The Holidays Are a Mixed Bag

The eventuality of this post, as one can easily deduce, is well, for the lack of the better word, inevitable, ‘tis the season after all. It would be somewhat peculiar, strange even, to have no comments regarding the festivities this month of December. Even for those of different faiths, as well as the faithless.

Never mind the long standing debacle on the commercialism of the Christmas season. Such things are, and will always be, best left to people who have too much time on their hands and/or feel that their opinions matter on scale grander than their admittedly meager scope. The eternal question of whether or not the spirit of the season lives on or is in plugged into an iron lung, struggling on its death throes, waiting for someone to mercifully free it from its misery can best be answered by yours truly as such: Yes, the spirit is well and alive, and it comes in a mini skirt.

Chauvinistic jokes and internet memes aside, the best way to describe Christmas personally comes from two sources. Legendary comic Steve Martin, in his mildly entertaining Yuletide comedy Mixed Nuts, described it as the saddest part of the year, since it is when we look at the things we don't have or can't have. This was further emphasized by an old acquaintance, who, in one of our rare opportunities of dialog, described it as bittersweet. Before anyone busts out the proverbial small violin and ever-handy box of tissues, this is hardly a cry for help by some inconsolable bastard suffering from continuous Dashboard Confessional jam sessions and repeated viewings of Million Dollar Baby.

While those who are of the notion that the glass if half full or have internal rainbows with golden unicorns prancing around in their noggins would disagree, contesting the year-end self-evaluation of individuals is a common practice that some may deny doing, but in reality, the subconscious has no choice but acknowledge the need for such an appraisal, just like in birthdays. As utterly depressing as that sounds, free stuff and mini skirts are never a bad thing given the right circumstances, and to some, life this silly fool, enough to wipe away the cloud of despair and inadequacy.