It is almost incredible -- yet another year has somehow flown by and all I have to show for it are four series of eBay item pages composed of a total, thus far, of 64 legal-sized sheets each containing some 50 item listings, of which probably only about half sold, barely keeping me afloat -- it has been a very lean year overall, and I guess you have read the particulars in my extra long Year End Summary pages for 2003 -- the first time it ever went to three screens full! How can I present you with something extra special at this time, close to years end?

It has been at least 5 years that I have not decorated for the Holidays, except for something minimal in the large windows down stairs -- the apartment is way too small and I have boxes piled all over the place. I would have a live tree had I to have sufficient room for one, with enough space to admire it and surround it with the many large tin and ceramic buildings and a set of Lionel trains -- all of which are stashed in the basement until I, God willing, have the room to get them out and appreciate them once again. Most of my cats have never even seen a Christmas tree, but Devi loved the smell of the evergreen and the excitement of the bubble lights and all of the goodies I always had beneath it!

I thought that this time I might share with my readers the things which have always come immediately to mind when I think of Christmas -- it is not really the cards and the gifts, rather the religious sigificace of the Holidays that has always interested me deeply, although in my younger days Santa also played his part. It was a time for sharing, the kewl family togetherness, visits to uncles and aunts who we did not see the rest of the year, catching up on the latest with our cousins and what they had been doing since the last time we visited them months before -- my loving parents, most of my immediate aunts and uncles, and several of my cousins are no longer with us -- and it has been over 10 years already since Evelio died, and to them I dedicate this page -- I still miss them all. [sniff]

So for this seasonal greeting I shall simply share a couple things which I hold dear -- somewhat classical and olde fashioned, all, and they all capture the true meaning of Christmas.

1) first there is a wooden manger, carved, apparently, from a single piece of wood -- I found this in the 1970s in a small shop in Salamanca, Spain -- -- the manger is depicted within the ruins of a stone structure having a thatched roof -- inside is a cow or bull on the left and a donkey to his right, both standing over a feeding trough -- -- an angel with clasped hands kneels before the animals looking down at the Infant Jesus, who lies before him, front and center, apparently resting in the lower folds of the Virgin Mary's robe, which is held by a second angel -- Saint Joseph stands at the right foreground and holds a staff in his hands -- -- I would say that it has a Romanesque aspect, and is 32.5 cm long at the front of the base, 17.5 cm wide, 36 cm high, and weighs 4.1 kg.

The last Christmas that Evelio and I were in the Canaries, he took it out of storage at my place called La Atlántida (named after Atlantis, the Lost Continent) in Tenerife, and placed it on a shelf I had made for it in a bookcase. He also treasured traditional classical art works of all kinds -- being primarily a sculptor of course made him appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into a carving, ceramic or bronze casting, and we collected many over the years -- that was our last trip to the Canaries together, and, despite his battle with AIDS, he and I spent the time actively wandering around in the capital city looking in shops, having tapas de bocadillos de jamon serrano, and batidos de aguacate along la Rambla, going to the beaches, visiting friends who made pottery en el sur, and just enjoying ourselves, as we always did.

I have this sculpture on top of one of the bookshelves near my desk -- when and if I ever am able to organize this place better, it will have its own special place in one of my larger display cases on the first floor.

2) the second Holiday treat, which is kept in an overstuffed small display case, also near my desk, is an icon of Saint Nicholas of Myra, after whom St. Nick and Santa Claus was named. Evelio and I saw it at an auction house in New York, and we both fell in love with it instantly -- this was during the time when I was teaching and I always had some money to spare for things which we liked, and its Russian origins sort of fit in with my Slavic ancentry.

The icon itself is painted on wood, covered in the front and on the sides by what is called a riza or frame of repoussé gilt silver and enamel work, so typical of Tzarist objects de vertu by such makers as Faberge and others -- it does bear a maker's mark and year (1884) stamped in the silver. The only parts of the painting, probably an egg tempera, which are visible through cutouts in the riza, are the saint's expressive bearded face and hands -- and what an remarkably exquisite countenance he presents! At the foot of the icon is the name of the saint, in Russian, of course.

