Final Christmas Thought

Here is the final Christmas video. "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" is a Fleischer cartoon (the creators of Betty Boop) from 1936 and stars Professor Grampy, who was added to the Fleischer character stable in an attempt to tone down the risque innuendos of Betty Boop's early cartoons which brought the wrath of the censors. I can remember watching this on our black-and-white television set in the late '50s. Running across it in color is a real treat.



Tomorrow is the last day of school before the Christmas weekend. Last night, I baked up a small storm, making my semi-famous "killer cookies" for Ron (who has taught most of my classes) and Tiffany (my career counselor at New Horizons) because giving gifts is a good thing, and sucking up to people who don't need sucking up to is also a way to impress. But mostly, I just really like them both. It won't hurt to have them in my corner once my studies are completed and I start looking for work. (The school helps place people; they have lots of contacts in the entertainment industry, and I'd like to stick in that general area, if possible).

So the shopping is done. Here's a shot of presents under the tree: not too many this year, but they're really pretty. I'm so glad that last year I dropped about $50 on really nice, quality wrapping paper. There was lots left over for use this year, and it looks like it will meet our needs next year, as well. We also have a stash of bows and ribbons from years past that is still serving us well. I find something really pretty I forgot we had every time I open the box. And you know I like wrapping presents, especially nice square boxes with clean corners! But, for the life of me, I don't think we have a single name tag in the house.

The cat has taken to molesting the little red present in front; he gnaws and pulls at the decoration, and when you chide him for it, he starts eating the tree; this from a cat who never showed interest in anything Christmassy before. Now he sits under the tree with the presents, looking like it's all there for his personal pleasure.

I had my phone interview with the Employment Development Department today to check me out for continued training benefits. I haven't received any unemployment benefits for almost seven weeks now (I know, I keep bitching about it), but the guy on the phone seemed to think my approval was a slam dunk, and that I would be back to getting checks (including retroactive payments) within a week. God, I hope so.

One of the things I've realized since I started my Dreamweaver classes (the main program for the Web) is that I really have to have the most recent version of the Adobe Suite to make the classes effective. They are running CS4 at school on PCs and I have CS3 at home on a Mac. I can deal with working on both platforms at the same time, but the program versions are throwing me. The upgrade, unfortunately, is about $600. Once the cash flow begins to improve, I can make the jump to CS4. When I do, I'm positive that Adobe will announce the impending release of CS5, so another upgrade will be on the horizon. But, hopefully, I will be gainfully employed by the time I need to upgrade once again.

That all was certainly not filled with yuletide joy. It's kind of hard to maintain the feeling this year. So much lousy stuff has happened, everything that was familiar is now disrupted, and resolution for everything seems months and months away. Even the weather is bucking holiday cheer. So here's one more picture, the final ornament close-up, to set the mood (you can see it on the tree in the photo of the presents).

After several days of 75- and 80-degree weather this weekend, it's dipping back into the low 60s-uppers 50s, and there's a real nip in the air. It's been extremely blustery, and we even have frost advisories in the valleys overnight. It helps reinforce the feeling of impending holiday cheer. But Christmas Day it's supposed to be back in the 70s. And no rain, the closest to snow we get in these parts.

So, what the hell: Merry Christmas, everybody! I wish I had the time and wherewithal to bake cookies for each and every one of you (and perhaps I shall once I arrive in Arroyo Grande). But know that you're in our thoughts and hearts this holiday season.

Someone told me that Jesus was really born sometime in March (or was it October?), and we celebrate Christmas in December because it matched up with the pagan holidays of the winter solstice; celebrating then, Christians would avoid persecution and/or arrest.

Maybe so, but I think we celebrate it during the dead of winter because that's the time when we'd like to have a savior come along and assuage the darkness and uncertainty through the longest nights of the year, even if he shows up as a baby out in the barn.