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Sir Stonesalot wrote:
As a non-believer(and I ain't talkin' 'bout no Santa!), this holiday means almost ziltch to me.

I like making my kid happy and stuff. But honestly, I give presents all through the year. If I see something that I think someone else may like...I get it and give it to them. I don't need some made up holiday to give a present and make someone smile. I'm good like that.

Xmas parties. They suck. Shitty music. Weird food. Dumb hats. Uncomfortable clothes. Fancy shoes. A bunch of people you don't really like. It's bullshit. I do not dress up for holiday parties. I'm a T-shirt/Jeans/Sneakers kind of guy. That's as dressed up as I get. If that isn't acceptable, don't ask me to show up at your party. My wife wants me to go to one of her teacher parties with her. Fuck that. She can go and have fun. I'll watch the boy. I have nothing in common with those people, and I don't want to stand around and fake like I'm having a good time with a bunch of people that I don't really know, or want to know. And no, I don't want to sing along to Burle Ives "Holly Jolly Christmas" thanks.

I'm lucky enough to live nearby most of my family. I see them all the time. I don't need a holiday to spend time with them. If I want to see them or talk to them...I invite them over or drop in on 'em.

The Holiday Dinner. What...8-10+ hours of preparation? 30-40 minutes of gorging. 2-3 hours of clean up. Is it REALLY worth it? Fuck no. It's a huge pain in the ass. The enjoyment that I get from the meal is not proportonate to the aggrevation and frustration in getting the meal ready. Maybe if I wasn't doing most of the cooking and clean up it would be different. My problem is that everyone in my family loves my cooking...and I have a hard time saying no.

Holiday shopping. Hate it. Big pushy sweaty rude crowds. No place to park. Prices are all at max retail...and will drop by 30-40% the day after Xmas. I did most of my shopping this summer at flea markets and yard sales. Everything else I bought on line. Except for the damn Nintendo Wii that my kid wants. Can't find one anywhere. Local Best Buy was supposed to get 25 of them last thursday. A line formed outside before the store closed on wed. night. FUCK THAT! I am not spending a night outside in some stupid line to buy a machine that I'll be able to buy with no problem 3 months from now. So I made a nice certificate for my kid saying that he's getting a Wii...but he'll have to wait until I can find one.

My son confessed to me this past summer that he knows that there is no Santa. Then he said that he knows his mom would be disappointed so he'd play along this year. I thanked him for that. My wife already has a hard time with the holidays(she misses her dad and sister)...that's one less thing she'll have to deal with. Saves me a headache this year for sure. That's the main reason why I'll spring for a Wii, even though we already have 4 other game systems.

This year I made out my list a little different. I usually ask for CDs and DVDs. I usually get the wrong things. It's the old, "I couldn't find the CD you asked for, all they had was this one, so I got it." And it's almost always one I already have...or one that I don't want(I got no less than 3 copies of ABB Special Edition last year...even though it didn't appear anywhere on my lists). So this year I included a URL after each title for the exact thing that I wanted. If I still get wrong titles again this year, I'll have to just admit that my family is a bunch of morons who can't read, or operate a web browser.

Now, I don't wanna sound like a scrooge. I got nothin against people who enjoy the holidays. It's cool with me, I mean, who doesn't like getting/giving presents, you know? I don't wanna be a negative vibe merchant or anything. I want everyone to be happy and stuff. I just think it's much ado about nothing.

I like New Years Eve/Day. Out with the old in with the new, yeah? It's a fresh start, anything is possible. I dig that. And the football, of course. And the drinkin'...I like the drinkin'.

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