MDDad
Master Eminence Grise
Posts: 6,814
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Post by MDDad on Dec 6, 2019 11:32:26 GMT -8
Luca, if you don't remember Red Ball Jets, it's because your black-and-white wingtips are cutting off your oxygen supply.
And I honestly don't remember ever seeing a Sears catalog, except I know they were huge. Do you still take one to the outhouse when the corn cobs run low?
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davidsf
Master Eminence Grise
Posts: 5,252
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Post by davidsf on Dec 6, 2019 11:35:08 GMT -8
Don’t make me invite VilePagan in here...
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RSM789
Eminence Grise
Posts: 2,286
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Post by RSM789 on Dec 6, 2019 11:52:23 GMT -8
I am pretty sure the Luca/MDDad old age accusations are indeed a Christmas tradition...
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Luca
Master Statesman
Posts: 1,316
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Post by Luca on Dec 6, 2019 13:07:33 GMT -8
And I honestly don't remember ever seeing a Sears catalog, except I know they were huge. Do you still take one to the outhouse when the corn cobs run low? Well, I can understand that. They usually didn't deliver them to the Appalachian backwaters. Too many locals with missing teeth and aggressive nonspecific gender preferences. Which incidentally makes me curious where you got your banjo but - as Dave says - we are digressing a bit. I'm not familiar with the corn cob/outhouse reference, anyway. Must be an Austrian tradition..................................Luca |
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Post by Zebra on Dec 6, 2019 13:57:27 GMT -8
Let’s talk about how our families celebrate the holiday. What are your traditions? I was a young teenaged kid in Southern California. We were approaching Christmas and I just couldn't seem to get into the "Christmas Spirit." That year, the 75°, sunny skies, palm trees wafting in the breeze just wasn’t doing it for me. I mentioned it to my mom, a wise and spiritually insightful woman, and she gave me the secret to experiencing the true spirit of Christmas. "Ask God to show you a need," she told me. "Doesn't matter how big or small, but find that need and fill it." That seemed simple enough, but she then added "and don't let anyone other than you and God know it was you who filled it. The purest definition of grace is to do something for someone else without any expectation of any reward, not even thanks." Well, that was a bit more difficult, but I decided to give it a try and you know what? She was right. That Christmas and every Christmas since, I have asked God to show me a need no matter how big or small and fill it without letting anyone know it was me who filled it. That last part is the more difficult part because not only do I want the recognition and the thanks, but some things are just seriously tough to get done without letting anyone know I'm doing it. But I manage somehow and unless you've also done something like this, you cannot imagine the reward you get. I encourage you, my friend, to give it a try this year. so what are your Christmas traditions?Tacos, lots of tacos! |
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RSM789
Eminence Grise
Posts: 2,286
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Post by RSM789 on Dec 6, 2019 14:24:00 GMT -8
so what are your Christmas traditions? Tacos, lots of tacos! Is that a euphemism for a room full of strippers? |
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Bick
Administrator 
Posts: 6,900
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Post by Bick on Dec 6, 2019 15:49:26 GMT -8
Is that a euphemism for a room full of strippers? Dude! With all this rain, you're gonna drown. |
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MDDad
Master Eminence Grise
Posts: 6,814
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Post by MDDad on Dec 6, 2019 16:25:32 GMT -8
They aren't really traditions, but I have three Christmas items I'd like to add.
(1) We arrived in America four months before my first Christmas here. We lived with my aunt and uncle for two weeks, and then my parents rented what today would be called a granny flat in the back yard of a small home on Claudina St. in Anaheim, about a block south of what would become known as Glover Stadium. (I suspect Dave probably knows exactly where that is.) My dad found a job anodizing aluminum doors and windows, but got laid off a week before Christmas, so prospects for the holidays were pretty bleak. Somehow, my parents scraped together enough coins to buy me a plastic holster with two plastic six-shooters and a plastic cowboy hat. My dad built me a pretty rough rocking horse out of scrap wood that would certainly be considered a deathtrap today, and felt like Gene Autry on Christmas morning. To this day, it's one of my best Christmas memories.
