The holidays: I hate 'em! (no spam)
-
fable
- Posts: 30676
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:00 pm
- Location: The sun, the moon, and the stars.
- Contact:
Here's one of a pair of threads return from last year. If you despise the season, don't despair! Well, you can despair, if you like. But post, first.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
My name is Tricky and I don't like Christmas.
I broke my favorite lamp a few days ago. True story, this actually happened to me. I've loved that lamp since I was a little boy and I experienced genuine, aching sorrow when I had to part with it. Amazing isn't it, how attached you can get to the simplest of things. Anyway, I had to go replace it. Saturday I went a large Dutch department store called V&D, the largest in town actually, to replace it with something to my liking. I can't say I was confident I would succeed. Replacing that gaping wound left in the memory of my childhood seemed like a daunting task to say the least. But still, I am good, willing consumer drone, so I kept my chin up and strode my way through the far too crowded shopping district.
I was down and out of luck. The entire office, bed/livingroom supplies floor had been completely rearranged with tons of cheap, nauseatingly cliché Christmas rubbish. And not a single lamp to be found anywhere. Because, christ, who needs to replace a lamp in the middle of the sordid winter anyway. It's only the darkest season of every year. Just light a match if you need a little light, though do mind to not set the couch on fire. I'm pretty sure they're being sold on the same floor. Anyway, when that sad piece of business was over, I walked back, wrestled myself a way through that crowd back to my home again. Empty handed.
That didn't get to me though. Neither did the stiff drink that came after. The real shock came a day later when I saw Fable had bumped these threads again. Right there and then I remembered: yesterday was merely strike one. The first of many moments filled with agony, pain, hate and mild physical discomfort due to the hopelessly unavoidable Christmas season. And then I realized - like I was shot, like I was shot with a diamond, a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God, the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect genuine, complete, crystalline. Pure.
Anyway, I'm actually writing this from a brightly lit room. I've replaced that lamp with a brighter, hung lamp. There's no chance of finding a better purchase this time of year, it's just not realistic. I'm not used to its color, the intensity and direction of this new light. These last few evenings have been almost.. well, physically discomforting. To be frank, I can't seem to tell what time it is. My eyes don't grow weary like normal, they just twitch increasingly worse until I realize I need sleep or caffeine. At least thirty-one more days I'll be forced to spend in this state, delicately balancing my sanity between the straining bright light of the evening hours and that putrid Christmas phenomenon outside.
By God, I can't find my stapler.
I broke my favorite lamp a few days ago. True story, this actually happened to me. I've loved that lamp since I was a little boy and I experienced genuine, aching sorrow when I had to part with it. Amazing isn't it, how attached you can get to the simplest of things. Anyway, I had to go replace it. Saturday I went a large Dutch department store called V&D, the largest in town actually, to replace it with something to my liking. I can't say I was confident I would succeed. Replacing that gaping wound left in the memory of my childhood seemed like a daunting task to say the least. But still, I am good, willing consumer drone, so I kept my chin up and strode my way through the far too crowded shopping district.
I was down and out of luck. The entire office, bed/livingroom supplies floor had been completely rearranged with tons of cheap, nauseatingly cliché Christmas rubbish. And not a single lamp to be found anywhere. Because, christ, who needs to replace a lamp in the middle of the sordid winter anyway. It's only the darkest season of every year. Just light a match if you need a little light, though do mind to not set the couch on fire. I'm pretty sure they're being sold on the same floor. Anyway, when that sad piece of business was over, I walked back, wrestled myself a way through that crowd back to my home again. Empty handed.
That didn't get to me though. Neither did the stiff drink that came after. The real shock came a day later when I saw Fable had bumped these threads again. Right there and then I remembered: yesterday was merely strike one. The first of many moments filled with agony, pain, hate and mild physical discomfort due to the hopelessly unavoidable Christmas season. And then I realized - like I was shot, like I was shot with a diamond, a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God, the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect genuine, complete, crystalline. Pure.
Anyway, I'm actually writing this from a brightly lit room. I've replaced that lamp with a brighter, hung lamp. There's no chance of finding a better purchase this time of year, it's just not realistic. I'm not used to its color, the intensity and direction of this new light. These last few evenings have been almost.. well, physically discomforting. To be frank, I can't seem to tell what time it is. My eyes don't grow weary like normal, they just twitch increasingly worse until I realize I need sleep or caffeine. At least thirty-one more days I'll be forced to spend in this state, delicately balancing my sanity between the straining bright light of the evening hours and that putrid Christmas phenomenon outside.
By God, I can't find my stapler.
