Jody Victor: It's hard to believe another year has gone by. Are you ready for the challenges in the New Year? The New Year is a significant event for many people. But like most things, there is humor in the absurdities of the celebration. What better way to start the New Year than with some humor and wisdom. Here's what some famous and infamous people had to say about it.

Mark Twain - New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions.

Brooks Atkinson - Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.

Bill Vaughan - Youth  is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to.

Jay Leno - Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average - which means, you have met your New Year's resolution.

Eric Zorn - Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.

Charles Lamb - New Year's Day is every man's birthday.

Mark Twain - New Year's Day...now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.

Anonymous - Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits.

Joey Adams - May all yuor troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions!

Oscar Wilde - Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.

Anonymous - A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other.

Happy New Year!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor: Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Or, are you like me, you still have some (or all of it) left to do? Only three more days left - we'd better hurry! Kind of makes you wonder how this whole gift thing got started.

The history of the Christmas gift dates back to the 4th century A.D. - the time of Saint Nicholas (later called Santa Claus). Even after so many years, people still find it difficult to find the perfect Christmas gifts for the special persons in their lives.  But it doesn't have to be so hard. One just has to anticipate the coming of Christmas and write down good ideas as they occur. For instance, if your dad is frustrated that his old fishing rod broke during summer vacation, he might forget about it after a while, but it is your job to write it down and remember to buy him a replacement when Christmas comes.

If you're still looking for ideas, there are some great alternatives to a wrapped gift:

Subscriptions (monthly magazine, journals, etc.)

Food (gift certificate for restaurants and grocery stores, gourmet food basket)

Holiday (gift certificate for weekend get-away)

Personal Care ( gift certificate for massage, facial treatment, or manicure)

Entertainment (cinema tickets, ski resort voucher, bowling or golf certificate)

I'm sure those ideas will spark other for you. Historically, gift giving was common during the Roman Saturnalia. In the 13th century, nuns in France started giving gifts to the poor on the eve of St. Nicholas' Day. Gift giving was soon repressed by the medieval church.

In the beginning people did not buy expensive Christmas gifts for each other. Gifts could be peices of gruit or simple toys. The gifts were not wrapped and were just given to each other or hung on the tree since the Christmas tree tradition also became popular.

Gift giving in colonial America was based on class differences - the poor accosting the rich and demanding food, drink, and money. In the 1820s, borrowing from the New York Dutch, the idea of gift giving was transformed to that of parents giving Christmas gifts fo their children. Moore's poem may have been a contributing factor to the beginning of the commercialization of Christmas. And then, Christmas shopping was encouraged to overcome the depression during the 1839-40 period.

Today, the sales during the Christmas season have usually broken records year after year (probably not this year). No matter what, gift giving is sure to be around for a long time. Gifts are still fun to give and even more fun to receive. It is the gift of giving that makes us feel that Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor: "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house..." How often have we heard, read and loved those words - the beginning of one of the most loved and most printed, poems in the world. Almost every family has read or listedned to that poem at some time during the Christmas season. It is, of course, "Twas The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore. Here is his story.

Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) wrote the poem Twas the night before Christmas also called "A Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1822. It is now the tradition in many American families to read the poem every Christmas Eve. The poem Twas the night before Christmas has redefined our image of Christmas and Santa Claus. Prior to the creation of the story of Twas the night vefore Christmas, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh or reindeer! The author of the poem  was a reticent man and it is believed that a family friend, Miss H. Butler, sent a copy of the poem to the New York Sentinel who published the poem. The condition of publication was that the author of Twas the night befor Christmas was to remain anonymous. The first publication date was December 23rd, 1823 and it was an immediate success. It was not until 1844 that Clement C. Moore claimed ownership when the work was included in a book of his poetry. Clement Moore came from a prominent family and his father Benjamin Moore was the Bishop of New York who was famous for officiating at the inauguration of George Washington. The tradition of reading Twas the night before Christmas poem on Christmas Eve is now a Worldwide institution.

