a wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver

1. Real tree or artificial?
   though I fondly recall real trees from my youth, I think they're terribly ecologically unsound. Artificial trees, too, have their drawbacks in that area, but if one makes a commitment to a tree and sticks with it for several years, not throwing it away when one tires of it, it isn't as reprehensible as some holiday traditions that we blindly follow.
2. Do you like decorating the tree?
   I do, indeed.
3. When do you put up the tree?
   under ideal circumstances, sometime around the 20th
4. When do you take the tree down?
   January 6
5. Do you like eggnog?
   not at all. WTF is "nog" anyway? And I don't drink eggs in any case.
6. Ever broken a present right after opening it?
   I would imagine. I haven't always been the most, um, focused child.
7. Hardest person to buy for?
   one of my friends has pretty much everything she wants, and the means to buy what she doesn't have. It's a challenge to not load her up with stuff for which she has no need.
8. Easiest person to buy for?
   there's this guy.
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
   nope. I used to have a beautiful ceramic one, but it doesn't live with me anymore. You win some, you lose some.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
    mail (though I'm not at all offended by the email variety, which can be very charming and are obviously eco-friendly)
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
    any of a number of biographies of religious or political figures, carefully chosen to be as personally reprehensible as possible
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
    the original, animated The Grinch that Stole Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
    when I find something to buy. I don't typically set out to do it.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
    oh Hell yeah
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
    krumkake
16. Have you ever actually eaten fruit cake?
    no - I gravely dislike those little fruit-like pellets
17. Favorite Christmas song?
    it varies. Dona Nobis Pacem, maybe?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
    alas, I always travel - home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
    yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
    it's a sort of snowman/angel, assuming I can ever find the [bleep] Rubbermaid storage tub that it's living in. My stuffed Grinch is in there, too, and my reindeer, and some other squishy Christmas crap. I've got to brave the parental basement one of these days, to see if it's here. If you don't hear from me again, it got me!
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
    morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
    what's not to be annoyed by? There's too much of everything: noise, light, movement. People. Driving. And it's cold, to boot.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
    whatever. My tree is a mash-up of mass-produced stuff, a small collection of knitted things (sweaters, scarves/hats/mittens, stockings), and a weird little blur of some handmade stuff that runs the gamut from professional-looking and awesome to "made by a 3-year-old and looks it." And all very much loved.
24. Favorite Christmas dinner?
    roast beast. It's my favorite dinner, whenever.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
    the usual: black pearl earrings, a car payment, Bacon Salt, a Nikon D90 (custom package), a brown leather jacket, and/or a date with [redacted]

[from The Cat, who got it here; the title quotation is by Thomas á Kempis]