The O-town Scene

Dragon Link Editor's Note|By Emily Popek Presents Come in Many Forms "Oh Christmas is a jolly time No matter where you're living. A time for joy, and friends, and fun And getting gifts, and giving." This was the poem delivered by my friend Kori during our school Christmas pageant when I was in the first grade. My parents still have a video of the pageant, in which I had a featured role as the Christmas star ("But how will people know where he was born? He'll be too small to show!" were my lines), wielding a large cardboard star covered in tin foil around my neck as my "costume." Back then, Christmas was about two things: Presents and candy. I remember running around the Grange hall like maniacs after the pageant was over, high on sherbet punch, stabbing each other with the sharpened points of our rainbow-colored candy canes. Good times. As we get older, of course, the holidays get more complicated. We start thinking less about the gifts we will receive, and worry more about the gifts we plan to give. And somewhere along the line, it's not enough for us to just show up; we have to start doing things to make the holidays happen. But as this issue of the Scene reminds me, there is still a lot of reason to sing " Joy to the World" this time of year, even if your feelings about Christmas are a little on the Grinch-y side. Although the fever pitch of summer has died down, the area is still of- fering up a panoply of visual and performing arts opportunities. If you're feeling stressed out about giftgiving this season, check out the Scene's inaugural Gift Guide. If it doesn't give you a great idea, we hope it will at least give you a laugh. We have a couple other little presents for you in this issue in the form of two new columnists. I'm thrilled to welcome Renee Nied, whose blog Fresh Air & Sarcasm literally had me laughing out loud the first time I read it. She writes, loosely, about parenting, with a lot of existential musings and a hearty dose of snark. You'll love her. And back this month as a regular columnist is Chad Ritchko, aka The IT Man, who has promised to bring us dispatches from some of the best live shows on the East Coast, and highlights of some great upcoming shows. As always, we encourage you, the reader, to be a part of the Scene by sending us your photos from events around the area and letting us know what's going on. We wish all of you happy holidays and a very merry New Year. Looking for part-time help? Interested in developing internship opportunities for students? Let SUNY Oneonta advertise your part-time employment and internship opportunities FREE of charge through DragonLink. Contact the Career Development Center with information about your openings and we'll take care of the rest! We are open Monday–Friday, 8–4:30pm. 110 Netzer Administration Building SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY 13820 p: 607.436.2534 f: 607.436.2094 career@oneonta.edu oneonta.edu/career Emily F. Popek can be reached at epopek@ thedailystar.com or (607) 432-1000, ext. 217. December 5, 2013 O-Town Scene 3

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