Say What?

 Time to put some final cheer into the holiday with some Christmas quotes! 

Why is it that when snooty department stores put their Christmas decorations out just after the 4th of July it's "elegant foresight," but when I leave my Christmas lights up until April, my neighbors think I'm just tacky? Alisa Meadows 

Santa Claus has the right idea: Visit people once a year. Victor Borge 

Holiday traditions mean a lot to people, particularly people in retail. Michael Feldman 

Last Christmas, I got no respect. In my stocking I got an Odor-Eater. Rodney Dangerfield 

Christmas is a holiday that persecutes the lonely, the frayed and the rejected. Jimmy Cannon 

Before He Flew

 Santa didn't start out in a sleigh with flying reindeer, it was a much more humble and let's face it likely beginning. Of course he was also St. Nicholas at that time and his gift giving was on his feast day which was December 6. St. Nicholas rode a donkey on his rounds and children left carrots and hay in their shoes by the door hoping for a small gift. Now back to the reindeer...their eyes would have been blue since it was winter but had it been summer their eyes would have been golden as their eyes change color with the seasons to allow them to see 1,000 times better in the darkness of the winter. 

Hornswoggled?

 Hornswoggle means to get the better of someone through cheating or deception. To give (one's) head for washing means yielding without resistance (think brainwashed). To carry fire in one hand and water in the other means to be two faced or deceiving. To make a spoon or spoil a horn means to be so consumed with achieving your objectives that you unwittingly ruin something in the process, or completely fail, though that is a price you are willing to pay. After absorbing these words and expressions does anyone come to mind? If your answer is no then consider yourself hornswoggled, though it isn't to late to bury the hatchet. 

It's the Law

 Switzerland seems to be more on top of things than the non neutral rest of the world, for instance in 2008 they made it illegal to own only one guinea pig as they are social creatures and need to be around their own kind. They didn't stop with just guinea pigs, they made a social law for pets that includes rights for several species. Goldfish must also have companions and cats need to at least have access to a window where they can catch sight of fellow felines and other outside activities. See what can be accomplished without wars to worry over? 

Recycled Words

 As with fads and fashion if you wait long enough old words and phrases make a comeback too. Today's post will highlight a few of those words. Gigglemug originated in the 1920s and means pretty much what it sounds like, a person with an infectious, constant smile. Whooperup is also what it sounds like, an event with noisy enthusiasm and lively commotion. Pang Wangle is a good word for what a lot of people endure, misfortune and hardship while achieving their goals. Then there's gobemouche from the French for gape mouthed meaning ready to swallow and accept any misinformation fed to it. I saved the best for last, respair, the opposite of despair, means renewed hope after a period of distress. 

Furbtrees

Does anyone remember Furbies? Apparently they are making a comeback this year and may even be the hot Christmas gift for the year. In several capital cities in Europe they are displaying Furbtrees instead of the traditional fir or artificial trees.  At around $50 per Furby that seems like a high price to pay for a tree though it is keeping a few growing trees from their certain death, and as far as artificial trees they might actually be a lesser evil than a Furbtree which contain even more components that are bad for the environment. I hope at least they have a plan for what to do with the Furbies when they deconstruct the trees. 

Cheesy

 This sounds kind of awful until you think about it and even then it's hard to put blue cheese together with beer, but an Oregon creamery and brewery teamed up to make blue cheese beer. Coolship Beer No.6 is a lambic-style ale using Rogue River Blue Cheese and aging in oak barrels for around 2 years. Both the creamery and the brewery were skeptical at the beginning of the project but pleased with the final product which they describe as nuanced and complex but balanced and not too cheesy. Beer in cheese soup is yummy though it stretches the imagination a bit to get to blue cheese even when a person is a blue cheese fan.