Holidays=tired

[TheZebraShakes™]

This holiday thing is kicking my ass.

Between shopping and long road trips out of state I'm already feeling wiped out and haven't really had the brainpower to do any game updating.

And I'll be away in New Jersey from the 27th through the 1st of Jan so no posts during that time from me.

I'll try to update my games before I go away, just so there's something up and I won't have to do it when I get back. That'll give everyone plenty of time to post.m

[Wicksy]

OK...have a good one! I did 3 hours of christmas shopping and lost my temper ;D

[Deekin]

I got all of my x-mas shopping done over time, so I manages to avoid killing anyone.

[TheZebraShakes™]

I hate shopping. Just the time spent in stores is a nightmare, and then to be lugging around a zillion bags.

By the time I got into Macys, I just took off my coat, threw down my bags, and practically passed out on top of the bathroom rugs display.

Every year you say you're going to do it early or online, or only gift cards but you still end up having to go out to the stores to get some presents.

It can really get people furious though, I don't blame you Wicksy. I was in the same boat.

Christmas is the worst.

[Japic]

I hear you guys and generally agree. Shopping is a pain in the butt; I suppose that we owe it all to commercialism. How baby Jesus ended up a fat man in red and the reason to buy folks gifts I don't know.

Not that I'm complaining too much; it's fun to get someone that special something that makes their eyes sparkle, and to receive something that makes you sparkle. Why should anyone complain about a reason to get gifts?

Merry x-mas anyhow!

[Badasterysk]

I have to finish my shopping today... and I'm down to my last potion of patience.m

[VemuKhaham]

How baby Jesus ended up a fat man in red and the reason to buy folks gifts I don't know.

It's a Dutch tradition, transported to America, and then back to Europe and the rest of the world, actually. Santa Claus is really descended from Saint Nicholas, an ancient bisschop who lived in Turkey and protector of little kids and sailors and such. Dutch colonists brought the idea to America, and over time it changed a little: things became a little less saintly and a bit more 'fat man in red'. Over here, we still do the old Saint Nicholas, but Santa Claus was commercialized here too, of course. So now we have to buy double the presents, in the same month, for two feasts in honor of practically the same guy in different dress.

So when next you go shopping for christmas, think of that: we have to do the shopping twice. You're not so bad off. Anyhow, merry christmas!

[TheUdjat]

There's a lot of factors that combined to make Christmas what it is today. The winter has always been a period of time for holidays, for most European cultures, stretching waaay back. It was just a natural progression: during winter, people had surplus food, surplus time, nowhere to go, and a need not throttle each other. Hence, holidays, celebrations, feasts, etc.

A large part of it was the Christianization of old pagan holidays, too. Christianity had a strong tendency to conveniently schedule their holidays at the same time as pagan festivals, to make it a more convenient transition. The feast of Saint Nicholas sort of combined with the old Norse Yule (in which Odin behaves in a rather Santa-like fashion), combined with a few other traditions, and eventually morphed into what it is today. Modern-era cartoonists had a lot to do with it, too.

In short, it's a big melting-pot holiday.

The nativity is a little different. I don't think Christmas and St. Nicholas were supposed to be the same day at first. Christmas was once actually twelve days (hence the twelve days of Christmas), stretching from the birth of Christ (the 25th) to the Epiphany (the 6th of January), when the three Magi arrived and bestowed gifts upon Jesus - during this period shepherds and locals and the angels all praised the birth, though nowadays it's typically represented as happening all in one night.

Then again, a lot of historians suggest that Jesus was actually born in autumn, so you have another case of 'rearranging' holidays to coincide with pagan festivals like the Solstice and Yule. Just like All Saints Day next to All Hallow's Eve.

Anyway, just a big rambling way of saying that Christmas used to be a lot of old things that has gradually been picked apart and recombined to be what we know today.

And if I were you guys, I'd totally leave some carrots out for Sleipnir, cause Odin's gonna be pissed if you don't.

[VemuKhaham]

Sleipnir?! Damn, totally forgot about Sleipnir! But Amerigo probably has already eaten those carrots. ;D

By the way, Saint Nicholas is celebrated December 5, so it doesn't fall on the same day, just in the same month. It was the birthday of Saint Nicholas, while Christmas is of course the birthday of Jezus. I didn't know about the Odin story, but that's interesting cause it goes a long way to explaining the origins of Saint Nicholas, and therefore Santa. Still, I like Odin better. I'm going to adopt it. I don't suppose any of you know, when was Odin's birthday?

I suppose you could always read the full story on wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

[TheUdjat]

Ah, wikipedia.

I didn't mean to imply that St. Nicholas's Day and Christmas are the same day, but in the US, St. Nicholas isn't really recognized (except perhaps among Catholics, but I have no firsthand knowledge of this). But with St. Nicholas turning into Santa Claus (sort of), it's like they've merged... Perhaps it's a protestant development or something.

I should dig up my old Egyptian calendar and see what the associated celebrations are for this time of year. That'd be neat.

I dig the bit about Odin, too. Sugar cubes and carrots for 'santa' next year! And an eyepatch. He's really needed one of those for a while.

[Japic]

Aw c'mon, O'l One Eye has better eyepatches than we could ever give. And I'll be sure to leave out eight carrots, one for each leg. Can't have that horse falling asleep on the job.

Though if we're talking about interesting merging of traditions then I feel it necessary to also point out that Santa also has eight reindeer (not including rudolph, created in the 1930s) who bear him through the sky, much as Sleipnir can supposedly do with Odin.

I was aware of the general progression of where our fat man came from, but the fact that it has become so commercial is crazy. I feel bad for you Dutch still living at home; I couldn't deal with that many presents all in the same month. Apparently the traditions around Saint Nicholas didn't carry down to my generation; maybe my great grandpa didn't celebrate him so it didn't get passed. <shrugs> Oh well. It's probably better this way. I'm not sure I could afford two such holidays.