Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

If you’ve never watched it, here it is. The blog will be dark on Monday. I hope you’re able to find peace and hope.

Happy Three Kings Day!

(Or, for those who don’t celebrate, Happy Day You Really Should Take Down the Outside Lights!) Three Kings Day traditionally honored the three magi — Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar — who followed the star to Baby Jesus, and brought him expensive gifts because they knew this wasn’t just an ordinary baby. The day is a big …

Happy birthday, Sharon!

Today is Sharon’s birthday, and you should celebrate accordingly.

Sweet Baby Jesus, let’s take a break!

The blog is going quiet through Christmas, not because we’re gliding down the glitter pole or anything, but because were at DJ Central believe in taking breaks for the thinnest of reasons. And even though we’re not the most dedicated of Christmas-celebrators, this seems like a good excuse to step back and take stock — …

Why all the dead birds on Victorian Christmas cards?

Mike the Heathen sends this, a fascinating exploration of why dead birds just scream “Merry Christmas!” Just read it.

Merry Christmas

The Puritan war on Christmas

Puritans were not ones for ostentatious displays, especially when it came to the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, even a mention of it would get you a fine or worse in early New England. The early Puritans worried that celebrations led to drunkenness and then wanton sex — or Catholicism, …

I stole this from a woman named Ellen

I wish I’d written this: My children each year ask me the same question. After thinking about it, I decided I’d give them my real answer: What do I want for Chanukah? I want you. I want you to keep coming around, I want you to bring your friends around, I want you to ask …

I’ve written this before. Forgive me.

Fundamentalist Christians aren’t supposed to celebrate holidays, especially Christmas, because the holiday was created by the Roman Catholics, and it’s just another way They Try to Get You. I’ve written this before. I am still a fundamentalist around the edges. I’m still pretty literal. There are jokes I just don’t get, and must have explained …

Just one more volley in the War on Christmas

And thanks, Mike the Heathen, for the photo.