I did some reading yesterday! I decided to read some holiday stories, but I think there was something wrong with the link. They were all the same story over and over and over again. Trixie with Jim, Trixie with Jim, Trixie with Jim... of course, the details were slightly different. Trixie with hers & Jim's daughter (named after dad, natch - and why are their kids ALWAYS ONLY named 'Katie' or 'James' (or some form of the name) ??? Wouldn't she want to name her kids after... say... her parents? Her beloved uncle(s)? Her cousins?). Trixie in love with Jim having to go the extra mile to get him to spend holiday time with her (shades of Dickens? HUH? Coming from someone who spent last year at this time ripping off the dead guy herself, it wasn't Dickens. It was TORTURE!) ... Mart writes the books for Trixie & Jim's kid (yeah - every kid is most interested in the story of how mom & dad first hooked up) ... Jim, somehow stuck in London, is still the only guy Trixie could ever truly love and by allowing her to chase him is keeping her from a lifetime of misery (feel free to tell me how that is supposed to be proving his love for her) ... oh - and eight teenagers manage to pick the perfect presents out of a grab bag - and NO ONE questions if the bag was rigged? (I did!) There were others... but picking apart one author's obvious prejudices and another's political beliefs are too easy and the belief that every 'misfortunate happenstance' at Christmas isn't even remotely possibly a hoax is too cruel to mention, so I won't. (I can't believe that I'm the only person who thought that guy whose presents 'got left in the back of his truck' - in New York - at WINTERTIME - was a little convenient.) At least, not more than I have already.

My own Christmas tale, as I said before, was a rip-off of Dickens, plain pure & simple. I still like it, though, and not just because it happened to fit into the books but because it's my favorite Christmas story.

Oh -and someone once asked me why Mr. Maypenny would be hosting a Christmas party in his own house for Regan & Dan (and Maypenny's own daughter, my own created character) instead of going to spend it with the Wheelers, who were hosting a party for their employees. Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but Maypenny doesn't depend on Wheeler for his living - their employee/employer relationship is convenient but not necessary. Not true for Miss Trask, Celia, Tom or the cook & maid and whoever else works there. Why wouldn't Dan be used to spending Christmas with Maypenny -considering he once lived with the guy? Why wouldn't Regan spend the day with his nephew? Why wouldn't Maypenny have people over?

It's not right nor is it fair to simply ask "Why wouldn't Maypenny spend Xmas with the Wheelers like all the other employees" without recognizing some salient facts:

1. Maypenny has his own house.

2. Maypenny has/had the responsibility of caring for 2 teenagers (one of whom - for me - is his own daughter).

You can't ask 'why wouldn't he -' if you don't look at why WOULD he? Why change your Christmas tradition - move your celebration out of your own house - to spend it with a family you don't live with but only work for?

Okay - yeah. This bugged me a lot last year when someone asked me about it. I mean, it seemed obvious to me, but I must have a totally different grasp of logic and human nature than other people. That's okay. I can deal with it.

On a lighter note... I do have a funny story to tell y'all about Christmas shopping, but I think I'll save it to be posted on the O/S MB. It's a gift for someone who might actually read my blog, but I don't think he reads the MB.

We have a repair guy coming soon to fix the scanner (I'm at work right now) so I have to go.
posted by SPowers at 11:36 AM | Remember It!