AfterPartyPod: Christmas Edition!

Merry merry! Is it so merry merry? Are you experiencing the joys of the holiday season or are you barely handling those button pushers who call themselves members of your family? (They say that those who are best at pushing those buttons are the ones who created them, you know.) Maybe what you’re experiencing is somewhere between those two scenarios. Whatever it is, you’re here now and so let me remind you of some cheesy-sounding things:

1) Gratitude. Whatever they’re doing, there are people out there doing a lot worse. Same goes for whatever you’re experiencing.

2) Service. There are way too many opportunities around family to question just why is it these people never see me for who I am, damn it, and they don’t appreciate me in all my wonders and actually they never even came to my fourth grade recital or supported me in my first marriage and blah blah. Know what I mean? Well, nothing keeps a mind off of that line of thinking more than doing their dishes and reminding yourselves that they’re people with a lot of (probably unfulfilled) needs, too.

Okay, enough of that. In lieu of a new episode on this happy holiday, I’m giving you a special Christmas edition—that is, callbacks to two episodes where dealing with family came up a lot.

Dave Anthony. Got alcoholism in your family? Ever get so angry it made you a dangerous person? Want to hear about all that and also laugh your ass off? Listen to this one.

Mackenzie Phillips. When what happened between you and your dad was front-page news, that’s going to make for an interesting show. Think you can’t get over what dysfunctional shit went on with your clan? Let this one convince you otherwise.