Let's Go Out to the Lobby... and Get Ourselves an Oscar. (Seriously, they are free when you upsize your popcorn purchase.)

In a tradition dating back to 2010, I have gone another year without seeing a single Oscar-nominated film. However, as a public service, I will still provide a brief synopsis of all ten (yes, 10!) films nominated for Best Picture this year.

Santa's PostSecret

During my yearly visit to the North Pole (the elves have an AWESOME After-Christmas Clearance Sale), I noticed a couple mailbags being lugged to the curb by Waste Management Elf. So I ask him what that was, and he said that Santa decided that he couldn't file EVERY child's letter to him every year, so some of them had to be recycled. I asked if I could review some of them for an article I was writing, and he said sure. The next two days I spent holed up in my igloo (helpfully constructed for me by Natolik, my Eskimo guide) reading various children's letters to Santa by the red light of Rudolph's nose. (The other reindeer were attending the Reindeer Games. I believe Shawn White won three gold medals. Blitzen was disqualified for using an antler-enhancer. The scandal rocked the Aurora Borealis!)

Three letters stood out to me that I would like to reproduce here. They were from a set of triplets, barely a year old, living in the state of Louisiana. The level of maturity and sophistication, as well as restraint, made me hope that Santa brought these three children everything they wished.

I don't believe anything more needs to be said that the letters don't say themselves, so enjoy!

Happy Wrapping 101

So the holidays are over and it has me thinking things I have never thought before. And no, I am not talking about resolutions. I am talking about philosophies. I am talking about ways of living. Things that will change your life. Things like ...

Wrapping paper.