And then there's the music. My dad lives for this stuff - I used to hate it, just hate it. Besides the stations that broadcast all-Christmas, all the time beginning the day after Thanksgiving, he has tapes of Christmas music that he's practically worn out, but could never be replicated because he taped them from those all-Christmas, all the time broadcasts years ago. Every year for as long as I can remember I've heard pretty much the same songs, same order, over and over. I used to think it was going to drive me crazy. Maybe it has. Now, however, I find myself looking forward to hearing this stuff, maybe not actively - I can't see myself seeking it out, but just running into it playing somewhere, finding it like a little nugget of old gold somewhere. That's how it's most enjoyed, to me at least.

And some of this stuff is so bad - Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime," that is not a good song. But it's catchy and goofy and gets wedged in my head and has become as much a part of Christmas as "White Christmas." Or "Feliz Navidad." I don't know if this is just a "southwest" thing or not, but the Spanish Christmas song "Feliz Navidad" transcends language and culture barriers to become an anthem of the holidays in Arizona. You can't escape it - no matter how hard you try, you will wind up being forced to hear it at least once, and then it will circulate in your head for days afterward. And what would the season be without seeing the performance from some old show with the odd pairing of David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing together? My holiday hallmark, however, is hearing Cheech & Chong's "Santa Claus & His Old Lady". It just isn't Christmas without hearing a couple of potheads desecrating the hallowed institution that Christmas and Santa has become.

And wouldn't you know it, I do need another strand of lights.

(Celebrate the holidays, or just a few minutes, at unproductivity.)