It’s December 24th, Christmas Eve. I’m sitting on the sofa at home watching Elf on DVD. It’s one of my favourite Christmas movies. I bought the animated adaption last Christmas. Right now it’s coming up to the snowball fighting scene. Actually, it’s started. I’ve just had to turn off Grammarly. It’s available on my iPad now. I love Christmas. I’m wearing a jumper with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on it. The stockings are hanging by the fireplace. We have a really big tree decorated in red – sorry I just laughed at Buddy saying “restraining order“. Anyway the tree is decorated red and yellow. Some years we used to decorate it blue and white. Now Buddy and Michael are putting up a tree in the movie. Hold on, here comes a funny scene. That part always makes me laugh. Bertie is lying on the floor nearby. My Christmas jumper used to sing the red-nosed reindeer song, but it’s stopped working now. Maybe because I got water on it. We didn’t always have a large 8ft tree. We used to have a small one that could fit on a small table – I just got asked what I was doing. I remember one year I broke a Christmas ornament of a snowman. I felt so upset that I made a new one at … sorry for the pause there … I made a new one at an after-school club. I have some very fond Christmas memories: that time I got – sorry, I laughed at something in the movie again – that time I got my first Game Boy and Pokemon Yellow was my first game. I actually still have that game cartridge even though I lost the console years ago. I remember Christmas specials too, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie. Not the classic stop-motion one, the one staring Whoopi Goldberg and Eric Idle. Not so long ago one of my favourite – hang on, let me rewrite this sentence. Not so long ago I found out that one of my favourite YouTubers (Ranger Bravo) had actually recorded a reaction video to the movie and it was brilliant. I need to take a break. Okay, I’m back now. Elf has ended and now I’m watching Michael McIntyre on TV. There’s so much I want to talk about regarding Christmas. Let’s see how many Christmas specials I can name; Pac Man Christmas, Charlie Brown Christmas, A Hearth’s Warming Tail (which is an episode of Friendship is Magic), A Christmas Carol (all versions including Mr. Magoo’s, the Muppets‘, Mickey Mouse’s, Jim Carrey’s), Doctor Who Christmas specials … hmm, what else? Frosty the Snowman, Arthur Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas – not the Jim Carrey version, the original (which I saw for the first time a couple of days ago). Michael McIntyre just woke up somebody in their bed in the middle of the night. The guy is answering punchlines to classic Christmas cracker jokes. Now he has questions on Christmas songs. I personally think Christmas songs are repetitive and dull because they never change. It’s just the same tunes performed by different artists every year. They’re not all bad though. My favourite Christmas song is Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney. It was featured in the Rudolph movie I mentioned before. Bill Bailey is doing stand up comedy on the TV now and I just got told something about my Christmas stocking. One of the traditions my family shares on Christmas Day is gathering in one of our bedrooms and opening all our presents together. It’s never changed no matter how old we’ve gotten. Speaking of getting older – hold on, I just had to correct a spelling error – speaking of getting older, Christmas doesn’t seem as magical to me these days as it once did. I understand that’s normal, but I used to get so excited for Christmas when I was a boy. Now there doesn’t seem to be anything special about it anymore. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t snow as much as it used to – it’s been decades since we had a White Christmas in the UK. Maybe it’s because there are fewer things I want for Christmas these days; I can just buy what I want myself and it gets harder for my family to shop for me. Or maybe it’s because my belief in Santa has changed. I’m aware of the truth now, obviously. But I honestly don’t think it matters whether he’s real or not. What matters is what he represents. Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends. We’re all Santa in a way. The gifts we give show how much we love and care for each other. And isn’t that what the holiday is all about? I’m trying to concentrate, but now The Great Gatsby is on TV. It’s a little while later now and I’ve moved to my room where it’s a bit more quiet. I can still hear Gatsby playing downstairs. It’s less than and hour and half to Christmas and I still have a few cards to write. I want to talk more about Christmas but I’d just be mentioning more random things. Like the time I made a giant snowball using all the snow on our local road; the time our car got stuck on an icy hill and some nearby boys helped us push it free; numerous Christmas adverts, like the WWII one made by Sainsburys. Right now I’m thinking of a few animes where Christmas is referenced; Sword Art Online (episode 3), Lucky Star and My Santa. The latter is two episodes long and I’ve gotten into a habit of watching it every year. It looks like I’ve written almost 1000 words for this piece now, so I think here is a good place to stop. By the time I post this on my blog Christmas Day will have past, but I wish you all happy holidays and a splendid new year. Merry Christmas!
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If you have any questions, please leave me a comment – I’ll be happy to answer them. And, until next time, stay tuned.
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The Autistic Blogger 