Holiday Post 2025: Traditions, Manners, and Miscellany

Greetings and happy holidays. Welcome to the first of my 2025 holiday posts. This is where I take a break from the usual and write some things about Christmas and the holidays season. First up we take a look at some traditions, manners, and miscellany; this is basically a bit of holidays trivia and general information that I hope may be of interest to my four readers.  I search the net near and far to find some links and add a bit of commentary, mostly for fun. 

 

 

Traditions and manners

 

 

• The U.S. Census Bureau has a small winter holiday season fact sheet (warning PDF). 
• The Old Farmer's Almanac has a page on fun facts, trivia, and folklore for the month of December. They packed a lot of good information and trivia on their page. For example, the Winter Solstice this year falls on December 21; it is the shortest day of the year. Their page also includes some useful tips such as: 
• How to set and decorate your holiday table.
• Taking care of your Christmas tree.
• Making your own holiday candle. 
• Holidays or not, we are living in Hard Times, and there are plenty of stories out there about the Bad Economy. For instance, the Conference Board, a business non-profit think tank, states that Americans are likely to spend less for the holidays season. This includes gifts as well as what they call "non-gift" items, things like wrapping paper, decorations, food, etc. In addition, they state that "consumers also said they are focused on giving their family and friends items they need this year rather than items they want." In other words, it's underwear and socks under the Christmas tree this year it seems.
• Then again, you may want to take the Board's report with a bit of a grain of salt if this year's Black Friday is any indication. The Associated Press reports that "shoppers spend billions" despite the Bad Economy. I am not a pundit nor play one on TV, but I suspect some of that shopping spree was fueled by credit cards, and I get the feeling some folks will be getting some high credit card bills in the next couple of months. We'll have to wait and see. 
•  Want more holidays insight from a commercial point of view? Well, the National Retail Federation has their report on "Winter Holiday Data and Trends" for 2025.  Report includes things like asking consumers about how much they plan to spend and their top five reasons that consumers give for shopping early. By the way, I am one who advocates getting your holiday shopping done early so you can take it easy the rest of the season. 
• In a more whimsical note, seeing the PNC Christmas Price Index is an amusing tradition for me. They basically price from year to year the cost of the items in the "12 Days of Christmas" song.  In case you wonder, the overall cost in 2025 of all the items in the song is $218,542.98, up 4.4% this year. Go on and check the items' prices to see how they arrive at the number. 
• A fun tradition you can do with children of all ages is tracking Santa Claus as he travels the world on Christmas Eve. You can do it at NORAD's Santa Tracker site.  In addition, they make it easy because they have some social media presence and their own apps for your mobile devices. You can find details on the site.
• Staying home for the holidays? Perhaps you are not traveling, and it may be your first time home with the family for the holidays. Jennifer Jahn, writing for the Northern Kentucky Tribune, offers some ideas and suggestions for holiday traditions to start and try out with a theme of keeping your household a priority. The idea is to start creating stories now that you will cherish in the years to come. 

 Tips and advice for coping, etc.

 

 

In these Hard Times, posting and sharing tips and advice for coping with the holidays is essential. These days the holidays can be a minefield for some people, and I hope that sharing some of this might be helpful in navigating it without an explosion or at least with minimal damage. Remember that whether it is your physical or mental health, or both, you need to take care of yourself.   

