I hope you're having a great holiday season no matter what holiday you're celebrating. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Solstice.
Peace, Salaam, Shalom, Pax.
Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. The date of the celebration is traditional, and is not considered to be his actual date of birth. Christmas festivities often combine the commemoration of Jesus' birth with various secular customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals.
Kwanzaa (or Kwaanza) is a week-long Pan-African festival celebrated primarily in the United States, honoring African American heritage.[1] It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year.
Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration, featuring activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and culminating in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Ron Karenga, and first celebrated from December 26, 1966, to January 1, 1967. Karenga calls Kwanzaa the African American branch of "first fruits" celebrations of classical African cultures.
Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה, alt. Chanukah or Hanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd Century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar.
No one's really sure how long ago humans recognized the winter solstice and began heralding it as a turning point -- the day that marks the return of the sun. One delightful little book written in 1948, 4,000 Years of Christmas, puts its theory right up in the title. The Mesopotamians were first, it claims, with a 12-day festival of renewal, designed to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for one more year.
With all of that in mind and keeping with the spirit of the season I want to pass on a request and suggestion from Ninepatch; many of you or your family members will be receiving new MP3 players and that may leave your old unit just sitting around. Well gather them up, we can give them a second life. Ninepatch would like to send them in the Care Packages she is putting together. Well let me just show you her words;
Many folks may be getting/giving MP3 players and digital cameras that are upgrades to ones folks already have. I would love to collect those old units and send them to Iraq or Afghanistan. After letters of support, the #1 request is for down-time entertainment items, like games, puzzles, that sort of thing. MP3 players are always included, as are digital cameras for folks to share and send pics home. Blank CDs are requested, too, and I'm guessing that would allow folks to each keep their own copies of pics taken with a shared camera. Walgreens has a good deal on those almost every week. I think it would be great to recycle units that are being replaced with new toys.
We'll handle this like we did request from our Mojo Friday - Special Thursday Edition. I'll post an email address where you can request Ninepatch's mailing address or if you know Ninepatch's email address feel free to contact her directly. The email address for requesting an address for Ninepatch is katroshp at bellsouth dot net.
Our Guidelines which are just about fun;
1. If you comment you have to recommend all comments. (in order to recieve mojo you have to give mojo. It's only good mojo manners.)
2. Everything you say may be taken as a joke (so if you ask a question, expect a silly answer)
3. You must recommend the diary (and pimp it unapologetically)
4. You don't have to comment to recommend.
5. You can't steal my idea (heh, right, like that ain't goin' to happen)
6. Mojo mojo mojo mojo, mojo mojo mojo.
Not to mention Mojo Friday Goals;
A) at least 200 different commenters and 1000 comments.
B) 100 recommends for each comment, at least.
C) And always, fun fun fun.
D) Have at least 75% average participation rate as seen here.
E) Overload the servers with recommends, not to mention dominate Top Comments Mojo list.
F) That's enough for now. (Have a suggestion? Post it.)
I'm going to request that we refrain from posting pics and YouTubes until after our 300th comment. This will allow our dailup kossacks to participate to that point and your cooperation is appreciated.
SPECIAL NOTE:
Today is Iraq Moratorium Day don't forget to observe it also.