Despite theories to the contrary, I had parents once. I was not dropped here from a starship, nor was I sent by the devil (actually, that was my mother's theory). And when I was a kid, we had "normal Christmas". Normal Christmas meant the Nativity display on the bookshelf, a tree decorated in multi-colored lights and decorations (as opposed to designer "themed" trees), tons of baked goods, and lots of beauty. The presents were in colorful paper, with big bows, and the cards we gave and received were generally of the scenic variety, with deer in a pasture, or a horse drawn sleigh in front of a rustic barn. Icicles on trees, carollers with rosy cheeks - real Currier & Ives stuff. Even the cards my dad brought home from work were of the scenic or even the jolly Santa variety. My mother used to keep them, year after year. She would cut them up and we'd make Christmas collages with them. It was a fun project, and always produced something quirky to hang near the tree. In fact, the only really unattractive cards in the house used to be the ones I would make in school. Colored construction paper, some glitter, and an odd yellow crayon that was laying around. My mother loved these cards that I would make for her. After all, that was her job. To love the dreck I produced. SHe knew that it was something that no one else would find beautiful, but to her they were special. Her little girl made them. Aw, shucks and all that.

Now that dreck is the norm. Ugly is the new beautiful - to some marketer, anyway. While I still go out and buy pretty Christmas cards to send to my friends and family (as well as to give to my coworkers), I have noticed that the kind of "art" I produced in first grade is now what I am pulling out of gilt-edged envelopes at the office. Every major company has bought into the idea of sending charity cards (UNICEF, Oxfam, United Way etc), and every major charity has bought into the idea that drawings by five-year-olds are good enough to be mass marketed. I received one card last week that had a "snowman" on it, and that poor snowman was nothing more than a heap in a hat. Made me want to get out the hair dryer and put him out of his misery. In defence of the artiste responsible, I'm sure his/her mother was very proud. However, wouldn't it have been better if Mommy had just tacked the (offending) picture to the fridge, instead of sending it off to UNICEF where it would land on the desk of a complete stranger? Kids do all kinds of things that are cute to their parents. Artists are capable of accomplishing things that are attractive to many.

So enough with the ugly cards. If you want to give your money to charity, go ahead and do so, but you don't have to buy ugly cards to do it.

(Having said that, does anyone else remember when a certain charity in Canda (whom I cannot remember) used to send out packs of blank greeting cards, requesting a donation? The cards were done by artists with disabilities - some were mouth paintings from artisits with no arms. But they were extrordinary. Beautiful roses and trees. These people had an obvious talent, despite their physical and mental shortcomings. Why can't we have more of them, and less of the ugly child drawings?)