December 1, 2002. Western Massachusetts. What I Really Want for Christmas...

I had the 'flu for Thanksgiving, and stayed home shivering and watching a movie in Chinese with dull red subtitles that constantly faded into the background. The characters were all dressed in about a mile of red silk painted with red dragons. Mostly the actors would shout and cry a lot without any comment at all from the subtitle department, and finally, while two red kimonos chased each other over a red veranda, seven dim red words would materialize: "Hey, You! Get away from that cat!" Fortunately, people kept calling to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving, and I felt surrounded by family and friends, as if I was at about five different people's houses. I indulged in several saltines and a nip of ginger ale. The movie ended pretty abruptly when I turned it off.

Hannukah, the "sneak attack" holiday: it pretends to be lurking somewhere vaguely around mid-December until it suddenly leaps up the day after Thanksgiving and shouts, "SHALOM!! Did you buy your mother a gift?"

Next up, Christmas! What I really want for Christmas is peace on earth and good will toward all men. Truly.

And pretty lights. And a fireplace. Also a 1950's strat with a vibroverb amp.

It's the holidays, keep in touch.