What are your thoughts? Are you a holiday freak, or do you think it's become too commercialized? Do you celebrate Christmas (why, oh why, is it a dirty word?) at all, or do you not celebrate? Where's everyone going; what's everyone doing? Does anyone here celebrate a different holiday? Does this time of year tend to depress you or lift your spirits? Let's talk.

What are your thoughts? Are you a holiday freak, or do you think it's become too commercialized? Do you celebrate Christmas (why, oh why, is it a dirty word?) at all, or do you not celebrate? Where's everyone going; what's everyone doing? Does anyone here celebrate a different holiday? Does this time of year tend to depress you or lift your spirits? Let's talk.

Regarding this year's holidays, I haven't fully gotten into things or into the spirit of things like I normally would, mainly because of what's going on in my life (I haven't mentioned it here yet, but I moved into the new condo I purchased, and had a break-up with my girlfriend of 21 months at the EXACT same time, so I've been an emotional wreck for the first couple of weeks of December; albeit things are picking up.) The holidays have become quite commercial, although I think it's been like that for a while, and we really only experience that as we grow older. Let's face it, none of us really look at Christmas and the magic of it like when we were kids. This time of year, I'm staying in town and seeing just my direct family. I don't know if this time of year uplifts me a whole lot, since I'm not a winter person to begin with, but it is probably the high point for me as far as winter goes, before the cold and dead of January happens.

I hate Christmas and the time building up to it. I wouldn't say it's too commericalized, it's just lost all of it's meaning. When I was a kid, it was great. You spent the week building up to it, out of school, with family, seeing cousins and getting stuff. Now? Ugh. Now it's just a drama filled day. You can't afford shit for everyone, you don't know how to "put on a smile" when you open shit, you don't want to decororate because you know you'll have to take it all down in a couple of weeks. I just don't like it. It makes me feel like an unsuccessful loser, which very well is the case, but I don't want to feel like it.

 

I don't like how Christmas is all about presents nowadays. It's like, how is the birth of Christ represented by a bunch of people wasting money and feeling ungrateful? It's different if you're a kid or if you're a parent buying for kids. When you're neither, it's just really awkward.

 

My favorite holiday is Halloween. Always has been. When I was a kid, it was all about the candy. As a teenager, it was all about the movies and parties. Now it's all about the feel. The monsters, ghosts, etc. I don't know, I just really like it. Devil's Night too.

Heh, check my sig if you wanna know my feelings on Christmas.

 

Seriously, I never had much of an attachment to Christmas once I got past the "look what Santa brought you" years. I still look forward to A Christmas Story and the Charlie Brown Christmas specials every year, but since my dad died right after and my fiancee's dad died right before, Christmas just doesn't have the same appeal it used to anymore.

 

Not to mention the nonstop commericals hawking crap sickens me, but that happens right after Thanksgiving.

 

Oh yeah, according to Fox News there's a War on Christmas too, so that's sucking what little holiday spirit I had left right out.

Christmas I like mostly because I like a Christmas Carol and the roughly 500 versions of it. Though I was highly annoyed this year that Christmas advertising started right after Halloween.

I'm simultaneously greedy and obnoxiously generous, I love getting AND buying gifts for people, so I love Christmas. Also, even if there's still a lot of people not genuinely happy, at least during the Holiday season more people try and put on the illusion of being cheery, which I enjoy. It is a time of year where at least SOME people decide we ought to be nicer to each other and just be happy sometimes, and occasions like that aren't too commonplace anymore.

I will say first that I think EVERYONE (or almost everyone) suffers from the Christmas/holiday disillusionment dating from the time they either became a teenager or turned 18 and got a job. There's no more looking forward to the time when you got presents and didn't have to give any, and if you did, it was a cool snowflake you made in class, or else a handprint on ceramic that you painted in gold. It's lost it's innnocence and joy that it had because of the fact that we feel OBLIGATED to give people presents. Lastly, Coffey, I totally feel your pain, but you DO know that Christmas isn't really the day of the birth of Christ, right?