• Via the Northern Kentucky Tribune, here are some health tips from the American Medical Association.  One simple bit of advice is watching what you eat. I know, no one wants to hear that during a season known for excessively sweet and carb loaded foods and treats, but you'll probably feel better afterwards if you plan ahead a bit and keep your eating in moderation. Same goes for alcohol, if you do it do so in moderation. Please do not add to the end of year tragic statistics of dead due to drunk driving. Come back home safely. 
•  CreateWriteNow offers some stress management strategies for the holiday season. There is a bit of common sense and emphasis on taking care of yourself and maintaining balance. 
• OM Times offers some advice on "navigating family politics during holiday gatherings." Because very often there is that one family member who can't shut the fuck up about politics during a family gathering . If just outright shunning them or you just not showing up are not an option, here are some suggestions to at least bear through it and make it out. Do keep in mind some suggestions may be a bit too charitable. For example: "Even though it’s upsetting to see the people we love expressing opinions that we hate, part of being a family member is accepting each other for who we are, even when we think that the other person is terribly misguided." I am sorry, but no. If the relative is not just misguided but an outright bigoted asshole who advocates taking my rights and those of my loved ones away, that is not misguided. That is just being an outright nutjob asshole, and they are certainly getting shunned. There are just evils I refuse to tolerate, and I think neither should you. 
• If the holidays season brings you grief instead of joy, and you need a little advice, Broadleaf Books has their list of some comforting books that could be of interest.  
• You may consider making a gratitude list for the season. Here is one from a children and youth services librarian from the Association of Library Services to Children (ALCS) blog. To be honest, this is a small exercise I may try to do myself. 

 

The Christmas Tree, Decorations and other objects

 

 

•  Not sure when to put up the Christmas tree or how to decorate it? This article from the BBC offers some ideas. A lot of people these days put up the tree and other holiday decorations as soon as they can. Heck, in my neighborhood, one family had it up literally the day after Halloween. I think they put it up right after Halloween. Back in my younger days, mom usually made sure our family tree went up the day after Thanksgiving. For a good while, we had an artificial tree, then at some point my parents decided to go with natural trees. I don't quite recall when that happened exactly. 
• Want to learn more about the tree? Illinois Extension, out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has some fun facts about the Christmas tree.  
• Better Homes and Gardens offers 7 Christmas tree trends they claim will be everywhere in 2025.  One of those trends is having multiple Christmas trees, which I can already assure you won't be happening in our small apartment, but then again, our home is not one of the "better" homes. 
• The Guardian across the pond has a list of best Christmas drinks. What caught my eyes is that someone has created a fruit cake liqueur. I am not sure if that is an abomination or a stroke of genius. Will it be condemned to be passed around and regifted eternally after you receive it? Stay tuned. 
• Do people still send Christmas cards? I keep asking this question as the number of cards I send out for the holidays seems to keep shrinking for various reasons, but I persevere and keep sending a few cards to family and friends. If you still send holiday cards out, or you want to try doing it, but you are not sure what to write in them, Just Christmas Cards offers a list of card messages you can pick and choose for your cards. No one has to know you did not write the sentiment yourself.  Certainly beats asking an AI Slop machine to write it for you. 

 

Other trivia (other topics) 

•  If you are sending gifts via mail, here are the dates to keep in mind if you are using the U.S. Postal Service. 
• If you use some other service, here are their dates, via MSN. 
• And if you want to do something nice this year, maybe you consider adopting a child's letter to Santa via the USPS Operation Santa.  

 

 

Final stuff  

 

• To wrap up, Theresa Reed, the Tarot Lady, offers us our horoscopes for December 2025 over at Old Farmer's Almanac.

And there you have, a bit on traditions, manners, and miscellany for the holidays. Stay tuned for the next post in my holiday series where I look at gifts and shopping. In the meantime, feel free to comment and share any traditions or trivia you keep or find interesting. 

Peace and happy holidays. 

 

Media Notes: Roundup for November 2025

 

  

 

Welcome to my somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during November 2025.

Movies and films (links to IMDB.com for basic information unless noted otherwise). Some of these I watched via TubiTv.com or other online source. The DVDs come from the public library (unless noted otherwise). In addition, I will try to add other trivia notes, such as when a film is based on a book adding the information about the book (at least the WorldCat record if available). 

Just one movie watched this month.  