Jody Victor

Jody Victor: Christmas stockings are hung near the chimney on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus to fill with goodies for children. They are just an empty sock or a bag that is made in the shape of a sock but oh, the wonderful things they can hold. Children in the United States and some other countries have been following the tradition of hanging a Christmas stocking for a long time. The items that are believed to be stuffed in the Christmas stocking by Santa Claus are known as stocking stuffers.

The tradition of the Christmas stocking began with a story told since ancient times about a kind nobleman who had three daughters. The wife of the nobleman died and he and the daughters were left in a state of sorrow. The daughters had to do all the work in the house. When the daughters became eligible for marriage, the poor father could not afford the huge dowries to their husbands.

One evening the daughters, after washing their stockings, hung them near the fire place to dry. Santa Claus, being moved by the plight of the daughters, came in and put in three bags of gold - one in each of the daughters' stockings hanging by the chimney. The next morning the family noticed the gold bags and the nobleman had enough for his daughters' dowries. The daughters got married and they lived happily ever after. Since then children have been hanging Christmas stockings.

Traditionally, Christmas stockings are supposed to have the gifts given by Santa Claus. The other gifts are wrapped in paper and placed near the Christmas tree. It is believed that a child who mishehaves during the year will not get a gift in their Christmas stocking. The Christmas stockings are traditionally hung on the fireplace. But as most of the modern homes do not have a fireplace, any location is suitable for hanging Christmas stockings.

Some traditions say the Christmas stocking is to be stuffed by a gift that will stimulate one or more of the five senses. The gift given by Santa Claus would be something to eat, a thing that makes a pleasant sound, a pleasant view, a nice touch, or which has a lovely fragrance.

Jody Victor

Jody Victor: Where did Christmas Carols come from? Are they all old? Carols were first sung in europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. they were pagan songs, sung at the Winter solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circles. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around the 22nd of December. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived.

Early Christians took over the pagan solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. In AD 129, a Roman Bishop said that a song called 'Angel's Hymn" should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Another famous early Christmas Hymn was written, in 760 AD, by Comas of Jerusalem for the Greek Orthodox Church. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write carols, However, not many people liked them as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that the normal people couldn't understand. By the time of the Middle Ages ( the 1200s), most people had lost interest in celebrating Christmas altogether.

This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he started his Nativity Plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs or 'canticles' that told the story during the plays. sometimes, the choruses of thes new carols were in Latin; but normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries.

The earliest carol, like this was written in 1410. Sadly only a very small fragment of it still exists. The carol was about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem. Most Carols from this time and the Elizabethan period are untrue stories, very loosely based on the Christmas story, about the holy family and were seen as entertaining rather than religious songs. They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches. Traveling singers or Minstrels started singing these carols and the words were changed for the local people wherever they were traveling. One carol that changed like this is 'I Saw Three Ships'.

When, in 1647, Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in England, the celebration of Christmas and singing carols was stopped. However, the carols survived as epople still sand them in secret. Carols remained mainly unsung until Victorian times, when two men called William Sandys and Davis Gilbert, collected lots of old Christmas music from villages in England.

Before carol singing in public became popular, there were sometimes official carol singers called 'Waits'. These were bands of people led by important local leaders (such as council leaders) who had the only power in the towns and villages to take money from the public (If others did this, they were sometimes charged as beggars!). They were called 'Waits' because they only sang on Christmas Eve (This was sometimes known as 'watchnight' or 'waitmight' because the shepherds were watching their sheep when the angels appeared to them.), when the Christmas celebrations began.

Also, at this time, many orchestras and choirs were being set up in the cities of England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, so carols once again became popular. Many new carols, such as 'Good King Wenceslas', were also written at this time.

New carol services were created and became popular, as did the custom of singing carols in the streets. Both of these customs are still popular today! One of the most popular types of Carol services is the Carols by Candlelight service. At this service, the church is only lit by candlelight and it feels very Christmassy! Carols by Candlelight services are held in countries all over the world.

Jody Victor