 

To answer Loss more in depth, I think the holidays are special, because they're times that you can and should spend with your family or loved ones, and days that you hopefully have off, or that you hopefully get off early from work. It's really a good time other than birthdays and anniversaries to spend with your loved ones just being with them and enjoying their company. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a holiday freak. When I say loved ones, I don't even mean my own family, since I don't even speak to most of them. But every holiday HAs become commercialized to some extent, since this is a capitalist society; everyone's gotta make a buck however they can.

 

I do celebrate Christmas, but not in the "holy" sense...I plan on seeing my dad, stepmother, stepbrother and sister on Christmas Eve and then spending Christmas Day with Bryan. This time of year generally does depress me (because of the disillusionment, and also because of a lack of connection with half of my family) but I try not to let it get to me. After all, during that time of month I don't need another reason to be depressed. Heh.

 

Whew. I'm done.

Ohthatvixen covered my thoughts better than how I could've. Well put!

I haven't been big on Christmas for a pretty long time now, but this year is the first time there isn't even one decoration in my house, since this is our first one without my dad. Not really complaining about the lack of crap every where, but it bascially just feels like any other time of the year. And with work, I only get off on the 25th, which I would've had off anyway since it's a Sunday. To be perfectly honest, I'm most looking forward to the Giants-Redskins game, which I'm going to end up missing anyway, so yeah, Christmas blows.

 

New Year's Eve on the other hand is my favorite fucking holiday. Me and all my boys have a tradition that we all get together, get annihilated, and have an all around good time until the next morning, with White Castle being the first meal of the New Year.

If I'm out of line, say so, but what happened with your pops, Rob?

 

It's funny Loss starts this thread now, because I was just going to start a similar one yesterday. I made a rare MySpace blog about how I just wasn't feeling Christmas this year. I used to absolutely love it. The build-up, that feeling in the air in the weeks leading up to the day, people actually being nice to each other (as a kid, you don't have to deal with stupid people in stores, so this is true in some capacity), and of course, the presents and time with the fam.

 

But now, it's different. I still enjoy the season, although this is the second consecutive year where something doesn't feel quite right. I'd say two years ago marked the turning point where presents stopped being such a big deal. I used to greedily take pre-inventory on all the great stuff I was sure to get, but now? Eh. I usually can afford to buy the perks and essentials I need, so what's left is me struggling to compile a list of stuff I want. That doesn't matter, anyway, since my mom has this thing about getting the key things on my list and then spending the rest of her coin on stuff she thinks I'll like. I've realized it's more a case of her just enjoying the shopping than the cause.

 

And now there's the pressure that you should be getting gifts for lots of people. My friends and I don't exchange gifts. We know we're there for one another, so giving some gifts isn't really a necessity. With the woman, I almost feel overwhelmed, since it seems like she tells me she bought yet another thing for me every day. I tell her I don't really need all this stuff, not just because it's true, but because it means I need to add on to what I get her so I don't look cheap in front of her family.

 

Then there's the matter of Christmas Eve/Day. We have this family tradition of Christmas Eve church, getting together for a family gift exchange after and then Christmas "dinner" the following day. I used to love Christmas Eve since it was the day where I just chilled out avoiding stuff to do until it was time to go to church (groan) and then head over to the designated meeting area and eat unwell and get presents (yay). But now, everyone in my family's determined to just "get through it," that it feels like a forced event. We all go to the earliest mass so we can get to the next stage faster and then get home sooner.

 

In recent years, we've gone from drawing names for the gift exchange to just giving each other really ridiculous gifts (with awful food creations being the most popular). Last year, we decided to do a gift exchange where we just brought something that everyone may like, draw numbers, get a gift, and then exchange if desired. I bought a pair of massing slippers that I thought would make a nice gift. My crazy, bi-polar aunt wound up with them and proceeded to spend the rest of the gift exchange talking about how much she didn't want them, even though I was sitting right next to her.

