This sums up my thoughts about Christmas. :) "Christmas Is Pain!"

This guy (Roy Zimmerman, allegedly) has a dozen or so quite funny to very funny satirical songs on his YouTube page. This one is the most explicit Dylan parody.

I'm pretty humbug about Yule this year. We are dissolving the coven (which I've already stepped out of in order to pursue music more), although we will continue to hold open Sabbat rituals for the community, including Yule. However, our finances are so tight that Xmas giving is going to be extremely curtailed. I try not to worry about it too much, but we do love to give - getting is not such a big deal, because we have *so much* already. Wonderful home, great kids, exciting and intriguing lifestyle, steady employment, plentiful cheap food, friends out the ying yang and the respect of our associates.

Still, it is difficult to completely dismiss the consumer frenzy that is Xmas in this country. Habits of a lifetime are hard to put aside. I feel bad for the kids, even though they're all adults, because they aren't going to get the usual lavishment of trendy gifts that we've always given them. Deserving friends will have to make do with a hug and a hearty "love ya, bro".

So humbug it is. I've been pondering whether or not I can actually be a *really* bad boy so that Santa will bring me a lot of coal. At least I can burn that and save on the gas bill.

Go ahead, be a really bad boy. You may (or may not) get coal, but at least you'll have enjoyed yourself in the process.

If you are trying to buy for the lovable geek in your life...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/

I like the 0 and 1 blanket!

I may be able to afford a bottle of ArmorAll for my 17 year old to clean the dashboard of his new 1989 Honda if I'm lucky. He has to pay for the car, of course. Not a bad deal, though...only 300k miles on the body, and the engine only has about 20k on it.