Jack Frost Can Suck It!

Ho, ho, frackin' ho.

The X-Mas season continues it's plague across the lands as arctic temperatures linger about, freezing the nards of all man, woman and child. Well, maybe not "woman". Well, maybe some women....who have just had that surgery.

In any case, it's cold as hell, making the chore of going out X-Mas shopping beyond the point of "less appealing". It downright blows. Jack Frost can go pound sand! I love giving loved ones cool stuff, but schlepping my way through nasty crowds in freezing cold temperatures sure doesn't bring me the yuletide joy.

But, that's exactly what I've been doing for the last couple of days, God bless my cold, anti-X-Mas heart.

I know what you're all thinking, "Zangz, are you so cold inside that you can't even appreciate the little things that give great joy during the holiday season?"

You may be surprised at my answer. I most certainly can. Just last weekend I had two tree decorating sessions that I really enjoyed.

The first one was at my sister's place. My Bro-In-Law feigned a hurt finger and was unable to put ornaments up on the tree. So I had to step in and save the day. As a child, tree decorating was "the bomb" (kids still use that kind of cool jargon, don't they?). I loved pulling out all of the home made decorations that my mom and Grandma made as well as the store bought favorites and picking the places on the tree that I would put them.

As an adult, tree decorating is at the same level of fun as being pulled through the cobble stoned streets of Charles Dickens' Victorian England on the ground by a team of wild horses. But, for some reason, I was kind of into it. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (featuring a very young Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki as Rusty Griswald) was playing on the tube as my mom, sis and myself put the ornaments up on the tree. In some weird way, after a crazy week at work, it helped relax me.

Then the next night I was over at the home of some close friends that are going through a bit of a challenging and tough time. My very close friend Iris Von Beaverhousen is currently kicking cancer's ass. I had the utmost privilege to watch her and her faithful manservant, and fellow friend, Roberto, put up their tree decorations with the ever so precocious 4 year old, "G-Love".

As they let me watch their collection of DVR'd episodes of Ace of Cakes, I would glance over at the family putting up the tree and get a warm, cozy, happy-time feeling ooze over me. Iris would be putting up her "Millennium Falcon flying over Mos Eisley" ornament while Roberto would have his Darth Vader ornament in hand ever ready to plunk it upon the appropriate branch. And G-Love would be wearing her Santa hat and helping Mom and Dad with the whole artistic endeavor the X-Mas tree is. Perhaps X-Mas doesn't suck half as much as I blog about. Perhaps there is hope for humanity during the holiday season. Just perhaps.

I did buy myself a little X-Mas present. Usually I wait until a few days before the new year to buy a calendar. That's when they all go to half price. But, while perusing through a local bookstore I came upon a calendar I just had to grab right away. I'm now the proud owner of the "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" 2010 calendar. How was I to resist a calendar that features both Falicia Day and Liz Vassey (Capt. Liberty from The Tick TV show).

If you're not up to speed on what Dr. Horrible is all about, you need to give yourself a bit of a treat and check it all out here. It's a heck of a fun time, even though the ending is bittersweet.

Also check out the music of The Bronx Casket Company. Being a big fan of Type O Negative as I am, a friend at work thought I might be interested in this band. So I checked them out and really enjoy what I hear. Very dark and yet melodic. Check them out, won't you?

That's going to be it for this post. Until next time, stay vertical and happy holidays (I threw up a little bit in my mouth just typing that)....humbug.

Zangz.