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Topic: The 2007 "I Hate Christmas" Thread
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Sven
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9972
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posted 01 November 2007 07:38 AM
I used to hate Christmas. But, now, I look forward to it.I love surprising my Sweetheart with an unusual gift (something that you just can’t run out and buy). And, we’ve developed our own traditions that are fun to look forward to. Back when Ms. Sven was single and a secretary with very little money, she used to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies for three of her little nephews as their Christmas gifts. Now, they are all in their 30s, and two of them are married, and those cookies continue to be part of the Christmas tradition but in recent years they all come up for a long weekend at our cottage and the three boys (each with their own apron) spend an entire Saturday with their Auntie Sven baking and decorating cookies together (the girls—the two wives and me—go to antique shops, drink coffee, have lunch, or otherwise just hang out while the boys and their Auntie play in the kitchen). It’s just a great time. It’s something that they, and we, look forward to all year.
From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005
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jas
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9529
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posted 09 November 2007 10:25 AM
I get a bit stressed about the gift-buying, but in general I like the festive atmosphere, the coloured lights, the fact that, for a few days (after the shopping) people relax and are nicer to each other. But I have spent some lonely Xmases. Last year I didn't go home, and was not invited anywhere here, so I mostly just stayed by myself, worked when I could. But I had had a great Xmas the year before, and I thought, once every two years is enough. Trying to do all that every year, all that maudlin sentimentality every single year is a bit too much.
From: the world we want | Registered: Jun 2005
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 09 November 2007 10:38 AM
On one side of my family, we have the generational gift rule, which is that the adults don't buy for each other unless they're immediate family (like parent-child), and the kids don't buy for anyone, but we all buy something for the kids. That way the kids get lots of goodies, but it's not all on the parents to buy everything for the kids, and the parents don't feel like they have to buy a ton of gifts "from the kids" to everyone else. It's not as strictly enforced as it used to be, because now we're out of the habit of going nuts with Christmas gifts for each other, and a lot of the time we make gifts for each other or give pictures in pretty frames (which isn't too expensive), etc.On the other side of my family, everyone buys something for everyone. That's a lot of fun when I have money, because I love to give gifts, and very stressful when I have no money, which was often the case when I was a lot younger, and now this year.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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West Coast Greeny
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6874
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posted 09 November 2007 01:35 PM
I like Christmas.... between December 20th and January 1st. (Of course, I don't protest that school holidays are a little longer than that)I've always driven my parents a little crazy since I was thirteen, I tend not to even think about what I wan't for a gift until the 20th, and isn't THAT the perfect time to go shopping. This year I wan't some nerdy sciency stuff for my dorm. Its totally devoid of posters, or plants, or decorations of any kind. @ unionist
From: Ewe of eh. | Registered: Sep 2004
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 25 November 2007 06:14 PM
What's the green approach to the holidays?If you listen to the marketers, manufacturers and retailers, it's all about buying environmentally sensitive products -- biodegradable cards, gift wrap made from wastepaper and glass objets d'art fashioned from old beer bottles. Some critics are quick to assail the notion that you can go green by spending money, saying that this kind of eco-Christmas is more artificial than a plastic tree. But others call the trend a way to ease consumers into a greener way of life. "In a perfect world, the one we don't live in right now, there's something ironic about buying your way to green," said Deborah Barrow, founder of The Daily Green, a Hearst-owned online environmental guide. "But we live in this world, and this world has people who are heavily invested in a consumerist society and yet they're more and more interested in going green." LA Times See also: http://www.buylesscrap.com/[ 25 November 2007: Message edited by: M. Spector ]
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534
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posted 17 December 2007 08:24 AM
With your ground meat and some onions, perhaps a bit of mashed potato, and spices, you could always make a tourtière, if you know how to make a (not sweet) crust. Tourtière is often eaten with homemade ketchups. Michelle, there are several vegetarian and vegan versions. Last New Year's, I just made one based on Yves veggie fake ground meat - I used the "chickn" kind as it has less of a meaty flavour, which my veg friends wouldn't have appreciated - and a lot of vegetables including mushrooms. I also made a stock with a bottle of St. Ambroise Stout, a good local dark beer (I'm not a beer drinker, but I love this one for cooking).
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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The Wizard of Socialism
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2912
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posted 17 December 2007 08:37 AM
Speaking of sad Christmas tales that make me feel all cheap and shitty, I bought groceries yesterday. I couldn't fit anything in my little freezer because it was encrusted with four inches of frost all the way around and two feet worth at the bottom. I've been putting the chore of cleaning it off for awhile now. After trying to stuff some things in, I finally cracked and decided to clean the thing. The easy part was taking out the stuff already in there. Then I chipped the ice off the inside walls with a hammer and flat head screwdriver. I alternated between this and scooping buckets of freezer frost out. Occasionally I would stumble upon something from days of yore, all dry and crumbling. Near the bottom I found a 4 kg. box of Lillydale skinless, boneless chicken breasts with one or two missing. Since the box had been opened and the bag torn into, the chicken breasts had this weird, unearthly look to them. I thought they had gone bad for sure. So I was in the process of taking the box down to the garbage room when the little old lady from next door stopped me. We chatted about my freezer and whatnot, and I showed her the contents of the box. She couldn't believe I was going to throw out good chicken "just because it was a little freezer burned." I could tell she wanted the box, so I gave it to her. Good deal, right? This morning I was thanked by two other older people in the building for the chicken. It turns out the little old lady broke apart the mass of chicken breasts, wrapped them individually in saran wrap, and gave them to some of her friends in the building who were without. The idea that there are people in my own building who are so low on meat or fowl that they're fuckin' grateful for my freezer castoffs is really bugging me. I mean, I live in a nice place in a good part of town. Rent's not cheap here, believe me. I always thought you had to earn four times your rent to live in a place like this. And yet some of my neighbours are hungry?
From: A Proud Canadian! | Registered: Jul 2002
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