Hey yall! After a brief introduction where I talked about Christmas hangovers and decorations, I launched into a subject near and dear to my heart: nuance and context as it pertains to comedy! Hope yall enjoy, and if you’re in Asheville I’ll see you TOMORROW NIGHT at The Grey Eagle!
First time since my son's death 6 yrs ago. I put up my little tree, still enjoying it. Plan to put it away probably this weekend 1/7. In the past use to put up my Christmas decorations 1st week in Dec, take it down 1st or 2nd week in Jan. Enjoy those mini lights on outside trees or large artificial or real plants indoors, all year long.
I don't take mine down until Jan 6th. It is the end of Christmas according to the church calendar. I'm retired theologian/clergy so there is that. If you really want to keep them up there is always Candlemas which last until February 2nd,
Tree usually goes up 1st or 2nd week of December and usually comes down New Years Day because it’s in the living room and I can do it and watch football at the same time.
I got new walking shoes and a couple more workout pants with pockets to hold my iPhone so my steps get counted. I have been obsessed with closing my Fitness loop since my back surgery in June.
Slow decoration from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve this year. We keep them up until the end of January to stay uplifted. The glow of lights is very calming and makes me feel like we live in simpler times like the glow of candlelight.
The most excited our kids got this year was for the giant dino nugget shaped pillows for the kid who lives off of those things and the plushie Plague Doctor doll I got my teen. Sometimes it’s the weirdest most random shit that makes them happy!
I think that a lot of people are more literal than we realize - I find that to be true when explaining creative concepts to people who don’t work in creative fields. It’s a shame because having vision and creativity and nuance is really a joy in life and makes it more tolerable a lot of the time. I wish we could teach people how to read between the lines and envision things beyond their own first reactions.
Here’s to having more fun and empathy in the new year!
I retired from health care, working hospitals and nursing homes. We have a sick sense of humor that not many people understand. Humor is the best medicine.
Ho, ho, ho to Daddy Cho and Madame Amber and his Mini-Me Captain Bain of the Spanish Main.
The thing I hate about Hitler is that he ruined Wagner for everyone else. Someone left a party of mine in high dudgeon (as opposed to middle or low dudgeon) because one of my other guests expressed admiration for Die Walkure (The Valkyrie). "I do not socialize with Nazis!" he explained later.
Drown the Trump in purée de horsepoop? Disrespectful! To horses. Also a waste of good fertilizer, my friend. I recommend dipping him in honey and placing him in a bed of fire ants.
Christmas. Sigh. During my outrageously coddled childhood, I used to wake up in the morning and wonder how close it was to (1) my birthday; and/or (2) Christmas. Nowadays, it challenges me severely to decide which holiday I loathe the most. (Along with New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day.)
When I was still a practicing Catholic (age 12) and attended midnight Mass (with the Latin and the incense) I felt like I was in the presence of something magic. If I could have retained even a trace element of that kind of belief... (sigh)
Without one shred of pretense, my mother hated Christmas. I don't want to go into the theoretical reasons here, but I think it had a lot to do with her Depression childhood. She was the sort of child who eavesdropped on adults as they worried aloud... (can we afford to get the kids anything this year?)
So -- come Christmas morning, her brother and sister would be whooping over their presents and she would be looking at her gift, wondering if it had been paid for.
The only bright spot was the gift from one of her grandfathers who gave every child a dollar bill at Christmas. She told me she planned for that dollar all year.
Then there was the buried conflict based the fact that she was Catholic and my father was Devoutly Nothing and she was convinced that he Was Mad Because She and My Brother and I would be leaving the tree and attending Mass. (Holy day of obligation...)
AND... if you asked her what she wanted, it was "I want a clean house!" "I want you and your brother to get straight A's" (A little hard to wrap, I think.)
This attitude of hers gradually made me feel guilty about enjoying any part of the Yuletide holiday -- it almost seemed disloyal. Which is partly why I have inherited her dislike of Christmas.
I live alone, I have few visitors and I keep the nativity set up all year because Jesus was Christ the Lord on the other 364 days. (365 during Leap Year.) Otherwise, I don't decorate for myself. I used to hang lightweight ornaments on a Norfolk Island Pine tree, but I started to get ant colonies in my houseplants AND I had a cat who thought the pots were her personal latrine.
