Sunday Links

© Kate Abbey

The Real Santa: Photographer Kate Abbey's images show that being Santa is not all glitz and glamour.  (Image above)

The Gentle Author's Annual Christmas Post

Have yourself a kitschy little Christmas with this gem: John Waters Christmas Playlist (You probably won't play it more than once)

Behold! The Very First Christmas Card (1843) 

NYC's five boroughs reimagined in gingerbread!  It's The Great Borough Bake-Off

"Yes, I had reached the stage of ego death, the loss of identity at the peak of a psychedelic experience. That it happened to coincide with the most insane action sequence of the century underscored just how irrelevant I had become." Watching Avatar on Mushrooms

This Family Gave the World the Snow Globe 

 Ugly (but cute) sweaters by Icelandic textile designer, Ýrúrarí. (via everlasting blort)

Fame was never in the equation for these guys: Painfully Awkward Band Photos via Memo Of The Air

The Eternal Tree ancient arks of biodiversity that have migrated across the landscape, enduring for millennia.

Colour your favourite Christmas artwork

Tenement Town uncovers Edinburgh’s forgotten lives. Each entry starts with a specific Edinburgh front door and takes us step by step through 200 years or so of the individuals who've lived there. (via Metafilter)

Jenny Ortega is wonderful as Wednesday Addams. Watch her dancing up a storm.

Two groups of 12-year-olds (one boys, the other girls) were left on their own, without adult supervision, for five days. How did that shake out?

Visit to a delusional Qanon family It is hard to watch these kids being brainwashed by their abhorrent parents.

The portrait hung in Joan Didion's home but who painted it? NYT link

"On March 30, 1999, Fabio Lanzoni rode Apollo's Chariot and was hit in the face by a goose. Or was he?" I'd almost forgotten the "Goosegate" incident. 

How Did King George V Really Die?  His last words were “God damn you” and with good reason.

A Parent's Typical Day as Envisioned by My Child's Preschool

This house in Maine appeals to me: Holiday Home Inspired by Historic New England Farmhouses 

Can dogs smell time? Ask Donut the dog! My dog and cat never fail to remind me that they are on strict feeding and walk schedules. 

Haute Couture Headwear - most of them are impractical.