Christmas Didn't Make Me Cry!

I know that sounds odd. It is. For the last few years I've dreaded Christmas. Nobody's fault really, I just couldn't deal with it. Too many deaths, marriage breakups and the whatnot had kind of spoiled the whole schmear for me in the last few years, and had left me wary of future holidays. But this year was revelatory. No fights, no arguments, no tears and no wondering "Why the hell do I put myself through this every year?" To begin with, I was invited to a RASH of Christmas parties, which simply NEVER happens. I had one weekend where I was invited to THREE on the same night! Insane. Maybe that isn't so unusual for most people, but it sure wasn't par for the course for me! Of course I enjoyed it all IMMMENSELEEEEEY. Booze and free eats? Who wouldn't?

As for my familial Christmas do's, I was shocked and delighted. I had a lovely time at my Dad's place and we had fun, just the two of us, something we hadn't done in a long time, just hanging out, reading, shopping, watching Fawlty Towers and howling with laughter. Then I went up to my Mom's place (well actually, her boyfriend's place, but she lives there too) and had a lovely Christmas day, and sat down to a four star Christmas dinner, and innumerable amounts of wine. Met a bunch of charming people and all of them were delightful. The only group gathering I missed was a pre-Christmas day at my brother's place the week before, but I was sick, and couldn't make it. Oh well, there's always next year....in the meantime, its now Friday, December 29th, and at last count, I have exactly, three, and possibly four more parties to go to before work on Tuesday morning.

But all things considered, in light of recent events, I consider this successful Christmas as one of the peak events of civilization. From a slightly biased standpoint that is...

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Good Queen's Bess' 448th Ascension Revel.....The REAL Queen in Attendance. Sort of.

Her royal furriness, Mookie, dozing on her throne by the fire amidst all of the merriment at court....

Arty Things I Liked in 2006

MOVIES:

Lessee, what I like? BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, CAPOTE, THE QUEEN, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, HALF NELSON, STRANGER THAN FICTION, and I'm still waiting to see BABEL and NOTES ON A SCANDAL, and THE HOLIDAY.

BOOKS:

I never read new fiction, well, I do, but only after everybody else and his dog has worn it to a bone, but a few books I read this year that I liked (that spring to mind) were Lillian Hellman's PENTIMENTO, Louise Welsh's TAMBURLAINE MUST DIE, Augusten Burrough's RUNNING WITH SCISSORS (oddly, I didn't see the movie) and THE WORLD OF CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE by David Riggs.

MUSIC:

This is the year I became enamoured of THE PET SHOP BOYS (after my withering initial putdown of them sounding bland and over-medicated) when Scotty made me sit down and listen to all of their stuff. I came away entranced by the sheer subtle brilliance and wit of their music. Scott also got me onto THE SCISSOR SISTERS, with the end result that I adore them even more than PSB. I'd marry Jake Shears in a second (if he asked me). You see why its important to have brilliant friends who take your stupidity with a grain of salt? Scotty's a virtual Job with me.....

DVD:

One of the wonderful things about DVD's is that its so much easier to have a proper movie library now. And a lot of old and not-so-old wonderful stuff is coming out on disk collections, having been totally remastered. A couple of winners I saw this year was the Tennessee Williams' collection, (with a wonderful and seldom seen NIGHT OF THE IGUANA with Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and a brilliant Ava Gardner in I think, her best performance ever) THE JAMES DEAN COLLECTION, (with a brilliant transfer of EAST OF EDEN). I also adored THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, FUNNY FACE, ELIZABETH, ANOTHER GAY MOVIE, and the original 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA....

That's just a taste of what I remember. I'm sure there's more. If I can think of anything else, I'll add it on later....

All I Want for Christmas....

10) Another "date" with Adam Giambrone. Seriously. He's sweet. We talked archaeology and steak knives.

9) At least one of Stephen Harper's kids to grow up to become a radical gay activist.

8) No more reality TV.

7) Paris Hilton to lose all her money.

6) O.K. I lied before. I REALLY want a date with Jake Shears.

5) New contact lenses. I'm sick of looking like Harry Potter's half-wit older brother Waldo.

4) A new federal gov't.

3) A producer for my play!!!!

2) A stable, sane, cute boyfriend. All addicts, alcoholics, meth-heads, sociopaths, Narcissistic Personality Disorders and smelly people need not apply. I think that leaves me with about three. And they're all over eighty. And deaf.

And finally.....

1) A Global Group Hug (no pinching, Fidel!)