We Wish You the Merriest

Happy New Year, everyone.  If you go out tonight, have a designated driver.

Little Drummer Boy

Reminding us that the best Christmas gifts are those of our time and talents, here is the late, great Johnny Cash.


Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Festivus.

Winter Wonderland

Most of December was unusually snowless, but this morning Madison awoke to a sea of white. It will likely be gone by Saturday, but at least there will be a white Hanukkah.

I Wish I'd Thought of This

Another Alternative Holiday Sign

I find it ironic that some of the same conservatives who complain about the secularization of Christmas are now complaining about attempts to keep Labor Day observances about labor and its organizers.  Just as John Stewart described the demonstrations at the Capitol in February as "the Bizarro Tea-Party," we now have a mirror image of the December holiday culture wars.

With that in mind, this sign practically created itself:

Alternative Holiday Signs

I've always found the "Keep Christ in Christmas" signs to be a little weird.  They seem more like political campaign signs than proselytizing. They also reveal an ignorance of the actual origin of Christmas traditions.

My attitude may have been shaped by the fact that, in our neighborhood, the guy who put out the KCiC sign every year was the same one who spent the summer telling all of his neighbors when and how they should mow their lawn and tend their garden (he always had an emphatic opinion about home repair projects, too).

For the Christmas Originalists, Heathens, Secular Humanists and ancient history buffs out there, here are some fun alternative holiday signs that you can print out and display if you are so inclined.