[INDENT]'..tolerance when fog rolls in clouds unfold your selfless wings feathers that float from arabesque pillows I sold to be consumed by the snow white cold if only the plaster could hold withstand the flam[url="http://bit.ly/foT0XQ"]e[/url] then this fountain torch would know no shame and be outstripped only by the sun that burns with the glory and honor of your..'[/INDENT]
-
fable
- Posts: 30676
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:00 pm
- Location: The sun, the moon, and the stars.
- Contact:
Tricky, you realize that if by some holy power I was cursed to be a literature professor, I'd give you 10 out of 10 for that essay?
I especially liked the appended line at the end, dragging after like a sad dog's tail.
Anyway, cheer up. A bit, at least. We'll see it through together. Have a cup of chemically formulated eggnog, hopefully fortified, and get some rest.
I especially liked the appended line at the end, dragging after like a sad dog's tail.
Anyway, cheer up. A bit, at least. We'll see it through together. Have a cup of chemically formulated eggnog, hopefully fortified, and get some rest.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
Sometimes I do not feel well enough during the Christmas season when my brother visits. It is always stressful and joyful to get a visit, but it can be dissapointing if my mental state is bad (I have some diagnoses). It is hard sometimes to explain why I do not want to go with everybody else because it is too overwhelming and my symptoms are coming. Especially if I have irrational anger at a family member because I am imagining that they are persecuting me. But it is touching to share times with the family so I try to be as available as possible and also give myself a break if I need to.
Right Speech has four aspects: 1. Not lying, but speaking the truth, 2. Avoiding rude and coarse words, but using gentle speech beneficial to the listener, 3. Not slandering, but promoting friendliness and unity, 4. Avoiding frivolous speech, but saying only what is appropriate and beneficial.
I would be very happy to know if this professor had been busy getting his doctorate during the late '70 to have seen Apocalypse Now, or he would almost certainly flunk me.fable wrote:Tricky, you realize that if by some holy power I was cursed to be a literature professor, I'd give you 10 out of 10 for that essay?
[INDENT]'..tolerance when fog rolls in clouds unfold your selfless wings feathers that float from arabesque pillows I sold to be consumed by the snow white cold if only the plaster could hold withstand the flam[url="http://bit.ly/foT0XQ"]e[/url] then this fountain torch would know no shame and be outstripped only by the sun that burns with the glory and honor of your..'[/INDENT]
-
fable
- Posts: 30676
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:00 pm
- Location: The sun, the moon, and the stars.
- Contact:
It's been years, but I'm not so old I don't recall it. And I allow points for adaptation.Tricky wrote:I would be very happy to know if this professor had been busy getting his doctorate during the late '70 to have seen Apocalypse Now, or he would almost certainly flunk me.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
At least this year, I'm going to hate the holidays. Why? Too busy to enjoy them. Usually my christmas includes staying home with my parents and brother, watching movies and playing board games. But not this year, thanks to my current work. The only day during the christmas week is the eve, as next day I have to go to work to make some bread for the day after that. Yes, I work in local bakery. And, as I have understood, the time of the holidays are very busy at the work, so it means a lot of work, which probably results shifts over 10 hours. So while my family is at home enjoying their time, I'm stuck at work.
Other thing that got me pissed of this year is advertising. Yes, it's problem every year, but this time the companies begun their campaigns at the beginning of November! And the ammount of ads, sheesh! At worst days I have problems getting inside my appartment, as the floor is covered all kind of ads, even though I have put "No ads!" sign on my door. And the ads bring another problem: It's nearly impossible to find all those important mails I get from the piles of unwanted ads. So, I spent about hour each day to just check the piles of ads to ensure that nothing important goes to garbage bin. And after that, it's about hour job to get rid of all those ads. Very funny job to do around 4 a.m, after work shift.
Other thing that got me pissed of this year is advertising. Yes, it's problem every year, but this time the companies begun their campaigns at the beginning of November! And the ammount of ads, sheesh! At worst days I have problems getting inside my appartment, as the floor is covered all kind of ads, even though I have put "No ads!" sign on my door. And the ads bring another problem: It's nearly impossible to find all those important mails I get from the piles of unwanted ads. So, I spent about hour each day to just check the piles of ads to ensure that nothing important goes to garbage bin. And after that, it's about hour job to get rid of all those ads. Very funny job to do around 4 a.m, after work shift.
"As we all know, holy men were born during Christmas...
Like mr. Holopainen over there!"
- Marco Hietala, the bass player of Nightwish
Like mr. Holopainen over there!"
- Marco Hietala, the bass player of Nightwish
Hate'em. Well that's probably to strong a word for my feelings, but there are a lot of things I strongly dislike.
I miss smelling Christmas dinner cooking in my own house. Nooo. Now we have to go to one of the kids house for dinner. That sucks. I have to leave my warm house (the one with no food smells) and go somewhere else to eat and it's usually when there's some thing good on the boob tube.
