• Quack! Quack! The duck boats are FINALLY coming back to Philly. It’s about time! Hope they go back to longer tours soon.http://bit.ly/i44bZ5 #
• OMG, my GPS-enabled iPad knows where I am. I’m shocked. Better destroy it now. News outlets overhyping pointless tech stories makes me sick. #
• As usual @pogue gives a sane explanation of stuff the media is overhyping in order to scare non-techie people.. http://nyti.ms/eI8fWR #

• The #supermoon (Perigee moon) was impressive last night. Thought I’d left the outside light on but it was moonlight! http://bit.ly/i4wfoa #
• Spent the day making corned beef & cabbage. Now St. Patrick’s Day is officially complete. (takes to long to make on a weekday) #
• AT&T to buy T-Mobile http://bit.ly/gmKdX3 – I chose the Verizon iPad & use a Sprint phone. Wanna bet this deal stills screws me somehow. #
• Yesterday I was outside checking on the flowers that are coming up. Today I drove to work in hail & sleet. Perhaps winter isn’t over yet. #
• The diner I’m in has an original Pac-Man arcade game in it. Just another reason Jersey diners are cool. #
• @EsztikeT We did enjoy it & I also just realized you aren’t a random stranger replying to my tweets! in reply to EsztikeT #
• This officially the first tweet from my new iPad 2!!! #iPad2 #
• @ebrantner No light bleeds on my black one. I waited til the iPad 2 to buy one. Happy with it so far! in reply to ebrantner #
• RT “@feliciaday: Consensus from feedback: Most people don’t understand or use Twitter lists.”- Glad I’m not the only one #
• Wow, @llbean now has all free shipping! Another reason they’re my favorite store. Other companies should follow suit. http://bit.ly/hJIfa5 #
• We’re still number 5! Suck on that Phoenix! (just ignore all the rest of the bad news about Philly’s population growth) http://bit.ly/gxSRke #

If you live in the Philadelphia area, you’ve no doubt heard about the short-lived renaming of Philadelphia’s annual Christmas Village. Just in case you aren’t familiar, Philadelphia has, for the past few years, has put on a Chriskindlmarkt in Center City outside city hall. They don’t call it a Chriskindlmarkt. They instead call it a Christmas Village. Earlier this week, the city decided to remove the word Christmas from it to avoid offending people. This ridiculous move was met with a proper level of outrage from the public and Mayor Michael Nutter had the name restored.

While I think he made the right move, it’s insane that they ever changed the name to begin with. I don’t think he’s a hero for putting out a fire that the city started to begin with. I also don’t think this is the last time we’ll hear about this. So, I feel like I should get on my virtual soapbox and shout into the wind.

I’m not a member of any religion, Christian or otherwise,  and I don’t care about what religion anyone belongs to any more than I care what race someone is. Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Pastafarian has nothing to do with the situation. I think the separation of church and state is extremely important and I think religion has no place in government. However, my argument is, and always has been, that there are really two Christmases. First, there’s the “baby Jesus Christmas.” I’m referring to the religious holiday that the Christians only celebrate. Then there’s the Christmas that’s for everyone, the “Santa Claus Christmas.” Yes, Christmas started as a religious holiday, but it has evolved into the secular version that most of us celebrate today. Christmas is about decorating, giving gifts & cards, being with family and friends and spreading goodwill. Those parts of Christmas are unrelated to religion. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and it sickens me when I hear of schools, businesses or anyone else referring to Christmas as “The Holiday” or “The Winter Holiday.” It just seems ridiculous. I’ve never read the Bible but I’m pretty sure that there’s no mention of Santa Claus, eggnog, candy canes or flying reindeer in there.

So, I’m very glad that the for once, the whiney minority was shut down by the sane majority. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s a sweet victory when it does.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s article regarding the Christmas Village debacle is here.

Some photos from previous visits to the Christmas Village can be found in the Photos section of this site.

• FINALLY just mailed my Christmas cards. I’m way behind! This is the latest I’ve ever mailed them. I usually have them out by Black Friday. #
• RT @digitalkitty: “Best. Elevator. Ever. http://i.imgur.com/XwYtO.jpg spaghetti monster FTW! Haven’t heard enough about him lately. #
• If all of this rain was snow, today would be a great day. But no, we get flash floods instead. Stupid mother nature. #
• I take back what I said about mother nature. If not for the flooding, I wouldn’t have found a big leaking can of water seal in the basement. #
• Just post an updated crocheted towel catalog. 12 new Christmas patterns! http://bit.ly/32PTIn #
• RT @patricknorton: “6 Reasons Bacon is Better Than True Love: http://bit.ly/70pNCY" #
• At Philadelphia Christkindlmarkt embracing my German side. Eating wurst/kraut & doing Christmas shopping! Oh yeah & yummy German cookies too! #

Happy New Year! Here’s to a happy, healthy and prosperous year! I’ll be spending today recovering from all the cooking and eating I did yesterday and watching the mummers parade. Hopefully, the parade will go on again next year despite the city’s budget problems.

When I think of Christmas it conjures images of small towns with rows of little stores selling gifts in Germany. OK, so maybe not the Germany part. However, a really cool Christmas tradition does come from Germany. It’s the Chriskindlmarkt. Bethlehem, PA (a.k.a. Christmas City) puts on a huge one every year. I finally got a chance to go to it this year. It was a fun day of shopping and some sightseeing.

Then i heard Philadelphia was putting on one of their own at City Hall. It was called the Philadelphia Christmas Village. While not as big it will hopefully be an annual event because it has real potential.

Check out my photos from Bethlehem and then take a look at my photos of Philadelphia.

In celebration of the Phillies World Series win, there’s a parade going on in Philadelphia today that is being attended by well over a million people. Every website and media outlet around is showing images from the parade. I figured I’d go the nostalgic route and post this copy of the old Phillies logo I stumbled upon.

This logo was used in the 70′s and I think the early 80′s. It was always my favorite.

As hard as it might be to believe, the PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! After waiting through 28 years and then a 46 hour rain delay, Phillies fans finally have a reason to smile!

Congrats to the Phillies!

Today’s the 300th birthday of Ben Franklin. Of course, here in Philadelphia, that’s a huge deal. It’s the kick-off of several months of festivities celebrating the life of our most famous resident.

One of the biggest highlights is a special exhibit at the National Constitution Center. They’ve got a ton of artifacts etc. I need to get over there and see that that before it departs for its world tour.

Find more details about parties, events, special deals, tour packages and more at GoPhila.com/Ben.

UPDATE: View my photos from when I went to the exhibit here.