(no subject)

The one area of the Christmas tree where I’m pickiest is the star turn. My experience has shown that most stars that retailers offer for you to place atop your tree are wholly inadequate. Most of them are way too gaudy for words. And you want the top of the tree to look the best, you know? It’s the focal point, in a way, and having something hanging on the top that reeks of a Vegas lounge totally detracts from the look of the rest of the tree.

So this year, Corb and I haven’t been settling. Our quest has taken us everywhere, including “Christmas World” with the kids. The place only opens during the holidays, and is completely covered in Christmas decorations, from wreaths to bulbs to those tacky plastic lawn decorations that some people haul our, year after year, to celebrate the season. It's as though Burl Ives threw up all over the joint.

It also has some pretty nice Christmas displays, as you can see. And coffee and fudge. I was particularly partial to the coffee. It's the Twin Peaks in me.

Well, after deliberating for half an hour, we thought we had purchased an acceptable star, but when we brought it home and plugged it in, we realized that the star, when lit, glowed with soft pastel rainbow colors.

“Oh my god,” I said to Corb. “We have a gay pride Christmas tree!”

No we don’t. Corb quickly took the star off and replaced the color bulbs with white ones. But the lights short-circuited, and so now we’re back to square one.
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(no subject)

I'm traveling to New York City for a Christmas party this Friday. Do any of my New York friends know anything about this transit strike? Does it appear likely or not?