I had a nice Christmas!

[Boris]

This year was the first year I was excited for Christmas in a long while, and it's safe to say I was elated when it finally arrived. I didn't get much, but I loved what I got. This year, I got two fountain pens! I was surprised because I thought I was only going to get one, if I got any. Man, I was so surprised! They are from Cross, and that's all I know. I need to do a bit of research and see what they are. I have used them too! I wrote a couple of stories with them, both inspired from the old classic story Twas the Night Before Christmas. Anyone else wanna share their christmas tales?

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I am happy to hear you had such a nice Christmas and got inspired to write! Specialized pens are becoming a treasure from the past.
Twas the night before Christmas and I had to work all day so by evening I just hung out watching movies with family, which was fine by me, and Christmas day we watched movies and cooked/baked and we ate left overs all week.

[Boris]

It's a shame you had to work, though I also had to work. It sounds like you had a nice Christmas as well. ^_^

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I actually don't mind working around Christmas (other then it being crazy busy) because most people are in a friendly mood and we can put out cookies and such for customers and even decorate a bit. This year I was sick though so that made me more tired and I tried not to cough on anyone so didn't do as much talking as I normally do!

[svetlana]

Merry Christmas!
Is writing a hobby of yours? If so, what are your favorite topics to write about?

Orthodox Christmas is on January 7th, so I'm actually celebrating tomorrow

[Lemon Cheesecake]

What traditions do you celebrate for orthodox christmas? Any special foods you eat?

[galled]

Welcome back, Boris!

So happy you got such wonderful gifts an that you've already put them to good use!

[Boris]

Lemon Cheesecake Oh, that's awesome! I mostly hear people being jerks to cashiers and employees during christmas time! It's a shame you were sick, though.

@"svetiana" Well, I'm trying to get it to be... people I live with pester me a lot, so my inspiration dwindles before I can really enjoy writing. I tend to write about different stuff.

How was your Orthodox Christmas?

galled Thanks, and thanks! Did you have a nice Christmas?

[galled]

Yes, I did! No drama other than my dad doing his annual Festivus "airing of grievances." (Sad that I think no drama is of primary importance I suppose.) Everyone was safe and healthy, warm and ate a ton so we are blessed!

[Gingerale]

I was thinking about you saying your inspiration dwindles when people pester you, I used to like to just go and sit on a bench or rock somewhere outside and write what I saw or try to be inspired by what I saw. So if it was in a place with people around I would try to imagine what was going on in their lives, say, if the people were arguing then write a story idea from that. I haven't done that for quite awhile, I should do that again! I don't get complete stories completed though, but it is a fun exercise! Now I just think them in my head and when I get distracted the idea is gone.

Have you tried writing articles for publishing at all?

[svetlana]

In the Eastern Orthodox religion, Christmas is celebrated on Jan. 7 and the “Old New Year” on Jan 14 because we are following the Julian Calendar instead of Gregorian one for these occasions (it had a delay of 2 weeks). Christmas is more of a holiday where we spend time with family, recite prayers, cook a variety of national dishes to serve at the table. We do exchange gifts but that’s mostly for the children’s and younger members of the family unless there’s a specific request. The close equivalent of Santa Claus would be “Ded Moroz” or “Father Frost” Sometimes we sing songs. The holiday tree is decorated for new year.

How do you guys celebrate Christmas?

Boris: can you get to a quiet place where you can concentrate? It’s harder for me to study at home too, so I go to a library, empty classroom in my school campus, or sometimes a quiet bookstore. If you can get a bag to easily transport your materials, a new environment might be helpful for you. Or you can write down ideas when you are inspired and reference them in the future.

[svetlana]

Also, if anyone has good tips for improving quality of writing and concentration, feel free to share them!

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I've heard the term Father Frost before but never looked into where it came from.
"Ded Moroz or Father Frost, the Slavic version of Santa Claus, long ago became the symbol of Russian winter, New Year's and presents. He is usually accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka riding with an evergreen tree in a traditional Russian troika, a sleigh drawn by three horses abreast"

Changing the calendar is interesting when you think of it because what year is it really? The chinese calendar year for 2019 I believe is 4717 years. But I think there is a calendar older then that?

[galled]

Dates/calendars in general are arbitrary. You would think the days we solstices would be significant, but they're in the middle of nowhere in our Gregorian calendar. We need a metric calendar!