Because I worked on Christmas Eve, I didn't head to the family gathering in Portland until Christmas morning. I caught the first train from Seattle at 7:30am, and because it was only ten bucks more expensive I rode business class. It was very pleasant, and I drank a couple of Irish coffees because it was a holiday. The guy working in the bistro car ( Read more... )

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Twas the night before the night before Xmas, and I'm wrapping a couple of presents and, thanks to gerisullivan, listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Xmas trilogy (currently Christmas Eve and Other Stories). I'm almost getting into the mood, with a little help from a bottle of St Bernardus Christmas Ale. Cheers, y'all.

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I'm back from Central Oregon, where I spent Xmas weekend with the whole family except for my sister, who is still in Chile. It was a very mellow weekend. There was snow on the ground, but the roads were clear. The food was good, and Christmas itself wasn't very stressful. I even helped with the cooking a little, which was fun. Well, you know how ( Read more... )

akirlu finds something funny in the manger.

Well, this one sure snuck up on me! (Yes, "snuck," spellchucker!) Hadn't heard anything about it until I saw a trailer last week when holyoutlaw and I saw The Warrior's Way (which is a hugely fun, if formulaic, ninjas vs. cowboys vs. clowns spaghetti western). (Yeah, I know, advanced formula.) Based on the trailer and a couple of rave reviews I found on the ( Read more... )

Lovely long weekend in Central Oregon with the family. Very mellow this year, with a minimum of Xmas angxt. The weather was frosty, which was quite beautiful on the junipers and strings of Xmas lights. Basically just sat around and talked and ate a lot. Wonderful food, wonderful family. On Saturday my nephew, sister-in-law, and I drove to Bend to ( Read more... )

Over at theinferior4, Lucius Shepard recently posted ten excellent capsule stories of exotic Christmases past -- although I guess jail isn't an exotic location for everybody. It got me thinking about my own Xmases in foreign lands. There are only three I can remember, not counting the four we spent on Yap when we were living out there (besides which I don't ( Read more... )