All I Got For Christmas...

"Waittaminute," you ask, "is this new content...on a blog...on Christmas?!"

Why, yes. Yes, it is. (Thanks for asking.) And, as promised, we here at Exfanding Your Horizons will be toiling away like Santa's elves...um...Santa's blogging elves...this Holiday-tastic week, just for you!

Need to get away from the family for a few? Had too much Christmas for one rational human being to handle? Well, stop on by EYH for all your geek-related Christmas Day (and after) needs! Well, that, and all kinds of other nonsense that we have coming up.

Besides, you can tell the in-laws you have to check your work email. You know...for all those Christmas Day work-related emails you get.

Anywho, with today being Christmas, we figured it'd make some sense to do a bit on The Greatest Gifts We've Ever Received. And, as always, we'd like to hear from you guys. Leave comments, people! That's what they're there for!

Now, since I got to the keyboard first, I'll start. I'm sure you're all figuring that my Greatest Gift Ever was comics-related, yes? Ha! Oh, my, you're just so wrong on that count. No, no, my Gift wasn't a first appearance of a treasured character, or a full run of Frank Miller Daredevils, or even a DVD of a comic book movie.

Nor was my Greatest Gift Ever a toy I unwrapped as a young child, or a bicycle, or whatever. Nor nor was my Gift some sappy, touching moment of family togetherness.

Nope, my Greatest Gift Ever was given to me just last year. I'll never forget the moment. It was a large box, rectangular in shape, and heavy as all get out. Looking at the fancy wrapping, I thought, "hmmm...that really doesn't look like a Daredevil #1." But, one never knows, and my hopes were (as always, stupidly, stupidly) high.

Then, my hopes were dashed when, just before I tore into the fancy wrapping, I said, not-so-jokingly, "Boy, you guys went to a lot of trouble trying to trick me into thinking this isn't a Daredev--" It was there when my brother cut me off, yelling with some exasperation, "It's not a Daredevil #1! No one will ever get you a Daredevil #1, so shut up about it."

Ah, family.

Still hoping against hope (I mean, it was Christmas, after all, right?) I carefully started the ripping process (careful, so as not to ding any of the corners on my Daredevil #1, mind you), and what did my little eyes see?

A cappuccino/espresso maker, staring back at me.

All visions of Daredevil dancing in my head were immediately replaced by The Absolute Greatest Christmas Gift Ever. For, you see, I am a bona-fide Coffee-Fiend, a five-cup-a-day man, and there hasn't been a day since last Christmas that I haven't used that beautiful, wonderful machine.

And that's The Greatest Gift I've Ever Received. Well, besides this year, of course, since I just know (I. Just. Know.) that that football-shaped present all wrapped up in the corner is actually a Daredevil #1.

And, now, it's Nathaniel's turn, so...take it away!

[passes over the microphone]

Ahem.

For me, picking out one single Greatest Gift Ever is sorta like picking out the one Greatest Single Marshmallow in a bowl of Lucky Charms. How can I say that yonder four-leaf clover tasted better than hither four-leaf clover?

That is not to say that all my Christmas gifts taste the same, but rather that the gifts I receive tend to fall into certain categories--books, apparel, front teeth, etc.--that, by their very nature, inevitably get added to a collection.

I recall a time when the fabled red balloon marshmallow was all the rage, and while I might have preferred the red balloons to any other marshmallows at the time, there were several in each bowl, and I was just as excited about each and every one. And then, when the red balloons took a backseat to other marshmallows...

...Uh... sorry, Cereal Metaphor. I just don't think it's going to work out between us anymore. Let's just be friends.

I'm still playing video games from countless Christmases ago, but I'm usually equally as excited to get That One Video Game That I Wanted This Year as I am with That One Video Game That I Wanted And Got Last Year (though Chrono Trigger and each installment in my Mega Man collection did cause unprecedented internal squeeing).

There have certainly been gifts that have taken me by surprise, and gifts that I had wanted for a long time and would have easily traded my little sister for.* I've had practical and impractical gifts that I love just the same. I can no sooner choose a Greatest Gift Ever than I could choose the Best Kiss of All Time. So many of them are special for different reasons, and...

...Uh, sorry, Kissing Metaphor. I just don't think it's going to work out between us anymore. Let's just be friends. (Call me!)

What I'm really trying to say is that every year I receive the Greatest Gift Ever. Being able to celebrate every aspect of the holiday is wonderful to me, and the fact that I get to celebrate every year is really the Greatest Gift Ever.

Christmas is my favorite holiday because I love to spend time with my family and friends, unfettered by work and nagging obligations; because it's a religiously significant time of year for me; because I actually love giving gifts; because I love the snow and the decorations and the foods and the smells and the Christmas music (preferably after all the turkey leftovers are gone, thanks); and because, doggone it, there's still a chance I could find that LEGO Monorail set under the tree. (Everybody keeps getting me a stupid Daredevil #1 every year. At least they burn well in the fireplace.)

(The comics, that is.)

Have I had some really spectacular and meaningful gifts in the past? Absolutely. But more than the gifts themselves, it's the fact that I can give and receive so much, year after year, that is the Greatest Gift Ever.

Oh, dear. I have to stop blogging now. It seems I've ruptured my torso on account of my heart spontaneously growing three sizes.

Anytinsel, from both of us [assuming Nathaniel can be repaired] here at Exfanding Your Horizons, Merry Christmas!


*such as a toaster


[Chozo image compiled from sprites by BruceJuice, M. Bison, and Tommy Lee from www.spriters-resource.com. Mario image compiled from sprites by Drshnaps of www.drshnaps.com. Alex does all his own hand modeling stunts.]