eleven
i really enjoy the holiday season because of the gifts. i have to be honest. what other time of the year do i get to show up at someone’s house, cold, wet, bearing gifts, AND THEN they feed me?!
exactly. i really like giving presents all of the time but it makes people uncomfortable to be randomly gifted, which is understandable. so yes, i totally dig the presents buying. i don’t jump head first into all the shopping insanity. i do, however, like to spend time finding or coming up with a thoughtful gift that i’m *sure* will be a hit. i spent an entire year shopping for hugo’s birthday present and please believe me, that isn’t even an exaggeration. i found the perfect one though. attractive, but not too feminine. modern, but classy. he’s gotten a lot of complements on it from people he respects. i’ve been seeing it on him more often as a result, which really fills me with so much pride and happiness and sheer joy that i could just about pop everytime i see it.
i’d rather buy someone one thing that they will just really love or use the stuffings out of than a bucket full of crap. you could say that i even begin to obsess over it. i’ve made a promise to myself that i will be finished by this thursday. speaking of this thursday…
i am probably the worst vegetarian ever, but regardless of *what* i eat i am always fully conscious about it. i’ve increased my range of foods that i can eat and prepare (with hardly anyone getting sick). i have decided i’m not eating any turkey this holiday. not only do i find the american custom of the day of gluttony apalling, not only do i think it is wrong to breed deformed freak animals for the sake of them being tastier with whiter meat and abnormally large breasts abhorrent, not only does the whole thing just freak me right the hell out, but it also is boring.
hugo and i are plotting to stay inside, watch silly tv, and enjoy a tofurky feast. i didn’t even know such a thing existed but, oh wow. One Tofurky Roast, Eight Cranberry Apple Potato Dumplings, Tofurky Giblet & Mushroom Gravy, Herbed brown and Tofurky Wild Rice Stuffing, & Tofurky Jurky Wishstix. Admittedly that is an assload of soy. luckily, i am armed with a very tasty couscous recipe that involves loads of other vegetables. earthfare, apparently, has the feast kit things with all this stuff in them and they are $20. tomorrow, I will venture out to knoxville, possibly waste 1/4 tank of gas fighting the madness that is turkey creek, and return home victorious with two of these little kits. 2? i’m going to eat one tomorrow night and if it’s total shite (not that i expect it to be, but i do like to be prepared)….dub will have a very merry thanksgiving, indeed.
every year my mom asks me what i want for christmas. my standard answer is the modest, oh nothing… and i usually get something anyway. my mom has a knack for knowing what i need…like a chefs chopper, knives, and spatulas. i really have more than i could ever be fully thankful for, though i will try anyway. there are things i haven’t seen fit to buy myself for whatever reason. i always think i could use the money elsewhere or some charity could really benefit from that cash or my retirement fund really needs a perk in the balance department.
i felt compelled to enlighten her on my interests and material desires, so i printed off a few books from my wishlist, 2 dvds (rainbow brite and the starstealer WILL BE MINE), a set of recycling bins, a set of mesh shopping bags, a book on turning a yard into a sustainable and green garden, Fast Food Nation, a permaculture book, mediterannean vegan cookbook, and some other things.
it’s hard to tell what someone thinks about you, really. i don’t think my mom expected anything like that coming from me. i suppose she expected to see a new ipod…an LCD screen or two…some blinky lights….who knows. i think if my family didn’t know i was actually a hippie in a suburban disguise, they do now.
everything feels so amplified right now. everything i throw in the trash, i hear the noise it makes for 5 minutes afterward. so much packaging. so much plastic, paper, resources, wasted. our two person household has the footprint 3 times what it should be, and i feel quite bad about that. we had to go to the landfill recently to get rid of some large items like the packaging the gym came in. if you’ve never been to the landfill, you should go at least once. smell what 70,000 tons (yes, i’m making that up. yes, i’m allowed) of rotting garbage piled on top of itself smells like. that visit really kicked all of this into high gear. i just can’t be a part of something so careless. my plan is to spend friday researching companies that recycle things like batteries, computer parts, monitors, and other electronics. i will never ever ever see another piece of electronics leave this house in the trash bin if i can help it.
oh, and i did a tarot reading last night that was so intriguing i was literally compelled to take a picture of it to study it more in the coming months. the last time i had a reading that moved me like this……….well…….spectacular things happened.
