On being dragged kicking and screaming into the holiday season
So, first I'd like to apologize for not blogging for so long. It's part not-much-happening and part just-not-feeling-like-it. As always, I'll try to do better. (Kind of nice to know I have a built-in New Year's resolution this year. And be forewarned--I'll probably stick to it about the same as most people stick to their resolutions. That is, not much.)
But anyway, before I get to the meat of the post, I want to share a blog gem I found the other day. While looking up, of all things, Dilbert cartoons about supply and demand (don't ask), I somehow stumbled upon an interesting poker blog. Well, interesting to me, anyway--I doubt most of you will be that interested in a blog about hand histories and such. But the greatest thing about this blog is its title and tagline:
The Poker Chronicles
"Proving that if you put a million monkeys in front of a million computers eventually 65,000 of them will log on to Party Poker."
Ha! That's so true.
Anyhoo, the pressure finally got to me this weekend. After actively and passionately resisting the unending barrage of holiday-related crap that's been steadily directed at all of us since around Halloween, I had to come to grips with the fact that it is, indeed, December, and that there's this "occasion" the entire country tends to pay a bit of attention to coming up soon. Of course, no one really knows what to call it anymore, so it is now merely The Holiday.
I won't go into the whole grotesque commercialization business, or delve into the very relevant question of what, exactly, this time of year is supposed to "mean" to an atheist. I've resigned myself to the fact that The Holiday is a uniquely unstoppable force, and eventually, it's gonna get you. The trick, I think, is to do just enough Holiday-related activities to feel you are still connected to the culture around you, but not so much that you feel you've been completely manipulated and exploited by the market forces that have seized control of peace on Earth, good will, etc. etc.
So, this weekend Jackspatula and I took baby steps. We didn't do any actual shopping for gifts, but we did buy Holiday lights for the front window and mantel, and I picked up some Holiday cards and stocked up on candles. (O.K., the candles aren't really Holiday-related, per se, but they were still a "festive" purchase.) What's more shocking, we actually hung the lights on the front window and mantel, as intended! A much more typical move on our part would have been to buy the lights, let them sit unopened on the kitchen table until about January 3rd, and then take them to the basement for "storage," where they would be quickly forgotten, never used, and then donated to the Kidney Foundation in about 10 years. (This happens a lot. The Kidney Foundation loves us.)
Even more impressive: Jackspatula cleaned out the upstairs closet, pulling out four years' worth of wrapping and tissue paper, ribbons, bows, gift bags, etc., and then I organized all of it and arranged it neatly in one of the downstairs closets, which I also cleaned out first! Yes, I agree--impressive. So now, if we ever actually buy any gifts, we will be ready.
And I have to admit--sitting in our Holiday-lighted living room, writing out Holiday cards and drinking wine, I did feel good and sort of at peace. Could that be the true meaning of The Holiday?
But anyway, before I get to the meat of the post, I want to share a blog gem I found the other day. While looking up, of all things, Dilbert cartoons about supply and demand (don't ask), I somehow stumbled upon an interesting poker blog. Well, interesting to me, anyway--I doubt most of you will be that interested in a blog about hand histories and such. But the greatest thing about this blog is its title and tagline:
The Poker Chronicles
"Proving that if you put a million monkeys in front of a million computers eventually 65,000 of them will log on to Party Poker."
Ha! That's so true.
Anyhoo, the pressure finally got to me this weekend. After actively and passionately resisting the unending barrage of holiday-related crap that's been steadily directed at all of us since around Halloween, I had to come to grips with the fact that it is, indeed, December, and that there's this "occasion" the entire country tends to pay a bit of attention to coming up soon. Of course, no one really knows what to call it anymore, so it is now merely The Holiday.
I won't go into the whole grotesque commercialization business, or delve into the very relevant question of what, exactly, this time of year is supposed to "mean" to an atheist. I've resigned myself to the fact that The Holiday is a uniquely unstoppable force, and eventually, it's gonna get you. The trick, I think, is to do just enough Holiday-related activities to feel you are still connected to the culture around you, but not so much that you feel you've been completely manipulated and exploited by the market forces that have seized control of peace on Earth, good will, etc. etc.
So, this weekend Jackspatula and I took baby steps. We didn't do any actual shopping for gifts, but we did buy Holiday lights for the front window and mantel, and I picked up some Holiday cards and stocked up on candles. (O.K., the candles aren't really Holiday-related, per se, but they were still a "festive" purchase.) What's more shocking, we actually hung the lights on the front window and mantel, as intended! A much more typical move on our part would have been to buy the lights, let them sit unopened on the kitchen table until about January 3rd, and then take them to the basement for "storage," where they would be quickly forgotten, never used, and then donated to the Kidney Foundation in about 10 years. (This happens a lot. The Kidney Foundation loves us.)
Even more impressive: Jackspatula cleaned out the upstairs closet, pulling out four years' worth of wrapping and tissue paper, ribbons, bows, gift bags, etc., and then I organized all of it and arranged it neatly in one of the downstairs closets, which I also cleaned out first! Yes, I agree--impressive. So now, if we ever actually buy any gifts, we will be ready.
And I have to admit--sitting in our Holiday-lighted living room, writing out Holiday cards and drinking wine, I did feel good and sort of at peace. Could that be the true meaning of The Holiday?
posted by flipper @ 7:31 PM
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