Who?

When Christmas comes around, I turn into such a Who! I love Christmas and I can't stand being around Grinches, so my mother and I torment my dad for the first few weeks of December. He's a grump up until the week before the big day, thinking about how much money he'll have to spend, while my mom flies around the house, decorating and baking. He's a Grinch and she's a lot like Buddy the elf. I love to watch them around this time of year, it's hilarious! He's "bah humbug" and tired from working all day and just wants to veg on the couch and watch the hockey game, until she waltzes in and blasts "Grandma Got Runover By A Reindeer". She smiles obliviously while he gives her the stink eye and I laugh at the comedic contrast of the two of them!



This is my mother's philosophy.



Then she starts singing along, and not quietly. She's loud and off key, and often adds some grunts, stomps and a few crashes of the dishes to her performance. This sends Dad into his room for some peace and quiet. Once he leaves, if Mom's REALLY into it, she starts dancing with the dog. So then he gets excited and clangs his metal dish nonstop. By this point, if I'm in a good mood, I've donned some rediculous outfit and have started dancing to "I'm Sexy And I Know It" in the kitchen and my mom is laughing at me so hard that she's crying and wheezing. The noise of me stomping around brings Dad back to the kitchen to tell me to stop, but he can't help laughing when he sees my terrific moves. My house is great during the holidays!

Smooch!

The grave of the famous Irish writer, Oscar Wilde, has been renovated! Why? Because his fans were apparently a little too admiring.

For years, fans flocked to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France sporting lipstick to place their mark on the grave of the man who wrote A Picture Of Dorian Gray, as well as many other works. The grave was cleaned off and now glass walls enclose it to keep fans at arm's distance. Wilde's grandson headed the movement to register the grave as a historic monument, so anyone caught defacing the grave will be charged. Wilde was arrested for homosexuality and spent two years in prison. When he was released, he travelled to France and died three years later in 1900. He died poor, but when his works became more popular and sold more copies, a burial plot was purchased at Pere Lachaise. Graffiti was left on the grave until it was renovated in the 1990's and for the last decade, only lipstick has been left.

I've been studying a bit of Oscar Wilde in my Lit class and really enjoy his work so far. I can definitely see why his fans would leave kisses on his grave, but I can also see why his descendants would like to keep the grave clean. I think that there should be a memorial near the grave so that fans can express their admiration for Wilde while still being respectful. Wilde was an amazing writer, but I certainly wouldn't put my lips on something that hundreds of other people have!

Here's a video to enjoy :)

http://www.reuters.com/article/video/idUSTRE7B00LJ20111201?videoId=226060273