now, tastes more like real life

Hey, look, I am getting dating advice on Yahoo!

Obviously that's not me, but I find it amusing. My family's way of celebrating Christmas is watching Life of Brian and opening gifts and sometimes making pancakes, so there's little fear of a culture clash. Nevertheless, it's funny to think about contradicting holiday traditions. Christmas was such a part of my life growing up that I can't imagine ever being without it. Plus, I am a huge sucker for, you know, sappy Christmas merchandise. I went into Trader Joe's last week and was totally overwhelmed by the number of special holiday cookies and products. I have about 6 Christmas cocktail recipes I want to make, 15 holiday issues of magazines I want to buy and read, and a practically endless list of Christmas cookies I feel compelled to bake. Plus there's the Starbucks overload. The marketing department there has really gone overboard this year - it's not just about red cups anymore, people. It's about Christmas gingerbread (cardboardy), cranberry cake, and a whole spread-the-cheer campaign. Because Christmas isn't just about buying crap you don't need, it's about submitting your holiday traditions to a corporation's website.

I seem to have gotten off-topic, but I really am a sucker for Christmas. I guess that's my point now. (Also some of the holiday traditions are kind of funny.)