 

Thanks to that same aunt who must be the center of attention, Christmas Day has become a showcase for what bullshit drama she can pull to have herself be the focus of the day. Last year, she called here while everyone was already here, hysterical because her soon had just told her that he was going to be moving to Chicago to live with his dad to start high school (his dad was there to pick him up and probably told him to tell her that at that time). So instead of a relaxed meal with witty banter afterwards (that's one thing I do love about the fam), we spent literally the entire day talking about that. Ugh. It seriously ruined the day.

 

One final thing; since our family seems to want to abbreviate the Christmas festivities as much as possible, it's been decided that there will be no turkey this year so we can avoid the "stress" that goes along with making one. Instead? Sloppy Joes and baked beans. I must've stepped out for a drink and missed the memo that stated our family was white trash now. It's weird, since we're all pretty sophisticated people, but I am the only person who finds this almost unacceptabled. Forget inquiring about it, as my brother and mom have made me feel like a freak for challenging it and cited that I don't even like turkey (something that hasn't been true in probably 10 years).

 

So yeah, I ain't feeling Christmas. I dislike how it's all about buying stuff for people just because they're getting you something. I don't like how my family's decided to treat this all as a chore and how we only seem to get together for Christmas because it's routine and what we've always done. I'm enjoying the time off, but oh, how I long for those days when the entire month of December was rocking.

 

And I apologize for the manifesto of family-related venting. Jesus, that's a lot.

Lots of holiday changes going on at the Teke house this year...

 

 

Because of some changes over the last few years (my grandfather's death 2 years ago and my step-grandmother moving 3-4 hours away), we're scrapping part of our Christmas tradition that we've done ever since I was a little Teke.

 

 

 

Teke's family traditions (pre-2005)

 

Church on Christmas Eve then dinner with one grandmother

 

Christmas morning at my parents' house

 

Christmas afternoon at my other grandparents' house with my parents, sister, uncles, grandfather, step-grandmother, and my step-grandmother's family (son, daughter-in-law, 2 granddaughters).

 

 

 

Because of the way things have happened, it's going to be me, my sister, my parents, and my uncles at my parents' house instead for Christmas lunch.

 

The main reason the step-family's not coming is that my step-grandmother is now living in north LA and we don't like her daughter-in-law M., although we like her son, R., and her granddaughters, J. and A. (Names abbreviated so I don't get my ass in a sling)

 

 

 

That doesn't even go into the fact that the Christmas party with my mom's distant relatives is up Shit Creek for the time being... Most of those relatives are New Orleans 'Yats who had been living in areas like Meraux and Destrehan and several of them lost houses or trailers.

 

 

 

 

As for "feeling like holidays", it really hasn't felt like that for me since I left school and started working...

 

Working all the way up to Christmas Eve doesn't feel the same as getting off from school a week or two before Christmas then doing various Christmas activities (shopping, visiting relatives, etc.) leading up to Christmas Day.

To be honest, since it's sort of a sub-topic here, I don't know if I have a favourite holiday at all. A day off is a day off. That's all that matters to me, at this point.

Lastly, Coffey, I totally feel your pain, but you DO know that Christmas isn't really the day of the birth of Christ, right?

 

Actually, no, I didn't know that. I'm not Christian, nor did I ever care, so I never questioned it.

Eh. I'm just another greedy bastard that likes being able to sit on my ass for a few weeks. Except I won't be doing the sitting on my ass as much this year, now having a job and nearly everyone else asking for days off in advance, but whatever. As long as I don't have to sit through another 3-hour discrete math class ever again, that's all I care. Ditto on what Marty said.

I'm not huge on the holidays (I don't even remember what I did for last Christmas) but I figure now would be the time to start making some of my own X-Mas traditions. I live 3 hours away from my parents, I'm divorced and my kids live with my ex. Thinking of those two things is enough to make a person fuckin' suicidal during a time when it seems everyone else is spending time with loved ones and waking up on Christmas morning, watching their kids open gifts. I'll be making plans to keep my mind off of those things but I'll be damned if I can tell you what they'll be.

