dear boys and girls- "well, it looks like it's about time for our william tell routine..." -william s. burroughs actually, it's time for a christmas letter from old uncle ted. I could share the standard sentiments about yuletide coming and the familial feelings it brings, but you've already gotten several christmas letters like that- and I want to be the one that is different.. I'll ask a question: "what does Christmas mean to you?". to me I could say christmas meant family, tamales, new flannel shirts and having to pick the lemons and oranges in my back yard, and a subsequent dosing of orange juice and lemonaide. what does it mean to you? ponder and be thankful... what do we celebrate? (here we have always had conflicting influences); do we celebrate the birth of Christ (as we learned in sunday school), or the second longest vacation from school (as we knew instinctively as children), or do we celebrate the annual worldwide trip of that generous old pedophile saint Nick? (as the nation's retailer's teach with lavish amounts of advertising dollars). we have problems with any of these views; it's really the wrong time of year to celebrate Christ's birth, I personally don't go to school anymore, and don't get much vacation from work to celebrate, and I rarely have enough money to spend to justify the efforts that the nation's retailers give in getting me to spend it at *their* stores.. Perhaps it is some weird amalgamation of all three, I dunno. all I know is that Christmas is cool (cold, to be honest), and I enjoy it. there are dreams that come true, sometimes- and this is what we live for. Christmas is a time for little dreams to come true. when you open the wrapping, there it is: the realisation of a desire. the shiny red ribbons and embossed paper can't hide that from you forever, just until the 25th.. The real miracle, though, is not the gift, but the giver- look again at your wife, mother, brother or friend who hands you that tinsel- wrapped dream, and realise how *they* are the real dream come true... Merry Christmas-