Projo Offbeat Blog

There won't be any more "early Christmas presents" for tired reporters and editors -- at least not for a while.

For some of us, that might be the toughest part of saying goodbye to Christmas. Some reporters and editors wait almost all year for an "early Christmas present" to bail us out of writer's block.

It's an especially handy term for the reporter trying to come up with a "fresh" lead on the 134th consecutive municipal meeting he's covered, or the editor stuck for a headline and trying to make last call.

Curious about how often the device is employed, I did a google search for "early Christmas present," and it came back with more than 2,000 hits.

The variety of items and actions that qualify as "early Christmas presents" is impressive. Tax credits and zoning approvals were labeled "early Christmas presents" by reporters or editors this season, so was a court ruling that will probably mean less time in prison for people convicted of crack cocaine offenses.

And, according to a writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, Utahns "got an early Christmas present" when the Forest Service released its "draft study of rivers suitable for Wild and Scenic protection."

What kind of present will Utahns get when the Forest Service releases the actual study and not just the draft?

Sportswriters and their editors often rely on these "early Christmas presents." A lot of basketball games in December apparently aren't won by hard work, good play or smart coaching, but are, you guessed it, "early Christmas presents."

People aren't the only ones to receive "early Christmas presents." A British Web site ran the headline, "Zoo animals get early Christmas presents," over a story and picture of two lemurs checking out a wrapped box.

For the British, the term "early Christmas present" may be as popular as saying, "cheerio." A soccer, er, football player's signing can qualify as an "early Christmas present," so can the December birth of a baby.

Early Christmas presents apparently come in packages of all shapes and sizes. An Australian Web site reports that a British super model named Jordan received an "early Christmas present" from her husband -- when he paid for her breast reduction surgery.

The model said she planned to sell her implants on eBay to raise money for charity. Who knows? Maybe they'll be an "early Christmas present" for somebody else.

In Michigan, a television station Web site picked up an Associated Press story, reporting that "a 29-year-old man gave his 74-year-old grandmother an early Christmas present this year, donating more than half of his liver so she could get a second chance at life."

Now that Christmas has gone, I didn't know how we'd get by without our favorite seasonal phrase, until it occurred to me that there are "late Christmas presents" just as there are "early Christmas presents."

But somebody has beaten me to it.

In a story about supermodel Elle Macpherson surfing in Sydney, Australia, a writer for the Daily Telegraph reported, "In a late Christmas present for locals and tourists alike, Macpherson - clad in a Quicksilver wetsuit - was riding high during a 90-minute surf session at Sydney's trendiest beachside suburb."

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