping?" and "What are you doing for Christmas?" and listening to the long litany of what my co-workers got for people I don't know and will never meet. Only five more days of this most irritating and pervasive assumption that I celebrate this holiday, because doesn't everybody? Only five more days, and sometimes I think I will explode before I get there. As with so many things, it's less in Canada than in the US. It's lower-key here, and it starts later. And thank goodness for that, because my tolerance for this Christmas bullshit is decreasing every year. When I was younger I used to like to see the windows on Fifth Avenue (a popular New York tourist attraction) and St. Patrick's Cathedral in its Christmas finery. But after you've done that a half-dozen times or so, the attraction wanes, then disappears. I'm grateful I've always lived in a place where I can sa...

Happy Christmas to wmtc readers who celebrate it, and an extra happy un-christmas to those who don't. We both work this extended weekend and next, but with greatly reduced hours. We move next Tuesday, Jan 2, so the extra time off is great timing. And this paid time off - what a concept! It almost makes up for having a day-job. Almost. Today we're having our newly traditional Mississauga un-christmas: dim sum. Can two years in a row be called a tradition? Why not! A typical New York City Jewish Christmas means Chinese food and the movies. The whole Jewish population of the city - sizeable, as you know - goes out for Chinese food, and everyone of any background who's had enough of their family goes out to the movies. The city's gazillion Chinese restaurants are packed, along with every movie theatre. On our last Christmas in New York, we pulled out all the stops . Last year, our first in Canada , we ventured to a dim sum restaurant recommended by then-new reader - and n...

The Globe And Mail 's travel section today highlights Manhattan . New York can be magical this time of year. I've heard the same about Montreal, and would love to see for myself. But thoughts of winter in my hometown brought back a very different kind of memory. And I realized... This is my first Christmas not stuck in Rockefeller Center on the weekends!!! HOORAY.

We never made it to the movies, but we had a lovely New York day, and today I'm filled with the goodbye-New-York blues more than ever. First, excellent dim sum at HSF in Chinatown, which was packed with both Chinese families and (apparently) Jewish families. All I can say is thank goodness there's a huge Chinese population in Toronto. After dim sum, we wandered around the part of Chinatown that used to be Little Italy. Little Italy these days is really just a few restaurants hanging on as the area grows increasingly Asian, mostly (I think) Vietnamese. It's cool to see the transition. I love the shops in Chinatown, the big jars of ginseng and dried fish, the tea shops and bakeries. Though the best Asian food in NYC is now in Queens, the city's original Chinatown is still thriving. I had heard of a hotel bar and lounge that was supposed to be a knock-out - we love hotel bars - so wandered over to Tribeca to check out the Tribeca Grand Hotel (click on Tribeca, then Church...

We never made it to the movies, but we had a lovely New York day, and today I'm filled with the goodbye-New-York blues more than ever. First, excellent dim sum at HSF in Chinatown, which was packed with both Chinese families and (apparently) Jewish families. All I can say is thank goodness there's a huge Chinese population in Toronto. After dim sum, we wandered around the part of Chinatown that used to be Little Italy. Little Italy these days is really just a few restaurants hanging on as the area grows increasingly Asian, mostly (I think) Vietnamese. It's cool to see the transition. I love the shops in Chinatown, the big jars of ginseng and dried fish, the tea shops and bakeries. Though the best Asian food in NYC is now in Queens, the city's original Chinatown is still thriving. I had heard of a hotel bar and lounge that was supposed to be a knock-out - we love hotel bars - so wandered over to Tribeca to check out the Tribeca Grand Hotel (click on Tribeca, then Church...

One last traditional New York Jewish Christmas: Chinese food and a movie. I'm really getting the leaving-New-York blues. Those of you who celebrate this holiday, I hope you have a wonderful day. Lately I've been seeing desk-pounding pieces by right-wingers up in arms because most people now say "Happy Holidays," to be more inclusive, as opposed to "Merry Christmas," which assumes everyone is Christian. Clearly the end of civilization as we know it. Next thing you know, the women will wear pants and the darkies will go to school with our children! One guy called it revisionist history. Actually, it's just the opposite. It's progress.