I've got to get this off my chest. Apparently photo cards are all the rage this year. I know it must be true, because so far I've received at least five of them in the mail.

They blow, folks. I'm not sure which marketing prodigy convinced the masses that what friends and not-so-close-relatives want most from you is a picture of your family and a stamped signature, but let me tell you a little something...they lied.

What I most want when I open the envelope is some sort of small note, giving me the impression that you actually gave a moment's thought to me during the season. Something written in your own hand wishing me and mine well. Instead, what I get is a manufactured card, complete with manufactured name requiring almost no human touch whatsoever.

When I send out Christmas cards, I do it for those people in my life I actually care about, and I make sure that I mention it in the body of the card. I write it by hand and sign it by hand, because I think you are actually worth that much time out of my life. It's only once a year and I think for that one time of the year that I'm going to spend the money on a stamp, it should count. I may not send them to everyone in my zip code whom I've ever met, but the people who receive them know they matter.

Am I alone in this annoyance?