• Boy Wonder (2010. Action. Crime. Drama. Thriller). Plot description: "A traumatized boy grows into a shy, determined teenager who patrols the mean streets of New York City, helping those in need and dishing out severe punishment to remorseless thugs."  The film starts, and we go back and forth between Sean, the protagonist, as a teenager who does well academically but seems introverted, and flashbacks to when he was a child, spending time with his mother and then seeing the moment she is killed by a criminal. The story is a pretty straightforward revenge plot. During the day, Sean is a perfect student, albeit not too social, but he also works out and trains hard as a kickboxer, and at night he becomes a vigilante. He often does take a beating but still manages to come out on top. Adding to his trauma is a father who is now a recovering alcoholic who used to beat him and his mom when he was a drunk. The film is not spectacular. Do not let the title mislead you, but still, to some, Sean may be a hero albeit not the cape wearing kind. It is a pretty good drama with a twist or two and an ending that you might not expect but I think works very well. This one, despite some slow moments, is worth a watch. The actors portraying Sean and his father put in some good performances. The rest of the characters were not as good and somewhat cliche, some such as the one veteran cop is the stereotypical jaded and cynical cop. Still with no idea what I was getting into when I picked this indie film, I found that it was worth a look. 3 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 11/7.

 

Television and other series (basic show information links via Wikipedia unless noted otherwise). Some of these come in DVD from the public library. Others may be via YouTube, which, as noted before, I keep finding all sorts of other old shows in it, often full episodes:

• Barney Miller (situation comedy, police. 1975-1982). I've been on a mood to do some comfort watching, so I started rewatching this from the beginning via TubiTv and by now they got the complete series. Last time I commented on watching the series was back in October of 2023. I pretty much watched in and out from beginning to end. Fact episodes are short, about 22-25 minutes each helps the watching flow. 

 

 

Book Review: Cryptic

Gary J. Shaw, Cryptic: from Voynich to the angel diaries, the story of world's most mysterious manuscripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2025. ISBN: 9780300266511. 

Genre: antiquarian, books, esoterica

Subgenre: history 

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

This book is a history of mysterious and puzzling texts; it focuses on nine medieval and early modern European works. Very often these texts were partially or fully written in cipher or code. Some are real, and others may be a hoax. The authors often had reasons ranging from vanity to professional necessity for hiding their content in the texts. Some codes could be broken easily but others to this day remain a mystery. Along the way the author presents the history of coded writings, magical and esoteric texts, medieval science and medicine, and more. If you like a good mystery, and you like reading about esoteric texts, this may be a book for you.

The book features an introduction, 10 chapters, extensive notes, and a bibliography plus a list of illustrations. The book has a variety of black and white illustrations plus a set of color plates. Some of the texts included are: 

• Sister Hildegarde's writings. 
• The Voynich Manuscript. 
• John Dee's Angel Diaries.

As a whole, this is an interesting book. The author looks at a text, and then we get to look at the text writer's life followed by a look at the context of the time and history around a document or book. By looking at the historical context we can better understand the books discussed. The author does a very good job helping us see how people lived at the time and how that helped inspire the text creators. 

What the book focuses on: 

"Consequently, Cryptic focuses less on the methods and used by people in the past to hide information, and more on the individuals themselves and what they chose to keep secret. As we shall see, their hidden knowledge covers a wide variety of themes, from the occult, alchemy, and religion, to science, engineering, and medicine" (1).

 The Voynich Manuscript remains a mystery to this day. Naturally this book's author feels the need to present his theory about it. In doing so, he provides an image of what a 15th century educated reader and book collector was like, what they likely knew and read. That part I found particularly interesting. 

But wait, there is more. John Dee and Edward Kelly swapping wives because the angels told them to do it, in 1857, is certainly worth the price of admission so to speak.  

While the book is a solid scholarly work, and interesting to read, it can feel a little repetitive towards the end as the author is wrapping up the book. 

This may be a book more for academic libraries, especially libraries in liberal arts colleges and large research institutions with strong collections in the humanities. It may also be of interest to medieval history and studies programs. Some library and information science libraries may find it of interest. 

Some larger public libraries may see this as optional. For smaller public libraries, this may be a bit too esoteric for most of their readers. 

