Holiday Geekery

Check out this geek tree. I've heard of themed trees before (a Disney tree, a Barbie tree, a shoe tree, etc.), but this is the first geek tree I've seen. Not a bad idea, though I think I'd be a bit more restrictive with what's considered geeky. (Harry Potter? Not so much. That's a different kind of geekery.)

Anyway, should you want your own geek tree, I've got some suggestions for you. Here you can buy a Flying Spaghetti Monster ornament and tree topper, or a Cthulu ornament. (I'm rather crafty, so I made my own FSM ornament.) Here's a different Cthulu ornament—Cthuluclaus. For some cuter, cuddlier (yet no less geeky) ornaments, how about Mario or Yoshi? Also handmade, though not quite cuddly, are these nifty robot ornaments. Or what about a Firefly ornament? If you're particularly hardcore, I suppose you could go for an alternate Firefly ornament, which features the ship in its bloody Reaver disguise. If you're a literary-type geek, you might consider an ornament like this one made of Scrabble tiles. Think of the possibilities: names, initials, WTF, STFU, ROFL, LOL, RTFM, XMAS, NERD, GEEK, whatever. Then there are this year's Hallmark ornaments: three Star Wars (here, here, and here) and two Star Trek ornaments (here and here). I know it's not specifically geeky, but I also like this bomb ornament, which is sorta suggestive of Looney Toons, sorta suggestive of the Mario games. Then there's this super-simple (but still pretty funny) iPod click wheel ornament. Cute chessboard and laptop ornaments, too.

For additional suggestions (there's a bunch of overlap, but she suggests some that I don't and I suggest some that she doesn't), take a peek at the relevant blog posts by Alice of Wonderland (Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4).

Tree-Trimming Trinkets

Okay, I'm sorry if you're Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/whatever. But come on—what does a tree have to do with Jeebus anyway? Zip. So I say put one up regardless of your religion or lack thereof.
Now that we've established your right to a tree, you'll want to decorate it. As usual, I have suggestions for you.

Want to convey your "edginess" in ornament form? Try a glittery gun. (It's sold out online but still available in at least some stores.)
I double dog dare ya to find anyone who doesn't love A Christmas Story. Now put poor Ralphie in his bunny suit on the tree. Just don't drop it—it may be fra-gee-lay.
Here are some sweet little fishies, available in peach, red, and yellow. Equally as random but (almost) as cute are these four mushroom ornaments.
This purse and boots ornament set is the latest in Mrs. Claus–chic; get it for your holly jolly girlfriend, sister, aunt, or mom. Or even your rather hip grandma.
Also for the girls, the Met has an ever-increasing collection of shoe ornaments based on vintage designs. They're reasonably pretty, but here's my personal tip: If you want some fancy-schmancy shoes on your tree, check out the Just the Right Shoe collectibles by Raine. There's a great selection of fabulous, outlandish, and generally spiffy shoes. They're not ornaments per se, but see how most of the designs involve an ankle strap, a slingback, or some other sort of strap? Just slide a sturdy ornament hook or ribbon through the strap and voilà! Instant ornaments.
Finally, I should mention the soft-sculpture ornaments of Gladys Boalt. Trust me when I say that they're much, much, much more attractive in person than they are in pictures. Really detailed, nicely made, and representing a variety of historical, literary, cinematic, and legendary (fairy tale–iary?) characters, they're minor masterpieces (that clearly don't photograph well). (To further elaborate, compare and contrast a surprisingly good photo of the awesome Teddy Roosevelt ornament with a photo that's more representative of most of the Boalt pictures floating around online. See what I mean?)