please empty your brain below
My first round robin Christmas card. No pics of the children at pony club?

/child protection issue

strandman | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 8:30 a.m. | #

I wouldn't despise them so much if they were this entertaining...

Got one yesterday that was 2 sides of closely badly-typed missive, without a single paragraph and barely a comma. It was totally unreadable.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 8:33 a.m. | #

Do people still do them? They are an abomination.

Johnny Topaz | 22.12.06 - 9:07 a.m. | #

Yep- people still do them. I had one..2 pages (full pages!) of badly typed "news", very dull news, from their world. One of them passed her degree this year (obviously not an English degree)and signed off using her name and qualification. I uttered a few choice words as I put the letter and card in the bin.

Amused | 22.12.06 - 9:29 a.m. | #

I never get new letters i my cards. With one friend the only time I know what is going on in their lives is when a new name appears on the bottom of the Christmas card. I assume they had a daughter this year (unless it is the dog/cat).

Essexgirl | 22.12.06 - 9:32 a.m. | #

I personally don't get them, but the soon to be in laws do, and those ones never have paragraphs and maybe not even full stops in some cases. Eugh, I hate them.

We had some american friends who used to send long letters around, but instead they now do short newsletters with lots of pictures. I far prefer that.

I have promised myself that we will never do one of these!

Laura-Ann | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 9:36 a.m. | #

What a lot of fuss. If you don't want to read them, don't and if you don't send them a Christmas card, after a while you won't get one back either. The time the Christmas letter is welcome is when you WANT to keep in touch but failed for some reason (your's or their's).

The advantage of home publishing (I don't believe any of them are really "typed") is that they don't have to be all hand written - if you had time to do that you would have had time to go and visit in the first place.

Rick | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 10:43 a.m. | #

Rick-FYI I have not sent my letter/ newsletter/home publishing/drivel sender a Christmas card for 3 years now. Neither have I visited. Humbug!

Amused | 22.12.06 - 11:38 a.m. | #

My parents get loads of these, and they are all rubbish. My Dad likes to do one, as he has so many friends overseas etc - but they are of the 'had a grandaughter, moved to France, son married' kind, not the 'went on holiday, got a payrise, son won competition' type. He wants to tell people what they would want to know, and nothing more (one A5 sheet of paper). Those ones are alright.

Katoutthebag | 22.12.06 - 11:46 a.m. | #

Another fine missive.
DG, I was searching for your previous Round Robin letter recently, to hold up as a good example. Do you have the link?

I have to own up to doing a round robin letter. Am I vain? Do I want to show off where we've been, what we've done? Yeah!

If my friends and relatives don't want to read it, that's fine, but it gives them somthing to laugh at, snigger at, ridicule or envy. Its better than being ignored.

Jon Allen | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 11:50 a.m. | #

I’m a pleb as I like round robins.
Please remember there are lots of old family members who are alone and Christmas can be bloody lonely for them especially those who can remember the first Morecambe and Wise show.
So come on send the family news out with the cards and PLEASE write the name on the envelope as all of the goodwill is lost with a computer label.
Incidentally I caught my wife yesterday writing a card and enclosing our family message to give to a casual stranger who was working at our house and who was moaning that his mum was even sending cards to the cats as they had only six cards received at their house.

peter | 22.12.06 - 2:03 p.m. | #

i know.. reading about someone elses life that you care about is such a chore isn't it?

thanks goodness we don't all keep electronic logs of what we do and publish it for everyone to see...

Ian | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 2:23 p.m. | #

I've found that desktop publishing has revolutionized the Xmas missive. Using Adobe InDesign, it's a snap to now include full color photos in the message... just drag them in and set the text to wrap.

Not only is a picture worth a thousand words... but it also means you have to write fewer actual words to fill the page.

And it really does spice up the old Xmas letter.

John | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 3:00 p.m. | #

I should like to modify my earlier comment (second in the thread).

Six pages may be rather too much, even if it is entertaining. There is such a concept as too much of a good thing

[Sorry that was a private message for DG]

*wonders how much a DG original extended version would sell for on ebay*

*remembers that hates ebay*

Blue Witch | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 4:59 p.m. | #

dg, Where did you get the idea of a dog called Biggles?

dg writes: dog? who said Biggles was a dog?

John S | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 6:19 p.m. | #

Just wondering where the inspiration came from?

John S | Homepage | 22.12.06 - 7:33 p.m. | #

I always like getting the Christmas letter that my parents send - I get to find out what I have been doing all year!

wilees | 22.12.06 - 9:04 p.m. | #

"Got one yesterday that was 2 sides of closely badly-typed missive, without a single paragraph and barely a comma. It was totally unreadable".

Hey, Blue Witch, was it from Molly Bloom?

Pepe, in Spain | 22.12.06 - 9:21 p.m. | #

As usual you've nailed it, dg. This is uncannily like a newsletter I used to get. They finally crossed me off their list, due to lack of response.

trad or anon | 22.12.06 - 10:09 p.m. | #











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