What I DO like: finding gifts that hit for my brother's grandchildren. They are easier to please than his children who were horribly competitive at Christmas. They wouldn't look at their own gifts -- they would be scoping out the other kid's loot to see if they got "more." Which meant that every year, someone's feelings would be Hurt.
My swag amounted to one bag. Coffee beans and bourbon are always welcome. But I have to ask for specific things and I have to be careful to ask for something the others are going to want to give me anyway. (Clothes, kitchen utensils, forget about asking for a Swiss Army knife.) Even then, half of the time, they don't listen. The saddest thing about Christmas is looking at a pile of gifts and realizing that your so-called nearest and dearest don't really understand one goddamn thing about you.
I did have a friend who was a genius at giving me gifts. Best example: there used to be a cartoon strip "Bloom County" that we both loved. I particularly liked Opus the Penguin. One Christmas season, I was in a toy store and saw a plush toy Opus. I picked him up -- he was very huggable and I thought... "I could buy this for myself... but no. I'm thirty-five. I'm too old for toys." Sighing, I put Opus back on the shelf.
A few weeks later, I went to my friend's apartment for our gift exchange... I unwrapped the package... and there was Opus. And I had never said ONE WORD to him.
(Later he said, "I'm glad you like your present, but we are NOT sharing the bed with a toy penguin!!!")
I am seventy-one years old and I still sleep with Opus the Penguin.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from grouchy, grinchy Marjorie the Bear.
We don't exchange gifts. We donated money to various charities. At our age, we are trying not to acquire more stuff. I'm happy to hear you got great Christmas loot.
I feel the same way about January and February. Cold, little to look forward to, and busiest time at work. Looking forward to a little trip to Asheville tomorrow for some great comedy.
Your podcasts make working out on a stationary bike or the treadmill very enjoyable.
First time since my son's death 6 yrs ago. I put up my little tree, still enjoying it. Plan to put it away probably this weekend 1/7. In the past use to put up my Christmas decorations 1st week in Dec, take it down 1st or 2nd week in Jan. Enjoy those mini lights on outside trees or large artificial or real plants indoors, all year long.
Loved the Christmas Carol story. More please! 💜
Makes perfect sense to me! Agree 1000%
"I've monitored your behavior from afar." Wait... Did Corey just admit to being Santa Clause or one of his agents?
Christmas decorations go up on or around the solstice (12/21) and come down on or about Candlemas/Groundhog Day (2/2).
If you or someone in Wellred get up here amongst us Yankees in Michigan I'm there. Signed, a lost Okie.
I don't take mine down until Jan 6th. It is the end of Christmas according to the church calendar. I'm retired theologian/clergy so there is that. If you really want to keep them up there is always Candlemas which last until February 2nd,
Tree usually goes up 1st or 2nd week of December and usually comes down New Years Day because it’s in the living room and I can do it and watch football at the same time.
I got new walking shoes and a couple more workout pants with pockets to hold my iPhone so my steps get counted. I have been obsessed with closing my Fitness loop since my back surgery in June.
Slow decoration from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve this year. We keep them up until the end of January to stay uplifted. The glow of lights is very calming and makes me feel like we live in simpler times like the glow of candlelight.
The most excited our kids got this year was for the giant dino nugget shaped pillows for the kid who lives off of those things and the plushie Plague Doctor doll I got my teen. Sometimes it’s the weirdest most random shit that makes them happy!
I think that a lot of people are more literal than we realize - I find that to be true when explaining creative concepts to people who don’t work in creative fields. It’s a shame because having vision and creativity and nuance is really a joy in life and makes it more tolerable a lot of the time. I wish we could teach people how to read between the lines and envision things beyond their own first reactions.
Here’s to having more fun and empathy in the new year!
I retired from health care, working hospitals and nursing homes. We have a sick sense of humor that not many people understand. Humor is the best medicine.
Ho, ho, ho to Daddy Cho and Madame Amber and his Mini-Me Captain Bain of the Spanish Main.
