First, the birthday party thing at work that I was helping out with was a success. People even claimed to like my cake. :)
Second, I found these:
The Pope rules. :D Props to this site and CNN for the pics and info. So awesome.
By the way, in case you don't care enough to read the links, that's not a Santa hat, it's called a camauro and is a traditional hat for keeping the Pope's head warm. Apparently it's been around since medieval times but the last Pope to wear one was John XXIII. (Actually, he's still wearing his.)
Don't I sound smart? I learn new things every day.
Speaking of learning things, yesterday I learned that "Kriss Kringle", which most of us know as an alias for Santa Claus, is actually derived from the German "Christkindl", which means "Christ child". I know I am a freak, but that piece of information bothered me. I guess in parts of Europe, the tradition was (and still is, in places) that the Christ child brought the gifts on Christmas Eve. St. Nicholas of course has his day on December 6, leaving small gifts in stockings and shoes. Seems that the traditions got muddled and mixed together over the years, evolving into Santa Claus as we know him. That in itself doesn't bother me, I know that traditions are added to or forgotten over the years. I just don't like the idea of using the name of Christ as an alias for Santa Claus. I will never hear "Kriss Kringle" the same way again. :P
Ah well. *glances up at the pictures again* As far as evolving traditions, I wonder if Santa's hat is a derivative of the Pope's camauro? Hehehe... Santa Pope! His Ho-Ho-Holiness! :)