:: Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swinger's Club ::

:: Saturday, December 25, 2004 ::

mr. brightside

"Merry Christmas. Ho...ho... ho..."

Some things are synonymous with Christmas: presents, egg nog, and 'A Christmas Story' . Oh, and I guess Jesus, too. It is named after him after all. I haven't been able to get into any sort of Christmas spirit for the past several years, but you might have been able to guess if you recognized the quote from above. It's from aforementioned movie - the part where Ralphie goes to the department store to tell Santa that he wants a Red Rider Bee-bee Gun, to which department store Santa answers that he'll shoot his eye out, wishes him a 'Merry Christmas', and throws in the most indifferent 'Ho, ho, ho...' you've ever heard.

What I don't get is why people who aren't Christian or Catholic, or more simply, those who don't believe in J.C., celebrate Christmas? Contrary to popular belief, the day is supposed to celebrate the birth of a dude named Jesus, not the deliverance of gifts by a fat guy named Santa. When did it evolve into this day where the focus is on exchanging presents instead of celebrating the birth of a people's messiah? It's puzzling. I mean, when did presenting frankincense and mihr to the big J turn into getting a gift under twenty-dollars for your office party and fucking people over through the white-elephant gift exchange? What a weird country we live in. Is it like this in other parts of the world? Great Britain - is it like this? Australia - how are you guys holding it down? Do you keep it real or is it like America where the main focus is on driving the economy, acting nice to one another for a day or two, and preparing for those after-Christmas day sales?

The only thing I've really been able to look forward to the past couple of Christmases is getting away from school, returning to warmer weather and seeing the family, although the enthusiasm for the latter wears out by day 2. Our family doesn't really do anything crazy for Christmas. The day just consists of watching television and having dinner together. And the gift exchanges are sporadic. The past few years I've had negative income due to school, so people don't expect gifts from me at all or if they do, they know it's going to be a pretty shitty one. Tonight, my sister and I exchanged gifts and she got me this silver flask inscribed with my initials. Pretty cool. Now I can fill it with liquor whenever I go clubbing and be even cheaper than my usual self, if that's possible. My gift to her? I got her a toothbrush. Yes, a tootbrush. Sexy, no? To my defense, it's not a generic tootbrush, but rather one of those ultrasonic electronic ones. Shit, it was on sale and it was free shipping if I bought two, so... whatever. Plus, she's the one with a full-time job; not me.

To top off Christmas 2004, I flooded my parents' bathroom with a mean shit. Haha. Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad!

Anyway, regardless of why it is you celebrate today, I wish you and your families good fortune, health, and peace of mind.

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