And Christmas cards. See my wife can't just go out and buy a box of cheap cards. Nooo. She needs to buy a personal card for everyone. (Son & Wife, Daughter & Husband, Grandsons, Granddaughters, you get the picture) Well these thing cost 3-4 bucks each (OH by the way, I have 4 siblings and she has 6 so add that to the mix) and then the stamps. And guess where these things end up boys and girls. YEP in the trash.
But who am I kidding. There is one thing I hate. Sitting alone after she's gone to bed, and missing the old days when our house was filled with laughter and remembering when Trey (my grandson was carrying a base ball bat to the plate, instead of a weapon in the sands of a foreign country.
Oh well, time for another Jack/Black Label over ice.:laugh:
I miss smelling Christmas dinner cooking in my own house. Nooo. Now we have to go to one of the kids house for dinner. That sucks. I have to leave my warm house (the one with no food smells) and go somewhere else to eat and it's usually when there's some thing good on the boob tube.
And Christmas cards. See my wife can't just go out and buy a box of cheap cards. Nooo. She needs to buy a personal card for everyone. (Son & Wife, Daughter & Husband, Grandsons, Granddaughters, you get the picture) Well these thing cost 3-4 bucks each (OH by the way, I have 4 siblings and she has 6 so add that to the mix) and then the stamps. And guess where these things end up boys and girls. YEP in the trash.
But who am I kidding. There is one thing I hate. Sitting alone after she's gone to bed, and missing the old days when our house was filled with laughter and remembering when Trey (my grandson was carrying a base ball bat to the plate, instead of a weapon in the sands of a foreign country.
Oh well, time for another Jack/Black Label over ice.:laugh:
They turned me loose from the nervous hospital. Said I was well.
-
fable
- Posts: 30676
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:00 pm
- Location: The sun, the moon, and the stars.
- Contact:
Yes, it's that time, again. Celebrate the most commercially successful point of the year, when your ears will be inundated with mindless drivel 24/7.
Feel free to join me here in a toast to becoming insensible until it's over.
Feel free to join me here in a toast to becoming insensible until it's over.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
Here here. I hates em. I never liked em, not even as a wee child. It seemed like I was always busy trying to make someone else happy during the "holidays." From a young age onward I have harbored no fuzzy feelings regarding days that Wal-Mart, Hallmark, and retail CEOs everywhere think I should care about.
I'm typically in the minority wherever I find myself this time of year. True to form, my wife positively loves the "holidays." I positively despise them, and made that known long before the nuptials. She understands why, at the mere mention of strings of fire-hazard colored lights that suck up precious energy, I become grumpy and irritable. Or how I roll my eyes at the thought of dragging home some poor tree chopped down just to litter my carpet with thousands of tiny evergreen needles that take 6 months to completely remove. I hate walking in my socks to have them stab me in the soles of my feet well into the summer months. Leave them in the forest I say, where they may serve as shelter and food to the ecosystem. If I want a tree in my living room I'll grow one there.
Or how about those cards from people I barely know - or even recall - wishing me "the best this special time of year." Oh bite me. Spare a tree, and spare me the sentiments.
EDIT: I make one exception to my hatred of the holidays. I used to get cards from relatives that had money placed in em. I like those. I'm always receptive to that.
I'm typically in the minority wherever I find myself this time of year. True to form, my wife positively loves the "holidays." I positively despise them, and made that known long before the nuptials. She understands why, at the mere mention of strings of fire-hazard colored lights that suck up precious energy, I become grumpy and irritable. Or how I roll my eyes at the thought of dragging home some poor tree chopped down just to litter my carpet with thousands of tiny evergreen needles that take 6 months to completely remove. I hate walking in my socks to have them stab me in the soles of my feet well into the summer months.
Leave them in the forest I say, where they may serve as shelter and food to the ecosystem. If I want a tree in my living room I'll grow one there. Or how about those cards from people I barely know - or even recall - wishing me "the best this special time of year." Oh bite me. Spare a tree, and spare me the sentiments.
EDIT: I make one exception to my hatred of the holidays. I used to get cards from relatives that had money placed in em. I like those. I'm always receptive to that.
CYNIC, n.:
A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
-[url="http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/a.html"]The Devil's Dictionary[/url]
A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
-[url="http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/a.html"]The Devil's Dictionary[/url]
Bah, holidays... I hate almost all of them, but especially Christmas. Even more so than Valentine's Day, and that's saying something. They're all based on age old traditions, which is fine really, but none of these traditions bear any significance to my life. As such, I don't mind when people practice these warped/corrupted traditions, as long as they leave me out of it. Yet it seems taking part is no longer voluntary. You get assaulted by jolly Christmas music everywhere you go. You need to have special drinks and breakfasts and conferences at work or college. You get evil glances from people who didn't receive your Christmas card. You suddenly need to shake hands and exchange special greetings with people you see everyday. All foods and common appliances suddenly have special Christmas editions. All streets and stores are decorated with highly flammable, flashy, and/or noisy things. And all that forced joyfulness, the faked compassion and piety... Why? WHY?!
