24 Sunday Dec 2006
It’s Christmas Eve!
Well, here it’s still morning but we’re getting into the spirit of things early over here at 
casa az by posting a Christmas greeting to everyone – just click on Santa Claws to see it.
Time for another mince pie . . .
21 Thursday Dec 2006
Posted in christmas, food & drink, fun stuff, humour
Click on the pic and start splatting!
Defend your Christmas dinner! This is the perfect game for Nog – he can get it all out of his system so he doesn’t actually do this at the dinner table… 😉
Swiped from truce.
19 Tuesday Dec 2006
Click on the link above for Dunndesign Christmas Radio, then click on launch … lots of great old tunes there. 
Thanks to Mudhooks for sending me the link! 
What are some of your favourite Christmas songs? And favourite versions? I have to say that Chrissy Hynde singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is one of my all-time favourites.
18 Monday Dec 2006
It seems to be turning into an epidemic.
Lately I’ve been coming across so many people complaining about the Christmas season in various ways, ranging from mild dislike to out-and-out hatred.
It seems that those who dislike/resent/hate Christmas the most are those who feel somehow pressured or obligated to do things they don’t particularly like doing during this time of year, or they dislike/resent/hate the way other people celebrate Christmas.
But surely they are placing the blame erroneously. If one cannot say no to family and/or friends, should they blame Christmas? If they don’t like the manner in which some people exploit the holiday season and the crass commercialism that goes on … why say it’s the fault of the holiday? And if it’s the religious aspect of it that they dislike, well, this is easy enough to ignore.
It seems to me that these scrooges are redirecting their frustrations in order to avoid acknowledging where the real problems and issues lie. Though of course there are some people who just complain for the sake of it because they enjoy complaining. 😉
Another anti-Christmas argument I often hear is that people should always behave with compassion and generosity towards their fellow man, not just once a year. And I quite agree. But like birthdays, anniversaries and such, Christmas is a once-a-year reminder to behave this way and I see nothing wrong with that.
Anyhow, I really love Christmas, though my best Christmases started happening after I left home at age 15. I’ve had a few nice family Christmases since then, but my best ones have involved cherished friends and loved ones. And one quite memorable one when I was in my early twenties, doing my laundry and then going out to the cinema as I was on my own. I reckoned that since I was all alone I’d get all pathetic and do all these sad and pathetic things … but then I saw that I wasn’t actually on my own. There were plenty of other people at the laundromat and at the cinema and it was somehow comforting to be in their company.
So basically, Christmas is what you make it, though it may not always turn out to be exactly what you expect.
16 Saturday Dec 2006
Your Christmas Style is: Boringly NormalChristmas is all about Christmas. Sometimes that means enjoyment, sometimes that means survival. You pick the bits you like and get through.
You think about presents in terms of the recipient, and try and be a little bit original and creative, or at least get them something you know they’ll actually use. Your gifts make perfect theoretical sense but sometimes go underappreciated.
You tire of the excessive consumerism of the season, but you contribute your bit – you spend more than you expect, but you don’t see yourself as adding to the problem. You think you aren’t influenced by advertising or media, but you are (a bit).
You are probably middle class. You probably own a jumper. You may well read the Guardian. You have straight hair. Your children write thank you letters, and if you don’t have any, you do it yourself.
Well some of that is true about me but, unfortunately, not the bit about having straight hair. How about you?
casa azahar 