The countdown begins

Yup, the artifice has abounded in our stores since before Samhain -- trees, wreaths, lights and balls. Now the commercials bombard us almost as much as the media did in reporting the election. In disgust I've taken to recording television so as to fast forward through the copious ads. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Makes a body want to puke. No wonder we have such despair during this supposedly happy season. Merry humbug.