(2) About five years ago, I started the habit of buying five or six foot-long sandwiches at Subway, along with chips and drinks, on Dec. 24. Then I drive around looking for the homeless. The first five I find get a meal. Some of them are so grateful it moves them to tears. And some seem disappointed because the bag I give them doesn't contain a needle full of heroin. But I feel pretty good either way.
(3) My first granddaughter is due in February. My son married a young nurse who went to Rosary, and her two sisters went to Rosary. Her three brothers went to Servite, as did her father and five uncles. This Christmas, this baby girl not yet here will get more Mater Dei gear than she could ever imagine. It's a running gag between the other future grandfather and myself. He and I have become quite close in the last three years, but any opportunity to irritate his surgeon's ass is one I will take.
(4) And finally, if I can find the time, I'll visit Luca in the nursing home and help him remember what corn cobs are used for in the outhouse. I'm sure it will all come back to him...in the end.
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RSM789
Eminence Grise
Posts: 2,286
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Post by RSM789 on Dec 6, 2019 16:47:05 GMT -8
...Somehow, my parents scraped together enough coins to buy me a plastic holster with two plastic six-shooters and a plastic cowboy hat... And to this day, MDDad wears these item to every Mater Dei game, hootin' & a holerin' that he is going to shoot anybody who isn't wearing red... |
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davidsf
Master Eminence Grise
Posts: 5,252
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Post by davidsf on Dec 6, 2019 16:57:18 GMT -8
Let’s talk about how our families celebrate the holiday. What are your traditions? I was a young teenaged kid in Southern California. We were approaching Christmas and I just couldn't seem to get into the "Christmas Spirit." That year, the 75°, sunny skies, palm trees wafting in the breeze just wasn’t doing it for me. I mentioned it to my mom, a wise and spiritually insightful woman, and she gave me the secret to experiencing the true spirit of Christmas. "Ask God to show you a need," she told me. "Doesn't matter how big or small, but find that need and fill it." That seemed simple enough, but she then added "and don't let anyone other than you and God know it was you who filled it. The purest definition of grace is to do something for someone else without any expectation of any reward, not even thanks." Well, that was a bit more difficult, but I decided to give it a try and you know what? She was right. That Christmas and every Christmas since, I have asked God to show me a need no matter how big or small and fill it without letting anyone know it was me who filled it. That last part is the more difficult part because not only do I want the recognition and the thanks, but some things are just seriously tough to get done without letting anyone know I'm doing it. But I manage somehow and unless you've also done something like this, you cannot imagine the reward you get. I encourage you, my friend, to give it a try this year. so what are your Christmas traditions?Tacos, lots of tacos! That’s odd... most folks go with the Tamale this time of year. |
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Post by ProfessorFate on Dec 6, 2019 18:16:33 GMT -8
Is that a euphemism for a room full of strippers? As in "If God didn't mean for us to eat 'em..."? |
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RSM789
Eminence Grise
Posts: 2,286
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Post by RSM789 on Dec 8, 2019 12:31:12 GMT -8
...(2) About five years ago, I started the habit of buying five or six foot-long sandwiches at Subway, along with chips and drinks, on Dec. 24. Then I drive around looking for the homeless. The first five I find get a meal. Some of them are so grateful it moves them to tears. And some seem disappointed because the bag I give them doesn't contain a needle full of heroin. But I feel pretty good either way...This a wonderful gesture and shows the power of charity from an individual level. Ironically it also illustrates the mentality that liberals have in the social programs they want the government to implement, i.e., it doesn't matter if it works or not, it makes the liberal feel good just doing it. Don't get me wrong, MDDad's intentions are right and because it is his money doing the charity, there is nothing wrong with the attempt. I find fault only when a person forcibly takes anothers wealth in order to implement a program that makes that first individual feel good about themselves. |
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