Family Holidays

On Thanksgiving, I mused on whether the pity people seem to have for those of us who spend a quiet Thanksgiving at home alone or á deux is because they think we're missing something wonderful, or because they wish they could just enjoy a quiet day off.



These tidbits, via Waveflux, are for all of you who feel sorry for yourself because you think everyone except you a good old fashioned Norman Rockwell illustration of a holiday.



First, from the "Go ahead...use the wrong spoon" file:

WORCESTER, Massachusetts (AP) -- A man was charged with stabbing two relatives after they allegedly criticized his table manners during Thanksgiving dinner.



Police said the fight broke out Thursday when Gonzalo Ocasio, 49, and his 18-year-old son, Gonzalo Jr., reprimanded Frank Palacious for picking at the turkey with his fingers, instead of slicing off pieces with a knife.

And I actually kind of like this idea. Though I don't favor this person's harassment of his neighbors (and the shitstorm that's sure to follow, since this story is what's been deemed newsworthy these days, never mind Mosul, the collapsing dollar, or the humanitarian disaster in Fallujah), a giant talking Grinch would pretty much sum up my feelings on the holidays in general:

MONTE SERENO, California (AP) -- For six years, Alan and Bonnie Aerts transformed their Silicon Valley home into a Christmas wonderland, complete with surfing Santa, jumbo candy canes and a carol-singing chorus of mannequins.



Visitors loved it.



Last year, after NBC's "Weekend Today" featured the $150,000 display of custom-designed props, more than 1,500 cars prowled the Aertses' cul-de-sac in this upscale San Jose suburb each night.



This year, though, the merry menagerie stayed indoors. Instead, on the manicured lawn outside the couple's Tudor mansion stands a single tiding: a 10-foot-tall Grinch with green fuzz, rotting teeth, and beet-red eyeballs.



The Aertses erected the smirking giant to protest the couple across the street -- 16-year residents Le and Susan Nguyen, who initiated complaints to city officials that the display was turning the quiet neighborhood into a Disneyesque nightmare.



Alan Aerts, who makes sure the Grinch's spindly finger points directly to the Nguyens' house, says the complaints killed the exhibit. They also violated the Christmas spirit, he said.