people seem to love or hate christmas. i am one who can take it or leave it. but i do love this quote (definetly anti-xmas!)

"Christmas is an awfulness that compares favorably with the great London plague and fire of 1665-66. No one escapes the feelings of mortal dejection, inadequacy, frustration, loneliness, guilt and pity. No one escapes feeling used by society, by religion, by friends and relatives, by the utterly artifical responsiblities of extending false greetings, sending banal cards, reciprocating unsolicated gifts, going to dull parties, putting up with acquaintances and family one avoids all the rest of the year...in short, of being brutalized by a 'holiday' that has lost virtually all of its original meanings and has become a merchandising ploy for color tv set manufacturers and ravagers of the woodlands." ~ Harlan Ellison

on the pro-christmas side, i can watch the peanuts xmas special (even with all the bible quotes) and feel all happy and warm inside.

here's my take on the holidays: don't have huge expectations or expect things to be perfect, try to be patient and kind (even if others are not), don't drive like a rude idiot, and calm down enough to enjoy time with friends and family.

ok, go read about harlan ellison, the coolest curmudgeon to come out of cleveland since before harvey pekar!