that most wonderful(?) time of the year

For years now, I've celebrated Christmas for my wife's sake. This year, I'm doing it for my kids' sake. One day, when I grow up to be a Rock or an Island* and will be able to live like I want. But until then, I will continue to bow to pressure and pretend that Dec. 25th means more than Dec. 26th or Dec. 1st, or even May 4, 2007 (pshaw, right, as if...)Anyway, this wonderful thing we called the Internet (which is not a bunch of tubes, I believe we learned this year) has exposed me to some of the best explanations of the true meaning of/observances of Christmas here's a sample:

• In all the hustle and bustle of shopping and whatnot, let's not forget the true meaning of Christmas. From How I Met Your Mother's "How Lily Stole Christmas" episode:

  Ted Mosby: "Decorations...is that really what Christmas is about?
  Marshall Eriksen: H***, yeah--what else would it be about?
  Ted: uhh, try the birth of Christ. Uh, you know, Christmas...Christ-Mas, which means 'More Christ' to our Spanish friends."

• This from Over the Hedge (actually, the series from the weeks before and after is worth the time while you're at it)
• One of my favorite Christmas traditions is Darlene Love's annual performance "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on the Letterman show. Here's this year's version. One of my fave bands, Anberlin, does a pretty-good-for-not-being-Darlene-Love-version themselves, here.
• Frazz weighs in on the two big symbols of the day: Jesus' Birth and Santa Claus
• And of course, this gem: Charlie Brown Christmas as performed by the cast of Scrubs (rating: TV-MA)

* That's a Simon and Garfunkel reference, kiddoes.