Tag: presents

Christmas coffee.

Posted in Blog, True Life Adventures, Writings - May 9, 2015 - 0 Comment

Here is another essay I wrote and recorded as part of The GrantCast.  The audio is below.  If you’d like to subscribe to the podcast you can do so in iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher.  Thanks for reading.

Christmas Coffee
By Grant Baciocco

As a kid, I used to get way too excited for Christmas.  Actually, if you know me, I still get way too excited for Christmas (hello, Advent Calendar).  But this all started for me, as a little kid.  As said in the movie A Christmas Story:

“Lovely, beautiful, glorious Christmas, around which the entire kid year revolved.”
I think part of the reason Christmas is such a big deal to me is because my mom and dad made it a big deal.  Heck, they still do.  They started traditions that still carry through to this day.  One of those traditions is new pajamas.
Actually, it was my Grandma Donny, my mom’s mom, that started that tradition.  She would send down presents every year, or we’d bring them back with us from Thanksgiving.  We’d get to open one present on Christmas Eve, sort of a sneak preview of what was to come the next morning.  We were never allowed to pick the present we opened and it took me several years to realize that the present was always from Grandma Donny and it was always pajamas.  It took me several more years to realize the reason it was pajamas was so that we looked nice in pictures on Christmas morning!  No ratty old pajamas were allowed!
The fatal flaw here was that as a kid, I used to get so excited about things, so worked up and nervous, I would make myself sick and throw up!  There were several Christmas mornings where I wasn’t able to make it down the hall to the presents.  I got myself so excited, I’d barf all over the place and usually over my new pajamas.  In later years, my parents would wait to make me wear the new pajamas until they were sure I wasn’t gonna blow chunks.  Luckily I have grown out of this habit.  I haven’t barfed on Christmas in at least, two or three years.
Another tradition that we had starting at a very young age is that on Christmas morning, my great grandmother, Noni and my great aunt, Auntie Dorothy would drive down from San Francisco to be there as we opened presents.  It would go like this, I would wake up first, early, usually around 6 am because I was so excited and I’d get my parents up.  They would call Auntie Dorothy and Noni and they would get up and drive the 20 minutes or so to San Bruno (or later Burlingame) to join us.  Now this did nothing to help calm my excitement!  I’d have to wait, patiently, in my room as they made their way down the peninsula from San Francisco.  And Noni was an older lady so it took her a little longer to get moving!  I’m actually sure they got down to our place as fast as they could but when you’re little and you know there’s presents out in the living room for you under the tree, every minute is an hour.
I would wait patiently in my bedroom, a bundle of nerves until I heard our front door open and I heard the exchanges of “Good Mornings” and “Merry Christmases” being made.  They were here!  It was time to open presents right?  Wrong!
“Can we open presents now?”  I’d yell down the hallway
“Not yet.” my mother would reply.  “We have to make the coffee.”
Make the coffee?!  “Why did’n’t you make the coffee while they were driving down?!”
My parents were literally trying to torture me.  No wonder I barfed all over the place.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media
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2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Posted in News - December 3, 2014 - 1 Comment

Whether you like it or not, the holidays are here and, for the most part, no matter what winter holiday you celebrate, you probably have to buy a gift or two for friends or family.  Instead of getting someone another iTunes gift card, I’d like to offer up some suggestions.  Let me make two things clear about the following list.  One, I get nothing from these links.  This is not an affiliate deal or anything.  Two, these are things created by my friends, yes, but I also really enjoy the heck of them and I think you would as well.

goonholler

Welcome to Goon Holler by Parker & Christian Jacobs – www.goonhollergeneralstore.com – I met Parker Jacobs, the mastermind behind Goon Holler via the social media service Vine.  His hilarious Tooba character and my Uncle Interloper character became fast friends.  I have been absolutely inspired by the way Parker has turned his Goon Holler concept into a whole world, which now includes the brand new book: Welcome to Goon Holler.  It’s a great book for kids and adults.  It’s an easy read and the artwork is fantastic.  Parker’s style reminds me a lot of Jay Ward, creator of Rocky & Bullwinkle, and that’s a very, very good thing.  This is a great gift for the kids on your list or people who have kids.  Plus, you can get an autographed copy by visiting Parker’s website www.GoonHollerGeneralStore.

