The fiction of nostalgia takes on some of its most bizarre manifestations at the end of the year in urban Southern California—(with an average December temperature of about 60 degrees F)—when people spray “snow” in their windows, or create mock “sleigh rides” in the parking lots of shopping malls. People who’ve never set foot in snow in their lifetime get misty-eyed and sing about a “White Christmas,” and send cards to one another with tableaux depicting frosty, rural landscapes which are in reality about as familiar to them as the surface of the moon. December is just an onslaught of fabricated memories of pasts that didn’t happen and symbols of things that never existed.
It’s almost like a mental illness of self-delusion, because it’s not as though the weather changes suddenly on December 26th, when all this behavior disappears–the snow gets erased from the window, the car reindeer gets corralled back into its cardboard box in the garage, and when–I swear to you–people stop wearing the unnecessary mittens they’ve been wearing the last two weeks because in fact those mittens weren’t necessary in the first place in Los Angeles–at any time of year.
It’s great to have time off to visit family, and the economic activity (which is really what we’re celebrating) is of course important for the economy, but really, a lot of the behavior that accompanies all this is kind of disturbing. Perhaps the only good thing about the recession is that some of the more extreme displays have been attenuated: The neighbors didn’t put up their huge, inflatable Santa Clause riding a motorcycle this year. I could never figure out exactly what that was supposed to signify.
Bit bitter about Christmas, ehe? I’m guessing you meant to discuss this article.
I’m curious…which Christmas symbols are out there that never existed? As for the fabricated memories thingy, well, we are kind of past that at this point. Yeah, most of the Victorian age stuff was manufactured, but you might have noticed that we have moved on since then, and have REAL memories of stuff that was based on that old fabricated history stuff. And Christmas isn’t exactly alone in this regard.
It is like a mental illness…to be sure. Why folks get so riled about Christmas has always been a mystery to me. If you don’t like the holiday then tune it out. Why get excited about it if it’s something you aren’t interested in?
Why do you think they are celebrating anything by doing dippy stuff like that? Ever seen those idiots that put chromed ball sacks on their trucks? What do you think THEY are celebrating? People do stuff like that because they think it’s cute or cool or whatever. As long as they aren’t harming me or mine they can put whatever they want on their vehicle, as far as I’m concerned. To paraphrase Eddie Murphy, you go put those antlers on your car…I’m going to have a beer…
I don’t know exactly, but I love the way Celtling giggles whenever she sees them, and I’d grab a set in a second just to make her happy. Can’t find 'em anywhere though.
And that’s primarily what it’s all about. Some of us do set out to create good memories for our children. To just “go” with what makes them happy while they’re young, because we can, and because we want to. Do I really care if there’s a Christmas tree in the house? Meh. But she loves it, and I wouldn’t think of skipping it. I did talk her out of the pink one though. . .
Anyhoo, if you are trying to turn the whole thing into something that makes sense for the sake of adults, then you’re missing the whole point, and OF COURSE it looks ridiculous.
I happen to live in a Victorian cottage, in a lovely treed Victorian neighbourhood, and when the snow flies (None so far this year, :(, we go skating on the public rink in the park, where there is a creche and Santa and the Reindeer! I send cards because it’s part of the tradition I grew up with so it’s warm and familiar. And I write them in front of a fire, while wishing for a white Christmas.
I live in San Diego now but I grew up in a state that had snow. It wasn’t every year that it snowed but some years it did and we did snowy-Christmasy stuff.
It’s been in the high 40’s or low 50’s when I leave for work in the morning and you can bet your ass I have been wearing [del]mittens[/del]* gloves lately. I wore some this morning.
Hey don’t besmirch our 60 degree weather! I love it! By the way, they say its going to be like 70+ on Christmas. I love this kind of Christmas, none of that snow shoveling for me or slipping on ice. To me, that’s what Christmas is all about, not the abominably cold weather, because having it at 70 allows you to think about the important things during the holiday season instead of fighting off death by hypothermia in a snow bank
I’m guessing you meant to discuss 