'Tis The Season
December 4, 2006 1:36 PM   Subscribe

'Tis the season for Christmas letters -- spreading cheer or showing off? Tips for writing your own -- serious and silly.
posted by ericb (11 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
David Sedaris' "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!" -- read by Julia Sweeney on 'This American Life.'
posted by ericb at 1:41 PM on December 4, 2006


Christmas News Letters - Suggestions and Examples.
posted by ericb at 1:45 PM on December 4, 2006


I once wrote a Christmas Letter referring to familiar characters on TV shows as my relatives and summarizing what they had done over the previous year. This was way back when "Dallas" and "Star Trek TNG" and "St. Elsewhere" were on and it was a hoot. I don't know if it'd work today...
posted by wendell at 2:01 PM on December 4, 2006


From the silly link:
—In general you should write as brightly as possible and have fun with your letter, but make sure to avoid any points that are unnecessary. For example, here’s a paragraph that could be improved with editing:

Our son Philip continues to attend Yale and enjoy his chemistry classes, and also his work with homeless children in Bridgeport. He is dating a woman named Amy, which is a Jewish name.

Improvement:

Our son Philip continues to enjoy a woman named Jewish Amy.
posted by found missing at 2:12 PM on December 4, 2006


Thanks for reminding me. Soon I'll receive my 2006 edition Xmas letter from Santa "Paws" (LOL!), ostensibly transcribed by an old classmates's two ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE dogs. They'll be deckin' the drool-tide halls with "bow-wows" of holly (LOL!).

Kill me. Now.
posted by hal9k at 2:16 PM on December 4, 2006


The best version of these I've ever seen is the second chapter of Jon Stewart's first book, Naked Pictures of Famous People, in which he writes the letters of the Hanson family in 1996 ("Greetings and happy tidings to all, in this the beautiful season to celebrate the Savior's birth."), 1997 ("I apologize for the Fan Club stationery, but it's all I could find."), and 1999 ("Zach has Herpes. There. Are you Happy now? You try controlling an eleven-year-old multi-millionaire with a hard-on for strippers."). 1998 is missing because they didn't allow pens at the retreat.
posted by Partial Law at 2:19 PM on December 4, 2006


My son Philip got hold of LSD in a chem class at Yale and gave it to a homeless Jewish girl in Bridgeport named Amy. They both jumped out of a window and will not be visiting for the holidays.
posted by Postroad at 2:58 PM on December 4, 2006


I read this and started a Christmas letter, then got very in-depth and revealed how utterly depressed I am and wish there were more I could do about it. Then I deleted everything and started writing an appeal letter, announcing that if my friends could donate $5,000 to my foundation, I would shave my head on Dec. 31.

God, what a depressing state.
posted by parmanparman at 4:12 PM on December 4, 2006


Guardian journo Simon Hoggard does a roundup of letters received by his readers every year. Here are a couple of columns.

"Despite the castration, it's been a good year" .
posted by blag at 4:44 PM on December 4, 2006


There are two rather simple rules in my household:

1. No "christmas letters" will be sent, ever.
2. Any "christmas letters" received will be thrown away, unread.
posted by Ynoxas at 10:22 PM on December 4, 2006


You guys are no fun. I am totally pumped about putting out a Christmas letter this year. I expect to set a new standard for banality.
posted by GuyZero at 6:05 AM on December 5, 2006


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