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cthulhia
After all, the simply abundant would already have all of this year's holiday gift shopping done by now, so they could relax and enjoy the season. bwa ha ha ha ha ha
I've mostly bailed on the gift thing, precisely so I can enjoy festivities a little more. Focus on Solstice, which means more to me personally anyway. I've been known to re-read the gospels on Christmas morning, but don't let that get around! Interesting reading, even if you think it's fiction. As a kid, I thought the half printed in red ink gimmick was wicked cool.
I was cured of the Holiday Greed when the oldest brother obviously did the entire family's holiday gift shopping in under 10 minutes, possibly under 5, all in one store. Second youngest sister got a big plush lobster. I got a smaller plush lobster, in a tote bag that said "I love lobsters".
Thinking about it now, well, I'm not a hostile competitive teenager anymore. If the only thing he ever heard about his sisters' horse shows in New England was that lobster (t)here was cheap, the entire team would order them, and point them all at my sister, often more than a dozen lobsters, because it freaked her out to have them all looking at her, then I grok the synapses that led to his purchases. (Oddly, for all her freakage, she still eats lobster. I mostly stopped after I read Zodiac. These days, not eating food because it's toxic will starve you rather fast.)
But, at the time, it underscored the pointlessness of buying gifts without any real thought into the matter. Wait until you know what to give.
I still like the festive elements. I like hanging out with people on a day off. Although, I'd rather be at a non-gift party. If it's Jews and movies and Chinese food, well, there won't be as many Christmas carols (the one day of the year I wouldn't mind!), but there also won't be family psychodrama combined with holiday sugar-crashing.
I would like to go all out some year, tree and decor, have enough land and snow, do sleigh rides, at least sledding... then again, my commuter book for the past month has been A Winter's Tale (Helprin, not Shakespeare)... which has made the Actual Snow(TM) nothing but a pleasure for me. (I haven't read much of it off the red line. I don't read when commuting in with friends, which happens frequently. It's taking forever to finish. There's a shiny, new, Brit import Terry Pratchett book on my shelf, leering at me!)
If the gift giving must happen, I would rather delay it for January 6, which is theoretically when the manger gifts were given. This also lets me avail myself of post-holiday sales.
But, what do people want? Argh.
(I really have to get something nice for tcb, since he decided the Peter Gabriel ticket was an early xmas gift. And, apparently, most of his CDNOW wish list is vapor... )
On Monday I discovered that I am in the same building as a Marshalls. That way lies madness. I saw towels that I would've loved back when I was an active SCAdian. Probably not period, but much nicer than plain terrycloth. Perfect for Pennsic! But, I don't shop for most of those people anymore. Phew!
I've mostly bailed on the gift thing, precisely so I can enjoy festivities a little more. Focus on Solstice, which means more to me personally anyway. I've been known to re-read the gospels on Christmas morning, but don't let that get around! Interesting reading, even if you think it's fiction. As a kid, I thought the half printed in red ink gimmick was wicked cool.
I was cured of the Holiday Greed when the oldest brother obviously did the entire family's holiday gift shopping in under 10 minutes, possibly under 5, all in one store. Second youngest sister got a big plush lobster. I got a smaller plush lobster, in a tote bag that said "I love lobsters".
Thinking about it now, well, I'm not a hostile competitive teenager anymore. If the only thing he ever heard about his sisters' horse shows in New England was that lobster (t)here was cheap, the entire team would order them, and point them all at my sister, often more than a dozen lobsters, because it freaked her out to have them all looking at her, then I grok the synapses that led to his purchases. (Oddly, for all her freakage, she still eats lobster. I mostly stopped after I read Zodiac. These days, not eating food because it's toxic will starve you rather fast.)
But, at the time, it underscored the pointlessness of buying gifts without any real thought into the matter. Wait until you know what to give.
I still like the festive elements. I like hanging out with people on a day off. Although, I'd rather be at a non-gift party. If it's Jews and movies and Chinese food, well, there won't be as many Christmas carols (the one day of the year I wouldn't mind!), but there also won't be family psychodrama combined with holiday sugar-crashing.
I would like to go all out some year, tree and decor, have enough land and snow, do sleigh rides, at least sledding... then again, my commuter book for the past month has been A Winter's Tale (Helprin, not Shakespeare)... which has made the Actual Snow(TM) nothing but a pleasure for me. (I haven't read much of it off the red line. I don't read when commuting in with friends, which happens frequently. It's taking forever to finish. There's a shiny, new, Brit import Terry Pratchett book on my shelf, leering at me!)
If the gift giving must happen, I would rather delay it for January 6, which is theoretically when the manger gifts were given. This also lets me avail myself of post-holiday sales.
But, what do people want? Argh.
(I really have to get something nice for tcb, since he decided the Peter Gabriel ticket was an early xmas gift. And, apparently, most of his CDNOW wish list is vapor... )
On Monday I discovered that I am in the same building as a Marshalls. That way lies madness. I saw towels that I would've loved back when I was an active SCAdian. Probably not period, but much nicer than plain terrycloth. Perfect for Pennsic! But, I don't shop for most of those people anymore. Phew!
