STAVE I: CHRISTMAS

Christmas spirit all month long   If Gray Thursday and Black Friday set the pace for the Christmas season, it’s going to be a rough ride. Some years, especially when Thanksgiving and Christmas are close together, it seems like Christmas itself gets trampled in the rush to get things done.   The very heart of Christmas can become like a flattened Black Friday shopper out in the cold parking lot of life.   To prevent the scurry and hurry of the season from destroying what counts, it helps to focus on the charitable center, the Bob Cratchit cheer, the ho ho ho and the Holy, Holy, Holy. Will we end up in frustration, mummified in wrapping paper and wearing a scowl? Or will we shine with inner peace and candlelight glow?   Here is a list of 25 ways to keep Christmas in perspective and help go for the glow:   1. Hum carols throughout the day.   2. Bell-ringers you come across? Visit them twice: once when entering the store and again when exiting. ...

Too much information     A friend’s mom left her senior living facility and moved into an apartment because of “too much information.”   She said residents conversed only on two topics:   health problems and neglectful children.   After the third colonoscopy conversation, I can see that she might be ready to move out.    “Too much information” has become a popular catchphrase to use when conversations become too gross, too personal or too uncomfortable.   A friend describes ancient gallbladder surgery and goes into detail about the incision? Too much information!   A relative gives mushy particulars about intimacy with her boyfriend? Too much information!     Someone tweets on bodily functions? #TooMuchInformation.   We can now listen to Justin Bieber, while watching Dr. Who, while reading Jane Austen and playing Halo IV. Why we’d want to, I don’t know. But we can.   Recently, I tried to watch my son...