No, Christmas is just all wrong. I celebrate St Nicholas Eve on December 5th (purely because of rebellious reasons; Take that, Santa!), and after that I go into hiding. I won't come out until January 6th.
No, Christmas is just all wrong. I celebrate St Nicholas Eve on December 5th (purely because of rebellious reasons; Take that, Santa!), and after that I go into hiding. I won't come out until January 6th.
"Up with this I will not put."
-Black Books
-Black Books
-
fable
- Posts: 30676
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:00 pm
- Location: The sun, the moon, and the stars.
- Contact:
Just the other day was getting some dental work done, and the technician was going on about how she would bring in some Christmas CDs because it was so quiet in the office. When I finally got a chance to speak, I suggested the quiet was among the best things this time of year, since you could get your fill of holiday music anywhere you went. She agreed tentatively, in that tone of voice that says, "You may be correct, but so am I, and I'm sure everybody but you will want to hear Frosty the Snowman another 5000 times in the next few weeks."
What I would really like for a gift this year is some kind of advanced portable electronic device that disrupts Christmas music from playing wherever I go.
What I would really like for a gift this year is some kind of advanced portable electronic device that disrupts Christmas music from playing wherever I go.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
Wow... listening to Christmas CD's while having dental work done to you... That's about as sadistic as it can get...
"Saw 24/12 : the Christmas edition, all in red" :laugh:
Honestly, i don't know what's worse, the ever-present jingling bells, santas everywhere, or people bullying me into being 'jolly'. "This is a time for everyone to be happy and nice to each other, so you bloody well shall be happy, now shut up and put up a smile right now you damn heathen!"
@Chanak, i couldn't agree more about the tree. My parents, and almost all our friends always had plastic christmas trees that are kept in a box around the house and used every year. Now that my parents have moved to the country and have a garden, they buy a spruce tree in a pot and plant it in the garden afterwards. They're getting a nice little thicket
Edit : Fable, should you ever find a way of creating such a device, it might make you a millionnaire. I know i'd buy ten.
"Saw 24/12 : the Christmas edition, all in red" :laugh:
Honestly, i don't know what's worse, the ever-present jingling bells, santas everywhere, or people bullying me into being 'jolly'. "This is a time for everyone to be happy and nice to each other, so you bloody well shall be happy, now shut up and put up a smile right now you damn heathen!"
@Chanak, i couldn't agree more about the tree. My parents, and almost all our friends always had plastic christmas trees that are kept in a box around the house and used every year. Now that my parents have moved to the country and have a garden, they buy a spruce tree in a pot and plant it in the garden afterwards. They're getting a nice little thicket
Edit : Fable, should you ever find a way of creating such a device, it might make you a millionnaire. I know i'd buy ten.
Kitchen Witchcraft : Of Magic and Macaroni - a blog about, well, a witch in the kitchen.
The Pale Mansion : My e-published lovecraftian novella! You should totally check it out!
The Pale Mansion : My e-published lovecraftian novella! You should totally check it out!
Very nice! Trees are awesome.QuenGalad wrote:...Now that my parents have moved to the country and have a garden, they buy a spruce tree in a pot and plant it in the garden afterwards. They're getting a nice little thicket
They help maintain the atmosphere, and are cornerstones of the ecosystem. I wish I could do that here at the apartments where I live. Instead of eastern pines (which the management has in abundance since they grow like weeds), I would plant some hardwoods. Nothing like a big oak tree to sit under while you read a book on a sunny day. There are [url="http://www.nearctica.com/trees/conifer/pinus/Pcoult.htm"]pine trees in the region where I live[/url] that sport cones large enough to inflict injury as they fall free from the tree. During certain times of the year when these huge cones drop, municipal governments cordon off an area surrounding the trees so people don't inadvertently wander into the drop zone.
An oak would be safer. @fable: One of the reasons I despise the "holidays" so fervently has to do with that sort of music. Each year at this time I was subjected to this music by my sadistic mother. I had little choice but to endure it. If you were to invent a jamming device...or better yet, a device that would inflict pain upon the people who seek to pollute the airwaves with this sort of music...you sir would become a very wealthy man.
CYNIC, n.:
A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
-[url="http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/a.html"]The Devil's Dictionary[/url]
A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
-[url="http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/a.html"]The Devil's Dictionary[/url]