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Word of Mouth

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What’s the best and the worst of the holiday season?

Scroll down to “post a comment” and give us your list of the good, the bad and the ugly of the season.

Published: December 1, 2011

  • The best of the holiday season:
    I love the light during this season of darkness—glowing fires, flickering candles, sparkling lights on trees—it’s a visual feast! The holiday season is a great time to express gratitude and joy with family, friends and even complete strangers.

    The worst of the holiday season:
    That said, I’m mindful of the “forced joyfulness” of this commercialized season, which can be very difficult for those who may not have family or resources, or who have memories of holidays in brighter times.

    Ann Brown
    Senior Director of Development Communications
    Office of Development

  • There are so many things that come together for me to make the holidays great. It’s often a combination of the long-held traditions during this time of the year accompanied by gatherings with my large family and good friends over food and drink. I am especially fond of driving home on these dark, cold nights and seeing the holiday lights that seem to cover all of Elmwood Avenue and my neighborhood.

    I Iike everything about the holidays, but the worst part is that it just goes by too quickly.

    Alan Kegler
    Creative Director
    University Communications

  • The best:

    Spending much, much time with my high-octane grandboys, sledding, playing Scrabble, singing, reading and boating down the Buffalo River looking at grain elevators to explain to them why their city smells like Cheerios.

    The usual:

    Christmas lights, candles, the smell of wood fires, lots of sentimental Christmas music, Delaware Park and the Outer Harbor at dawn, the Elmwood strip at night, borninbuffalo.net

    Borrowing every BBC series DVD I can get my mitts on and watching them with a borrowed cat and a long series of pumpkin lattes.

    New York Virtuoso Singers “Twelfth Night” performance at UB (7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus). Harold Rosenbaum rocks Christmas.

    The annual Donovan family Christmas Eve party. The best. Icebox cake. Pinot noir and Bailey’s.

    “A Christmas Story.” I dated Ralphie. And “Bad Santa” after three shots of Patron anejo.

    The worst:

    Missing my dog Larry, who loved Christmas (although I think he was an agnostic) and was a giant snuggler.

    A week straight of “This is NPR News. The Dow is down 8,000 points today…”

    Justin Beiber’s “Little Drumma Boy.” Hunna, whatchoo doon?

    No Kardashian Khristmas Karoling? Whaaaaa?

    Getting terrible gifts, like giant-sized men’s socks and gloves that are also UGLY, hand vacuums and the regifts from my teacher-friends, like a dozen tiny bottles of “cherry” hand lotion and soap that smells like gingerbread men’s feet.

    Bad Christmas movies: “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” and “The Preacher’s Wife” (Whitney Houston. What more can I say?)

    Patricia Donovan
    Senior Editor
    University Communications

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