A Carnival Of Hijacked Holidays, V

Can't wait for President's Day? Marvy's Department Store Introduces its Annual "Martin Luther King Day" Sale!

I have a dream...of LOW, LOW Prices

20% off! 40% off! 50% off! This Martin Luther King Day, all sales are not created equal! In all departments, from housewares to evening wear, high prices are moving to the back of the bus!

Stage a SHOP-IN!

Marvy's: Not "Free at Last," But Darn Close!

(The copy is from brunching shuttlecocks and I heartily advise you to go there and have a good laugh. The photo comes from this place, which I believe is written in Dutch. If either of them don't want me using their stuff here, I'll gladly remove it. However, I suspect that if the Dutch people write to me, I won't understand them. Therefore, their chances of getting satisfaction are somewhat lesser.)

Welcome to the fifth edition of A Carnival Of Hijacked Holidays!

One of the interesting things I'm learning, as I get up to speed on the basics of hosting this carnival, is that many of the submissions for this particular carnival are somewhat past their relevancy date. I don't mean that they are worthless. All postings have intrinsic value, whatever date they are seen, but some lose their "sting", if you will.

This was driven home to me when I received a submission just after Christmas concerning, if I recall correctly, atheism and Christmas shopping. The person who sent it was sincere and thoughtful. Now, those of you who know me well also know that I am a somewhat devout Christian. However, I hope I've made it clear that all are welcome to express their views here, whether I agree with them or not. In any case, I felt it was my duty to write this person and tell him that his submission would not have near the same impact if it appeared in January. He agreed and asked that I drop it from this issue. I said that I would.

Following that e-mail conversation, I received a few more submissions mainly concerned, in one way or another, with Christmas. I now feel as though I may have done that person a disservice, as I intend to include all of the other subsequent submissions. Unfortunately, I've lost the fellow's e-mail and have no way to contact him. If I still had it, I would ask him again if he'd like to have his piece included, telling him most of what I've written above as explanation.

Bottom line is this: If you're reading this, and you are that person, I just want to be absolutely certain you know that I didn't single you out for non-inclusion because of a disagreement with the content of your piece. If you wish, I'll offer you a chance for a sort of make up, though perhaps it might do you a bit less good than being included in the main body here. If you'd still like folks to see your piece, please leave the address for it in the "comments" section. Barring that, if you'd like it included in a future edition, please re-submit it and I'll give it prominent placement.

Whew! That's a whole bunch of apologizing to start off with, eh? Sorry!

That is an inherent problem with this carnival, though. Most folks aren't going to write about a particular holiday until around the time for that holiday, so some wonderful posts will necessarily fall into the cracks and not be seen until well after the holiday in question. I don't think there's much I can do to alleviate this. If I publish too far in advance of a holiday, the posts will not have been written, let alone submitted. If I publish too late, the same problems I've detailed will still exist. I've tried to strike a balance of sorts, but I'm still learning, so I hope you'll bear with me.

OK, let's get on with what you came here for - the fifth edition of A Carnival Of Hijacked Holidays! In the order in which I received them, here are the stars of the show.

Leading off, we have CHRISTMAS INFLATABLES from ANOTHER DOOR OPENS, showing us proof of the old truism that I just made up: One person’s holiday jollity is another’s freaky cemetery for cartoon characters.

Speaking of freaky cemeteries, how about some DEAD SANTAS, courtesy of JENNIE'S RAMBLES.

MAD KANE lends a helping hand by providing us with a contract to keep us on the straight and narrow. IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED...

Just to show I truly DON’T discriminate against atheists, here’s some POST-HOLIDAY COMMENTARY from WENCHYPOO.

JACK’S SHACK posts I HATE THE HOLIDAY SEASON at RANDOM THOUGHTS - DO THEY HAVE MEANING? It's about as vitriolic a rant as you’re likely to encounter, so that’s worth something. However, I would point out to Mr. Shack that, if you insist on using an “X” in place of Christ’s name, the form would be “Xian”, not “Xtian”.

KAREN SHANLEY gives us her Christmas list in DEAR SANTA. Funny stuff.

Steve Rudolph, who oversees WORKDISH, tells me that "Workdish is a user-submitted job info site with lots of interesting tips and crazy stories - here's a SUBMISSION FROM A HOLIDAY SANTA!

SAGE, over at PERSEPHONE'S BOX, shares a nostalgic look back at her favored form of holiday celebration, and some complaints concerning what she doesn’t like putting up with now, in MR. GORE, YOU MIGHT JUST SAVE CHRISTMAS.

FITCH HURST of WISE BREAD gives us some good tips concerning airplane trips in WHY HOLIDAY TRAVEL GOT SUCH A BAD RAP.

Finally, some jerk named SULDOG goes on forever about practically nothing, in A CHRISTMAS MEME.

And that will do it for now. The next Carnival will be out on February 21st, just in time to complain about what’s left of Washington’s Birthday. See you then!

(To submit your article for inclusion in a future carnival, please visit Blog Carnival.)