Mount Rushmore – Holiday Edition

Kazzy

One man. Two boys. Twelve kids.

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27 Responses

  1. Saul Degraw says:

    1. Thanksgiving

    2. Passover

    3. Purim

    4. Christmas to New Years: Not because I celebrate but for a non-celebrator it can often be that very rare thing, a completely free day. I love how the world gets quiet at the end of the year. This is quite literal in San Francisco where much of the place seems to leave town and goes back to whereever they came from.Report

  2. aaron david says:

    1.Thanksgiving
    2.Groundhogs day
    3.Christmas
    4.Voting dayReport

    • Kazzy in reply to aaron david says:

      Why Groundhogs Day?

      For Voting Day, is it because of the practical actions taken or what it symbolizes or something else?Report

      • aaron david in reply to Kazzy says:

        @kazzy
        Groundhogs day as it is fairly idiotic, and yet symbolizes the most intellectual comedy of the modern era. I also threw an awesome party in high school for GH day, and it has stuck with me.

        Voting day because it is the day when we really have access to our agency. I know it is not an actually holiday, but I feel that it should be, as in a lot of ways it is the most important day.Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Kazzy says:

        @aaron-david

        Very cool. I had a college philosophy professor who made us write a paper on Groundhog’s Day and what it told us about a happy life. Best assignment ever!Report

  3. Mike Dwyer says:

    Thanksgiving – Cook for the family. Use our nice dishes. Express some gratitude for a good life.

    St.Patrick’s Day – Best party of the year if you live in the right kind of town.

    Christmas Day – for all the reason Kazzy mentioned. Remembering the fun parts of my childhood, enjoying the new traditions with the kids and Christmas lights on house make me happy.

    New Year’s Day – Filled with optimism, a fresh start and a blank calendar with all that beautiful white space ready to be filled with fun.Report

  4. Burt Likko says:

    1. Thanksgiving. Easily the best holiday on the books — it’s about family, friends, food, love, togetherness, and taking stock of what’s good in your life.

    2. Halloween. I think it’s tremendous fun to do the costumes, eat candy, and get together with friends. It’s a fine excuse for the children to burst with fun, and a great opportunity for young adults (by which I mean single twentysomethings) to go party and throw caution to the wind. (Safely, of course.)

    3. Christmas. This atheist loves Christmas. Why? Because the giving and receiving of gifts amongst friends and family is a foundational part of our culture, cementing the bonds that tie people together in our social support networks.

    4. Independence Day, aka July 4. This is when I annually meditate upon the bravery and integrity of the United States’ founding fathers, who were willing to risk death as traitors and suffer tremendous privations, for the sake of the righteousness of due process of law. Then I grill more bratwurst than I can comfortably eat and enjoy the company of my friends, basking in the fruits of our hard-won freedom.Report

  5. Maribou says:

    My personal Mount Rushmore:

    1. Winter Holidays (I allow myself to blend because for me it’s a 2-week holiday from work, at a wonderfully snowy cold time of year, at which I get to partake in lots of different rituals – I have Christian, Jewish, atheist, and pagan friends who invite me along for the ride.)
    2. Purim (even though I don’t celebrate it very often, because it is just SPACE AWESOME, that’s why.)
    3. Canada Day (it was more fun in Canada, but I have a Scottish friend at work who wishes me Happy Canada Day throughout the year, which is nicely absurd)
    4. Thanksgiving (which is so tied to fall ritual for me that I think if I moved to the Southern Hemisphere I would insist on celebrating it in February, March, or April, depending on latitude).Report

    • Maribou in reply to Maribou says:

      PS My fifth would be Victoria Day – all the glee of Memorial Day weekend without the “wait, isn’t this solemn?” Because we have Remembrance Day for the solemnities, in Canada.Report

    • Kazzy in reply to Maribou says:

      @maribou @saul-degraw

      Can one of you educate me on Purim? I’m familiar with the name but it is one of the Jewish holidays I don’t really know anything about. Thank you.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to Kazzy says:

        You get to eat pastry and drink a lot.Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Kazzy says:

        So it’s like the least Jewish Jewish holiday ever?Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Kazzy says:

        I used to feel bad for my Jewish friends growing up.

        “Oh, man, [Christian Holiday X] is right around the corner! I’m so excited!”
        “Yea? We’ve got [Jewish Holiday Y] coming up. It’s alright, I guess.”
        “Alright? Holidays are the best! We’re going to eat a bunch of food and open a bunch of presents and there will be more candy than is necessary! Don’t you guys have that?”
        “Sorta. I mean, we’ll eat some bland and/or bitter food, eschew most of life’s luxuries, and spend hours on hours at temple.”
        “Umm… we’re talking about holidays, you know, right?”

        In hindsight, I’ve gained great appreciation for Judaism’s ability to stay focused on the true meaning of many of their holidays.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to Kazzy says:

        “They tried to kill us. We’re still here. Let’s eat.”Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Kazzy says:

        When I went to my first Passover seder, my relatives were shocked that I enjoyed the food. “Who just eats horseradish? He’s eating the gefilte fish?”

        Though the best goy response to Passover goes to Jason Bateman:
        http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/7iovgq/jason-bateman

        Be ready to literally piss yourself laughing.Report

      • Saul Degraw in reply to Kazzy says:

        @kazzy

        Purim relates to the book of Esther and tells the story of when Haman wanted to kill the Jews and we were saved by Queen Esther and Mordechai and because the king of Persia fell in love with Esther and she went incognito and married him and one night said “Why would you want to kill me?”

        Mike is right that it is a Jewish Mardi Gras. You are supposed to drink so much that you can’t tell the difference between “Blessed be Mordechai and Cursed be Haman.” Also you get to eat Hamantash

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamantash

        My favorite have raspberry and apricot fillings.

        Now here is a very bad joke:

        Why is Suffragette City the perfect David Bowie song for Purim?Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Kazzy says:

        You don’t need to tell THIS goy about hamantash. Apricot FTW.Report

  6. Kazzy says:

    It is not a holiday I celebrate in any form or function, so it feels improper to claim, but Ramadan will always hold a special significance for me as Zazzy and I honeymooned in Istanbul during it and some of our best memories were a direct result of that timing.Report

  7. Saul Degraw says:

    Of course the best thing about Hannukah and Purim is that it allows for the great Latke-Hamantash Debate

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latke%E2%80%93Hamantash_DebateReport

  8. Pinky says:

    Christmas – If we measure holidays in terms of festivity, cultural and religious importance, and family, Christmas is the undisputed #1 Western holiday.

    Veterans Day – To the hardcore, Armistice Day. To the really hardcore, Martinmas. The day of remembrance of soldiers.

    Superbowl Sunday – If it walks like a duck….Let’s face it, this is one of the most celebrated holidays in America.

    July 4th – There are really only three summer holidays: the one that begins summer, the one that ends summer, and this one, which is the best of them.Report

  9. Vikram Bath says:

    Christmas, Black Friday, New Year’s Eve, July 4th.Report

  10. KatherineMW says:

    Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving (Canadian) and Canada Day.Report