Christmas as the way it was supposed to be intended, as a time to spend with family and friends and the gifts were a bonus, has died. The commericalist decided to make you feel like if you didn't get a gift that was really expensive, you were a cheap person and therefore a Scrooge.

 

Or at least that's what I gathered from some of the commercials I've seen these days. I really don't like how its all about the presents. Don't get me wrong, getting and giving presents is fine, I just don't want some jackass coming out and trying to pressure me into buying some.

I currently look at it as a time to spend with my family and relatives with the presents being a bonus. I don't pay much attention to the commercalization of the holiday (I basically ignore it in view of what the holiday means to me and sticking with my own view).

I'm not huge on the holidays (I don't even remember what I did for last Christmas) but I figure now would be the time to start making some of my own X-Mas traditions.  I live 3 hours away from my parents, I'm divorced and my kids live with my ex.  Thinking of those two things is enough to make a person fuckin' suicidal during a time when it seems everyone else is spending time with loved ones and waking up on Christmas morning, watching their kids open gifts.  I'll be making plans to keep my mind off of those things but I'll be damned if I can tell you what they'll be.

Damn, dude. You may have mentioned that before here, but this is the first time I've read this, and when THIS time of year is the first time to read something like that, it really hits home.

 

Hope you're coping okay with things, CJ. What you've gone through is something I don't wish on anyone, and I'm amazed at how open you are about it, especially with regards to your kids. You're a stand-up guy, and I hope things are getting better for you since the divorce happened.

As far as I'm concerned, if I were a good looking, intellingent single guy on Christmas day I'd be having some hot chick opening up MY package. That's what's up.

 

Okay, so it's a poor attempt at humor, but it's true. It's prolly what CJ'll be doin' anyway.

I'm not huge on the holidays (I don't even remember what I did for last Christmas) but I figure now would be the time to start making some of my own X-Mas traditions.  I live 3 hours away from my parents, I'm divorced and my kids live with my ex.  Thinking of those two things is enough to make a person fuckin' suicidal during a time when it seems everyone else is spending time with loved ones and waking up on Christmas morning, watching their kids open gifts.  I'll be making plans to keep my mind off of those things but I'll be damned if I can tell you what they'll be.

Hit me up, big man. We'll have Sloppy Joes, baked beans and a BATTLE! I'll supply the monkey.

Sith Lord Benedict gets in the Xmas spirit!

 

Thanks Marty, Sun and Alex.

 

I didn't mean to make that sound as nearly morose as it came off. Trust me, I'm okay. This is my second Christmas "alone" as it were and while last year's was different, it wasn't super hard. This one will be even less. I just wish I had some actual activities planned as opposed to playing everything by ear. I had resigned myself to a life full of "normal" Christmases at one time and now that that particular plan is out the window, I'm not sure what a guy in my shoes is supposed to do.

I'm not huge on the holidays (I don't even remember what I did for last Christmas) but I figure now would be the time to start making some of my own X-Mas traditions.  I live 3 hours away from my parents, I'm divorced and my kids live with my ex.  Thinking of those two things is enough to make a person fuckin' suicidal during a time when it seems everyone else is spending time with loved ones and waking up on Christmas morning, watching their kids open gifts.  I'll be making plans to keep my mind off of those things but I'll be damned if I can tell you what they'll be.

Sorry to hear that CJ.

 

On the plus side, you don't have to try plan things so your family don't end up having huge arguments all of Christmas and Boxing Day. I'm not even seeing my ma and bro on Christmas Day and I am going with my girlfriend over to my best bud's house to get away from the annual craziness/disputes that occur round my way.

NMB X-Mas Party!

 

Booze! Strippers! Pr0n! And then the party starts!

NMB X-Mas Party!

 

Booze! Strippers! Pr0n! And then the party starts!

I guess I'm expected to bring the pr0n then? Just kidding, at any party I'd be the first to bring some 'cause I've got so much of it, after all.