So it’s all over. Christmas, New Year’s – kaput. All that careful shopping, massive amounts of wrapping paper now delegated to the recycle bag and for some who are excessive (myself included) a mess o’ goodies. Books, books, books. (So much for the e-book.)

We went and saw Avatar yesterday, and despite many peoples’ rush to criticism, it was without question a total theatrical experience. Yeah, I know the story line was weak, but it was a visual feast. Anyone who thinks differently had their eyes shut throughout the film. For those of us who tend to wait for a film to come out on DVD – it put us back in the theatre.

Santa vs. The Sweet Baby Jesus

I have a bone to pick. It’s about this Santa Claus thing. For the non-religious this works just dandy, but for many of those of the Christian faith, he is just a symbol of consumerism, and has little to do with the meaning of Christmas itself to them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a died in the wool agnostic, but I think I came up with a solution for those of faith.

Instead of Santa Claus, why not have the Sweet Baby Jesus dish out the gifts to the kids. It might be hard to stick a baby in a chair at the mall for long periods of time let alone have them squarsh him as they sat on his knee, but I’m sure accommodations could be made.

Think of it. Saint Nick is always afraid of getting stuck in the chimney, those reindeer are always at risk of sliding of a roof, and there is little explanation as to how he gets all around the world on that old sleigh of his.

HOWEVER, if Sweet Baby Jesus were to be the present giver (he did get quite a bit on his birthday) he could slip down that chimney like a kid on a slide. And there’d be milk and cookies waiting for him. He could keep the presents in his diaper, or even better, being a god, he could just zap everything around quietly and quickly and then BING! Be in the next house. Makes much more sense to me. Santa Claus can remain for those of us who don’t really believe in him, but lust after the red suit and boots (those boots are awesome).

Madcelt’s Christmas, Love and Lust

So now that I’ve solved that problem, I’ll give you a quick run down on my Christmas. If you read any of my previous posts, you’ll remember that my widowed brother got dumped by his first girlfriend after his wife’s death. He felt he had no future because of it. They had made plans well ahead for trips and outings and all of a sudden she called him up and said ‘they weren’t suited’ after six months of ‘dating’. Maybe they weren’t, but she was a tacky broad, and he had left a lot of his equipment at her house FIXING it up for her. Instead of ringing his doorbell and thanking him for all the work he had done, she didn’t even stop to see if he was at home (he was) and just dumped the stuff in front of the garage. No class. So now he refers to her as ‘that bitch’.

But still it made him feel that he would spend the rest of his life alone (he’s 59). He’s a good looking fellow – nice sense of humor and a huge respect for women (apart from the one above). So when he arrived this Christmas I expected him to be rather glum, and to have to make an effort to be cheerful. Well, he arrived cheerful. New girlfriend.

He showed us her picture and she is indeed pretty, and French so what more do you want? He e-mailed her about 5 times a day (she returned and initiated many of these billets doux) and we even Skyped her a couple of times. She seems charming and they have both fallen for each other in a big way.

So my brother is happy. What a great Christmas present for me. If she dumps him, I’ll track her down and kill her.

On that cheery note – I’d like to say, I missed you all, and will have to spend this lazy day catching up on all my favorite bloggers. I won’t list them all here – too many – but I will mention Steve Blevins as one of the finest writers on Open Salon. Sometimes he’s funny, but also can touch us in a way, many of the talented writers cannot. Thank you Steve.

So hope you had lots of nog, set off some fireworks and French kissed someone at 12 on New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year.