Bigger is Better and Gaudy is Good

Here I am at my old job in my old cubicle. As you can probably guess, I optimistically and overzealously entered the company's first-ever holiday cubicle decorating contest. I didn't tell anyone I was doing it; I just began unravelling rolls of wrapping paper and unpacking lights, foliage, and baubles one quiet Friday afternoon, on tenterhooks as I waited for my coworkers to discover the source of the racket.

As part of the contest, I had to choose a name for my theme and immediately went with "Bigger is Better and Gaudy is Good," a quote I'd lifted from The Little Book of Christmas Joys by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. To be accurate, the exact quote is, "Throw restraint to the wind. Christmas is the one time of year when bigger is better and gaudy is good," which I don't find nearly as charming because I think bigger is better and gaudy is good year round. But I digress.

My coworkers were amused, to say the least. People I didn't even know came from all corners of the building to take a look. But despite all this attention, victory was not to be mine. That honor went to a girl from the Internet department, who had crafted a more unassuming scene featuring - and this is the ironic part - handmade snowmen. At the time I'd yet to experience my resurgence of crafty activity (the only things I created at that point were outfits).

These days I limit my avant-garde decorating impulses to the confines of my own home. Well, and of this blog, which seems to know no limits.

What about you? Ever enter, win, or lose a Christmas decorating contest?