His robes are finely detailled, as is the border of the riza. The icon rests in a fitted hinged case of light oak, having a brass clasp closure, with an easel inset into the back for standing -- -- I was somewhat surprised to find, behind the icon, a folded New York Times page dated Sunday, 4 March 1945, in which is described a sale being held at Gimbels department store of the icon collection of Dr. Armand Hammer and his brother, Victor.

I only take this treasure out of the display case for about 3 weeks over the Holidays, culminating on my birthday in mid January -- it now sits on a low shelf just above my computer table, between a ZIP disk storage rack, a ZIP drive and my Apple Cube -- -- the open case measures 18.7 cm high by 48 cm wide -- the icon itself is 22.6 x 17.9 cm and is backed with red velvet.

3) the third Holiday treat was also obtained on that last trip with Evelio to Tenerife, I think it was during the winter of 1988 or 1989 -- we found it in a small religious shop which no longer exists -- it was lightly raining as we wandered up and down the narrow streeets of Santa Cruz, the provincial capital city. It is a creche set carved in wood, in a similar style to the above, more massive, manger, but these individual figures are partially polychromed and the carving appears more detailled -- -- Saint Joseph carries a lantern and staff, and he and the Virgin Mary look down upon the Christ Child, who rests in a separately carved manger, flanked on either side by an angel, the cow and the donkey -- -- to give some idea of the size, Saint Joseph stands 41 cm tall, the cow is 30.5 cm long, and the Christ Child 15 cm. They usually stand in a display case down stairs.

So there you have it -- my personal attempt to capture the joy, the childlike thrill and excitement of this Christmas, and to share it with you -- I still have not mailed out any Holiday cards, but that may get done in the next day or so.

My sincerest best wishes are extended to everyone, where ever they are, that they might enjoy the Peace and Happiness of this festive season, and be blessed, God willing, in 2004 with Health, enough Prosperity to be able to do at least some of the things which they consider important, the Togetherness of family and friends, and a much better future than all that went before. Oh, yes, and make time to get out to smell the roses, or the coffee, if you prefer -- life is way too long to constantly work your ass off 24/7 without some personal enjoyment and satisfaction!

