At long last you have finished the shopping and the rushing, battled trains or planes or packed-out motorways to be where you intend to stay put for the holidays. Time to kick back in front of the laptop with a glass of Cava and a box of chocolates and surf the Christmas web.
Every national newspaper worth the name has produced a Christmas quiz (though none as good as ours), so if you're feeling clever, start with the Guardian's King William's College quiz. Then move onto the Telegraph, because first prize is a 7-day trip to India. The FT offers three nights in a lovely hotel to the winner. The quiz at the Times, much like the Guardian, offers quizmasters the warm inner glow of being cleverer than other people.
Liberal Guardian-reading types will want to have another look at our ideas for a green Christmas, given the government warning about excessive Christmas waste. But the top Christmas recycling tip of the year comes from J-walk, who writes: "If you're too cheap to buy a 2005 calendar, here's a tip: find an old calendar for any of these years, and it will be fully functional in 2005: 1994, 1983, 1977, 1966, 1955, 1949, 1938, 1927, 1921, 1910."
The Boston Globe has slated online Christmas sites for children as marketing exercises masquerading as magical experiences, but you can find plenty to keep the children occupied after they've grown bored with their carefully chosen gifts (about ten minutes after opening them). The North Pole Times has loads of fun stuff to do, and is entirely ad-free. The 12 Days of Christmas site has plenty of games and jokes (the Nutcracker hangman game is particularly good). Elsewhere, you can gather the kids for a reading of the Dr Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or some festive songs.
By now we've all read the mathematical proof that Santa does not exist, courtesy of a 1990 Spy Magazine article. Fortunately the University of Chicago has compiled a number of rebuttals - suitable for reading to more sceptical children and adults - that proves beyond doubt the existence of St Nick. Aside from expeditious use of Fedex, and changing demographics that put more children into fewer homes, two physicists argued that Santa really could make it to all those homes on one night: "Viewing Santa as a waveform removes the apparent paradox of his 'presence' being measured in several locations within a short interval of time. As the waveform collapses down in a specific location (attracted, we suggest, by the Goodness Quantum number of the recumbent child) it becomes perfectly valid to state that a "visitation" has occurred." Stuff that in your mince pie, cynic.
Get Religion intelligently blogs the 'taking Christ out of Christmas' debate that has been all the rage this year, with the mayor of Denver, Colorado and Macy's chain of department stores on the sharp end of Christian anger over signs reading "Happy holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". However, it would be wrong to think that all Christians celebrate Christmas. In fact, at least one church considers it spiritual adultery. Or, as the church in Greenville, South Carolina puts it: "For a Christian to have a Christmas tree and engage in Christmas customs around December 25 is the same betrayal as a woman making love to her husband while thinking about another lover… if you think this is extreme or harsh, read Ezekiel 16 and/or 23 carefully."
So there it is, Merry Christmas, we hope you all have fun.
By the way, for those of you not celebrating Christmas, you can always follow coverage of Ukraine's re-run presidential election here. We've got something for everyone at Guardian Unlimited.
