One word at a time

So... Christmas and the 'holiday season' is upon us and I'm finding that as usual, I absolutely hate everything about this time of year. And yes, I know hate is a strong and powerful word. And yes I know it is, for the most part, an extremely negative word that denotes a level of bigotry, preconceived conclusions based on a complete lack of evidence, closed-mindedness, and effectively announces 'fuck you and your argument, you're not going to change my mind (sticks fingers in ears and says 'la-la-la-la....') And yes I know I should never use the word 'hate' lightly due to the power that it comes with. AND I HATE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

Having experienced Christmas as a child not raised by religion, I always had a preconceived notion that it was just a time of year to put up a pretty tree, put pretty decorations on it, and pretty lights, and pretty much make it pretty, and then take pretty paper off of boxes that contained pretty cool shit... or clothes. As I grew up I slowly learned about the religious ideals and history to it, but being a heretical non-believer that did very little to make me appreciate the holiday; in addition to always having been a bit of a loner and rebel, it probably didn't help that I scorned religion as I was brought up in a town that was an amalgamation of various flavors of a contemporary religion that tends to reek of self-indulgent hypocrisy (read: Christians.) The end result was a potporri of ideals that blended together such that  no matter at what level you sniffed it, it still smelled like utter shit to me (much like the odor of the 'Christmas spice' smell that your nose is raped with when you enter a Michael's around this time of year.)

As you may guess, I'm not exactly the most religious person in the room. My beliefs start at the idea that we are all born of the universe and elements that exist in it and they stop with the 'golden rule.' Though keep in mind, that this particular set of limits includes the golden rule within it's set. For those who are not familiar with math, you can say it stops after the golden rule just so we can all be clear.

Now don't get me wrong. I do enjoy this time of year in that I get to visit and be with my family. That is what Christmas to me is about. So I enjoy the idea of Christmas being a time to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones. What I do not enjoy is having my ears get despoiled with 'Christmas music' starting on Nov. 1st every time I go to the store to get something as small as a fucking banana. I do not enjoy getting ads shoved in my face with the words 'SALE' on it, the concept of 'Black Friday,' or the offensive (as in 'attack normandy' type of offensive) marketing psychology employed that tries to insert a subconscious idea in your id that you are a shit person if you don't purchase a television or spend x dollars on people this year (x being defined as anything that is honestly outside a responsible persons budget.) I don't want gifts for Christmas, I have more shit then I know what to do with (and seriously folks, some of it can be defined as literal shit as you are talking to someone who thought AvP: Requiem was a fun movie (not good, but fun.))

It seems to me as though we, as a culture, have forgotten that Christmas was really about spending time with family and friends. Though I suppose it could be argued that it was about the birth of a savior and some other shit, of which we've probably misinterpreted the ideas of since legend and myth usually ends up being some kind of tall tale built from some event that probably was not really as huge as what it is now made out to be. It seems now that if you aren't willing to put yourself into debtors prison then you aren't spending time with the family. Whatever happened to a mug of hot cocoa, a roaring fire with some good music in the background and some fine bullshitting? That's what I want. That is what I enjoy. Instead I"m treated to traffic jams and pissed off shoppers every time I get off my shift at the office and head home.

This year, I commissioned my friend to make some earrings for my girlfriend Casey and also a set for my mother. I drew a picture of Casey and I, which I'll be needing to get a frame from the store in a while and then it shall probably reside either at her office desk or in her bedroom. Outside of that, I have gone to the store only to pickup a large flannel jacket for my father and some scotch for my buddy Ryan. The only thing that I really want in return is to see family and friends. Everything else associated with this holiday season can go fuck itself (except eggnog, eggnog is always welcome. And it can bring its friend Brandy along with it)