He Cheated

I still think that my old boss, Derrick (former entertainment editor) cheated. He always has games at his fabulous Christmas party. One is to count all the Snoopies in his living room (that's such an overwhelming task, I ever even try that one)

(this photo doesn't BEGIN to give you the scale of Snooies in the room...but I printed it because of the lovely TV fireplace that we all "warmed ourselves" around!)

One is finding the two (of six) pictures which were the same (Walt's favorite game). It usually involves climbing up and down the Peanuts-stuff-lined stairscase several times.

I like the oddball quizzes, like this year one called "Santa's Little Helper," where you had to fill in the blanks in words that also had the letters e - l - f in them. Like Shakespeare's ______ Night __ __ e f l __ __. Easy one. My favorite one was "Between teeth cleaner: __ e __ __ __ l f __ __ __ __ . There were 25 of them and I got them all, though it took me awhile to remember Jeremy Irons' Oscar Winner
__ e __ __ __ __ __ l __ __ f __ __ __ __ __ __ (which I finally remembered was "Reversal of Fortune."

I also like the $10 Christmas Carols, with the titles things like "Diminutive Masculine Master of Skin-Covered Percussionist Cylinders" (Little Drummer Boy). or "Omnipotent Supreme Being Who Elicits Respite to Ecstatic Distinguished Males" (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) or "Altitudinous Upon the Fastigium of that Residential Commorancy" (Up on the Housetops).

However, who would have guessed that "Listen: The Celestial Messengers Produce Harmonious Sounds" and "Attend! The Winged Heavenly Messengers are Proclaiming Tunefully" would BOTH be "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"? I knew there couldn't be duplicates, so I had put one as "Angels We Have Heard on High." Derrick got a decidedly un-angelic gleam in his eye and he admitted that he'd put in a trick question. But he let me take a prize anyway.

It was another great party, but a little bittersweet, since some of the people there had, like Derrick, also lost their jobs at the paper, and the editor was also there, bemoaning the fact that what had been building for >30 years was gradually eroding. Derrick's invitation this year said that this was going to be the last Christmas party, though I did hear a "probably" in there and a "we'll see" during the party.

Whether last or not, it was fun and it set the tone for the rest of the month, as it always does.