	Kamiel, the male Sphynx with the sweet tooth, surprised me with an extraordinary monster carrot cake weighing over 8.5 lb, with a Holiday design with gobs of butter cream icing -- I amazed myself that I actually was able to take a pic before I started gobbling it up! I never was very good at counting calories!
	Devi, my senior Siamese female, knowing that I have always liked bears, somehow found this cute 1998 Christmas bear holding a smaller angel bear -- all bedecked in a decorated tasselled felt hat and scarf for our cold Trenton winters! What a delight!
	Fabiola, my original Sphynx mommy, went overboard with these five DVD sets -- very creatively imaginative seeming, all of them -- perhaps I will even get a chance to view them on my TiBook over the holidays -- I enjoyed the first version of The Matrix, and I assume that this sequal is just as excitingly imaginative -- notice the one with the Mastodon on the front -- she knows that I like anything having to do with these Ice Age elephants!
	Yakshini, my junior Siamese female, and her daughter, Tiger Girl, thrilled me with three CD sets of two of my favorite 60s-70s vocal artists -- a lot of the songs will go on my iPod playlist, joining the couple hundred already there
	AttaBaby, the male from Fabiola's most recent litter, shocked me with this super selection of films and TV series which I missed because I have not watched TV in over 4 years, and very rarely go to the movies
	Chiquiquiqui, my lesbian Sphynx female, knowing how I like the latest techy stuff, actually used this gift to wake me up bright and early on Christmas Day -- I suspish that they wanted to see the surprises I had prepared for them? Somehow I think they all still like me, even though I might seem a tad distant sometimes due to my very time consuming eBay job -- but that is what pals are for! Mil gracias! I know they will enjoy the shrimp and salmon I made them for a Christmas treat
	BeanTuska, the female from Fabiola's first litter who has been visiting her lonely curly-haired DevonRex-like brother (from the same litter), AttaTurk, in West Trenton for some months already, both pitched in to provide me with the entire 25 original TV episodes of Battlestar Galactica! Now all I need is one of those 30" flat panel screens to really enjoy all of these gems in all their wide screen splendor! As it is, I shall have to watch them on my Apple TiBook, which is also way kewl
	Robin, from Amboy, Illinois, once again went bonkers stuffing a package full of goodies for me and the kittys!-- -- large soup mixes, candy including my favorites, chocolate covered raisons and liquid center choco covered cherries, candy canes, Papanicholas coffee, a selection of tea bags, a gourmet beef sausage from her state, home-made fruit preserve -- and some kitty treats -- and to top it all off, a hand-made thick knit afghan! hmmmmm The cats would love it too, and I may just put it on the bed for the Holidays -- I can also pile it over my legs when I get cold working on the computer in the early morning hours when the thermostat goes down to 58 degrees-- and when I fall asleep at the puter, which is sort of frequently, I always seem to wake up with VERY cold feet and a chill -- now I have a remedy! Thanks, Robin and family, for the delightful gifts.
	Marion, from Boynton Beach, Florida, sent me a surprise Holiday package chock filled with fruits, cakes and candies from down in sunny Florida -- -- and a neato Boynton Beach magnet that I have on my nearby filing cabinet -- thanks, Marion, for your continued thoughtfulness.
	Denise, from Pennsylvania, knowing how I like those exceptional British mints, sent me a couple cans full -- the empty hinged metal containers themselves come in useful for all kinds of small things such as thumb tacks, paper clips, buttons, straight pins, toll change while on the road, etc., and I use dozens of them for various purposes -- also note the theme of the Christmas card -- apparently, Santa uses a PC instead of a Mac! I tease her a lot about computers -- thanks, Sluggy, but if Santa used a Mac, he would never have these kinds of problems!
	when I went down the street to Donald's store to get two cream donuts for breakfast on the early morning before Christmas, he gave me two bags filled with more things to munch on -- cereals, milk, crackers, some pastries and a plate filled with Italian style salad, buttered rolls, and chicken slices -- that was my dinner on 24 December -- he sort of surprised me by saying he will not open for the Holiday because he is going to the casinos in Atlantic City -- I hope he wins the jackpot!
	Dariusz Kardas, from Gdansk, Poland, sent me a very inspiring Christmas card, and part of the family Oplatek, which is shared among family members present at the Christmas Eve dinner, remembering those who are no longer with us to celebrate together -- the story of this tradition may be found in the Polish -- -- section of my special page about celebrating the Holidays around the world -- In the lower pic you can see the half wafer which I received from my distant family in Poland in 2001, on the left, and the one for this year, on the right, which I plan to share with my brother -- My sincerest thank you, Dariusz and family, for remembering me at this joyous time of year -- may the Kardas family be blessed with health, happiness and peace throughout 2004, and always
	apparently Santa thought that I was a really good kid in 2003 and boy, oh boy, did he go overboard this time! A really kewl dual suspension Mongoose mountain bike to replace my old thin-tire racing bicycle which I have not used in quite a few years -- plus a fabulous helmet, Mongoose bike gloves, a small tool kit, and a monster old-fashioned metal bell that is really loud! I still have to attach the bell -- the bike has all kinds of Derailleur gears to switch, whatever they are, and I really never saw a bike like this before -- I took it for a spin in West Trenton and it is kewl as shit! I have it parked in the garage under the rear enclosed sun deck at the place I had in West Trenton simply because I do not yet have room in the garages behind the apartment to stash it there, and getting the garages organized is my next big project -- I did start already, but there is a lot more to do, outside and inside -- I hope that I can get to use this new bike a lot more frequently than I did the old one -- I really do need to get out more!

I hope that your Christmas was equally exciting, inspiring and cheerful, filled with unexpected surprises.

So there you have it -- stay tuned for potential updates as they present themselves.

Questions and comments may be emailed to the author of the above at

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