DID YOU KNOW?

“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused” 
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

1.)  Dickens went a little mad writing A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

As he wrote, Dickens wept and laughed and wept again and would often take long night walks through London, 

covering anywhere between 15 or 20 miles “when all sober folks had gone to bed”. 

When he completed the book, he “broke out”, as he himself described it, “like a madman”. 


2.)  Dickens stole the story -- from himself.

The story is loosely based on Gabriel Grubb, a character in The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton, 

which appeared in Dickens’ first published novel, The Pickwick Papers.

 In the story, a gravedigger determined not to make merry at Christmas, is kidnapped by goblins and convinced to change his ways.


3.) His novel was pirated ... and he sued, won, and ultimately lost.

 Two months after the publication of A Christmas Carol, Parley’s Illuminated Library pirated it. 

Dickens sued and won his case. 

The pirates, on the other hand, simply declared themselves bankrupt, 

leaving Dickens to pay £700 in costs, equal to £56,364 today. 


4.) Charles Dickens was the first "Pop" star author, later inspiring Mark Twain.

 In 1853, 10 years after its publication, 

Charles Dickens gave the first public performance in Birmingham’s town hall.

 He performed it in front of a rapturous crowd of 2,000, 

all working people from the town, and it lasted just under three hours. 

Before this time, no great author had performed their works in public and for profit, 

which many thought beneath Dickens’ calling as a writer and a gentleman. 


5.)  Dickens began with A Christmas Carol, and he ended with it.

  His last reading of the little book took place in London at St James’s Hall, on March 15, 1870. 

At the end of the performance, he told his audience: 

“From these garish lights, I vanish now for evermore, 

with a heartfelt, grateful, respectful, and affectionate farewell.” 

There was a stunned silence, broken by a tumult of cheering, hat-waving and the stamping of feet. 

With tears streaming down his face, Dickens raised his hands to his lips in an affectionate kiss 

and departed from the platform for ever.

 He died three months later, aged 58.

HOLI-DAZE

Even sugar-charged Ratatoskr has fallen victim to the dreaded HOLI-DAZE!  

(He is currently riding with me on one of my blood runs, having just collapsed after telling his last Christmas joke:

"Did you hear about the dyslexic Devil worshiper who sold his soul to Santa?")

SO: 
HOW CAN YOU AVOID THE HOLI-DAZE?

1.) REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON:

The Great Mystery's Light visited our world in the human form of a tiny infant.

Take a moment to reflect that that very Light might reside in the hurrying body of the person next to you, 

that very Light formed the stars and the seas and the birds of the air.

Breathe in deeply and pause to soak in the wonder of His caring for the sparrows of the field ... 

and you  ... and what it cost Him.

{Cover Image for the Paperback of HIBBS, THE CUB WITH NO CLUE}

 2.) SLOW DOWN AND SMELL THE MISTLETOE

And the cinnamon and the chestnuts and the turkey 

and all of the other delicious smells, beautiful sights, and familiar sounds 

that have become symbols of the joy of the holiday season.

Enjoy it in the way it was meant to be enjoyed, 

by relaxing and sharing quality time with family and friends. The rest is just window dressing.

3.) SLEEP

Don't allow the hustle and bustle of the season to cause you to sacrifice sleep. 

It's normal during the holidays to have more on your to-do list than usual, 

but that shouldn't result in cutting SLEEP from that list!

Sleep is restorative. 

It's the time when your body replenishes itself at a cellular level 

and repairs itself from the damage of mental stress, physical strain, infection, sun exposure, and pollutants. 

Without enough sleep, 

our minds and bodies don't function as well as they could, which makes us less productive.

And sleep even aids in LOSING WEIGHT!
http://www.webmd.com/diet/sleep-and-weight-loss

SO SLEEP MORE & WEIGH LESS!!



4.) AIM FOR PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION!

When you expect perfection in your holiday preparations, 

expect a lot of added and unnecessary stress and fatigue as well. 

No battle ever went as planned -- 

ask Napoleon.  

And Christmas can be a BATTLE!

If you're planning to host a party, why do you need to prepare a major feast? 

Why not try an assortment of easy-to-make side dishes or appetizers? 

Or why not consider sharing the load by making the event a pot luck? 

Most holiday guests feel compelled to bring something anyway, so why not let them bring a dish?

5.) PLAN A SILENT NIGHT

Block it in your calendar as if it were a visit from the Pope.

Plan a night for just you.  

Listen to your favorite music no matter if it is POLKA!  

Dance by yourself if the whim takes you.

Whatever would heal you in your down time, do it.

Even when you are alone, 

you are not alone 

if you love:

 6.) ELF YOURSELF

Or your boss.  Or your friends.  

Laughter has been around for awhile now.  There's a reason for that.  

Laughter heals!

Mark Twain has young Satan ask:

"Will a day come when your race will detect the funniness of these juvenilities and laugh at them--and by laughing at them destroy them?

