Once upon a time, I really liked

the song 'Livin' Thing' by ELO. Now, thanks to the evil that is JCPenney, they have completely ruined a wonderful song--forever.

What has television, advertising or the holidays destroyed for you?

....playing the Earth, Wind, and Fire disco songs to death. I love EWF no matter what, but what do they have to do with Xmas? :shrug:

Another perfect waste of great music...

(sigh)

'aint what it once was, is it?

This is not my Inner Child crying for its salad days. I abhor all forms of greed, and Christmas has become little more than a greedgasm. Every fiber of my being knows this is just wrong.

I'm so thankful to not work in retail anymore. Also thankful to not work near retail stores (spent a year waitressing at a mall restaurant).

The attitude of people after they've 'spent all day' was interestingly uncharitable. They were usually exhausted, testy, rude and acted like they had just put in a full day of work (while shopping), and I was just there vacationing in the restaurant instead of 'working.'

It's nice to be so far removed from all of it, and to feel detached from the insanity.

...puts me in neural-shock everytime I here it...

isn't it? I'm still in schock over that one myself.

I'm going to presume Bob that someone else owns your song book.

Seems hardly anybody bothers to trick or treat in my old neighborhood anymore. Back when I was a kid the streets were positively thick with kids. Now parents are so freaked out by tha annual holiday scare stories on TV, they either take thier kids trick or threating at the mall (ugh) or they go to a few houses real close to home and then hurry the kids inside.

Seems like costumes weren't so cheaply made when I was a kid, either. I usually make Leftykid's cause that stuff they make then out now of is positively vile and I can't see how it'd be warm.

and miss what it used to be. :(

We got only one group at our door this year, and it's only because we saw them (while outside at the car) and told them we had candy!

We spent one year with our neice and nephew, which was really fun as they are still at the age where it's a big deal to them. (dh no longer has relationship with their parents--so that's no more).

I've seen the costumes you speak of at stores. As one that comes from a family of seamstresses, they are all so poorly made, it's ridiculous. The accessories provided with the costume are cheap and badly made, too. Thankfully for my neice I had brought my bag of extras along and helped her 'dress up' her costume somewhat. Her mother is sadly fashion challenged.

Even the $50+ dollar Disney Store costumes are made from material I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and have really sloppy serging. I've never spent half that on a pattern (when I've used one) and materials for LeftyKid's costumes and they all look new and nice even after they've been played in by LeftyKid and worn by neighbor kids the next year. The store ones barely make it through the night half the time and they're so thin you need to put another outfit on underneath even here in California.

costume, when we spent Halloween with the kids! Seriously, the weather had just changed in their area, and we had promised the kids we would dress up with them. I was already getting sick. I wore that thing, (with some of my own stuff underneath) and it still wasn't enough. I got SO sick!!!

I don't know how the Disney store stays in business with those shoddy costumes...

Have you ever looked into making them for others? Is there a demand at all considering how crappy(and expensive) the store ones are?

I really ought to look into it, I love sewing. Even if I just did three or four extra and sold 'em on Craigslist, it'd give me a little extra spending money for the holidays.

Not sure about ebay these days, but I know a few years ago a lady was doing pretty well selling wings that she made there for Halloween. She seemed to sell them year round, they were popular with Renaissance people.

I've been trying to learn, for this very reason. I think custom sewing in some ways, is a dying art. Really hard to find people that are good, reliable, etc.

I say go for it!

On edit--OMG I just looked at your profile and realized, you are where we were for Halloween that year!!! Bil and sil live in Sacramento! They are horrible freepers, though...but I was there, when I almost caught pneumonia--lol!!

There was an AMAZING costume store we saw in Downtown Sacramento, ever seen it?

Just got a card from the other sil today and our other neice is getting SO big! We've got to get up there to try to see her.

Pick a Gap ad, any Gap ad....

The worst was one where they changed the words to "We Are Family." It went something like, "we love knit jersey, lots of stylish colors for me." Ruined a classic disco song.

to destroy music that way! Seriously. It's just blasphemy.

I miss the Gap ads where they just played a song, didn't screw with the words and just had a few people dancing to the song. Still sucks to have music you love featured in a cheesy way for corporate benefits. But at least they didn't destroy the song's content.

If I have to hear it ONE MORE TIME I will surely throw something at the screen and scream bloody murder.

you described it so well.

That song is NOT about shopping! It REALLY pisses me off to hear it used this way--AND they play it too damned much!

:puke:

My family knows I love them. So why do I go crazy trying to find some "thing" to prove it?

Lately, I've just been buying stuff for my mom & dad, whenever I see something I know they would like. I don't need to turn my time of worship into some consumeristic orgy.

It's all around you, hard not to succumb to it.

We took care of the neices and nephews gifts months ago, so glad I don't have to be out in the feeding frenzy--feeling the need to 'do more.'

They all live far away and we don't get to see them unfortunately. I hate that the only way we can tell them and show them we care is with 'stuff' on holidays, birthdays, etc. They don't have the type of parents (w/one exception) that will tell them that 'stuff' doesn't matter--sadly.

We try to get 'stuff' that has a 'personal' meaning for us and the kids... still feels bad buying into the system, though.