CHRISTMAS DAY

 To one and to all

a very Merry Christmas!

vigilia di Natale - THE COUNT IS OVER!

 Hark!

Did I just hear the tintinnabulation of tiny sleigh bells?

For sure, many places in the world heard them.

It is (finally) Christmas Eve.

I bet you thought this asinine countdown/countup of mine would never end.

But it has and I thank you all for your patience, your comments, your friendship and your good humor/humour through the preceding year and, in fact, years.

So, let the merrymaking begin in earnest.

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes to celebrants of all those other holidays at this time of year!

SANTA DAY - PARTE UNDICI

 Today is Part Eleven of my imbecilic Marking off of the Days until Christmas.

Intelligent readers of this blog (and I know you ALL are) will note that there are only two more days until the fat old man in the red and white suit deposits packages of swag under holiday trees all over the world.

I wonder how he does that.

Those reindeer must be really fast.

At any rate, this is the final Saturday Shopping Splurge Cycle before the big event.

Also known as The Day Men Finally Break Down and Shop!

So don't let me hold you from the Centers of Commerce.

Make like those reindeer and hurry!

APPROACHING - PARTE DECIMA - THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 It's the tenth day of this ill-thought-out March Toward Christmas.

I don't know about you but I'm getting more than a little sick of it.

But here at the International Headquarters of Oddball Observations, I throw myself (and my co-conspirators contributors) into the fray.

Hmm, I wonder what "fray" means.

Oh well, whatever it means, here are your end-of-the-week enterainments.

I hope you were delighted with this silly string of sidesplitting slapstick.

And I hope that you will have a sensibly insane weekend.

Remember, Santa is coming.

Oh, and always, always, always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . or is it kitties . . . )

NEARING - PARTE NOVE

 You may notice that I am no longer using the word "countdown" in my derisory "Countdown to Christmas" . . .

Oh drat, there I did it again.

Oh well, call it a "countdown" or, what it actually is, a "count-up" and I'll just stand on the sidelines and watch the fun.

Because fun, you see, is what this is all about.

Or removing the first comma makes that sentence even more meaningful.

Because "fun you see" is really what this is about.

And now that I've nattered for way too long, here it is.

DA DUM, DA DUM - PARTE OTTO

In our continuing program of Education for the Elderly it has been pointed out to me that a "countdown" means that the numbers are reduced each day.

i.e. (id est, for you Latin lovers) 5-4-3-2-1.

Whereas while I have been referring to my absurd ticking off the days until Christmas arrives as a "countdown", I actually have been increasing the number of days left each day.

So what I have been doing is NOT a "countdown".

It is, in reality, a "count-up".

I shall not identify the pedantic chap who pointed this out to me to save him from being slurred, threatened and perhaps stoned in public.

And besides, I should get points for doing my "count" in Italian.

Ergo, we shall point out that today is Day Eight in my CountUp to Christmas and here's your daily dash of drollery.

GETTING CLOSER - PARTE SETTIMA

 It's the seventh day of my wretched Countdown to Christmas and I have declined the suggestion of London based Steve Reed to announce the day in Icelandic rather than Italian.

I mean, how would you pronounce Sjöti Hluti anyway?

So we shall continue our language lessons from the land of pizza and pasta.

And, by the way, inject some holiday humor into your humdrum schedule.