The thing I hate about Hitler is that he ruined Wagner for everyone else. Someone left a party of mine in high dudgeon (as opposed to middle or low dudgeon) because one of my other guests expressed admiration for Die Walkure (The Valkyrie). "I do not socialize with Nazis!" he explained later.
Drown the Trump in purée de horsepoop? Disrespectful! To horses. Also a waste of good fertilizer, my friend. I recommend dipping him in honey and placing him in a bed of fire ants.
Christmas. Sigh. During my outrageously coddled childhood, I used to wake up in the morning and wonder how close it was to (1) my birthday; and/or (2) Christmas. Nowadays, it challenges me severely to decide which holiday I loathe the most. (Along with New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day.)
When I was still a practicing Catholic (age 12) and attended midnight Mass (with the Latin and the incense) I felt like I was in the presence of something magic. If I could have retained even a trace element of that kind of belief... (sigh)
Without one shred of pretense, my mother hated Christmas. I don't want to go into the theoretical reasons here, but I think it had a lot to do with her Depression childhood. She was the sort of child who eavesdropped on adults as they worried aloud... (can we afford to get the kids anything this year?)
So -- come Christmas morning, her brother and sister would be whooping over their presents and she would be looking at her gift, wondering if it had been paid for.
The only bright spot was the gift from one of her grandfathers who gave every child a dollar bill at Christmas. She told me she planned for that dollar all year.
Then there was the buried conflict based the fact that she was Catholic and my father was Devoutly Nothing and she was convinced that he Was Mad Because She and My Brother and I would be leaving the tree and attending Mass. (Holy day of obligation...)
AND... if you asked her what she wanted, it was "I want a clean house!" "I want you and your brother to get straight A's" (A little hard to wrap, I think.)
This attitude of hers gradually made me feel guilty about enjoying any part of the Yuletide holiday -- it almost seemed disloyal. Which is partly why I have inherited her dislike of Christmas.
I live alone, I have few visitors and I keep the nativity set up all year because Jesus was Christ the Lord on the other 364 days. (365 during Leap Year.) Otherwise, I don't decorate for myself. I used to hang lightweight ornaments on a Norfolk Island Pine tree, but I started to get ant colonies in my houseplants AND I had a cat who thought the pots were her personal latrine.
What I DO like: finding gifts that hit for my brother's grandchildren. They are easier to please than his children who were horribly competitive at Christmas. They wouldn't look at their own gifts -- they would be scoping out the other kid's loot to see if they got "more." Which meant that every year, someone's feelings would be Hurt.
My swag amounted to one bag. Coffee beans and bourbon are always welcome. But I have to ask for specific things and I have to be careful to ask for something the others are going to want to give me anyway. (Clothes, kitchen utensils, forget about asking for a Swiss Army knife.) Even then, half of the time, they don't listen. The saddest thing about Christmas is looking at a pile of gifts and realizing that your so-called nearest and dearest don't really understand one goddamn thing about you.
I did have a friend who was a genius at giving me gifts. Best example: there used to be a cartoon strip "Bloom County" that we both loved. I particularly liked Opus the Penguin. One Christmas season, I was in a toy store and saw a plush toy Opus. I picked him up -- he was very huggable and I thought... "I could buy this for myself... but no. I'm thirty-five. I'm too old for toys." Sighing, I put Opus back on the shelf.
A few weeks later, I went to my friend's apartment for our gift exchange... I unwrapped the package... and there was Opus. And I had never said ONE WORD to him.
(Later he said, "I'm glad you like your present, but we are NOT sharing the bed with a toy penguin!!!")
I am seventy-one years old and I still sleep with Opus the Penguin.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from grouchy, grinchy Marjorie the Bear.
Want to keep seasonal joy in your life a little longer? May you embrace your purpose and faith this Kwanzaa."
Not my celebration but you can enjoy other's joy of the season.
We don't exchange gifts. We donated money to various charities. At our age, we are trying not to acquire more stuff. I'm happy to hear you got great Christmas loot.
I’m taking them down right now as I’m listening to you!!! I keep them up about 3 weeks.
I feel the same way about January and February. Cold, little to look forward to, and busiest time at work. Looking forward to a little trip to Asheville tomorrow for some great comedy.