Chill Out!

Canadibrit's heartwarming classic tale, "A Family Holiday," begins on this day nine years ago. (Prose version here.) Just thought I'd toss that out there.

Daria and Jane at right remind us that this is the time of year to dress warmly and not go hiking in the wilderness before a blizzard. If you do, good luck. At least you were warned.

Today also marks the beginning of the ancient Roman party holiday of Saturnalia, a week-long festival that is directly to blame for the commercialization and debasement of every December holiday there is today. You know what Christmas cards and Chanukah cards look like. When the Roman sent Saturnalia cards to each other, the cards looked like this. The Romans forgot more about partying than we will ever know. Thank God they couldn't drive.

Speaking of which, I complained a year ago that there was no Daria fanfiction featuring Saturnalia, and guess what? It's a year later and there's still no Daria fanfiction featuring Saturnalia. (Paperpusher wrote a story that mentions Saturnalia in passing, but the Morgendorffers aren't celebrating Saturnalia.) How low have we sunk to ignore this vital part of our midwinter holiday tradition? How low, Daria fen? ("Fen" means fans. It's old-timer fannish talk. Just roll with it.) Get on the stick, fanfic writers, and let the good times of Saturnalia rise once again!