The Posts of Christmas Past


I was bored one day a couple of months ago. OK, I had a million things to do and I was doing my best to avoid starting. So I found myself on my blog. The first thing I noticed was that I sound like a wannabe sociopath who tries to learn life’s little lessons along the way.

Instead of bemoaning this alarming development, I instead reveled in the probable fact that the FBI knows who I am, which I consider a win. Lemons into lemonade, my friends.

Then I noticed was that I was most sociopathic during the holiday season. That may initially sound incongruous, but I think you all understand.

The holidays can be a wonderful time of year. It’s the winding down of the year, at the end of which there’s a short break to catch your breath. If you’re lucky, you get to experience the joy of giving and getting gifts. You might get to spend time with your family, something which can be very conducive to nostalgia.

Oh, but there’s another side to this all, is there not?

The year is winding down, so work is uber-stressful. It’s almost as if your company tries to completely exploit your stress quotient before you can get a chance to relax, as if they are holiday days that need to be used up before year’s end. The joy of giving gifts also includes the aggravation of buying gifts. This can mean visiting a mall at peak season with a zillion other toboggan-wearing fools. Or it may mean heated arguments with an Amazon customer service representative to reach an agreed-upon definition of “overnight shipping.”

The holidays often mean family. Whenever I am frustrated or stressed by my family, I try to remember that there are thousands for whom the holidays are the loneliest time of the year, and who would kill for the gift of stress from a family. But this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

I am here to help! Normally, I would “help” by sitting in a bar with you and buying you shots. I would do this until you sentimentally sang along with me to a selection of Jukebox music that abruptly ends around 1974. Then I’d bring you home and leave you on your doorstep.

But I can’t do that. So here’s the next best thing. This week I am putting out a short e-book of Christmas stories and essays. They involve the holiday season at airports, on airplanes, with your family, and at malls. There are Christmas sex talks, Christmas food, and the inevitable post-Christmas crash. So instead of drinking with you, I can provide reading material while you drink on your own, which is better. You might even get my voice stuck in your head. In fact, you may never get it out! mwahahahaha.

Anyway, folks. If you are a subscriber to my blog, I will send you this book for free this week. If you like it, I would be beyond thrilled if you would review it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble’s website. If you are not a subscriber, well then I hate you and we are no longer friends. Nah, actually, you can buy it on Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com for $2.99. Let’s bring in the holiday season together…and with booze.

  1. #1 by Susan J Field on December 6, 2017 - 1:39 am

    Funny Damien!!

(will not be published)