Overall, I really liked it, and if you find the topic interesting I recommend it. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Additional reading notes: 

Items from the book's bibliography I may want to read later, adding to my TBR list: 

• Arianrod, Thomas Harriot: a life in science. Oxford UP, 2019. 
• Fanger, Invoking Angels: Theurgic ideas and practices, thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Penn State University Press, 2012. 
• Laycock, The Complete Enochian Dictionary. Weiser, 3rd. ed. 2023. 
• Peterson, John Dee's Five Books of Mystery. Weiser, 2003. 
• Pettegree, The book in the Renaissance. Yale UP, 2010. 

  

This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: 

 

Thanksgiving Post 2025

Greetings and welcome to my 2025 Thanksgiving holiday post. In the recent years, our daughter spends the day doing Friendsgiving with friends. This year we got invited, and the Better Half and me decided to go, so we'll be celebrating with friends on Thursday. The Better Half will make one of her apple salads and bake a couple of pies, and I will bring the coquito. Making coquito and sharing it with others is one of those small holiday traditions I enjoy. This year, I work half a day on the Wednesday, then I am off from Thursday to Saturday; I return to regular work hours on Sunday. My other family members will work throughout the weekend after Thursday. 

 

While we are out for the holiday, here is some trivia and other small items of interest related to the holiday that I think my four readers may find amusing or interesting. Last year was a rough year, and to be honest, 2025 has not been that much better; it included one funeral. I am not holding high hopes for 2026 either, but we can worry about the next year later. 

 

If you celebrate the holiday, I hope it is a safe and happy time. If it is just Thursday for you, I hope it is a safe and happy Thursday. If you have to work the day, I hope the day is a calm one, and I hope you can find an alternate time to celebrate if you wish.  

 

 

 

 

 

Some holiday trivia

A vintage art piece featuring a live turkey, US flag, and a pumpkin

 

 

• As I mentioned, we will be celebrating Friendsgiving with some friends. If you are curious about the word and/or the tradition, NPR has an overview of the tradition's history and etiquette. 
• YouGov has their 2025 Thanksgiving survey asking what Americans will cook, eat, and debate for the holiday. A lot of the numbers they found are interesting, though I personally do not care much for the political trivia. One nice detail of us going to Friendsgiving with friends is that I know it will be a politics free environment. Keeping politics out of the day is a big reason why I tend to prefer staying home for the holiday, but I am keeping faith this outing will be peaceful. 
• The Thanksgiving holiday period is a big time for travel, especially the day before and of course people returning after the weekend. This for us is the first time we've traveled for the holiday in years, but at least we are just driving a short distance, about 45 minutes or so to the big city, i.e. Lexington, KY. Dinner starts in early afternoon, so by then the traffic should be bearable. If you are traveling, The Onion does a bit of humor with their Thanksgiving travel numbers.  

 

The Thanksgiving economy 

Cost of the 2025 Thanksgiving dinner graphic (see link below)

 

 By now I am sure you are aware of the press coverage regarding the cost of the meal, that it seems to be higher or lower, depending on who you ask, etc. I am not going to rehash that. I am sure you all know how to check news sites for those stories. Still, I do find some of the economic trivia bits to be of interest, and I hope you'll find these stories interesting too. 

•  Farm Bureau does an annual cost of the Thanksgiving dinner analysis, and they did again for 2025. The graphic above comes from their article. They concluded the cost, based on the basket they measure, declined a bit for this year. Their survey also looks at regional costs, say the South versus the West. 

 

 

Some holidays advice 

A little red bird wearing scarf and beanie saying: "If you are going home to an unsupportive family this holiday season, remember that your worth is not define by what they say or how they treat you.

 

 The holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. can be a complicated and/or difficult time for some folks. And given the current Hard Times we are in, those complications and/or difficulties can get worse. So to help some folks out, here are some articles with advice for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you must be with difficult folks, I hope some of these resources help you. My best advice is don't do it. Don't put up with anyone who grinds your gears. However, I understand some out there may not have the choice I have, and again, I hope some of this information helps. 

