Holiday Commentary

Well, after a couple of great days off of work, I have a couple of random comments to make regarding the holidays...

Topic 1: Christmas Crap
I have a hard time with all of this holiday stuff being jammed down my throat - from the creepy animatronic Santa Clauses to the Christmas music playing 24/7 on 99.1 - it's driving me insane. The only thing I do enjoy is the crazy Christmas light displays in the neighborhoods. There's just something about the tackiness of trying to cover your entire front yard in wacky colors, glowing animals, and crudely-made plywood cutouts that brings a smile to my face. The house across from my parents' has what looks like frosty's head on a stake in their front yard (completely unintentional - it's just a frosty face light cover for the light pole in their front yard, but without a body underneath, it looks like frosty had a nasty run in with a guillotine).

Topic 2: Joy Luck Club Gatherings
My parents always have a gathering of friends and family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This group has grown over the years as people bring friends of friends and new husbands and significant others etc. Coincidentally, as the group has grown, I have become more antisocial - mostly because I have given up on trying to provide a brief, cheery synopsis of my life in both English and Chinese (see the I Ain't Buyin It blog entry). That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy these get togethers. I still get to pig out and play mah jong once in a while.

Topic 3: Side Effects of Knowing Me
I think there is something that I admire in everyone that I know. I don't know if there are any tangible benefits of knowing me, but I am convinced there are some amazing side effects of growing up around me. In particular, all of the people I have grown up with have become unbelievably good looking and wildy successful - like attending Julliard and then Harvard or being so hot that being single just isn't an option (and struggling with multiple marriage proposals is a constant problem). Too bad there's no way for me to cash in on this... the only thing I can hope for is the possibility of being interviewed for their VH1 special one day.