quizzical pussy

I’m not a fan of Christmas. Christmases are my Mondays.

Things were not always thus. As a child, I’d spend wakeful nights and gun-jumped mornings wondering what lay beneath all those garish reams of wrapping paper and spangly bows. Even after I learned to sleep in, I loved the family gatherings. I loved shopping for people (still my favorite part of the holiday by far). I loved singing Christmas carols, even though I didn’t really buy into all the Jesus stuff. I even liked the candlelight services on Christmas Eve.

I think the turning point was when my Grandma died on Christmas morning a few years ago. I didn’t consciously change my mind, but Christmas lost a great deal of luster after that. Like with a restaurant where you’ve gotten food poisoning, the menu never looks the same again.

I play along, and I enjoy that other people enjoy The Winter Holidays, but I no longer feel the magic. While I consider it an insult to everyone involved to fake an orgasm, I’m not above faking a holiday here and there.

On a seemingly unrelated subject (but I bet I tie it all together by the end, don’t you?), I started following The Bloggess when Lilly generously compared me to her on this review I wrote, and I’ve since learned what a compliment that was.

(Of course she wasn’t on my radar until someone made it about me, why do you ask?)

She is funny, witty, snarky, interesting, and very successful as a blogger, so please compare me to her whenever you get a chance, even if it makes no sense. You can even say I have her eyes; I’ll take it. But recently her blog has transcended comedy, incisive commentary, and slices of her clearly awesome life. Now all of a sudden it’s making me think that maybe these Holidays we insist on having every winter really are a little magical.

And this time, it’s not grandma-killing magic.

Earlier this month, The Bloggess offered twenty $30 gift cards to commenters in need (itself an incredible gesture) in the spirit of holiday warm fuzzies, and when she got more than twenty people asking for help, her readers stepped in and started offering. And offering. And offering: gift cards, paypal donations, toys for kids who otherwise wouldn’t have any presents to open this year.

How big did the orgy of giving get? According to this tweet, over 600 gift cards have been sent as of sometime today. Everyone who asked for help has been matched with a donor. The Bloggess wasn’t trying to organize this; she and her readers are just that awesome. She started out just trying to help twenty strangers, and that one act of giving exploded into a great big gang bang of human kindness.

This doesn’t mean I love Christmas or anything, but Holy Baby Mithras do I love people.

(image source)