Respite
Spent a lot of the Thanksgiving Break doing absolutely nothing. Consider this post to be a smorgasboard of leftovers- the Internet equivalent of a cold turkey sandwich, if you will.
Played some disc golf with my wife on Saturday- which was fun, until I threw my disc into a water hazard. Note: discs tend to sink in water.
I've noticed that a lot of stores are utilizing Santa in their commercials. Which is fine and all, but that all seem to denigrate Old Saint Nick's role in some way. One has him buying a diamond ring- if you even buy into the Santa mythology, wouldn't his elves make him one? Another has him coming home early, because apparently some store has taken his place. I don't know about you, but replacing Santa with a corporate entity doesn't exactly place warm fuzzies in the heart. Finally, another one has everyone oohing and aahing over the latest phones, while Santa's line at the mall sits empty. That one is just sad. Don't kids want ponies anymore? Or at least, want to believe in something bigger than themselves? Sigh. But I guess the phones play music, so all is forgiven. Grrr.
My father-in-law retired Saturday after working at the same place for 21 years. My wife and I bought him a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed to celebrate the occasion. At the liquor store, the cashier asked if it would be credit or debit when we handed over the card. Note: if you use credit to buy alchohol, you might have a problem. Note #2: Has anyone else noticed how the person selling the liquor seems to know way too much about the product he's selling?
Apparently everyone went out and bought everything this weekend. Partially because the commercial culture has so brainwashed the masses to trigger buying after Thanksgiving, a non-Pavlovian response is no longer possible. I wonder if such was the case in the 1920s? Or the 50s? Or did corporate America simply create it out of thin air? Something tells me that Christmas used to be just a one-day event, instead of the month-long financial orgasm it has become. Sigh once more.
I really want to try to make some acorn bread. Apparently if you leech out the tannic acid, the things are pretty tasty. There's an oak tree in front of a courthouse near where I work that has cartoon acorns. They're almost too perfect. Like Disney animators penciled them in.
I've got semester exams coming up soon, and a small paper due Tuesday. I've laid the groundwork for the paper, but haven't really begun studying in earnest yet for exams. Luckily, 5.5 of my 15 hours this semester are pretty much already wrapped up, so they shouldn't weigh as much. Also, I get almost a week off to study for my final one, which should be the hardest.
Well, that's life from my neck of the woods. I'll attempt to post more regularly, now that my life resumes its normal schedule. Thanks for all the comments everybody- I'll respond to each in the next few days.
Played some disc golf with my wife on Saturday- which was fun, until I threw my disc into a water hazard. Note: discs tend to sink in water.
I've noticed that a lot of stores are utilizing Santa in their commercials. Which is fine and all, but that all seem to denigrate Old Saint Nick's role in some way. One has him buying a diamond ring- if you even buy into the Santa mythology, wouldn't his elves make him one? Another has him coming home early, because apparently some store has taken his place. I don't know about you, but replacing Santa with a corporate entity doesn't exactly place warm fuzzies in the heart. Finally, another one has everyone oohing and aahing over the latest phones, while Santa's line at the mall sits empty. That one is just sad. Don't kids want ponies anymore? Or at least, want to believe in something bigger than themselves? Sigh. But I guess the phones play music, so all is forgiven. Grrr.
My father-in-law retired Saturday after working at the same place for 21 years. My wife and I bought him a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed to celebrate the occasion. At the liquor store, the cashier asked if it would be credit or debit when we handed over the card. Note: if you use credit to buy alchohol, you might have a problem. Note #2: Has anyone else noticed how the person selling the liquor seems to know way too much about the product he's selling?
Apparently everyone went out and bought everything this weekend. Partially because the commercial culture has so brainwashed the masses to trigger buying after Thanksgiving, a non-Pavlovian response is no longer possible. I wonder if such was the case in the 1920s? Or the 50s? Or did corporate America simply create it out of thin air? Something tells me that Christmas used to be just a one-day event, instead of the month-long financial orgasm it has become. Sigh once more.
I really want to try to make some acorn bread. Apparently if you leech out the tannic acid, the things are pretty tasty. There's an oak tree in front of a courthouse near where I work that has cartoon acorns. They're almost too perfect. Like Disney animators penciled them in.
I've got semester exams coming up soon, and a small paper due Tuesday. I've laid the groundwork for the paper, but haven't really begun studying in earnest yet for exams. Luckily, 5.5 of my 15 hours this semester are pretty much already wrapped up, so they shouldn't weigh as much. Also, I get almost a week off to study for my final one, which should be the hardest.
Well, that's life from my neck of the woods. I'll attempt to post more regularly, now that my life resumes its normal schedule. Thanks for all the comments everybody- I'll respond to each in the next few days.
Labels: Musings
I worked in a large, downtown department store in the late fifties. They didn't even put up a Christmas decoration until after the Thanksgiving holiday, but then they went all out with animated scenes in the exterior windows, trees and garlands all over the store, etc. Their Santa was even on television every afternoon talking to the kiddies. Today stores have Christmas decorations out along with the Halloween stuff. I tend to get burned out on it but here I was today assembling an artificial tree and stringing lights. Bah, humbug.
When I was a kid Christmas was a magic time, then again when my kids were young and they took their first look at all the presents around the tree on Christmas morning. Beyond that it's lost much of it's charm for me.
Posted by
Fish-2 |
10:28 PM