The holiday season works a little differently here in the Netherlands, with Sinterklaas arriving on December 5th, well in advance of Baby Jesus.
Fortunately there's the internet (or, more accurately the World Wide Web) to deliver properly-scheduled holiday cheer. Once you sift through all the crap about Black Friday, Mauve Monday, Taupe Tuesday or whatever fictitious days the media has fabricated to sell column inches, there is a treasure trove of sights and sounds on the web that show how, despite the endless marketing blitz, we haven't completely lost the plot.
On a musical note (ba-dum-bum), The Pandora Podcasts have a great piece on the origins and musical structure of many popular Christmas songs. And, if the malls don't saturate your carol capacity, there's heaps of radio stations streaming xmas music 24/7. If you do reach critical mass as quickly as I do but still want to keep the holiday spirit then there's NPR's roots-music Christmas from the World Cafe show from 2005 plus a whole lot more!
There's great art kicking around, with loads of vintage royalty-free (though not free-free) stuff to see, as well as contemporary royalty-free (and free-free with an account) at Getty.
So regardless of where you hang your kerchief or cap before settling down for a long winter's nap there should be something out there to spark that merry feeling.
Happy Holidays!
P.S. if you happen to be in Portland on December 15th you can catch the Tuba Christmas Concert apparently.
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