• The Verge has an article on how to survive Thanksgiving ranging from the food to dealing with stress and who to avoid if necessary.  
• Salon offers an article answering some of the big Thanksgiving questions such as your first time hosting the meal,  drinks to serve, and how to deal with that one overeager kitchen "helper" you'd rather be out of the kitchen. 
• On a different track, not many folks remember the pets that may be in a home at the time. Via Family Friends Veterinary Hospital, here are some Thanksgiving pet safety tips, things like what to feed them and what to definitely not feed them from the holiday table.  

 

 

The food 

A photo of Thanksgiving food including a sliced turkey in center and some sides 

 

Generally, when we celebrate at home, we always do non-traditional food. One year it's Mexican food, the other can be Italian or Puerto Rican food. It depends on what we feel like doing that year, and to be honest, probably one of the best decisions we ever made in our home. This year, I understand our host is doing some traditional fare, but with some spins of their own. Should be interesting. Anyhow, I know that most Americans do the traditional fare of turkey and sides. So here are some articles about the food and some advice on how to cook it if you need a little help.  

• Want some wine with your turkey? Drinkhacker suggests zinfandel this year.  
• Do you prefer non-alcoholic drinks with your meal? Vice offers some modest suggestions.  One of them is the Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale, one of the various soft drinks featuring cranberry flavor you can often find this time of year. The Better Half is a bit partial to the Cranberry Sprite, or whatever lemon-lime soda with cranberry is available that year; we are not brand loyal in terms of cranberry soda. Personally, I cut soda out of my diet years ago, but I may sneak in a sip of the cranberry stuff during the holiday. 
• Do you have the honor and sacred duty to carve the turkey, but don't know how? Country Living has an article with written instructions and a short video showing you how to carve the turkey. Back in the olden days when we went to our in-laws for the holiday, it fell to my father in law to carve the bird. 
• Don't know how to cook the turkey at all? Not a problem. The folks at Butterball have various resources on their website including access to virtual "how to cook a turkey" support.  You can click on the "How to" link to find resources. They also list a phone number for calling them or texting them, and even online chat. So have no fear. 
• The folks at Butterball also put together a "Togetherness Report" (warning: PDF) where they survey people to ask how they are spending the holiday. The document is 6 pages, so an easy read.  
• Finally, if you decide to say fuck it, or you just don't want to cook, or whatever the reason, Mental Floss offers the list of restaurants that are open during Thanksgiving. It is strongly suggested you call your local ones to make sure they open. For example, the article says Burger King will be open, but I happen to know ours here in town is closed.  So double check to be sure. On a side note, when I was still in college and before I got married, I had a brief stint as a banquet waiter, and the hotel where I worked did offer a Thanksgiving day buffet. We did get quite a bit of traffic, and often people did dress up nicely for the moment. For me, the tips made it worth it. The Better Half and I have often considered the idea one of these years of doing the eating at a restaurant for the holiday thing. So far, it is mostly just an idea, but there is still time we hope. 

If you read this far, thank you for reading and stopping by. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday and/or week days. Feel free to comment down below about your plans for Thanksgiving, any traditions you maintain or that perhaps you dropped, any new traditions you adopted, so on.  

 

Book Review: Burned by Billionaires

Chuck Collins, Burned by billionaires: how concentrated wealth and power are ruining our lives and planet. New York: The New Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781620979099. 

Genre: business, economics, politics

Subgenre: wealth

Format: E-book galley, though the publisher did also send a print galley

Source: Edelweiss Plus for the ebook galley.    

In a nutshell, the author exposes the constant and often reckless and cruel damage that the uber rich inflict on society as a whole. In a time when ordinary people are showing resentment and a desire to deal with billionaires, this book is timely.