 For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably only one really effective weapon--laughter. 

Power, Money, Persuasion, Supplication, Persecution--these can lift at a colossal humbug,--

push it a little-- crowd it a little--weaken it a little, century by century: 

but only Laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of Laughter nothing can stand.
 
- "The Chronicle of Young Satan," Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts



7.) START AND END WITH GRATITUDE

In a sense THANKSGIVING starts the HOLIDAY season and there is WISDOM in that.

If you are not grateful for what you have,

 you will soon find yourself with even less.

Remember:
Somewhere in this world someone is happy with less than what you have.

The way to start and end the day is 

to pause and list the things and people that have made and make your day better just by being in your life.

You may have lost some things, beloved persons in your life -- give yourself permission to grieve.

Take ten minutes to feel shitty.

Then 

THINK OF HOW LUCKY YOU WERE TO HAVE THEM AT ALL --

HOW DIFFERENT A PERSON YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN WITHOUT THEM.

Decide then and there that at least for Christmas, 

you will be a healing presence in at least one person's life -- 

even if it is only to let some harried driver in the crowded lane ahead of you.

MY PRAYER FOR ALL YOU,

 MY FRIENDS,

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

HAVE A HEALING, PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS!

Ratatoskr just rolled over and told me to ask you guys:

"What do you call Batman when he skips church?

Christian Bail!"

Great!  

You groan at me, and Ratatoskr is fast asleep!!

My Christmas gift to you:

 

Treat yourself

to great prose:

THE MIRACLE OF SMALL THINGS

 http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Things-Guilie-Castillo-Oriard-ebook/dp/B0176RGSUU/

DOES CHRISTMAS AGE?

CHILDHOOD

Last post I talked a bit of the wonder of a child's Christmas.  

Christmas as a child is a beautiful time when magic is real, anything is possible, 

and the Big Day seems to drag closer ever so slowly.

And well it should.  When you are five, a year until next Christmas is literally 20% of your life! 

As you age, the holidays seem to fly by as your perspective stretches out 

along with the number of holidays you have seen.

But as a child ...  The whimsy of the day is real. The unbridled, child-like innocence is real.

No gift you will receive as an adult with thrill you like your Christmas gifts of childhood.  

ADOLESCENCE 

The focus switches from magic to materialism.  The Macy's Day Parade becomes old hat.  

What your school friends want finds its way on your gift list.

Giving?  

Use my allowance or after-school job money on others?  What are you talking about?

The Red Sea both receives and gives water.  

The Dead Sea only receives, never gives.  

One over-flows with life; the other is stagnant and dead. 


TWENTY-SOMETHING WITH KIDS

The old joy of Christmas is re-kindled with seeing the joy in their children's eyes.  Old faerie tales are now read aloud to wide eyes.  

The magic is reborn.

Putting the lights on the Christmas Tree becomes a family tradition.  Happy Memories are sowed in the hearts of both parents and children alike.


TWENTY-SOMETHING WITHOUT KIDS

Materialism goes on steroids.  

Yet, with the focus on the self, Christmas becomes emptier.  The giving of gifts to co-workers and friends make of the holidays a drudgery. 

Some yearn for the wonder and innocence of their childhood Christmas.  

Some find the magic again by giving at homeless shelters and food tents.



THIRTY TO MIDDLE AGE

We look back at our younger selves and realize how much we've changed. 

The answer, of course, is that we all grow up -- 

and for many of us, what it means to be "happy" slowly evolves into something completely different.

 Social psychologists describe this change as a consequence of a gradual shifting from promotion motivation -- 

seeing our goals in terms of what we can gain, 

or how we can end up better off, to prevention motivation -- 

seeing our goals in terms of avoiding loss and keeping things running smoothly.

And how we experience Christmas is colored by those changes in perspective.


OUR SILVER AGE

Those of us with grandchildren get the best of both worlds.  

We get the joy of basking in the love of young children with the plus of being able to hand them back to their parents!

Cradling young infants in the middle of the day gives us an excuse for an mid-day snooze, too.


AS THE SHADOWS GATHER

Many brood over what they have lost and not upon what they still have left.  

Christmas carols spark memories of lost friends and of lost opportunities.

Yet the wisest in this age group find that Christmas is for the young ... at heart 

(no matter their physical age.)

In a strange way, sixty is the new twenty.

The youngest people, teenagers, people in their 20s, are the least happy group of people. 

There's a lot of uncertainty and you are forming your identity and you're not really sure who you are.

 Old age actually can bring happiness.  

Now why are older people happier?  

I think one of the main reasons is when we're older we're emotionally wiser.

SO?

HOW DO YOU VIEW THIS CHRISTMAS?

WHEN WONDER FILLED CHRISTMAS

Even a child of poverty like myself saw Christmas through the eyes of innocence.


I was too young to know our Christmas meal of meatloaf


was lovingly, carefully cooked dog food fresh from the can ...


Its red topping from packets of ketchup plucked from the garbage bin behind our basement apartment.


The meatloaf tasted great to me ...
  
You see, it was served with the most magical of sauces:

Love.

The candle atop it was saved from my birthday cupcake,


but its brightness filled our dark apartment with love and magic.


Veteran of so few Christmases,


I didn't recognize our Christmas Tree was really a wiring together of broken pine needles


Mother had stealthily scooped up from a near-by lot selling whole trees.


All I knew was that their aroma filled our small basement apartment


with the magic that anything was possible.


Looking up through the lone window at sidewalk level,


Mother and I would sing carol after carol, their titles sparked by what we saw ...


Silver Bells. Let It Snow. Pretty Ribbons. O Holy Night.


I would eventually drift off to sleep,


awakening to my present not knowing the terrible price Mother had paid for it.


The red wagon bought from the money Mother received for selling a pint of her blood,


though she was so weak and frail.


The humongous stuffed tiger nearly as large as me


kept on layaway for 8 long months by a kind, patient store owner.


(I still have stuffed tigers in my apartment, standing vigil over a perplexed Midnight and myself.)


By the way,


my childhood love of tigers nearly killed me on my first trip to the Detroit Zoo. 


That story, however, is for another time.


But the Christmas and its carols of my childhood


( and I suspect from the childhood of most children)


are captured by ears still hearing the clatter of reindeer hooves atop roofs


and the chimes of snowflakes singing.


Let us cling to that child-like wonder this Christmas for as long as we can, shall we?

What do the memories and carols

of your childhood Christmases

bring to mind?

BLACK FRIDAY

Thanksgiving Night.

Meilori’s is a magnet for lost souls, predators, and victims waiting for the cobra’s strike.  

 It is a place where anything might happen and almost everything has.

I sit alone at my rune-carved table, supposedly where 12 knights and a very naïve King ruled a fantasy kingdom, 

doomed to end in betrayal and regret.

The Moonlight Sonata is playing softly overhead, 

but still I hear snatches of conversation at the tables around me.  I flick both eyes and ears to the nearest.

“A conquistador,” the woman with the trapped look to her eyes says.

“Very good, Sue,” answers the man.  

 “They arrived in the 16^th Century and took over.  That’s what I’m doing.”

Sue flinches, and he says, “Why do I frighten you, kitten?”

She takes long moments to answer, 

“When I was a little girl, I used to go with Dad to his plant.  There was this giant room with a huge machine that towered to the ceiling. I squeezed his hand tight whenever we walked into it.”

Sue shivers. 

 “It had this enormous hammer thing in it at the top and when it rammed down to the ground, you could feel the thud in your feet go up your spine.  It seemed relentless, unstoppable … unfeeling.”

She clears her throat, 

“I just knew that one day, it would smash me into nothing -- which was why I clung to Dad's hand so tightly.”

The man's hard eyes narrow, “Not too flattering, kitten.”

Sue whispers, 

“You don’t care about me as a person.  I’m pretty.  I wash up well.  But it’s my father’s company you want.”

His eyes become dead. 

“That’s exactly it.  And there isn’t a thing you can do about it.  Katrina took your father so there is no hand to hold.  Only me.”

Sue says very softly, “I hate you.”

“That’s a strong enough emotion, kitten.  It will do.”

I draw in a deep breath I don't need: Time to give myself an early Christmas present.

I get up slowly and make my way to the table.  The man looks up, irritation in his flat eyes.  

 “This is my table, Cowboy.”

I sit down, shaking my Stetsoned head.  

 “No, it’s mine.  All the tables in Meilori’s are mine.  I’m just letting you use this one.”

At the three closest tables, wide-shouldered men start to rise but freeze when three of my Grimms sit in front of them.

Usually they clean up the messes in my jazz club.  But sometimes they make them first.

The man's cold eyes are filled with scorn as he turns to Sue.  

 “You really believe that garbage about this place?  So that’s why you suggested me taking you here?”

He sneers at me and withdraws a hundred dollar bill from his wallet.  

 “Look whoever you really are, here’s a hundred bucks.  Now, strut back to your table like the hero you pretend to be.”

I nod.  “Let’s shake on that, shall we?”

I rip the glove from my right cursed hand and take his own.  

 He sucks in a wet gasp.  I stiffen as his life force, along with his memories surge into me.

Faces of his victims.

His own in the mirror as a child, crying at another of his father’s beatings.   

The burn of his first taste of whiskey.   

The thrill of victory as he forced his will, his body upon yet another woman.

Thud.

The man lays sprawled across the table, and Sue chokes out.  “Y-You are a monster like they say!”

I get up.  

 “Reckon so.  But now at least one of us has something to be thankful for tonight.”

As my Grimms approach to make their own Thanksgiving meal of a human turkey, I smile as it occurs to me that for them, Black Friday has come a day early.

Read how it all began in 1853:

RITES OF PASSAGE only $1.99

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XQVPYM/
{If you like this book,
 please review as Amazon has taken away most of its other reviews.}