I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas--er, I mean, inoffensive non-denominational Giving Day. To clear up any non-PC overtones.
Nothing really of note about mine. I got books and CD's, like I usually do. Good ones, although I have yet to delve into the Elvis Costello CD my dad got me. So far I'm enjoying Our Oldest Enemy, which is about America's relationship with France. The misanthrope/francophobe within revels in France's almost comedic attempts to thwart the U.S.--it's like the comic book villain that tries to set a trap for the hero and ends up setting his own hair on fire. Like Wile E. Coyote with a beret and a striped shirt. And a cigarette, of course.
And I got a new leather jacket. The other one is four years old and has become torn and tattered with the ravages of time. I don't plan on throwing it away, though--more than half of my high school experiences reside inside that coat. I used it as a seat cushion at the EYC October Weekend 2002, when it was too muddy to sit on the concrete pavilion. It's the coat I wore day in and day out, spring, fall, and winter--way too much to simply toss it away like I tossed away some of the chances I let fly by in high school.
Anyway, the main gift I got this year was a quiet Christmas. Really, quiet holdiays are underrated...when I was a kid Christmas was the big thing besides Hallowe'en and Easter and our summer party. First there was Advent, and we got to make the Advent wreaths and light the Advent candles. (Purple-purple-pink-purple...when you got to that pink one you knew Christmas was only a week away.) Then there was Harry and Jane Poulter's Christmas party, the week before the big day itself. Nowadays there's the EYC dance, followed by the eternal Poulter Christmas party like always--but I lost the season of Advent. I get caught up in Exams and the end of classes and Advent kind of falls by the wayside. So in the end I actually feel a little guilty...not only do I not get the full "Christmas season" but I feel less spiritually defined than I did back before I went to college. At the same time, though, I have to admit that not having that huge hype-filled lead-in to the Season makes any let-down a little easier to bear. Hence the gratefulness for a quiet Christmas. I only wish there was a way to combine the calmer holiday feeling with a sense of spiritual fulfillment...here's hoping I find that fulfillment come the New Year.
Nothing really of note about mine. I got books and CD's, like I usually do. Good ones, although I have yet to delve into the Elvis Costello CD my dad got me. So far I'm enjoying Our Oldest Enemy, which is about America's relationship with France. The misanthrope/francophobe within revels in France's almost comedic attempts to thwart the U.S.--it's like the comic book villain that tries to set a trap for the hero and ends up setting his own hair on fire. Like Wile E. Coyote with a beret and a striped shirt. And a cigarette, of course.
And I got a new leather jacket. The other one is four years old and has become torn and tattered with the ravages of time. I don't plan on throwing it away, though--more than half of my high school experiences reside inside that coat. I used it as a seat cushion at the EYC October Weekend 2002, when it was too muddy to sit on the concrete pavilion. It's the coat I wore day in and day out, spring, fall, and winter--way too much to simply toss it away like I tossed away some of the chances I let fly by in high school.
Anyway, the main gift I got this year was a quiet Christmas. Really, quiet holdiays are underrated...when I was a kid Christmas was the big thing besides Hallowe'en and Easter and our summer party. First there was Advent, and we got to make the Advent wreaths and light the Advent candles. (Purple-purple-pink-purple...when you got to that pink one you knew Christmas was only a week away.) Then there was Harry and Jane Poulter's Christmas party, the week before the big day itself. Nowadays there's the EYC dance, followed by the eternal Poulter Christmas party like always--but I lost the season of Advent. I get caught up in Exams and the end of classes and Advent kind of falls by the wayside. So in the end I actually feel a little guilty...not only do I not get the full "Christmas season" but I feel less spiritually defined than I did back before I went to college. At the same time, though, I have to admit that not having that huge hype-filled lead-in to the Season makes any let-down a little easier to bear. Hence the gratefulness for a quiet Christmas. I only wish there was a way to combine the calmer holiday feeling with a sense of spiritual fulfillment...here's hoping I find that fulfillment come the New Year.
5 Comments:
Such a pleasure to see you and the folks at the holiday party! Sorry we did not have a longer time to speak, for like many of the people at the Poulters', you have much to teach/share...ah but the future awaits.
May 2005 bring joy and peace...
C. Durfor
Thanks very much, Mr. Durfor. The same to you--and yours--as well.
Did you play any gigs last night? We went to see Jamie and the Ramblers at Christ Church yesterday--the whole "First Night" thing went as usual even though they've been tearing up the end of the mall where the amphitheatre used to be.
My friend, it happens when we get busy. And when we do get caught up, we feel happy, joyous, and look back and say how fun it was. But like myself, you didn't get caught up. And you will look back on every day like it is, and will see truth. You will see the real joy, not hype. And for some the hype is good. For others, it makes them sad. So be happy with what you did. And breath well.
We've fought two wars with England, our ally, and none with France. You want a country that's thwarted all attempts at American sovereignty? Look at England. Look at China (our "ally"). Look at Saudi Arabia (our "super huge awesome non-human rights violating ally"). A country who did something several republics ago has nothing to do, nor should it have anything to do, with U.S. policy today, and neither should the two wars with England that happened almost two hundred years ago.
I'm not saying that France is perfect. There are huge flaws in their government and their policy. Chirac, a Conservative by European standards, was voted in because of a flawed electoral system that was created by a Conservative leader from the 1960s, de Gaulle. If most people of France could vote right now in an updated system, the leader would likely be a liberal, like Tony Blair, who for some odd reason Amirkan conservatives love and American liberals love-but-hate.
The way I like to look at our relationship with France is very different than yours. France was once the worlds superpower. If you actually had an open mind and travelled, which I assume you don't, you'd notice that your passport is also written in French, errr....Freedom. Just imagine if in ten years, France was the world's only superpower because the dollar's value became even lower than it is now. You'd probably demand that the United States government openly criticize France.
Shut up.
Your comment has been duly noted. Thank you for your insights--both the intelligent and the asinine.
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