The book is organized in three major parts: 

• 
  Part One defines "the wealthy." It explains how people become billionaires, and a lot of it is privilege and unfair advantages, but that is explained further in the book, and how billionaires were created. 
• Part Two is the core of the book where it explains how billionaires impoverish the rest of us, and they pretty much don't give a damn about the rest of us. From trashing the planet to making us pay more taxes to buying and stealing votes and government, the uber rich are truly toxic for the rest of society. This chapter illustrates well George Carlin's term "the real owners." 
• Part Three offers some solutions, or attempts at solutions. This is the part of the book where I am highly skeptical. The usual reforms, in my humble estimation, are not going to get us out of this hole. Billionaires are started to forget that if they keep exploiting the regular people for greed's sake it will be a matter of time before revolution happens. It may be a while given how anesthetized and lazy Americans can be, but give it time. Anyhow the author sees small signs that change may be possible. I am not that optimistic, but your mileage may vary.

This is a book to read a bit at a time. It is timely, and it is informative. If you want to learn more about how billionaires got where they are now, how they stay there, and what they do to keep their dynasties going, then you need to read this book. It is a straightforward exposition of how our common enemy operates and stays entrenched. 

The book is a relatively easy read, so anyone can read it. The book also includes charts and graphs to reinforce points. In addition it also features a few cartoons to add a little humor to what is a heavy topic. 

If you know someone who falls for the myth that billionaires are "self-made men" and/or are special in some way, hand them this book to read so they can dispel that myth. 

Your odd uncle who swears Trump is a financial genius? Hand them this book to read and tell them to shut up. 

Billionaires are not special. Very often they just had luck, maybe a good idea, privilege, and fortunes to draw on whether from family or government subsidies. Meanwhile society pays the true costs. This book shows and explains what those social true costs are. 

The book is not always an easy read, but I still recommend it for public and academic libraries. I'd say it is one to borrow then pass on so others can read it and learn as well. For me, it was worth reading, even if I have already read similar books. Barons comes to mind as a book with similar appeal factors.  

4 out of 5 stars. 

 

Additional reading notes: 

The focus of the book according to the author: 

"Still, the focus here is not on wealthy individuals; there are both scoundrels and generous souls among the lot. Instead, this book argues that an economy that is growing billionaires at all, much less at their current rate of increase, is not a sign of prosperity but of policy failure, resulting in a systematic problem with hugely consequential and negative impacts for society" (3). 

Where the author is finding those "generous souls" I am not sure since the scoundrels clearly have abundant numbers. And while he views the phrase "abolishing billionaires" as "extremist," I certainly don't have a problem with it, and I get the feeling more people may be willing to consider bringing back guillotines. These are Hard Times, and being polite is not cutting it. However, I do agree with the authors that focusing on "abolishing a system of economic laws, rules, and practices" that keeps billionaires flush and the rest of us suffering is a good idea. However, that takes a degree of will a lot of Americans lack, in part because so many of them see themselves as temporarily inconvenienced millionaires. Until Americans change that view, roll up their sleeves, and work for a common good the author's idea is mostly pie in the sky. 

 The drivers of billionaire expansion: 

"There are essentially three economic forces driving the billionaire expansion: the suppression of wages for average working people (even as those workers became more productive); the meteoric rise in the stock market; and massive tax cuts for the wealthiest households that accelerated in the Reagan era and have continued to the present day" (48). 

If you have been around at least a while and paid attention, you know the above to be true. Costs keep going up while wages stagnate. When your groceries, rent, and other daily living costs keep going up but your wages don't, you do notice. Politicians and economists can make all kinds of arguments and excuses, but in the end people do note higher prices and wages that don't keep up. At some point, as the author mentions in the book, oligarchies breed revolutions. That revolution may be slower to come in the United States, but give it time. Time can be a great equalizer.  

Why you would be better off living in Canada or northern Europe, and why I wish I could afford to move to one of those places: 

"Because these countries make government investments in early childhood education, broad access to health care, debt-free higher education, and job and skills training-- all drivers of economic mobility" (56).

 

This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: