Tag: Christmas

Hi Ho Hi Ho Hi Ho Ho Ho I Go

by earlthepearl137

It’s finally here.  Festivus, which according to Wikipedia is “a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the perceived pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season.”  According to Google, “People (who search for Festivus) also search for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, Winter Solstice, New Year’s Eve, Boxing Day, and Diwali.”  WTF is Diwali.  Sounds like the TV brother of DiBeaver, DiWally.

I had to look that holiday up.  So, back to Wikipedia.  “Diwali, also called Deepavali, is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism.  It symbolizes the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.”  I like the sound of that, though I have no idea what Dharma and Adharma are.  It sounds like two teams competing in the College Football Playoffs.

Anyway, this is a big week for a lot of people.  Not me, though.  That’s why I celebrate Festivus.  The celebrations of Festivus appeal to those people who like to air their grievances, participate in feats of strength, gather around a plain old aluminum pole as opposed to a highly decorated Christmas tree, have dinner, and witness miracles, AND it is also for people like me who are just plain lazy.

Festivus is the easiest holiday, way easier than all the other winter holidays that people are searching for on Google.  Airing of Grievances can be as simple as getting out of bed.  Sometimes all it takes is just for the alarm clock to go off to get me to start airing my grievances.  Feats of Strength are relative.  Once again, something as easy as getting out of bed can qualify as a Feat of Strength for me.  Absolutely no pressure.  That’s the spirit of Festivus.

The aluminum pole is optional.  I’ve always found that an aluminum beer can works just as well, if not better.  Festivus dinner is important.  There’s no set meal.  Eat whatever you want (or whatever you have) if you don’t have what you want.  If you do have what you want, that’s a Festivus Miracle!  Festivus Miracles don’t have to raise anyone from the dead or cure any diseases.  Anything good that happens on Festivus is a Festivus Miracle.  If nothing good happens during the entire day, that’s a Festivus Miracle, too, just not a good one.

So, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Merry whatever you celebrate, and the best Festivus ever. Check out this Festivus Dinner they had on Seinfeld.

Seinfeld: Festivus (Clip) | TBS

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

A Tree Glows in Lancaster

by earlthepearl137

picture002

My friend Maria drove 200 miles through pouring rain on Friday to bring me furniture and Christmas decorations, but mainly to party here for the monthly town party known as Lancaster First Friday.  With the heavy downpour of rain, the outdoor festivities were cancelled, but the indoor fun continued.

We started at the Belvedere Inn, compliments of my friends Barbara and John, who gave me a gift certificate for the place as a housewarming gift when I moved in.  I was saving it for just the right occasion and this was it.  The Belvedere Inn is probably the best restaurant in Lancaster, and after 200 miles of white-knuckle driving in the heavy rain, Maria needed a good meal and a drink – not necessarily in that order.

I didn’t make reservations so we had to go to the bar until a table opened up.  That suited us both just fine.  We toyed with the idea of drinking Geralynis, a drink made famous by our friend Geralyn on the Las Vegas trip.  (In case you’ve forgotten, I went to Vegas a few weeks ago with Maria, Geralyn, Marianne, and Sabrina.)  We decided, though, to stick to more conventional beverages, wine and beer.

To show off my knowledge of Lancaster, I told Maria that “the Belvedere Inn has live jazz on Friday nights from 7 until 10.  After that they have Disco.”

The bartender cringed and bit his lip.  I looked at him and said that I heard they had Disco on late Friday nights.  He informed me that they did indeed have a DJ, but that Disco died nearly 4 decades ago.

Ooops, my age was showing.

A table was now available upstairs, and we went there.  We could hear the jazz coming from a room next door and it was great.  So was the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, the Salmon, and the Lamb Chops.  Thank you Barbara and John.

It was still pouring when we left the Belvedere Inn, so we went around the corner to my favorite bar in Lancaster, The Alley Kat, a place where the entire staff is too young to know that there ever was a dance called the Alley Cat, which played at every wedding in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.  We were already stuffed so we just drank, but I told Maria that this was where I went every Monday for the Pizza special, a 15 inch pizza for $6.00.  I also went there on Thursdays for the live music and the best pastrami sandwich I ever had in my life.  (I’ve since learned that they go to NY every Tuesday and pick up their pastrami at the Carnegie Deli.  No wonder it’s so good.)

After that, since it was still pouring, we decided not to venture too far away.  We went back to the Belevedere Inn to see what was the difference between DJ and Disco music.  I have to admit that I wasn’t saddened when disco had died 40 years previously, but the techno music the DJ was playing, did start to make me nostalgic for those good old days.  We finished our drinks and left.

We went back to my apartment and took turns being the DJ on the boom box Maria had brought me.  It was about 2 in the morning, but my upstairs neighbors are noisy night owls, so I wasn’t worried about keeping them awake.  We blasted the music, until we were finally too tired to stay awake.

The next morning we went back to New York for Marianne’s Christmas Party.  The rain had stopped.  The roads were clear, and we made it in 3 fun-filled hours, while listening to the best of the ‘60s on Sirius Radio.

Marianne and her husband Tres always have a great Christmas Party every year, but this year it was even better than usual.  Bob, the piano player, always makes it special and is ready to play any song we want to sing.  Bob played at their wedding and has been a staple at their parties ever since.  Marianne, Maria, Geralyn, and I were all drinking our Las Vegas drink of choice, Geralynis, made with Champagne, Peach Schnappes, and Peach nectar.  Sabrina wasn’t there as she had gone back to Chicago by this time, but she was there with us in spirit, and we were certainly soaked in spirits.

The party ended about an hour before I had to catch the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station to catch the Amtrak back to Lancaster.  Marianne’s son Will stayed up to make sure I woke up on time to catch my 5:04 a.m train.  Will had to work the next day, so he couldn’t have gotten more than an hour’s sleep.  I want to extend a big Thank You to Will for that.

By 10 a.m. I was back in Lancaster, just before it began to snow.  I set up my new Christmas tree as I watched the snow coming down for the first time since I’ve been in Lancaster.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Happy Holidays to all my friends and family.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl