Jonny Numb

This tale of Christmas and New Year’s through photos begins with a bit of decor acquired from that ever-reliable Carlisle mainstay, The Market of Curiosities. My annual insistence remains true: this indie-vendor event is, hands-down, one of my favorite parts of the wind-up to Christmas. So much cool stuff to gift others…or yourself!

As the header photo makes clear: the holidays aren’t truly festive until the Lady in the Radiator blesses you with a magical candy cane! (Via Murphy’s Curious Goods.)

Next up: a nice pile of gifts from my brother and stepmother, whom me and my partner spent Christmas day with. (I watched Pet Sematary: Bloodlines on our flight back from the UK and liked it, that’s why it’s there!)

My stepmother even brought her cat Hank along to partake in the festivities. As has been the case since my childhood, the holidays aren’t complete without a feline curiously poking around the balls of discarded gift-wrap. (He’s a big fan of boxes and bags, obviously.)

On the 26th, we spent the day with my partner’s family in Lancaster. After an unconventional (but delicious) dinner consisting of shrimp, tortilla soup, broccoli salad, and other yummy deliciousness, we mellowed out for several hands of Uno before digging into the gift offerings.

First up: a handful of albums I was curious about (Linkin Park) and looking forward to (Suki Waterhouse; Halsey), courtesy of her dad:

As someone who was never really interested in Linkin Park until the recent “controversy” over new singer Emily Armstrong, I gotta say the new album is pretty great.

Next, I received an unexpected bag-o-gifts from her brother and sister-in-law:

A book of cat poems and ghost stories, and some kitty puzzles. Life is good.

Outside of the in-person gatherings, some gifts arrived from the far-off lands of Texas and Georgia. Let’s take a look at the stack sent me by multitalented artisan Chris Broadstone:

Chris has a great eye for classic horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. I had never seen any of the movies he sent, so they were all great surprises. (Waxworks in particular had been languishing on my Amazon wishlist for years.)

My pal Mark Hofmeyer, who hosts the excellent podcast Movies, Films & Flix (on which I am an occasional guest), sent over an unexpected care package containing a movie that I’ve never seen before, but hits a trifecta of sweet spots: religion, philosophy, and the natural beauty of Iceland. Looking forward to checking this out.

My brother gifted me and my partner gift cards to Books-A-Million, which we utilized while out on New Year’s Eve. We each found 2025 planners and some tomes suited to our particular interests.

As an aside, the DSM-5 (which I’ve always wanted a physical copy of) was weirdly located in one of many “overstock” displays, next to some musician biographies. It looked so out-of-place – and a little beaten-up in appearance – that I had to pick it up to see if someone hadn’t brought it into the store and forgotten to take it along with them. But there was an equally beaten-up price tag on the back cover, so I quickly snatched it up. Interestingly, the girl who checked me out had difficulty with the bar code, as if the book was insisting it wasn’t part of the store inventory.

Last night, future asshat Darwin Award winners in our neighborhood set off fireworks a little after 9, as me and my partner did our New Year’s Eve tradition of assembling a jigsaw puzzle. After she went to bed, I rang in midnight with a viewing of Blood Tracks.

Early this afternoon our puzzle-assembling efforts saw completion as we ate coffee cake and watched Ant-Man (still the best Marvel movie) and Men in Black (which still holds up!).

We’re currently relaxing as the pork and sauerkraut percolates in the slow cooker.

However you choose to ring in the New Year, I hope it’s conducive to good things. Wishing all who glance over these words the best 2025 possible. And let’s do a memory-wipe of all the bad shit that happened in 2024, eh?