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16 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2010
“Slogans bobbed overhead like flotsam. FOR PEACE, SOCIALISM AND CHRISTMAS; HANDS OFF OUR HOLIDAY SEASON!; PRIVATISE THIS. One placard was everywhere. It was very simple and sparse: the letters TM in a red circle, with a line through them.”Well, so I'm that curmudgeon that tends to see the commercialism in the major holidays instead of just enjoying them. I just get too cynical around holidays. When Grinch's heart grows three sizes, I'm there with Sheldon Cooper of 'The Big Bang Theory' worrying about the dangers of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
"We were surrounded by radical Christmasarians."Dark satire on the overcommercialized holiday (Christmas™) in the best socialist traditions, complete with the protest march featuring people from all walks of life? (" 'Blessed be,' yelled a radical pagan in my ear, and gave me a leaflet demanding that once we had won back the season we rename it Solsticemas.") In the world where even the crown jewel of all disgustingness (ahem, eggnog - barf!) cannot be used without paying a fee to the company that owes the rights to it?
"I wouldn’t have been able to use much of the traditional stuff, and if you can’t have all of it, why have any? (XmasTym had the rights to Egg Nog. But Egg Nog’s disgusting.) Those other firms keep trying to create their own alternatives to proprietary classics like reindeer and snowmen, but they never take off. I’ll never forget Annie’s underwhelmed response to the JingleMas Holiday Gecko."Again, this proves that I will read anything His Chinaness decides to write. Even if it means supporting Christmas.
"Right in front of them was a group of badly dressed people selling copies of a left wing newspaper and carrying placards with a photograph of Marx. They'd superimposed a Santa hat on him. 'I'm dreaming of a red Christmas,' they sang, badly."


for the past two years, i’ve set december’s project aside to do my own version of a short story advent calendar. it’s not a true advent calendar since i choose all the stories myself, but what it lacks in the ‘element of surprise’ department it more than makes up for in hassle, as i try to cram even MORE reading into a life already overcrammed with impossible personal goals (live up to your potential! find meaningful work! learn to knit!) merry merry wheee!
since i am already well behind in my *regular* reviewing, when it comes to these stories, whatever i poop out as far as reflections or impressions are going to be superficial and perfunctory at best. please do not weep for the great big hole my absented, much-vaunted critical insights are gonna leave in these daily review-spaces (and your hearts); i’ll try to drop shiny insights elsewhere in other reviews, and here, i will at least drop links to where you can read the stories yourselves for free, which - let’s be honest - is gonna serve you better anyway.
HAPPY READING, BOOKNERDS!

No, like most people, I was going to have a little MidWinter Event, just Annie and me. So long as I was careful to steer clear of licenced products we'd be fine.
Ivy decorations you can still get away with; holly's a no-no but I'd hoarded a load of cherry tomatoes, which I was planning to perch on cactuses. I wouldn't risk tinsel but had a couple of brightly-coloured belts I was going to drape over my aspidistra. You know the sort of thing. The inspectors aren't too bad: they'll sometimes turn a blind eye to a bauble or two (which is just as well, because the fines for unlicensed Christmas™ celebrations are astronomical).
come to my blog!Call me childish, but I love all the nonsense - the snow, the trees, the tinsel, the turkey. I love presents. I love carols and cheesy songs. I just love Christmas™.