Some of my favourite things about December:
-my birthday (and I’m kind of a birthday diva, encouraging loved ones to celebrate it with me all month long)
-it’s only the beginning of winter, when it’s still tolerable and I have a genuine (yet naive) appreciation for the snow
-“Winter Lights”–this is a term my friend coined for all the sweet twinkling Christmas lights people put up. She doesn’t celebrate Christmas either, but like me, hangs them anyway. They seem like deliberate resistance to the dark that winter delivers us
-Happy people! There’s nothing like upcoming holidays, especially ones that promote generosity and statutory days off, to make people hum unself-consciously on the subway
-Travel. This was my family’s holiday tradition for many years–to go someplace else, preferable someplace warm. This year, my partner and I are flying to San Francisco where I’ll be reading at Hamara Mushaira, the smartest, hottest desi lit night of the year. It’s the evening program of the South Asian Literary Association’s conference . See link for details and you’re welcome to register if you want. After the reading, we’ll head down Highway One for a few days.
-My first annual Holiday Book Contest!!!!! OK, here’s the deal. Send me an e-mail, telling me the dates of the San Francisco conference by Dec 31, 2008. I’ll choose one name from a hat (a very rigourous, scientific process), and I will send you a free copy of Stealing Nasreen.
So Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwaanza, Merry Christmas, Spectacular Festivus, Eid’ul-Adha Mubarak, and Wondrous Solstice to you all!
