Holidays

Christmas week toons

Well, here they are, this week’s Tomversation cartoons.

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It’s Christmas time

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A perfect holiday gift. And a way to support me. 🙂

Making a list

I came up with this idea for today’s cartoon while making my own list.

I have a large family and I was writing down the names so I remember everyone when buying holiday gifts, and I said to myself. “I hate this. Not buying the gifts – writing down the list!” And therein was a cartoon.

I hate making the list because I feel like I might forget someone. I should just save the list. I have a travel list. It’s quite old. I have made a couple of changes over the years, but every time I am packing for a trip, I pull the list out and use it.

And yes, I check it twice, and three times or more. I don’t want to forget anything.

Everyday life turns in to a cartoon. I just have to pay attention to what I’m seeing and thinking and hearing.

I bought a bunch of large things this year, which I thought I would not do again after doing it for a few years. Last year I got these Save the Whale bracelets which were easy to transport. In years past I bought air fryers, soda machines and ice cream makers. And they were hard to lug around.

During the pandemic, we didn’t do Christmas Eve or Day, so I lugged the air fryers from house to house. The bunch of them barely all fit in my car, but I got it done.

This year will be a chore lugging the large gifts. They are heavy. The Amazon guy arrived with them yesterday and he was struggling to carry the large boxes, so I helped him, it was quite a workout. I’ll have to repeat it getting them down to the car on Christmas.

First world problems.

Till next time . . .

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I have a new favorite commercial

Welcome! I’m glad you’re here, picking up what I’m putting down. If you aren’t subscribed, consider keeping in touch. I’ll send you 5 cartoons every Friday and two short blog posts during the week. You can subscribe right here.

I have a new favorite commercial. It’s the “Joy Ride” Amazon holiday ad. I never get tired of watching this. It’s one of those commercials that you actually stop what you are doing and watch.

As you know, this is my all-time favorite commercial. I show it here every year. It’s “The Publix Song.” Every time I hear it, it brings me back to my youth. I feel like I am in that place and time.

This commercial ran for a few years from 1987 to 1996 and every time it came on, I would stop what I was doing and watch. It’s part of my Christmas memories of my youth and it’s just one of those things – a song, just like a smell, that brings you back to another time.

The music in Last Train Home is from Still Life Talking an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1987.

To this day, when Pat Metheny is performing, he’ll refer to the song as, “The Publix Song.”

Till next time . . . .

Subscribe to this Tomversation blog by clicking here – it’s free! Receive my five cartoons each Friday and 2 blog posts during the week!

Missing NYC traditions this year

I was supposed to be in NYC now, for Thanksgiving, but I canceled due to family issues.

I will miss being with my cousins for Thanksgiving and seeing and participating in all the holiday things the city has to offer – all decked out for Christmas already, the ice skating, the bazaars around the city, the parks, the big Christmas tree in the center of the MET museum, etc.

We usually go to Southampton for the Christmas parade, a couple of days after Thanksgiving. Last year we did the Montauk lighthouse instead, which I liked, but I prefer the Southampton thing. Above is the Christmas tree lighting at the Southampton parade and at the Montauk Lighthouse being lit last year.

I’ll be home with my family in Miami for Thanksgiving and of course Christmas.

My mother used to always say, “You are the only person who goes away for the holidays, everyone comes home for the holidays.”

I would say, “It’s only Thanksgiving, Mom. I’m here for everything else – Christmas, New Years, Easter, birthdays, etc.”

I am in NY for July 4th, though. July 4th, Independence Day was my mother’s favorite holiday. One year for her birthday, I bought her all sorts of 4th of July things – decorations and red, white and blue stuff. She loved it. She used them all for years, the stuff always came out every July.

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It used to be Christmas and then Halloween, now it’s Thanksgiving.

Hopefully I’ll be back in NYC next year, which will be the 100th birthday of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I’d like to be back for that and all of the rest of the NYC things – and my cousins, of course.

The one good thing is that I don’t have to travel, which has not been fun these days or this past year. So that’s the good part.

Till next time . . .