The other new thing I noticed was these little hanging light balls. Say what you will about this Shitty display. It's got balls, at least.

This is Oscar. He's the other cat who lives here, along with Cosa. I just wanted to put this here so you'll see that not all my photos are dark and crappy. If he wasn't cute, he'd be out on his ass, though, trust me.

This year, everybody decided to put fanciful candycanes in the yard, as if they grow in our soil and this is a magical Suburbia Candyland. Unfortunately, all the planted candy canes taste like Doberman piss.

Decorating the tree trunks I don't get, but flashy neon green? Is this a Sonic hamburger stand? Can I get a cherry limeade up in here? A Blizzard? No, wait, that's Dairy Queen. Um... a coconut cream shake? Coney? I'm running out of steam on this one. Let's move on.

This was actually kind of nice and tasteful and neat. But I had nothing to do with it, so it is still considered "Shitty."

Oh man.Wow. This family either has lots of money to burn or there's a huge void of love in this house that must be filled by millions of tiny burning bulbs. It's kind of sad and mesmerizing at the same time. I kept imagining Santa and the reindeer escaping somehow, breaking the bonds of their electrical prison. They'd wave from the air, "So long, Shitty Christmas display!"

...And that's it. I was getting really nervous here, thinking I was going to be arrested or that I'd have to lie and say I was taking pictures for "My parents in Germany who miss the pretty Christmas lights." Next year, I promise I'll take better pictures.

 

Big pimpin' My review of Chicago is in the paper today. If you can't tell from the review, I really liked it. Go check it out, even if you hate Richard Gere and/or Zellweger. My brother turned me on to this site, Homestar Runner, which I think is the greatest thing since the greatest thing I mentioned last. He showed me the hilarious, "A Jorb Well Done." Then we spent a good chunk of Christmas day going through all the cartoon archives. My favorites are the Strong Bad e-mails (he has already become my new hero, and yes, I know he sounds like Triumph the Insult Dog), Marzipan's answering machine (go to Version 2.0 of her machine and listen to the first message. Funniest thing ever) and the Strong Bad commentary on the "King of Town" cartoon. This is the kind of site I wish I could do if I knew how to draw and do Flash and... you know, come up with funny-looking animated characters.