The Holidays...

Well, here they come again...Those bastardized days we call the Holidays are back.

Now before I go any further let me assure you I like celebrating just as much (if not a hell of a lot more) as my fellow man. I enjoy fellowship and mind altering experiences (which, I might add, do not always involve external substances). One might ask then, "Why are you so down on the Holidays then?"

The answer came back around Halloween. I was getting groceries and ran across Christmas decorations! CHRISTMAS SHIT PUT OUT BEFORE HALLOWEEN! How insane is that?! I can understand Halloween candy and costumes being out. Hell, I can even understand putting some Thanksgiving stuff out, but Christmas? Give me a break. I guess I could have understood it back when The Wise Men were getting their presents for Jesus. Back then you had to ride on some beast of burden's back to get to your destinations...or walk it yourself. In our days of high speed internet, high speed planes, trains, and automobiles, we have no need for such advance notice.

You know, Thanksgiving, for all it is worth, just doesn't get as much press as it deserves. I mean, how many cool Thanksgiving songs can you think of besides Alice's Resturant? Hell, even Alice's Resurant isn't that deep into Thanksgiving. The first half just happens to be set "Around Thanksgiving 2 years ago." I am really thankful that I was able to go to grad school this year. I'm thankful that I have a cool advisor and other faculty to work with. I'm thankful that my family got to be together this year, the first time I can remember that happening in a very long time. I'm thankful that I've got a girl in Abeline that I really like and she feels the same way even though we aren't able to say it all the time because of work or whatnot. I'm thankful that this semester is almost over. I'm thankful for the multitude of musicians who have played the soundtrack to my life without even knowing they were doing so. I'm thankful for old friends and new that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. I'm also thankful that it's only one more year till the regime change.

There's so much we each have to be thankful for, but what are we concerned about? The after Thanksgiving sales at Wal-Mart. Mall strategies for arriving at 6 am. How to rush the store so you can be first in line for some half-trained kid to ring you up and scan the items 2 or 3 times with out you noticing. So what did I do after the Thanksgiving meal? Well, I watched Ole Miss play MS State like a harp, but I did so in the presence of folks I cared about, even if they were for Ole Miss.

My folks wanted me to pick out my Christmas presents so they would know what to get. Sad, but true, I know what I'm getting for Christmas for the most part. I love the surprise. I used to not like it, and I'd try to guess what I was getting. I guess that's because everything was a surprise when I was a kid. Now that I'm somewhat grown up, surprises come around far less often. So, I like to be surprised when Christmas comes around. Well, I may still be surprised, but I know I'm getting a 300 disc CD changer, and several various Grateful Dead DVDs.

Well, before then, I've got a take home final and two papers to write...and miles to go before I sleep.