Do you write a personal holiday newsletter?

 

Professional writers produce plentiful publications of all sorts. In a given week, we might crank out a newsletter, a pile of advertising copy, a media packet, a few feature articles, an executive speech, and a corporate report. In our spare time, we may dig out an unfinished book manuscript and pound out a chapter or two.

By the time December rolls around, how many of us take the time to create a personal holiday newsletter?

 Sure, some writers go all-out and come up with creative layouts and designs, plugging family news into columns and sidebars. Others design photo montages or collages to accompany the updates they write about their clan.

 I’ve done all of those things over the years, even including an original holiday poem on occasion. But that was years ago.

That was before life turned extra busy.

 What’s more, it was before social networking kept families and friends updated (with news and pictures) all year round. So I pretty much let the whole holiday newsletter thing slip.

 This Christmas season, I tapped out a simple greeting letter (including a few tidbits of family news and a smattering of tiny photographs) for a select group of relatives who do not participate in social networking.

 

I printed and mailed five copies.

Everyone else will be heartily and festively greeted electronically. Hey, if we are already current with one another, the traditional holiday newsletter seems somewhat superfluous to me.

 But I know plenty of writers who persist in producing these seasonal volumes. And I enjoy receiving and reading them.

 It’s really just a judgment call, probably based mostly on the availability of time, initiative, and inspiration.

 

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15 popular and perhaps surprising quotations about Santa Claus

Are you writing (or reading) about Santa Claus, as Christmas approaches? From novelists to speechwriters, and from poets to news columnists, wordsmiths weave stories pertaining to this beloved holiday figure each December.

Exceedingly popular for generations, Santa Claus is also known in various parts of the world as Babbo Natale, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Pleznickel, Kanakaloka, Pere Noel, Sinter Klaas, St. Nicholas, or Saint Nick. However he’s tagged, the secret toy-toting Christmas visitor is a holiday favorite and the subject of countless seasonal stories, jokes, poem, songs, quips, and quotes.

NOTE: Written by this author, this copyrighted material originally appeared on another publisher’s site. That site no longer exists. This author holds all rights to this content. No republication is allowed without permission.

Here are 15 popular and perhaps surprising quotations about Santa Claus to share this Christmas season.

These Santa-related statements, gathered from multiple sources and attributed to various speakers and writers, include comical and ironic and perhaps even thought-provoking sentiments.

1. “Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip.” Gary Allan (1967-____), American country singer

2. “Santa Claus had the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” Victor Borge (1909-2000), Danish comedian and pianist

3. “Of course there is a Santa Claus. It’s just that no single somebody could do all he has to do. So the Lord has spread the task among us all. That’s why everybody is Santa Claus. I am. You are.” Truman Capote (1924-1984), American author

4. “The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.” George Carlin (1937-2008), American comedian

5. “Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven.” WC Fields (1880-1946), American humorist

6. “I think we've taken the meaning of Christmas out. People don't stop and think about Jesus or the birth of Jesus. When they think of Christmas, they think of Santa Claus and - for the children, and they think of giving gifts and out-giving the next person of spending their time looking for the right thing for somebody who has everything.” Billy Graham (1918-____), American evangelist

7. “Santa Claus wears a Red Suit, He must be a communist. And a beard and long hair, Must be a pacifist. What's in that pipe that he's smoking?” Arlo Guthrie (1947-____), American folk singer
   
   
8. “A good many things go around in the dark besides Santa Claus.” Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), 31^st US President

9. “Here's what we know about Santa. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good. I think he's with the NSA.” David Letterman (1947-____), American television host

10. “All the world is happy when Santa Claus comes.” Maud Lindsay (1874-1941), American educator

11. “I played Santa Claus many times, and if you don't believe it, check out the divorce settlements awarded my wives.” Groucho Marx (1890-1977), American comedian and actor

12. “Sometimes I even dress up like Santa Claus.” Dolly Parton (1946-____), American country music star

13. “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.” Shirley Temple (1928-2014), American actress
    
    
14. “Whenever anyone was unselfish, that was Santa Claus. Christmas Eve was the time when everybody was unselfish. On that one night, Santa Claus was everywhere, because everybody, all together, stopped being selfish and wanted other people to be happy. And in the morning you saw what that had done.” Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), American author

15. “The Bermuda Triangle got tired of warm weather. It moved to Alaska. Now Santa Claus is missing.” Steven Wright (1955-____), American comedian

Such quotations about Santa Claus make novel enclosures for holiday greeting cards, as well as intriguing conversation starters for seasonal gatherings. After all, it’s a fair bet the jolly old elf himself has a hearty sense of humor and a healthy dose of reality.

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 from public domain image

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