ghosttrain

Ghost Train To New Orleans by Mur Lafferty – www.murverse.com – This one is actually two gifts in one because the book, Ghost Train To New Orleans is a followup to the novel Shambling Guide to New York.  Now, you don’t really need to have read the first one, Mur does a great job of catching readers up on what has come before, but you SHOULD read the first one.  It’s great.  If you like stories about vampires, zombies and other monsters living their day to day life with humans, this one is a great read.  THere’s some language and situations in it, so it’s not for kids, but I’d say teenagers, 16 or 17 can read it.  And if you’re unsure, why not give the book a listen?  Mur is currently podcasting a chapter a week of the book HERE for free!  No reason not to check it out and then go buy the book via Amazon or your other favorite book buying sight.  Better yet, order from Chapel Hill Comics and you’ll get a signed copy!  It’s also available in ebook and audio formats.  And if you want to pick up The Shambling Guide to New York, you can do that as well.  Mur is a great author and a good friend and I whole heartedly recommend any of her work.  Check out all of Mur’s work at www.Murverse.com

tapyap

Tappin’ & Yappin’ Cast Recording by John B. deHaas – www.cdbaby.com/cd/joyandersenandjohnbdehaa – If you’re the type that loves musicals and spoofs of musicals, you must check out the Tappin’ & Yappin’ soundtrack by my good friend John B. deHaas along with Joy Andersen. The musical debuted at the Orlando Fringe Festival and the 2014 Cast Recording is now available as a, super limited edition, CD and digital download. The songs are hilarious and you will find yourself singing and laughing along with them. The show is PG rated, so this one may not be for younger kids, though it’s not blue. Again, if you are a musical theatre fan, or have one you are shopping for, this is a great gift. It’s available via CDBaby.com but is also up on iTunes and other digital download sites. Pick up a copy for you or a friend!

Youth With A Mission Modesto – http://ywam-modesto.blogspot.com – If you are looking for a gift that’s a little more on the ‘do good’ side of things, I recently came across a charity that is doing some amazing work for people in need. Sure, Red Cross, Salavation Army and others get national attention, but we rarely hear about local acts of good. My friend Aaron is involved with Youth With A Mission Modesto and I recently talked with him about all the group was doing in Modesto and it really hit home. YWAMM take the charity directly to the streets to help people in need and they ae doing a darn fine job. I invite you to check out their website and if it jives with your charitable giving, consider a donation.

herp

Herp Derp Ya Don’t Sterp – Devo Spice – https://devospice.bandcamp.com/album/herp-derp-ya-dont-sterp – Comedy/nerdcore rapper Devo Spice has a brand new album that will ‘drop’ on December 2nd. Devo Spice is a regular on The Dr. Demento Show and has had several songs chart on, not only the monthly Dr. Demento Top 10, but also the big end of the year Funny 25 countdowns. If you like funny rap parodies and originals, much in the same vein as “Weird Al”, you’ll love Devo Spice. If you order his album on December 2nd, you’ll even get a bonus album!

squid

Squid Friends by Kristin Hogan – https://www.etsy.com/shop/SquidFriends – I’ve mentioned Kristin and her fantastic squid friends on the blog before but I wanted to bring them up again because how much more unique of a gift could you give than the gift of a plush squid?!  You just can’t!  But Kristin isn’t just selling squids, she is also selling nautilus’, art, baby blankets and more!  If you want a one of a kind gift, Squid Friends is where you need to go!  Now.

These are a just a few great gift ideas for those hard to shop for people on your list.  The fun thing, to me, is that they are all my creative friends, working hard and creating and putting their creations out into the world.  I have purchased (or given to) each of these projects and they all have my personal seal of approval.  Again, I get nothing out of this, there’s no affiliate links or anything here.  These are just people and projects I believe in and am lucky enough to call friends.  I hope you’ll check one or two of them out.

If you’d like to consider purchasing some of my creative projects, you can check out the STORE PAGE at my website.  Theres a few ideas there and anything you purchase will go towards producing more.  You can also check out Saturday Morning Media’s PATREON PAGE if you want to consider giving a reoccurring donation.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a very happy holiday season!

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